Vietnam's first pho museum to open in Ho Chi Minh City

Le Nhat Thanh, founder and director of the museum, said it is in the final stages of preparation and will open at the start of 2026, coinciding with the peak tourist season.

Located at 211 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, the museum covers about 800 square meters across three floors and is near tourist spots like Bui Vien and Ben Thanh Market. Visitors can take a 60-minute guided tour combining exhibits, entertainment, and food.

The tour begins on the third floor with a 10-minute film about the history of pho across Vietnam’s north, central, and south regions. It also highlights Vietnamese culture, landscapes, and daily life over the past century.

Visitors can explore 209 restored artifacts, including ceramic bowls from Bat Trang Village or Hoi An Ancient Town, along with cooking tools and photographs. A highlight is a street cart by artisans from Van Cu, a village famous for pho, reminiscent of early 20th-century Hanoi.

The third floor features games that teach visitors about pho ingredients and recipes, illustrating why pho is considered an intangible cultural heritage. The exhibits rotate every 2 to 3 months. The first theme focuses on wet-rice cultivation.

The second floor shows artisans making pho by hand, from steaming rice sheets to preparing ingredients, with screens projecting Vietnamese landscapes like Ha Long Bay and the tea hills of northwest Vietnam.

The ground floor offers souvenirs and specialties. The tour ends with a signature bowl of pho for each visitor.

Le Nhat Thanh, founder of Pho Museum. Photo by VnExpress/Le Nam

The tour costs VND750,000 ($28) for adults and VND500,000 ($19) for children, including the guided tour, a souvenir, and a bowl of pho.

Visitors can also order pho separately, starting at VND125,000 ($4.75) per bowl. The museum’s signature pho costs VND260,000 ($10).

Pho at the museum blends broths from all three regions, adjusted to southern tastes. Noodles come from the Nguyen Binh workshop in Thu Duc Ward, and the beef is raised in Ba Vi of Hanoi using Japanese-style farming techniques.

Thanh said the idea came from visiting the ramen museum in Yokohama, Japan, where ramen is presented in an engaging way. He believes pho is as famous as ramen and has been named one of the world’s best noodle dishes, yet it has lacked a space to showcase its history and culture.

"The Pho Museum is created to share the story of Vietnamese pho with the world", he said.