We came down here for breakfast this morning on the tip of our hotel's concierge, who told us that this shop (10 Lý Quốc Sư, 3825-7338) had some of the best phở in town. Yes, it was tasty, especially with those super thin yet fatty cuts of beef in there. But perhaps more importantly, it was interesting to see the differences between northern and southern style phở bò, the latter of which is of course the one that I'm more used to in Saigon as well as in the US.
The greasy quay fritters that commonly accompany the bowls up here were one obvious difference. But the northern style is also not overloaded with all of those fresh herbs and beansprouts like one usually gets with this stuff. The broth is lighter and clearer (contrary to what I had originally thought), and the garnishes include things like pickled garlic too. I wolfed this thing down in seconds; those little orange chilies packed some heat for added pleasure.
At this point, I'm not sure whether I like the northern or southern version better. Each has its own traits that make it good in its own right (like different styles of pizza, I suppose). But if we come back here again, I should go for the works next time. We saw them poaching raw eggs in some of the bowls and it looked interesting enough to try.
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