Phở & Bún

Phở & Bún – enjoy authentic Vietnamese food culture in Stockholm

Phở & Bún is located on Kornhamnstorg in Gamla Stan, overlooking Södermalm’s beautiful façades on the other side of the water. A vaulted tile roof frames the small room with simple light wooden tables and black cafe chairs.

“The premises’ size and atmosphere remind me of the restaurants in Hanoi,” sais Tan Le, operations manager. In spite of its size, the restaurant welcomes larger groups of 25 people and still has seats left in the bar and on the outdoor seating.

Above all, Phở & Bún serves Phở – a Vietnamese rice noodle soup that can be found in every street corner in Hanoi and is served day and night, both for breakfast and as night food. Tan got the idea for the restaurant when he was on parental leave with his son, after he had spent many years studying for a Master of Science and Engineering in Uppsala. Tan’s grandmother supported herself cooking Phở in Vietnam, and Tan himself made the dish every week. Turning the idea into reality was a fast process, and the first Phở & Bún opened its doors on Tegnérgatan 2014. The restaurant on Kornhamnstorg was opened in the beginning of the summer 2017.

It’s important to Tan that the Vietnamese noodle soup is authentic and genuinely cooked:

“The food should earn its name,” says Tan. “It should give Stockholm a piece of the Vietnamese food culture.”

The Vietnamese food carries a great historical legacy. During the time the country was a colony, the Vietnamese food received French influences. For example, the two cuisines meet in Bánh Mì, the Vietnamese baguette with ginger baked meat and pickled vegetables, and Bánh Xèo, a Vietnamese crepe. The reason you can eat Vietnamese food around the world today, is that two million Vietnamese fled the country after the end of the Vietnam war in 1975.

Phở is considered a national dish, and at Phở & Bún it’s served with flat rice noodles, bean sprouts, lime, herbs and tenderloin or corn chicken. First you should slurp the broth, then eat the noodles with the pins and finally slurp what’s left in the bowl.

In addition to the noodle soup, Phở & Bún also serves spring rolls made of crispy rice paper filled with vegetables and herbs. You should also try the fish dish Chả Cá Lã Vọng, with white fish, dill, spring onions, roasted peanuts, prawn pasta, rice noodles and grilled sesame rice paper. It’s a dish invented by the Doan family in Hanoi, and it became so popular that the street where the restaurant was located changed the name to Chả Cá Street.

The Vietnamese don’t really have any dessert traditions, except some pieces of fresh fruit. However, Phở & Bún has created its own desserts. Finish the meal with Kem Chiên, a cold pistachio ice cream in a hot fried shell of coconut and corn flakes. Or try the Vietnamese coffee: espresso with condensed milk and ice cubes, a perfect mix of bitter and sweet.