Why Do Phở Restaurant Names Usually Involve Numbers?
Pho 14 in Washington, DC. [Flickr: Mr. T in DC]
Once you get past the pronunciation of phở ("fuh" instead of "foe"), the next question might be, why the obsession with numbers? What does the delicious Vietnamese brothy soup (with rice noodles, bean sprouts, lime, heaps of cilantro, and usually some meat strips) have to do with numbers? This thread over on Reddit.com clears it up:
Oftentimes they're lucky numbers. "In some Asian cultures, eight is associated with wealth or prosperity. Repetition is considered desirable (Olympics started 8/8/08). Or to mark a date in Vietnamese history, or the owners' personal life." For example, Phở 67 could stand for 1967, the year the owner fled Vietnam during the war. The Phở 75s of the world are probably honoring 1975, the year Saigon fell.
Related
Phở Đuôi Bò (Vietnamese Noodle Soup with Oxtail)
How to Make Vietnamese Beef Broth, Part Two: The Phở-low Up
Phở Bo, An Unfussy Phở Recipe
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13 Comments:
More importantly, why do Thai restaurants always use puns in their name?
Monkey4Sale at 3:43PM on 11/22/09
Intersting! My Aunt, who immigrated from Vietnam in the 70s, told me that the numbers usually represent the shop number of a pho restaurant in Vietnam. She said in the capitol city of Vietnam, the pho shops were numbered. So back in the States a restaurant owner would make tribute to a famous or favorite Pho#__ restaurant from Vietnam in hopes to attract the older nostalgic Vietnamese generation or recreate the success the original restaurant had achieved. However, I'm sure the lucky numbers or significant year theories are also correct.
Christina N. at 4:50PM on 11/22/09
The lucky number thing might be more generically Asian than just Vietnamese. For example, there's the 99 Ranch supermarket chain, founded by an emigre from Taiwan.
Lorenzo at 9:31PM on 11/22/09
I live in Oklahoma City, which has a Vietnamese population and Vietnamese district (http://www.okcasiandistrict.com/) and probably a dozen Pho restaurants, only one with numbers in the name
FreshAmericanBison.com at 9:46PM on 11/22/09
I agree with @Christina N.'s aunt--it's the number of the shop in VN, which was usually based on the location of said shop.
sar_t at 9:51PM on 11/22/09
I've never seen a Pho restaurant with a numbered name here in Portland.
Yukiyummy at 11:22PM on 11/22/09
I have a student from Vietnam and she finally just 2 days ago told me that I am saying a bad word instead of what I thought was Pho Bo...she also told me it made her laugh every time I said it!!! Whooops. Students love it when teachers are dumbbutts.
PoorOldMama at 8:39AM on 11/23/09
Yeah, @Christina N's explanation seems more convincing, or at least more specific to Pho shops; lucky numbers are allover the place in Asia. I finally figured the Pho ## thing out when I was in HCMC and saw a Cafe 57 right next to a Cafe 59, and a Pho 29 next to a Pho 31, etc etc etc.
chanjying at 10:26AM on 11/23/09
I spent 3 weeks in Vietnam, and (I could be completely wrong), but it seemed to me that in the South, they pronounced it "foe" and in the North they pronounce it "fuh." It also tasted better in the South and the people were friendlier there, so I prefer to call it "foe." :)
kmbieker at 10:31AM on 11/23/09
14 really is bad number b/c it sounds like (sup sai) or you're gonna die. :/ so i think in this instance it may not make sense. but i can see if its like 3, 6, 8 or 9 that it would.
ohitslinda at 12:46PM on 11/23/09
My favorite Pho restaurant in Montreal is actually called... Pho Bang New York :-)
katerine rollet at 10:29AM on 11/24/09
i always thought they were the year they open... we have pho 99, 95
지방kogi at 1:44PM on 11/24/09
Interesting but not quite correct. Actually there’s no one fleeing the Vietnam war in 1967. Even after the Tet offensive in 1968, Viet people never fled. Not until the fall of Saigon in 1975. Pho 67 must have a different reason for this name. Here’s why pho restaurants have numbers in their names.
LovingPho at 2:42PM on 11/29/09