Pho!

Sponsored Post in collaboration with Pho.

How do you fancy winning a trip to Vietnam?

London’s first Vietnamese street food restaurant Pho has launched a new website and to celebrate, the owners Stephen and Juliette Wall are giving away a holiday in Vietnam to two lucky customers.

Pho restaurants specialise in the national dish of Vietnam: pho – pronounced “fuh”. Stephen and Juliette got the inspiration to start Pho in London five years ago after travelling to Vietnam and being inspired by the culture and the cuisine. To thank all of their loyal customers, or pho-natics as they like to call them, they are giving away two flights and accommodation for a holiday in Ho Chi Minh, a city which inspired the couple to quit their jobs and open a Vietnamese restaurant.

For those not in the know, pho s Vietnam’s national dish. It’s their national obsession – often referred to as the “soul of the nation”. It’s quite simply a delicious and nutritious noodle soup dish eaten every day by the Vietnamese for breakfast, lunch or dinner – or sometimes for all. It’s the ultimate street food.

Pho began life in Hanoi – and while Vietnamese by birth was influenced by Chinese neighbours and the French colonists (pho sounds like feu, the French word for fire, as in pot-au-feu). As it travelled south pho developed subtle traits distinctive to the region – very much akin to Vietnamese cuisine as a whole. In the north pho is a more basic beef broth (pho bac) and there is little use of additional seasonings whereas in the south there’s a more pronounced use of herbs, greens and chillies.

Pho began to go global in the latter part of the 20th century, noticeably in France due to their colonial links and in North America where a large number of specialist “pho shops” were founded around the large Vietnamese expat communities.

Pho-natics can visit the new website and visit the competition page – with a click of the mouse they will be entered to win a holiday in Vietnam.