If Benjamin Doan has his way, he is going to put Sudbury on the map with his traditional Vietnamese soup bowls.
“Seattle is Starbucks headquarters. I want Sudbury to be where the best pho was discovered — my pho,” Doan said.
Doan opened the Pho Noodle House downtown on Larch Street less than one month ago.
Phở or pho (pronounced “fah”) is considered the national dish of Vietnam. A soup dish of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat, it is served at homes, and in street stalls and restaurants throughout Vietnam.
He first visited Sudbury to scope out the space in November 2019, pre-pandemic after coming to visit the area from Mississauga and falling in love with Sudbury.
“I came with my brother and found this building that had been abandoned four years ago. It was a pharmacy with doctor’s offices. I wanted to revitalize the space to make my vision a reality.”
As an immigration consultant, Doan’s role was always to bring international students to Sudbury as part of the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot Program.
So he married the two: a noodle house on the main floor and a living quarters for international students to live and work or go to school upstairs.
Now Doan and his wife, Tuyet Huynh, are running the noodle house with a staff of about 10 international students.
The students get a taste of home cooking while practising their soft skills and honing their English skills.
“They are interacting in their own culture and we are exposing them to Sudbury, too. It is the best of both worlds,” Doan said.
Doan said in a short timeframe, he is already blown away by the tremendous support from Sudbury patrons.
He said customers are loving his fresh salad rolls, especially the prawn and avocado rolls. They also enjoy the spring rolls loaded with a combination of pork and beef and black mushroom. These are a best seller along with the pho.
“I spent a decade researching how to make the best bowl of pho in Vietnam in my home city of Ho Chi Minh when I opened my first restaurant many years ago,” Doan said. “The bones, the broth — it is all about quality and taste for me,” Doan said.
Doan said pho is also the best remedy for long Sudbury winters as it soothes the soul and heats the body.
He’s even found a way to perfect the takeout of pho in a simplified way so it stays piping hot for home or on the road enjoyment.
Doan’s mind is always one-step ahead. He’s already thinking about the future in Sudbury and beyond. Perhaps Larch Street is the flagship store for New Sudbury and the South End or something bigger, he said.
The pho peddler dreams big, too, eyeing an expansion into Sault Ste. Marie or North Bay while keeping his eye on an even bigger prize: the nation’s capital in Ottawa.
Located at 81 Larch Street downtown, Pho Noodle House is open six days a week (closed Tuesday) from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
It’s also available on Skip the Dishes.
You can find Pho Noodle House on Facebook and on their website, PhoNoodleHouse.ca.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
