The noodle soup is typically associated with the capital city, as the late Vietnamese writer Thach Lam made clear in one of his works in the 1930s on local cuisine:
"Pho is a specialty of Hanoi. You can taste it in other places. But the pho is better in Hanoi than anywhere else."
Visit the capital, especially in the early morning, and you're likely to see people queuing up and sitting on plastic stools at street stalls for a hot bowl of pho.
Pho has a lot of variations, including that in southern style and Nam Dinh style. Among which, Hanoian style is the top choice that Hanoians go for: a simple soup that has a deep, rich, meaty and lightly spiced flavour, with a subtle hint of sweetness.
What can be said about phở when everything from the beef to the broth and noodles has been discussed in god knows how many articles. Recently, CNN ranked pho bo (beef noodle soup) as the 28th best food in the world.
It’s not going too far to say that pho was, is and always will be a symbol, not just a dish, for Vietnamese people./.
