Pho 91

Phở 91 does a pretty good Northern Vietnamese style Phở. It’s a nice refreshing change from heavy Dutch food.

I saw someone else put a disclaimer before their review so doing the same! Disclaimer: I’m from New York City and eat phở at least once a month in various neighborhoods. But even the New York City phở places don’t match the phở from this hole in the wall in Bridgeport, CT (where? I know… practically unheard of).
That being said, the phở is just ok for the price. It’s so far the best phở I’ve had in Amsterdam, but on the scale of phos I’ve had worldwide, it’s nowhere near as good as New York, Montréal, or Connecticut’s phos.
The broth is lacking a lot of depth and flavor to it. I really want to taste the various meats stewed for hours in my broth with tons of spices but I don’t taste all that. It’s pretty shallow in taste. The broth is THE most important part of phở. Without a solid base, the rest of the meal loses itself.
Also, when you have phở, you usually are served bean sprouts, basil, and jalapenos. There was basil but we had to ask for bean sprouts, which is a staple for phở. You drop in raw bean sprouts in the beginning of your meal, and throughout the meal, they soften and become a part of the dish.
The meat is of really good quality, and the noodles are good. It’s funny how many phở places can mess up simple noodles so they got that right.
I really liked their summer rolls. They make it like I do at home.
They overcharged us by accident. Good thing we read our bill!
I might go back to get my phở fix until I get back to New York but probably won’t go out of my way to go back. They really tried though!

I had my first bun ever in Paris, the European capital of Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian food. That encounter caused a coup de foudre. Who wouldn’t fall for this vermicelli rice noodle salad with cucumber, bean sprouts, pickled carrot and daikon, coriander, crushed peanuts, a sweet-​sour fish sauce dressing and spring rolls on top? Why wasn’t the whole world eating this fresh, light dish of multiple tastes? During my trip to Vietnam five years later I conquered one bun a day and was wondering why good Vietnamese was unavailable back home. Luckily the Amsterdam food scene has changed over the years and has some great Vietnamese options now. My favorite bun eatery and takeaway is Phở 91: vibrant, cool, international and welcoming. The cooks buy their ingredients at the market on their doorstep. Most of their tasty (organic) dishes are gluten, egg and dairy free. The signature dish is the uplifting beef-​noodle soup. The fried chicken wings drizzled with a caramelized sauce are winners. But please do ask yourself: ‘Did I have a bun today?’ If not, score one with pork spring rolls, fish cakes, beef, chicken or tofu.

DISCLAIMER: I’m from Los Angeles (and we have amazing phở, both northern and southern style). I moved to Amsterdam late September. It’s now November and I’m not used to this kind of cold. In fact, I’m still in denial about it! I haven’t had good noodles and broth for several weeks. This is the first time I’ve had phở in this city.
Phở 91 is a cute restaurant hidden behind the bustle of the Albert Cuypstraat street market. Décor is adorable, tables are neat, and the familiar scent of broth permeates the air. Wait times vary, but weekends can get packed (table for two on a Saturday took about 30 minutes).
I ordered the cha gio and phở bo. Cha gio (crispy fried spring rolls) was a great starter. I’ve yet to be disappointed by anything fried in this city (fingers crossed). Phở bo was a pleasant surprise. Broth was flavorful, though it would have been awesome to add more basil and bean sprouts to it. Beef was thinly sliced and tender, cooking gently in the piping hot broth. Noodles held firm as well.
It’s not cheap, but then again, dining out in Amsterdam can be an expensive experience. And I had to sternly remind myself to not wince at the price (especially since I pay less than half in LA). Despite the price, I know I’ll be coming back when I get phở cravings again. Maybe next time I’ll try bun instead of phở.

While going through Amsterdam we were hungry for a quick snack and remembered seeing Phở 91 come by a couple of times on Unilocal :) We decided to give it a try and really liked the place. I took the traditional iced coffee, which I really love, and we decided to share a traditional Phở.
It really tasted authentic and it brought back the memories from our trip to Vietnam!

Best Phở in Amsterdam! Quick friendly service and good atmosphere. This will now be one of my regular hang outs.

Lovely friendly staff, super sweet with our daughter. Amazing broth, I didn’t add any sauce to it which is very unusual.

I feel giving 5 stars is very generous for a Phở place… but being Phở in Europe, in Amsterdam, and actually being good, it warrants a 5. I can’t think of any complaints anyway. Everything ticked the boxes: Broth, greens, noodles, sauces, good summer rolls, vietnamese coffee, americano, lattes… all good. Also, the beef pieces were good. Nice and meaty, not all dinky like some cheapy Phở places.
I highly recommend this place for Phở (didn’t try the Bun… I will next time).
*I had a Flat White coffee. Wanted soy milk, but they don’t have. It was good with milk anyway.

Great spot for vietnamese food! Place looks awesome (mural done by Wall Dizzy).
Had the vegetarian tofu bun /​noodle salad.
Rich with flavor, generous portion and perfect spices!
Must try!

Phở is my favorite! No matter where i go i always wanna try the best Phở places. Living in Delft we had our favorite place ‘little V’ in the hague. So naturally when we moved to Amsterdam I had to find a good Phở place. And this was my first stop, because of all the great reviews.
But sadly my excitement faded away with each dish. We ordered their Vegetarian and Phở 91 special, broth was bland not enough flavor and there were hardly any bean sprouts or thai basil to be seen! I ordered their wings which were also a disappointment. I think the only good thing was their vegetarian summer rolls. Everything else needs a lot of improvement. Im still on my search for a Phở place i can be a regular at. Felt like a total waste of time. Oh well the search continues…

The phở here is a little over double the price compared to where I’m from (SF), but it’s definitely the best phở that I’ve had in Amsterdam so far (please take my money). The staff is great, and the décor is cute. AND they use Huy Fong (the Rooster) Sriracha sauce — the know their stuff. The place is small, so there’s always a bit of a wait, but it’s totally worth it on a cold/​rainy day.

Phở is an art form. Many things have to be done properly in order to achieve the perfect bowl of soup. I’ve had many different types of Phở over the years and it’s always interesting to experience the flavours created by different kitchens. Some get it right but many fail miserably.
When you walk in to Phở 91, the first thing you will notice is the rich aroma. Anyone who enjoys Phở soup can tell you that if it smells delicious, it probably tastes delicious; and it did. The broth was perfect and the mix of vegetables and noodles were exactly as they should be. I ordered the vegetarian soup and the tofu was crispy. It’s difficult to find a good bowl of vegetarian Phở soup, especially in Amsterdam, but this bowl was amazing.
I strongly recommend this place to any Phở soup lovers looking for a nice hot bowl of soup in Amsterdam.

I can always count on a truly authentic and comforting bowl of phở at Pho91. They really know what they’re doing here. The casual environment is also very welcoming — a great addition to my circuit of favorites im de Pijp!
Favorites here are the Phở Bo, Summer Roll and Chicken Wings. Bring friends so you can share the starters and still have room for dessert — homemade salted caramel ice cream. Zo lekker!
Giving up all my stars for Pho91. I’m sure you will too.

to be honest, after everything I had read about it online, I was expecting a lot more.
not only is it always super busy and fully booked, the phở didn’t surprise me. I had the banana fritters for desert and it wasn’t that special either.
but anyway, it’s a good change from all noodle and asian places in town!

This is a great looking place with nice fresh food. The staff are really friendly and attentive and the service is quick without feeling rushed.
Fantastic vegetarian selection on the menu. Although the food is fresh and wholesome, I though it could have packed a little more flavour and spice! I had the noodle soul, and it’s a great healthy portion, but I do love the spice to clear out my face a little! There is hot sauce available but it’s not quite the same.
I would come here again, the food is good, I’m just used to punchier flavour packed phở soups in the uk which is why it’s short a star. The place looks great too! Awesome illustrations on the walls.

Have to say I’m pretty impressed with Phở 91! We shared some appetizers which were tasty and made me want for more. Their signature Pho91 was delish, filled with meatballs, chicken and beef along with awesome broth. But honestly the best thing about the entire dinner was the Vietnamese style coffee. Now that was BOMB!
Overall it was a nice dining experience, the staff was friendly however the service was slow and needs improvement as the place was packed when we got there and the initial wait of 45 minutes turned into 1.5 hours… We didn’t give up though, had some beers in a neighboring bar and patiently waited. Would I wait that long again for Pho91? Probably not but I’ll definitely be back when it’s less crowded!

Cute restaurant and great service.
We ordered spring rolls and their combination phở (they call it the Phở 91, named after their store). The spring rolls were descent, too much vermicelli and not much anything else.
Phở. The phở. I’m from San Jose, California and lived in SoCal for a while. I’ve driven from San Diego to Westminster for phở. The portion is pretty small, about half the size of what I’m used to in CA. Presented super well though, with all ingredients (bean sprout, mint, onions, jalapeño) pre mixed in. The broth tasted like the canned stuff you get at Ranch 99.
Overall cute place, great service — phở… Err well their ice coffee was good :)

Another favourite from my Vietnamese food odyssey here in Amsterdam. This cute little restaurant is buried amongst the markets on the Albert Cuypstraat!
The décor inside is worth noting (it’s adorable) but even more noteworthy is the food.
When here, try the fried chicken. In fact, order two serves so you don’t need to share!
Now the phở, very different from anywhere else in Amsterdam and it comes in two flavours. One for carnivores and another for the vegans. Since it’s the first time I’ve ever come across a vega phở broth, this place gets all the props! And from my vegan friend, he rates it!
Definitely worth a visit!

This was the best phở I’ve had so far in Amsterdam, but it doesn’t come close to the phở I’m used to at home.
Plus marks for stocking Huy Fong sriracha!
The bowl of phở didn’t have enough varied meats in it for me (I love crazy stuff like tripe and tendon) and they don’t offer anything for adventurous eaters, and the soup was a little bland and really oily, for some reason.
I’ll be back though, since there isn’t anything else better.
The café sua da isn’t bad, though — that was pretty close to the mark.
¹⁰⁄₁₀ by Dutch standards, 6.5÷10 by my (admittedly very high) standards.
Good luck! I hope you guys do well.

Great vietnamese food in a cozy little restaurant on Albert Cuyp. It’s just opening up so they’re adjusting things as they go. Despite that the food is good. I especially liked the chicken wings. I also had the spring rolls with pork. I could have had more. The Phở is hearty and tasty. For my main course I had a noodle dish that I enjoyed. I also had a vietnamese beer. It was a good experience, not great but worth going back to later to try them again.