Pho [fuh] is Vietnam's national dish. It's their national obsession - often referred to as the "soul of the nation". It's quite simply a delicious and nutritious noodle soup dish eaten every day by the Vietnamese for breakfast, lunch or dinner - or sometimes for all. It's the ultimate street food.

Pho (in fact the vast majority of our menu) is really good for you. Just as in Vietnam our stocks are made from scratch and take many hours to prepare - it's this authentic preparation that's key to the stock retaining all its goodness and developing its subtle and distinctive taste. So it's extremely healthy, brimming with fresh ingredients and very low in fat. The perfect comfort food, hangover cure or cold remedy.

Pho began life in Hanoi - and while Vietnamese by birth was influenced by Chinese neighbours and the French colonists (pho sounds like feu, the French word for fire, as in pot-au-feu). As it travelled south pho developed subtle traits distinctive to the region - very much akin to Vietnamese cuisine as a whole. In the north pho is a more basic beef broth (pho bac) and there is little use of additional seasonings whereas in the south there's a more pronounced use of herbs, greens and chillies.

Which is best is a subject fiercely debated by the Vietnamese. We find them all delicious so we'll let you decide how you prefer it.

Pho began to go global in the latter part of the 20th century, noticeably in France due to their colonial links and in North America where a large number of specialist "pho shops" were founded around the large Vietnamese expat communities. In fact there's something of a pho revolution happening in North America as pho restaurants begin to multiply rapidly - there's probably 200 in California alone.

We believe we're the first restaurant in London to specialise in pho and Vietnamese street foods only (our first Pho restaurant opened in Clerkenwell in 2005) and just like the pho restaurants in Vietnam and North America we've kept it simple - a specialised menu using only the freshest, highest quality ingredients.