Hà Nội: Quán phở gà chấm vắng khách suốt 10 năm bỗng đông đúc náo nhiệt

When riding through Nhà Chung Street (Hoàn Kiếm, Hanoi), it’s hard to spot a very small alley: Alley number 40 – the entrance to Pho Mai restaurant.

This alley is about 1m wide, only suitable for a motorbike to pass. From the view of Nhà Chung Street, there are a few small signs at the entrance of Pho Mai and the coffee shop inside.

To reach Pho Mai restaurant, customers need to move in about 50m, turn left once, turn right twice, and pass through a small cafe. “The first time I went in, I felt like a maze, I was confused and didn’t know if I was on the right path, because if I went the wrong way, I couldn’t turn around,” Hạnh Nguyên (26 years old, Hanoi) shared her feelings when finding Pho Mai restaurant for the first time.

Hidden in the “maze-like alley” is the reason why Ms. Nguyễn Thị Mai (58 years old, the owner) calls her restaurant “hidden from customers”. Ms. Mai has 35 years of experience selling pho, opening her first pho restaurant in Đại Cồ Việt in 1988, then moving to Alley 40 Nhà Chung and settling here in 2015.

Recently, Pho Mai has been appearing frequently on Hanoi’s foodie groups, becoming one of the restaurants that young people and many tourists are interested in. The restaurant owns a “unique” dish called chicken pho, priced at 40,000 VND per serving.

The chicken pho uses large, rectangular cut noodles, about 3-4 cm wide. The noodles are white, not blanched like small noodles, so they have a slight chewy and soft texture without being mushy. The boiled chicken retains its shiny golden skin and fatty texture. The chicken is divided into parts for customers to choose from, such as the breast, thigh, wings, and drumsticks.

The components of the dish are evenly spread on a plate, along with coriander, shredded lime leaves, and scallions. The restaurant also serves a small bowl of dried bamboo shoot soup made from chicken broth and a small bowl of sweet and sour dipping sauce.

This dipping sauce is made according to Ms. Mai’s own recipe, using familiar ingredients such as gravy powder, lime, sugar, and chili… When enjoying it, customers can use a spoon and chopsticks as they like, picking up a piece of soft white noodle on the spoon, adding some herbs, chicken meat soaked in sauce, and slowly savoring the three flavors blending together.

“This dish is similar to mixed chicken pho, but the way I enjoy it, taking each piece one by one, is quite interesting. When eating the dipping sauce alone, I don’t feel any particular taste, but it is very suitable for dipping the chicken meat,” Ms. Minh Nguyệt (35 years old, Hanoi), a regular customer of the restaurant, shared.

According to Ms. Mai, the initial way of eating that she came up with was using hands to roll the vegetables and meat into the noodle, then dipping the sauce and enjoying. Then adding a piece of dried bamboo shoot soup will make it easier to swallow. But this way of eating is only suitable for takeaway and is quite similar to rolled pho, so Ms. Mai changed it, dividing each component separately on the plate.

The owner added that the idea of chicken pho came to her one day when she was sick. Reluctant to cook meticulous broth, simmer various bones… Ms. Mai sat down to tear the noodle, wrap the chicken meat, dip it in gravy powder, and eat. “I found the taste quite suitable, easy to make, easy to eat, so I added this dish to the menu,” Ms. Mai said.

Previously, chicken pho was only like an “add-on” to fill the menu. The main dishes of the restaurant were snail vermicelli, crab vermicelli, fish vermicelli… Even regular customers didn’t know the restaurant had this dish because few people ordered it.

For about a month now, chicken pho has suddenly become popular after nearly 20 years of sales at the old address. Everyone who visits the restaurant orders and curiously asks about this dish. From serving only regular customers who are residents in the neighborhood, Ms. Mai’s restaurant is now welcoming more new customers, including young people, tourists, and foreigners coming to enjoy chicken pho.

The restaurant is only about 30m2, with six dining tables, able to serve about 20 customers at the same time. It is open from 6:30 am to 2 pm and closed on Sundays, with peak hours attracting customers from 7-9 am and 12 pm.

Since the increase in customers, Ms. Mai has had to wake up earlier by about 2 hours to prepare the ingredients. The amount of chicken pho sold has increased by 2-3 times.

The owner shared: “I don’t know why after decades at this address, the recipes for vermicelli, pho have not changed, and now suddenly more people are aware of it. I also hope that more Western customers will come to the restaurant to learn about the interesting way of eating Hanoi pho.”