Diners fondly recall the "driverless pho" dish when eaten with cold rice.

"Just eating the broth of pho is happiness."

“Back then, just being able to eat a bowl of pho broth was a blessing,” said Ms. Thanh Hien (66 years old), her words filled with emotion as she lifted the veil of memories from a bygone era. Sharing her story with a Travellive reporter, Ms. Hien couldn't hide her emotion when talking about this special dish. She began her story with a warm, reminiscing voice, “Back then, in 1965, the subsidy system was very difficult. Noodles were sold without a driver, pho had no meat. Sometimes we had to ask for extra pho broth to pour over cold rice for our children to eat before school.”

That seemingly simple story is the very soul of pho served with leftover rice, a specialty found only on Nguyen Du Street (Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi). Here, each bowl of pho comes with a free bowl of leftover rice, something that both intrigues and touches diners. For Ms. Hien, pho with leftover rice is an unforgettable memory: "Back then, a bowl of pho was a luxury. Young people now enjoy pho with leftover rice, but it was very difficult in the past."

This pho restaurant retains the flavors of Hanoi from a bygone era.

Located at 36 Nguyen Du Street (Hai Ba Trung Ward, Hanoi), Thanh Beo Pho restaurant is one of the rare places in Hanoi that serves pho with free cold rice. A bowl of beef pho at the restaurant costs an average of 50,000 to 60,000 VND, with a clear, sweet broth and tender, flavorful meat. Alongside it is a bowl of cold rice served with the hot pho broth, enough to "awaken" the taste buds and memories of an entire generation.

The first branch of the restaurant is located on Tran Hung Dao Street, while the second is on Nguyen Du Street. Since opening, the restaurant has quickly attracted customers, not only because of its rich flavors, but also because of the way it preserves memories of difficult times, transforming scarcity into a unique feature found nowhere else. Because of this, the restaurant has piqued the curiosity of many young people with its "unusual way of eating": pho served with leftover rice, embodying the nostalgic spirit of Hanoi.

According to the owner, Mr. Hoang Minh Thanh, the idea of ​​serving leftover rice with pho originated from his childhood. He shared that he wanted to bring customers memories of Hanoi during the subsidy period. He wanted to preserve those memories and share them with diners today, as a tribute to the past. With its unique serving style and eating method, the restaurant has attracted many people who come to enjoy the food. They come to savor and experience the flavors of the past, a taste not easily found in restaurants today.

Hot pho served with cold rice is a delightful combination: the rice grains slowly expand, absorbing the sweetness of the broth, blended with the richness and the fragrant, sweet taste of fresh beef. This simple yet profound sensation transports diners back to old memories with each spoonful of pho.

If, in the past, leftover rice with pho broth was a way to stave off hunger during the subsidy era, today, that dish has become a unique feature in the heart of Hanoi. Pho with leftover rice allows many who lived through those years to slow down, returning to memories of hardship but also of warm human connection.

On Nguyen Du Street, each bowl of pho served with cold rice at Thanh Beo restaurant evokes memories of the subsidy era. The simple yet rich flavor, the combination of hot pho and cold rice, allows many to relive old memories in a familiar yet unique dish, simple yet warm and comforting. It's vivid proof that sometimes the best dishes are those that remind us of the most difficult times.

Text and photos: Hai Anh