Updated 08-04-10. Per a request from Barb Carter over at the “Tips on Ordering Pho” post, here are audio files to help with your pho ordering in Vietnamese language. The selection is based on a typical pho menu one may find at many Viet restaurants. So drop me a note in the comment if I missed anything and I’ll add it.

First a few words about convention. In Vietnamese, the word “tô” means “bowl.” When ordering a bowl of pho tai, for example, a Viet would call a “tô phở tái” or just “tô tái.” If you’re already in a pho restaurant, then saying “phở” is redundant and is really not necessary (but optionally okay.) If you’re in a Viet restaurant that also serves pho, then ordering a ”tô phở tái’ would be more appropriate to make it clear that you want pho and not another dish. So for those who find saying pho a little challenging, “tô” will solve your problem!

Note: The “t” in “tô” pronounces as a hard t like in French (e.g., Tour de France) or in Spanish (e.g., Latino,) and not like a soft t in English (i.e., tow truck.)

For pho bo or beef pho, as noted in “Tips on Ordering Pho,” the seemingly endless pho options on the menu are really permutation and combination of the available meat cuts and types that you can mix and match. The most common options are:

• bo chin (sliced well-done steak),
• bo tai (sliced rare steak),
• nam (flank),
• ve don (crunchy flank),
• gau (fatty brisket),
• gan (tendon),
• sach (tripe) and
• bo vien (beef meatballs, normally with tendon).

So without further ado, here is the audio pho menu. As always each has the Southern Viet accent followed by Northern Viet accent.

1. Pronounce: Tô Đặc Biệt Xe Lửa (pho dac biet xe lua) – special (combo) large
   size pho
2. Pronounce: Tô Đặc Biệt (pho dac biet) – special (combo) regular size pho
3. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Nạm, Gầu, Gân, Sách (pho Tai, Nam, Gau, Gan, Sach) -
   rare steak, flank, fatty brisket, tendon, tripe pho
4. Pronounce: Tô Chín, Nạm, Gầu, Gân, Sách (pho Chin, Nam, Gau, Gan, Sach)
   - well-done steak, flank, fatty brisket, tendon, tripe pho
5. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Chín, Gầu, Gân, Sách (pho Tai, Chin, Gau, Gan, Sach)
   - rare steak, well-done steak, fatty brisket, tendon, tripe pho
6. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Chín, Nạm, Gân, Sách (pho Tai, Chin, Nam, Gan, Sach)
   - rare steak, well-done steak, flank, tendon, tripe pho
7. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Nạm, Gân, Sách (pho Tai, Nam, Gan, Sach) – rare steak,
   flank, tendon, tripe pho
8. Pronounce: Tô Tái (pho Tai) – rare steak pho
9. Pronounce: Tô Chín (pho Chin) – well-done steak pho
10. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Chín (pho Tai, Chin) – rare steak, well-done steak pho
11. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Nạm, Gân (pho Tai, Nam, Gan) – rare steak, flank, tendon
    pho
12. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Nạm, Sách (pho Tai, Nam, Sach) – rare steak, flank,
    tripe pho
13. Pronounce: Tô Nạm, Vè Dòn (pho Nam, Ve Don) – flank, crunchy flank pho
14. Pronounce: Tô Chín, Nạm, Vè Dòn (pho Chin, Nam, Ve Don) – well-done steak,
    flank, crunchy flank pho
15. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Gầu (pho Tai, Gau) – rare steak, fatty brisket pho
16. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Nạm (pho Tai, Nam) – rare steak, flank pho
17. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Gân (pho Tai, Gan) – rare steak, tendon pho
18. Pronounce: Tô Tái, Sách (pho Tai, Sach) – rare steak, tripe pho
19. Pronounce: Tô Bò Viên (Southern)/Tô Phở Bò Viên (Northern) (pho with meatballs) – Viet meatball pho
20. Pronounce: Nước béo (fatty broth) – Southern/Northern similar

Pho Pronunciation – How to Order Pho in Vietnamese is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles