Vietnam-Famous Pho Thin 13 Opens In Singapore—Is The Pho As Good As They Say?

Pho Thin 13 has Vietnam-famous pho in Punggol

“It really looks a lot like you, huh?” I asked my Vietnamese teacher, referring to the legendary Mr Thin’s likeness on the signboard of Pho Thin 13 Lo Duc, which opened in Punggol Container Park late last year. Indeed, his silver, thin stubble and rounded, grandfatherly likeness immortalised on the signboard had many similarities with my jovial teacher.

“Oh definitely, but we Vietnamese know how good his pho is. I can’t cook pho as good as him!”

If you’ve ever visited Hanoi, there’s a really high chance that you’ll have heard of—or been to—Pho Thin 13, one of the most famous pho spots in the Vietnamese capital. Known for their Pho Tai Lan, AKA pho topped with stir-fried beef, this eatery has an almost ritual-like status, with many making the pilgrimage just to try the fabled dish. They were even covered by Mark Weins from Migrationology!

I finally had the chance to make the journey to try it—not to Hanoi, but at their Punggol outpost, where they’re franchised by a passionate Singaporean and his Vietnamese wife. From a foodie most interested in Vietnamese cuisine, here are my honest thoughts on how it went.

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Food at Pho Thin 13

Unlike the original location of Pho Thin 13 in Hanoi, which only sells its speciality pho, this Singaporean iteration offers a menu chock-full of a wide variety of Vietnamese dishes.

“Many Vietnamese in Singapore want a taste of home, not just our pho”, said the owner. “We also focus a lot on nightlife and drinking, hence we have many dishes that pair well with beer”.

Of course, we had to start with the Pho Thin Truyen Thong ($12.90++), or traditional Thin-style pho. As mentioned earlier, this unique style layers stir-fried beef and a heap of spring onions atop Northern-style pho.

For the uninitiated, the broth of Northern-style pho is much more clean-cut, clear, and light than their Southern counterparts—and it’s exactly what you get here. It was subtly spiced and wasn’t aggressive with its flavours.

It’s certainly lamentable that there aren’t more Northern-style pho joints in Singapore, owing partially to the fact that the Singaporean palate appreciates richer flavours in soup broths. However, I can attest to the fact that the broth here is rather authentic to the Hanoian style.

Let us then address the unique component of this style of pho—the stir-fried beef. Raw beef is usually served fresh in traditional pho, cooked quickly in the piping hot broth right before you. What if the beef has already been cooked before steeping it in the broth?

There’s no denying that the beef slices were extremely flavorful, with their smoky, stir-fried aroma, which slowly infused the broth. However, while they were meaty and succulent, we found them to be rather overcooked with a tough and rubbery texture, which got slightly tiring towards the mouthfeel—especially since it was the only type of meat in the bowl.

The overabundance of scallions lent a leafy dimension to the light broth, and I found the interplay of textures between the soft pho noodles and crisp green onions to be enjoyable. Holistically, this bowl of pho stayed true to its roots, but failed to truly blow me away.

You’d fare much better ordering the Pho Dac Biet ($14.90++), or special pho. This was simply the Pho Thin with a medley of different meaty toppings.

Alongside the stir-fried beef, this bowl comes with extremely tender and flavourfully marinated beef brisket, cubes of red wine-stewed beef, and flank meat, making for a rather enjoyable variety of textures and tastes.

Perhaps owing to the different marinades of the meats here, the broth also had a richer tone and depth, which Singaporeans might find much more suitable to their tastes.

Another quintessential Hanoian dish is the Bun Cha Ha Noi ($12.90++), which I was immediately drawn to after seeing it on the menu. Flame-grilled pork slices and meatballs are served in a fish sauce-based dipping broth, where you submerge the accompanying white rice noodles.

This was a convincingly tasty bun cha, with a super punchy broth (albeit leaning slightly saltier) and thick meatballs with a tinge of lemongrass. The meats were grilled well, which gave the pork belly slices that ever so sought-after fatty burst.

We also ordered the Bun Bo Hue ($13.90++)—spicy beef noodles in the Hue style that commonly rivals pho as Vietnam’s signature noodle dish. As a benchmark, many bun bo Hue offerings in Singapore fail the standard, marked by a lack of toppings and mediocre soup.

This was anything but. Extremely authentic flavours were packed in the broth, as if I found it on the streets of Saigon once again. There was also a great variety of toppings, including Vietnamese ham, meatballs, beef brisket, and pork trotter. One pain point was that the trotter was rather skimpy on meat, consisting mostly of bony parts.

This dish isn’t one commonly seen in Singapore, but the owner told me that he just added it to the menu at the request of the Vietnamese living here. It’s Bun Dau Mam Tom ($12.90++)—a platter of mixed meats, fried tofu, and rice noodles alongside the namesake fermented shrimp paste, or mam tom.

There’s a big reason for that fact: fermented shrimp paste is notorious for being repugnantly stinky. However, just like durian, if you look past the “aroma”, it makes for one of the best dipping sauces in Vietnamese cuisine.

You’ll find this dish almost everywhere in the streets of Vietnam, commonly enjoyed by the locals in a large sharing platter. However, Pho Thin 13’s version is portioned for one or for sharing as an appetiser. I’m told the reason is that this dish was tailored for Vietnamese wives who long for a taste of home.

I can wax lyrical all day about this dish, but I’ll comment on how it is presented here: the platter was rather small and with a limited variety, consisting of Vietnamese meatcake, fishcake, pork slices, fried tofu, and rice noodles. However, I felt that it was rather well-justified as a single-person portion.

Fermented shrimp paste is usually rather salty, but I felt that it was especially so here. The restaurant will provide sugar, lime, and chilli to stir in in the future, as traditionally served. Otherwise, this dish was rather authentic and enjoyable in my books.

If you’re not familiar, Vietnam is also known for fruit smoothies, and you’ll find some popular ones here: the Avocado Smoothie ($7.90++), Soursop Smoothie ($7.90++), and Snow Lime Smoothie ($6.90++). Although the soursop variant was rather light and lacked much flavour, the avocado was truly refreshing and rich.

Of course, you’ll find Vietnamese coffee here, with the Iced Vietnamese Coffee going for $5.90++. As the restaurant is only open from 5pm onwards, do make sure you’re not going to sleep early!

Ambience at Pho Thin 13

Pho Thin 13 Lo Duc is located in the breezy Punggol Container Park, with an open-air concept sitting right next to tall greenery and a mini playground with multiple swings. Seating is plentiful, and makes for an especially lively yet cosy spot for drinking with mates as it gets dark. There’s even a stage for live performances, with a schedule which you can check out on their Instagram page.

The eatery is a four-minute walk from Riviera LRT Station.

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It’s clear that Pho Thin 13 Lo Duc’s Singapore venture does not specialise solely on their pho, but rather diversifies its options to offer a comprehensive lineup of Vietnamese dishes. Although the pho here didn’t blow me away, I think each dish was tasty enough to paint an authentic and compelling picture of Vietnamese cuisine.

For a unique red rice crab noodle dish from North Vietnam, check out Bac Viet in Bedok. You can also discover a “Vietnamese omakase” at YenneY in Marina One.

Address: 50 Punggol East, #01-k32, Singapore 828826
Opening hours: Daily 5pm to 12am
Website
Pho Thin 13 Lo Duc is not a halal-certified eatery.

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Photos taken by Mordecai Lee and edited by Marcus Neo.
This was an independent review written by Mordecai Lee.