Mam From Hanoi, the Vietnamese restaurant where to eat a good pho

How about a good Vietnamese restaurant like at home? Direction mắm from HanoÏ, this family restaurant in Paris 2e, which serves good egg rolls and good pho, accompanied by Vietnamese coffee.

There are days like that when we think we would like to have a good Vietnamese soup, you know those pho with rice noodles, with a fragrant broth cooked with love? So no, we are not going to depress because the weather is bad, we are going to enjoy ourselves! And then the pho in Vietnam, are eaten even when the weather is good because it is always hot. Besides, did you know that it is a popular soup, that we eat in the street from the breakfast?

When we want to go to a Vietnamese restaurant, we inevitably think of the 13th or Belleville, but fortunately, the rest of the capital also hides little treasures scattered around. This time, let's go to Mam from Hanoi at 39 rue de Cléry in the 2nd district of Paris to discover a small restaurant with a human size which serves us an authentic and traditional cuisine. Recently reopened after some necessary work, it welcomes us back to warm our hearts.

To begin, a little history. What is pho and what are its different types?Pho soup is a staple of Vietnamese cuisine, composed mainly of fresh rice noodles, broth and thinly sliced beef or chicken. It is usually eaten for breakfast, but can be enjoyed throughout the day. The spices used vary by region, but often include cardamom, anise, cinnamon and pepper, to name a few.

The origin of Pho soup is uncertain: some believe it originated in Nam Dinh, a city in northern Vietnam, while others believe it originated in the Vietnamese-French culture of the early 20th century. Whatever the case, it is certain that it originated in the north of the country before spreading to the center and the south.

Today, there are many variations of Pho soup, such as Phở Bắc (northern Pho soup), Phở Huế (central) and Phở Sài gòn (southern). Pho soup from the north is usually more salty, while that from the south is sweeter and accompanied by vegetables.

The secret of a delicious Pho soup lies in the preparation of the broth. The traditional broth is made from beef bones and spices such as cinnamon, anise, ginger and cardamom, but the exact recipe is often kept secret. Pho soup is particularly popular in Hanoi and so this is the one found at mắm from Hanoi. If the southern pho is characterized by a soup with a denser, sweeter, fattier broth and accompanied by herbs such as basil, onion and bean sprouts, the northern pho is more refined and clear.

In short, all this to tell you that if you are used to eating in the 13th and for you, the pho soup is necessarily denser, more colorful, sweeter with lots of herbs, it is not necessarily that they are off the mark but that like pizza in Italy, each region has its specificities.

Anyway, at mắm from Hanoi, we have a good northern pho, with good home-made broth cooked with marrow bones (which you can ask to taste for the fine connoisseurs), beef melting in the mouth (minced flank steak and flat side simmered), everything we need finally to have a good time . As a starter, we enjoy home-made egg rolls which have the particularity of being richly filled with stuffing with a thin but crispy rice sheet.

The menu:

There are also two other choices of pho soup: a ginger version and a Vietnamese bourguignon with lemongrass. Bo bun fans will also find something to enjoy, whether you are a beef or vegetarian.

Don't forget to accompany your delights with a good Vietnamese coffee, these filter coffees traditionally mixed with condensed milk, which make us go wild. We tested the softer and very good version with coconut milk which changes the habits. We finish with a homemade dessert or a Vietnamese affogato and we are well.