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

Having passed by the Pho Hoa several times since moving to Berkeley I decided it was time to sample the goods. Before going in I didn’t realize that there even was such thing as a Pho franchise…? Really? Check out Cuong’s post about the franchise here.

Since I always know what I want, Pho Tai, the only thing that varies is the size and whether or not I want some eggrolls to accompany it, this time just a small Pho Tai. I rarely even look at the menu because of this. I suppose I ought to start giving it a once over just to get a better feeling of the joint, and perhaps get a little more adventurous and throw in another meat here and there such as some brisket or meat balls. 

Anyway the place is very clean right in the middle of downtown Berkeley, run by Vietnamese with plenty of Vietnamese patrons so I figure it must be pretty good. When my bowl arrived the first thing I noticed was the logo of Pho Hoa imprinted inside the bowl, that’s odd I thought, never seen that before…I wonder is this place a chain..sure enough…who would of thought?

After figuring this out my quality radar went on high, and I was pleasantly surprised. The Pho was quite good, and one of the better richer tasting broths I have had in a while. Plenty of meat for a small Pho which was nice as sometimes you get skimped on the smalls. Fast and friendly service, fresh quality all around, overall a great bowl of Pho. Only complaint I have is the garnishes were a little on the small side for 2 people, and the price was a little higher than normal. I would have no problem going to any Pho Hoa franchise to settle the craving, however I probably wouldn’t seek one out specifically, I prefer the smaller mom and pop establishments.

* No points for expected garnishes of sprouts, Thai basil, lime and chiles.

Pho Hoa
2272 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley CA, 94704
(510) 540-9228

Pho Hoa: Berkeley is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles

Having just moved to the Berkeley Area I was eager to get my first Pho fix. There is Vietnamese food on every other corner around here, although many of them don’t have Pho, or if they do it’s not what they are known for.  So I fired up Yelp and looked for a place nearby that had Pho in the name and decent reviews, I found a place up in Richmond on the infamous San Pablo Ave, Pho Hoa Thai.

A bit of a rough area I approached this place with a little caution not wanting to draw too much attention to myself; however being a 6’4” long haired bearded white guy it is hard not to stick out like a sore thumb.  My wife and I strolled in on a Sunday afternoon, I expected it would be crowded but there were only about 3 other parties in there, uh-oh I thought that’s not a good sign, but oh well we were here and there was no turning back at this  point.

Once we were inside it was all standard Pho style restaurant, a little dingy and funky, but that adds to the charm right? We both ordered the Pho Tai, and usually I get a small as does the wife, occasionally she will order the large like she did this time, and being in a new place with some tough looking wait staff I couldn’t dare order the small if she was ordering the large, so 2 large Pho Tai’s please.

OMG, that is the biggest bowl of Pho I have ever seen! The garnishes were plentiful and possibly the freshest I’ve seen, I usually don’t add the sprouts as they don’t always seem to be crisp and clean, these however almost looked fake they were so fresh. Everything tasted great the only thing was something was a bit off with the noodles themselves, couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but they just didn’t taste quite right, maybe they were just a different style than I’m used to, or maybe they were overcooked, not really sure.

Anyway all in all a pretty good place for Pho, and with a lot of the Vietnamese places in the Bay Area they also serve a selection of Thai cuisine, hence their name Pho Hoa Thai, not sure why they do. I probably won’t make a special trip to go back to this place, but if I’m in the area and need a Pho fix I’d have no problem to go again.

• Pho noodle: (2/5)
• Soup stock: (4/5)
• Meats: (3/5)
• Garnishes* freshness: (5/5)
• Price: Baseline ($6-7), no extra points or deductions
• Extra Points: 0
• Total Points: 14

* No points for expected garnishes of sprouts, Thai basil, lime and chiles.

Pho Hoa Thai
12860 San Pablo Ave.
Richmond CA, 94805
(510) 235-1223

Pho Hoa Thai: Bay Area Pho is a post from: Vietnamese Pho Noodles