As the temperature drops, there is one noodle dish that many Aucklanders crave - Pho.
Pho is a fragrant noodle soup that originated in Vietnam and has become one of the most popular dishes in New Zealand.
Pronounced “fuh”, it usually consists of a flavourful broth that is derived from simmering beef bones with spices like cloves, star anise and cinnamon, and seasoned with fish sauce and sugar.
The broth - or soup as our Vietnamese friends often call it - is poured over thin rice noodles, and served topped with sliced meat, bean sprouts and a side of fresh herbs, lettuce and a lemon wedge.
There are regional differences, with Saigon’s version usually with more added flavours and eaten with hoisin sauce, and Hanoi eaten in its “pure” form without the sauces.
If you’re looking for the perfect bowl of Pho, here are three of my favourites.
It may seem a little bias towards the Hanoi-style ones, but my preference (which I know isn’t conventional) is to have them Hanoi-style pho still with the side Hoisin sauce and Siracha chilli dip.
Stone Pot Pho at Viki Vietnamese (Shop 503A Glenfield Mall, Glenfield Road, Glenfield)
Right at the top floor of Glenfield Mall is Viki Vietnamese restaurant, which on some days you can find packed with diners, and it comes alive.
This is because Viki is no ordinary Vietnamese restaurant - it serves up not just a range of authentic Vietnamese cuisine, but also unique Vietnamese dining experiences.
Tables and seats occupy the space outside the restaurant, giving it an al fresco feel. There, customers are served dishes including grill-at-the-table bun cha and one of my favourite dishes there - the stone pot pho
This stone pho, or pho tho da, is Hanoi-style and served that way to retain its heat throughout the meal.
Chefs at Viki make the broth from boiling beef bones for many hours, making it flavourful and robust.
Pho Tai Lan at Madam Yen ( 31 Clyde Road, Browns Bay, Auckland)
Not your usual pho, Pho Tai Lan is also a Hanoi-style beef noodle soup with thin slices of beef, wok-fried with lots of garlic in tallow beef fat, topping the bowl of pho instead of raw beef slices.
Cooking the beef in this manner adds a whole new level to a dish that is already full of flavour.
Tucked away in Browns Bay, Madam Yen is named after the passionate owner-chef Yen Le, who moved to New Zealand in 2019 after living in Russia for five years, where she also ran a restaurant with friends.
Seasoned with a blend of herbs, the broth is also made from simmering bones for hours, for Madam Yen's cornerstone dish.
To Xe Lam at Pho Yen (617 Dominion Road, Mt Eden)
Pho Yen has been around for many years, but as a market stall. So it is good to see it finally open as a proper sit-down restaurant serving its embellished beef pho selection.
On its simple one-page menu, there is a speciality section with To Xe Lam - a pho dish that comes topped with a combination of rare beef slices, cooked brisket and beef balls.
Owner-chef Julie Vu says she follows her mother’s recipe, where the aromatic broth for the noodles is simmered for 24-hours with beef bones to create a depth of flavour that is both comforting and exhilarating.
The soup base is then further enhanced with spices including cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, fennel seed and coriander seed.
Now, what I like about Pho Yen - unlike most other proudly Hanoian restaurants - the restaurant has hoisin sauce and Siracha chilli on the tables so you can have the option of eating your pho Saigon-style if you choose to.
Bun Bo Hue at Vie Cafe and Vietnamese Street Food (28 Shortland Street, Auckland Central)
Vie is an eatery that specialises neither in Hanoi or Saigon cuisine, but rather food from the central region of Hue. This is the home of Pho’s lesser-known cousin dish called Bún Bò Huế, a spicy Vietnamese noodle soup.
Like the pho, cooking this dish takes plenty of time and effort, but the result is a dish that is truly heartwarming and comforting.
The name of the dish means beef noodle soup from Hue, and Angela Nguyen, owner of Vie, says the dish at her eatery is made from the heart. I believe it, and seriously, I feel you can taste it.
If you want to have something with more kick to warm you up this winter, then I’d say the Bun Bo Hue at Vie is one to have.
Bun Rieu at Pho Pho Vietnamese Restaurant (16 Dunrobin Place, Pakuranga)
One of the best pho dishes to have at Pho Pho is not the traditional pho, but the Bun Rieu. It features thin rice noodles in a flavour-packed broth, with tomatoes, crab paste and fish sauce filled with meatballs made of shrimp, crab and prawns.
Bun Rieu is believed to have originated in the northern regions of Hanoi during the French colonial period, where the Vietnamese cooks adapted the traditional French tomato-based bouillabaisse soup and made it their own.
Here in Auckland, it’s not a dish you’d commonly find at Vietnamese restaurants, but among the handful of places where I’ve tried them, Pho Pho is still my go to.
BEE KOH: Bee is a co-founder of Chow Luck Club. She ran a restaurant and bar when she first moved to Auckland from Singapore, and first started posting about food on Chow Luck Club’s Facebook page before writing for chowluckclub.com. She loves her noodles.
