from Korea: Pho in South Korea!

Hello there!

Here is yet another blog post....about FOOD! yay for yummy things!

Lately, I've been craving Phở (Vietnamese noodle soup; yes, that is how it is spelled in Vietnamese - accents and all). Pho is one of my ultimate favorite foods in the whole world and I live for amazing Pho. Being in South Korea means that I haven't had a good bowl of Pho for quite a long time and it was just about time that I went out and tried to find myself a good bowl of Vietnamese goodness. 

I found a restaurant called 'Hanoi Star' in the Sinchon area. It's a tiny restaurant on the 2nd floor of a narrow building in the middle of busy restaurant filled street. Me and my boyfriend saw the sign while we were walking one night and we decided to hit it up. 

I had heard previously from many of my Korean friends that Pho in Korea is very different from Pho back home. Apparently it is not as delicious and the broth tastes really different. However, I felt like I needed to try it and judge it for myself. 

When we walked in, the place was really clean and cute. There were little Vietnamese women figurines and a drawing of a Vietnamese woman on the wall. I think the restaurant did a good job of making the place "Vietnamese" themed, which is good because this can help the Koreans that come there feel the Vietnamese culture a little more. 

The table was set up a little similarly to Pho restaurants back home. They had the open chopstick and spoon holder and the two bottles of sauces. However, it did have a Korean touch with the small napkins and tea. They did not have the famous sriracha sauce, but I do believe that the hoisin sauce was authentic. 

The menu is quite straight forward. Pho is offered in a few different meat options (not given with the original Vietnamese names, but that's okay). There was also spring rolls and other Korean-Vietnamese styled foods (such as spicy noodles, sweet potato stick rolls, & buffalo wings)

One not so Vietnamese thing that came out to our table was the radish. Korean cuisine has a lot of radishes and we were brought a small dish of lemon and yellow radishes. Typically, pho would definitely not be served with these items. However, seeing that I am in South Korea, I guess the restaurant owner was just trying to appeal to the Korean taste palette. The lemon squeezer contraption was really cool though! (but I definitely prefer the original lime)

Here comes the main dish: the PHO! 

Honestly, the Pho was different. It was delicious and it satisfied the part of me that was dying for Pho, but it was not the Pho from home. I understand that the Korean owners need to appeal to the Korean taste palette and the Pho cannot taste exactly the same as the original because the owner was actually not even Vietnamese (we asked). I just wish that Korea had a place with more authentic tasting Pho. We decided to go to a non-chain Vietnamese restaurant because I thought that it would be different from what all my Korean friends had previously said, but it was not. I am not disappointed because it was delicious, but I can agree that it is different here. The presentation is different, the ingredients used are different (toppings wise), and the broth definitely tasted different. I once again, want to stress that the Pho wasn't bad - it was just different. Different is also a good thing.

Interestingly enough, the broth here tasted like vegetarian Pho broth. My family makes pretty good vegetarian Pho and this broth really reminded me of my family's vegetarian pho. Obviously my family's Pho broth is better hehe, but it had that similar taste. (it actually made me feel even better because it reminded me of my family) The amount of meat was a bit small, but that varies depending on the place you go anyways. Hanoi Star does have another good pro though, the price! Other chain Pho restaurants that I have seen were selling a bowl of Pho for 10,000~15,000 won, but this bowl of Pho was only 7,000 won! It was also a large bowl with a lot of broth and noodles so it definitely filled us up!

Would I eat Pho in South Korea again? Yes! Why not? It's not what I'm use to at home and it's not my number one love here, but when I want that little piece of home, this isn't a bad option. YAY!

from Jackie