Pho is All Around Me – Tips for Zurich

Pho soup is a wonderful dish, full of flavor and tickeling your taste buds as it is very umami. I can never get enough of it. As I have never been to Vietnam, I can’t judge if a Pho soup is authentic, but I know what tastes good. Luckily, we now have a few restaurants in Zurich that serve Vietnamese dishes. Zurich offers a great variety of cuisines. However, in my opinion there is room for improvement when it comes to Asian cuisines. Many restaurants follow a “pan-Asian” approach and have only the most well-known and popular dishes from each country. This probably makes sense from an economic point of view, but it would be interesting to get to know more different dishes from each cuisine. Anyway, I believe to have identified a few restaurants that have very good Pho and I’d like to share my knowledge with you. 🙂

Viet-Thai Restaurant

As the name indicates, this restaurant offers Vietnamese and Thai dishes. It’s usually my go to place in the evenings, since it is so centrally located (10min by feet from the main station) and close to many bars. I like it for three reasons: the food is delicious, value for money is excellent and the service couldn’t be better or friendlier.

The place itself is a former tavern, but they redecorated it nicely, it is not stylish and not crowded by hipsters. The food is always to the point, the broth for the Pho soup is very tasty and the beef very tender. If you’re looking for an inexpensive, unpretentious, and tasty dinner, this place is for you.

Viet-Thai Restaurant
Kanonengasse 31, 8004 Zurich
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 11am-2pm and 5.30-10.30pm, Sat 5.30-10.30pm, Sundays closed.

Pho50 Restaurant

This restaurant is closely located to Albisriederplatz and was opened two years ago. Their menu mainly features Vietnamese dishes. During lunch time they have a buffet option but also serve à la carte dishes. The broth for the Pho soup is hearty and spicey and the beef is tender, but not as tender as in the Viet-Thai restaurant. It is my go to place if I have to run errands in that area. I haven’t visited it for dinner yet. The waitresses are very friendly and service is fast.

Pho50 Restaurant
Zypressenstrasse 50, 8004 Zurich
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 9.30am-11pm, Sat-Sun 4-11pm

Saigon Restaurant

The restaurant Saigon is just opposite the casino in Zurich and they have a sister restaurant at Schmiede Wiedikon, called Chez Nhan but I haven’t been there yet. They have Thai and Vietnamese dishes on their menu. During lunch time they also offer a buffet option, but serve à la carte dishes as well. The brothh of the Pho soup is just as good as the places mentioned above, however the beef is a bit less tender. A pro is the central location (it is closest to my workplace) and during summer, I love their salad, called Goi Saigon:

The Vietnamese might eat Pho for breakfast and during 90° Fahrenheit, but I just can’t. So during the few very hot days in Zurich, when I crave something umami, I get the Goi Salad with Beef at the Saigon restaurant.

Saigon Restaurant
Sihlstrasse 97, 8001 Zurich
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-11pm, Sat 11am-11pm, Sundays closed.

Lily’s Restaurant

Lily has been around in Zurich for many years. Their original restaurant is at Langstrasse and they have recently opened another location at Lochergut (called Lily’s Factory). They have always had a pan-Asian menu with a focus on Thai dishes, but also offering Japanese, Indian and Vietnamese. As I had lunch there recently and discovered that they also have Pho soup on their menu I decided to give it a try. A hint should have been that the waitress didn’t even know how to pronounce it. Anyway, the food came fast (which is much appreciated during lunch) and the presentation of the soup was exceptional: They brought a bowl with the noodles and raw meat in it and then poured the broth over it from a teapot, but they didn’t bring it with the typical plate with herbs, soy sprouts and – most important for me – Hoisin and Chili sauce.

 When I asked for Hoisin sauce the waitress again didn’t understand me, then asked her manager and he told me that they don’t serve the sauces with it and explained to me that they serve the soup “Lily’s style”. Aha. Well, I had hoped for the “Vietnamese style”. The real surprise came when I started eating the soup: It was completely oversalted. I told the manager and his reaction was examplary: He offered me to choose another dish and then also gave me my iced tea for free. After he had taken my soup away, he came back, said they had tried it in the kitchen and it was indeed oversalted. With my feedback, they could save other guests from it. I appreciated his feedback, but was quietly wondering if the chef hadn’t tried the soup when preparig it. However, the reaction of the manager was examplary and I wish every restaurant would have this kind of customer service. I still recommend to go to Lily’s restaurant, but stay with the Thai dishes; their Pad Thai for example is delicious:

Lily’s Restaurant
Langstrasse 197, 8005 Zurich // Sihlfeldstrasse 58, 8003 Zurich
Opening Hours: Mon-Thurs 11am-midnight, Fri-Sat 11am-1am, Sun noon-10.30pm // Mon-Sun 11am-midnight

All restaurants mentioned do not use glutamate, which I appreciate and all Pho soups cost CHF 20-23 (depending if you choose chicken, beef or vegetarian).

What are your experiences with Vietnamese food in Zurich? Do you have other recommendations?