This pho restaurant that was located very near to our hotel was always packed with customers. In fact, it was probably one of the very few restaurants in the Old Quarter that would have queues of people everyday.
Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su
10 Ly Quoc Su Street
Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
Vietnam
Tel: +84 4 38 257 338
Website: http://pho10lyquocsu.com/
Opening hours: 6.00am to 10.00pm daily
Don’t expect great service when here. Maybe we were unlucky as we were served by a young female staff with a black face and a poor attitude. Also, be prepared to share tables with strangers. Once you’re ushered to a half-empty table, don’t request to change seats or Miss Black Face will get nasty. ?
Good that the menu had English description for easy ordering but I didn’t think that was the complete menu anyway as we had seen other local diners eating dishes that were out of this pho range.
I had Pho Tai (half done beef, 50,000 VND). Though the thin beef slices were partially done and still looking pinkish, they were very chewy. The broth was flavoursome and didn’t taste like it was laden with MSG but it wasn’t the most robust one I had either.
Hubby ordered Pho Nam Gau (brisket with flank beef, 60,000 VND). Both the brisket and flank beef were tender probably because they were very fatty – had more fats than meat in fact.
There were two men seated on the same table as us and they recommended us to order the quay so we ordered one plate of the fried dough fritters (8,000 VND) by pointing to their quay on the table as it was not on the menu.
One bite of this fritter and we immediately knew why the two men had ordered extra servings of the quay because it was really moreish – so fresh and crispy! Best when dunked into the pho broth. ??
Though the two men did not speak a word of English, they were very helpful to demonstrate to us how they would normally eat pho with all the different condiments provided on the table. Both the chilli sauce and fresh chilli slices were very potent but they gave the pho a nice fiery kick. Shiok.
Once done with the meal, head towards the counter by the entrance to make payment.
Overall, Pho 10 served up a decent pho but I was disappointed with the quality and texture of the beef. The pho bo from Pho Bac Hai was better than this although that place was just some random morning pho eatery. Also, the prices here were almost doubled and it wasn’t even difficult to find equally tasty pho from a roadside stall at half the price. Been here once and that’s probably enough.