Phở Gia Truyền Bát Đàn

With only three options on the menu and a Michelin rating, you’d think ordering would be straightforward. My spouse, who is from Vietnam, felt the staff’s attitude suggested we should be grateful just to dine here. We even had to fetch the soup ourselves while the entire team stood watching — it felt like a scene straight out of Seinfeld’s ‘Soup Nazi.’ As for the pho, it was oily, heavy on ginger, and my palate tells me the broth was chicken-based. The noodles were fresh as always, and the vegetables leaned more toward Hanoi style, which wasn’t bad. Still, this visit confirmed that I’m firmly on Team Saigon when it comes to pho. Note on my rating scale: Sharing this for transparency, as I recognize that a 3-star review may be misinterpreted as reflecting a mediocre experience. 5 stars – Exceptional: Outstanding food, service, and/or overall experience. Truly worth going out of your way for. 4 stars – Very Good: Exceeds expectations in quality, service, or ambiance. 3 stars – Good: A solid experience that meets expectations. I consider any place with 3 stars or above worthy of a return visit. 2 stars – Disappointing: Falls short in food quality or service. 1 star – Poor: Not recommended.

Very nice local spot. Very affordable (about £3.40 total for what you see in the photo). We were shown exactly what each dish would consist of before ordering, and it was ready extremely quick. Hot bowls were carried to our table for us, and we were seated on our own away from locals (I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I assume they just think we'll be more comfortable on our own table, which is nice consideration for tourists in my opinion, regardless of if that's what we actually want). Food was tasty too, definitely worth checking out

Came with high expectations since they had Michelin accolades, high reviews online. Wasn’t crowded on a Thursday 6:30pm. Interesting the way they hung their brisket and flank steaks right to the counter at the front. Service was fast but disinterested. I got the #1 Tai Nam, rare steak and flank. Meat was not bad but a little chewy. Broth was not bad either, noodles portion big. Seating is combined with random people on the same long table. Overall not bad, but not amazing either.

Walked like 15 mins just to try Pho Gia Truyen Bat Dan since it’s a Michelin spot, so we really expected a lot. Tbh… it’s okay. The pho is definitely more flavorful than other places we’ve had, the broth is richer and you can tell it’s legit. But I don’t really get the hype 😅 Price is actually good though, especially for something Michelin-recognized. Maybe our expectations were just too high, but yeah, it’s good… just not mind-blowing for me.

As a Vietnamese, this is not an authentic Pho. the owner is very friendly for sure, but we need to take the broth into account. + Broth: Very sweet (likely adjusted to westerner’s taste) No smell of traditional spices at all, it tastes like a different type of soup ngl. Very bland and flavorless. (Can’t even taste the fish sauce flavor) Since the broth is the soul of Pho so this js ruined everything. + Beef: the beef was pretty good , i really enjoyed the tender cuts. This is a great thing about it. + Dough: better than Pho Thin’s dough for real. I really liked it. + In terms of prices and taste , cant compete with Pho Thin (the Nam Dinh style Pho) or Pho Ly Quoc Su (legendary orange pho) i hope that in my next visit the shop would improve the broth please, it was very disappointing. (Especially the price is not cheap at all)