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17 Fantastic Places for Pho Around Montreal

Beefy broths that will warm your soul

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There’s an art to this comforting Vietnamese rice noodle soup and the key is the clear, long-simmered broth. Usually made with as many knobby bits of chicken or beef as possible (as well as toasted and bruised ginger and shallots and often star anise), it’s strained before being ladled into your giant bowl of sweet-and-salty comfort.

Every restaurant has its own small differences and special touches, whether it’s chicken with lemon leaf pho at Pho MC Brossard, Triple AAA beef flank pho at La Belle Tonkinoise, duck pho at Au 14 Prince Arthur or tofu pho at Pho Rachel (take note: a lot of places serve “vegetarian” pho made with beef or chicken broth, but Pho Rachel’s is 100 percent vegetarian).

And while most will serve ample plates of fresh herbs, bean sprouts, lime wedges and chilli peppers alongside, some go a step further, like Ho Guom, which offers sawtooth herb and long and airy pastry fritters, just like in Hanoi.

There’s much more to Vietnamese food than just pho, so if you’re looking for other suggestions, check out another map over here.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

Pho Nam Quan

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You don’t come to this cosy basement in St-Michel for the view. The real draw is beef pho bo noodle soup with brisket, rare flank steak, chewy tendon, and tripe. The space is so small and the soup so aromatic, you’ll most likely smell like pho for the rest of the day, which is most definitely not a bad thing. 

Pho Duy Anh

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Beef pho bo on the terrasse of this BYOB St-Michel shop is a summertime treat that’ll have you sweating in a heartbeat. Come winter, the rich broth is an indoor welcome warmer, full of rare beef, meatballs, tripe, tendons, well-done flank, and brisket. Boiled chicken pho gà and grilled chicken pho gà round out the soup options.

Vien Dong

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This family-run restaurant in Laval serves a mix of Vietnamese, Thai, and Chinese specialties, but many just come for the pho, which include the classic rare beef, meatballs, tripe and flank as well as grilled chicken. Other soup options include long-simmered bun bo hue with beef and pork, tapioca udon noodles with pork and shrimp, and Vietnamese ramen with pork and seafood. 

Restaurant Ho Guom

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Ho Guom’s chicken pho (plain or with lemon leaf) will bring tears to the eyes of anyone recently returned from Hanoi in northern Vietnam. Dip a crunchy pastry fritter into it, add some bean sprouts and sawtooth herbs and order an avocado smoothie and your dinner will feel like the least expensive hop across the Pacific Ocean ever. Hot tip: visit with a friend on a Tuesday, when your second meal is 50 percent off.  

Phở Dzũng

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At $9 for a small, $10 for a large and $11 for an extra-large, there’s no reason to not get the most giant bowl of beef pho here possible and toss in all the fresh herbs and bean sprouts that your heart desires. Top it up with extra meat for $3, and add on a red bean icy drink to cool off and you’re still getting one of the best deals on a soul-satisfying bowl of pho any day of the week. 

La Belle Tonkinoise (multiple locations)

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Rarely does Triple AAA-certified beef figure prominently on a pho menu, but longstanding Vietnamese restaurant La Belle Tonkinoise and its newer, cooler offshoot, La Belle Tonki (over on Beaubien), are big on quality. The former serves lunch, while the roomier Belle Tonki has taken over dinner service, adding funky menu items inspired by traditional Vietnamese cuisine, such as poutine with braised beef, homemade meatballs, and pho gravy. Bonus: it has local beers from 4 Origines, kombucha, and fun cocktails like the Old Feng Shui with bourbon, five-spice syrup and Thai green chili bitters.

Pho Tay Ho

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This cash- and debit-only spot near Beaubien metro has long been the go-to pho destination in the area, serving a long-simmered broth ladled into giant bowls with heaps of onions, plus rice noodles, bean sprouts and herbs. Even better, it’s incredibly affordable. Don’t miss the Vietnamese coffee. 

Phở Thành Nam Quang

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The rare beef is a bloody treat at this pho spot tucked in a shopping mall near Côte-Vertu metro. It’s also some of the least expensive pho in the city, and comes with ample basil, mint and bean sprouts on the side whether you order your bowl with meatballs, tendon, tripe, or all-dressed. 

Pho Rachel

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Sometimes when a restaurant says it has vegetarian pho, it turns out to be vegetables in chicken or beef broth. That’s not the case at Pho Rachel, where “vegetarian” means no animal products, and there’s even tofu instead of just leaving out the beef or chicken. But meat-eaters are catered to as well, with beef and chicken versions, served piping hot with all the fixings.  

Au 14 Prince Arthur

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Au 14 might be the only Vietnamese restaurant in the city serving duck pho, featuring a meaty, sweet-and-savoury broth kicked up a level with star anise. Those looking for something more nutritionally balances can add seasonal veggies to the soup for $1.50. 

Pho Bang New York

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Communal tables and steamy soup make for an intimate experience at this Chinatown pho shop. The generous servings of meat in the broth make it tempting to share a giant bowl with a friend, but you’re going to want your own to slurp those noodles and tasty broth in peace.

Pho Real

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There’s no hint of MSG in the earthy beef broth from Pho Real, a welcome addition in downtown Montreal. Even better, the homemade meatballs and sliced beef are a cut above what you sometimes find at the least expensive pho shops — no pre-frozen hot pot meat here. 

Pho Lien (multiple locations)

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Arguably he best-known and most highly rated pho destination in Montreal, this restaurant near the Montreal Jewish Hospital draws diners with its giant bowls of noodles in a heavily spiced broth heady with fish sauce and sweet onions. Come for the raw beef version that usually gets to your table before the meat cooks through (as it should). The plates of herbs and bean sprouts are always fresh thanks to the high turnover. And if you don’t want to wait in the lunchtime line, there’s now a Pho Lien Express on Bishop Street, near Concordia University.

Pho Nguyen

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Quick and inexpensive, this soup is addictive. The basement location near Concordia University is perfect for when you want to keep your dinner date on the down low — or for when the only company you want is a huge bowl of chicken pho gà and a side of fresh rice paper rolls.

Doi Comptoir Vietnamien

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You can only find pho at this upstairs counter in the Faubourg on Mondays when beef pho is the $10 soup of the day. Rich with star anise and cinnamon, it’s worth setting a reminder in your calendar. If you come on a different day, the turmeric noodles with shrimp broth and the crab, shrimp and tomato soup are more-than-decent fallbacks. 

Tran Cantine

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St-Henri’s relatively young Vietnamese snack bar serves a chicken broth soup with rare beef, flank, chicken or bean curd. With a family connection to Pho Tay Ho near Beaubien metro, the place uses quality ingredients, meaning it won’t be the cheaper MSG-hit you might expect (and crave) — but it’ll still be delicious. 

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Saturday are pho the customers @the.pretty.feed

A post shared by Cantine (@trancantine) on

Pho MC Brossard

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You don’t come to this no-frills Vietnamese restaurant in Brossard for the ambiance — you come for the broth that makes you close your eyes and sink into a sort of soup-induced zen. Beyond the beefy variants, there’s a chicken and lemon leaf pho, a grilled shrimp and vegetable option, and a hard-to-find vermicelli soup with snails (bún ôc). This isn’t officially pho (because of the broth and seasonings), but fits in nicely among the other noodle soups. The restaurant is also known for its other Vietnamese specialties, including steamed, savoury spheres of turmeric-hued pork, and shrimp cakes. 

Pho Nam Quan

You don’t come to this cosy basement in St-Michel for the view. The real draw is beef pho bo noodle soup with brisket, rare flank steak, chewy tendon, and tripe. The space is so small and the soup so aromatic, you’ll most likely smell like pho for the rest of the day, which is most definitely not a bad thing. 

Pho Duy Anh

Beef pho bo on the terrasse of this BYOB St-Michel shop is a summertime treat that’ll have you sweating in a heartbeat. Come winter, the rich broth is an indoor welcome warmer, full of rare beef, meatballs, tripe, tendons, well-done flank, and brisket. Boiled chicken pho gà and grilled chicken pho gà round out the soup options.

Vien Dong

This family-run restaurant in Laval serves a mix of Vietnamese, Thai, and Chinese specialties, but many just come for the pho, which include the classic rare beef, meatballs, tripe and flank as well as grilled chicken. Other soup options include long-simmered bun bo hue with beef and pork, tapioca udon noodles with pork and shrimp, and Vietnamese ramen with pork and seafood. 

Restaurant Ho Guom

Ho Guom’s chicken pho (plain or with lemon leaf) will bring tears to the eyes of anyone recently returned from Hanoi in northern Vietnam. Dip a crunchy pastry fritter into it, add some bean sprouts and sawtooth herbs and order an avocado smoothie and your dinner will feel like the least expensive hop across the Pacific Ocean ever. Hot tip: visit with a friend on a Tuesday, when your second meal is 50 percent off.  

Phở Dzũng

At $9 for a small, $10 for a large and $11 for an extra-large, there’s no reason to not get the most giant bowl of beef pho here possible and toss in all the fresh herbs and bean sprouts that your heart desires. Top it up with extra meat for $3, and add on a red bean icy drink to cool off and you’re still getting one of the best deals on a soul-satisfying bowl of pho any day of the week. 

La Belle Tonkinoise (multiple locations)

Rarely does Triple AAA-certified beef figure prominently on a pho menu, but longstanding Vietnamese restaurant La Belle Tonkinoise and its newer, cooler offshoot, La Belle Tonki (over on Beaubien), are big on quality. The former serves lunch, while the roomier Belle Tonki has taken over dinner service, adding funky menu items inspired by traditional Vietnamese cuisine, such as poutine with braised beef, homemade meatballs, and pho gravy. Bonus: it has local beers from 4 Origines, kombucha, and fun cocktails like the Old Feng Shui with bourbon, five-spice syrup and Thai green chili bitters.

Pho Tay Ho

This cash- and debit-only spot near Beaubien metro has long been the go-to pho destination in the area, serving a long-simmered broth ladled into giant bowls with heaps of onions, plus rice noodles, bean sprouts and herbs. Even better, it’s incredibly affordable. Don’t miss the Vietnamese coffee. 

Phở Thành Nam Quang

The rare beef is a bloody treat at this pho spot tucked in a shopping mall near Côte-Vertu metro. It’s also some of the least expensive pho in the city, and comes with ample basil, mint and bean sprouts on the side whether you order your bowl with meatballs, tendon, tripe, or all-dressed. 

Pho Rachel

Sometimes when a restaurant says it has vegetarian pho, it turns out to be vegetables in chicken or beef broth. That’s not the case at Pho Rachel, where “vegetarian” means no animal products, and there’s even tofu instead of just leaving out the beef or chicken. But meat-eaters are catered to as well, with beef and chicken versions, served piping hot with all the fixings.  

Au 14 Prince Arthur

Au 14 might be the only Vietnamese restaurant in the city serving duck pho, featuring a meaty, sweet-and-savoury broth kicked up a level with star anise. Those looking for something more nutritionally balances can add seasonal veggies to the soup for $1.50. 

Pho Bang New York

Communal tables and steamy soup make for an intimate experience at this Chinatown pho shop. The generous servings of meat in the broth make it tempting to share a giant bowl with a friend, but you’re going to want your own to slurp those noodles and tasty broth in peace.

Pho Real

There’s no hint of MSG in the earthy beef broth from Pho Real, a welcome addition in downtown Montreal. Even better, the homemade meatballs and sliced beef are a cut above what you sometimes find at the least expensive pho shops — no pre-frozen hot pot meat here. 

Pho Lien (multiple locations)

Arguably he best-known and most highly rated pho destination in Montreal, this restaurant near the Montreal Jewish Hospital draws diners with its giant bowls of noodles in a heavily spiced broth heady with fish sauce and sweet onions. Come for the raw beef version that usually gets to your table before the meat cooks through (as it should). The plates of herbs and bean sprouts are always fresh thanks to the high turnover. And if you don’t want to wait in the lunchtime line, there’s now a Pho Lien Express on Bishop Street, near Concordia University.

Pho Nguyen

Quick and inexpensive, this soup is addictive. The basement location near Concordia University is perfect for when you want to keep your dinner date on the down low — or for when the only company you want is a huge bowl of chicken pho gà and a side of fresh rice paper rolls.

Doi Comptoir Vietnamien

You can only find pho at this upstairs counter in the Faubourg on Mondays when beef pho is the $10 soup of the day. Rich with star anise and cinnamon, it’s worth setting a reminder in your calendar. If you come on a different day, the turmeric noodles with shrimp broth and the crab, shrimp and tomato soup are more-than-decent fallbacks. 

Tran Cantine

St-Henri’s relatively young Vietnamese snack bar serves a chicken broth soup with rare beef, flank, chicken or bean curd. With a family connection to Pho Tay Ho near Beaubien metro, the place uses quality ingredients, meaning it won’t be the cheaper MSG-hit you might expect (and crave) — but it’ll still be delicious. 

View this post on Instagram

Saturday are pho the customers @the.pretty.feed

A post shared by Cantine (@trancantine) on

Pho MC Brossard

You don’t come to this no-frills Vietnamese restaurant in Brossard for the ambiance — you come for the broth that makes you close your eyes and sink into a sort of soup-induced zen. Beyond the beefy variants, there’s a chicken and lemon leaf pho, a grilled shrimp and vegetable option, and a hard-to-find vermicelli soup with snails (bún ôc). This isn’t officially pho (because of the broth and seasonings), but fits in nicely among the other noodle soups. The restaurant is also known for its other Vietnamese specialties, including steamed, savoury spheres of turmeric-hued pork, and shrimp cakes.