'Golmok Sikdang' Baek Jong-won points out cost limits, saying "It's difficult to replicate Vietnamese broth flavor in Korean rice noodle shops"

Photo by SBS, screenshot from the broadcast of 'Golmok Sikdang'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] Baek Jong-won evaluated the pho at a Vietnamese pho restaurant in Deungchon-dong.

On the 10th, Baek Jong-won visited the Vietnamese pho restaurant in Deungchon-dong and tasted the pho on SBS's 'Baek Jong-won's Alley Restaurant.'

In the broadcast, Baek Jong-won explained the reason pho is famous in Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand as "The climate is warm, so rice is harvested multiple times. Since rice farming is successful, noodles are made from rice. That's why there are many pho dishes."

That day, after tasting the broth, Baek Jong-won started eating the pho with plenty of cilantro.

He poured chili sauce over pickled onions and explained, "You don't usually eat pickled onions like this, right? This is American style."

He added, "By the way, I briefly ran a pho restaurant in the United States."

Regarding the food, Baek Jong-won said, "I should tell you something good, but I can't. It's delicious pho. Not delicious Vietnamese pho, just pho."

He continued, "I expected a broth full of meat aroma, but it tastes like instant food from a buffet restaurant. Even in Vietnamese pho restaurants in the U.S., they fill two-thirds of the pot with meat and offal to make the broth," he criticized.

He added, "I'm really a bad guy. The taste of beef broth in a 7,000 won Vietnamese pho has clear limits. There must be cost limitations."

He speculated that the broth, which should be rich with meat flavor, contains more broth than meat and likely uses a lot of bones.

Baek Jong-won explained, "The milky broth from long boiling is made from bones. It has a savory taste different from Vietnamese pho broth."

He continued, "(The owner) seems to have studied a lot," and said, "If you use a lot of meat, you can definitely make it tasty. I think it would be good to raise the price and make authentic Vietnamese pho in terms of quality. Existing regular customers might curse me, but I think that would be better."

The owner confessed, "The current price is the same as when we opened three years ago. The cost of raw materials has increased over three years, but raising prices is not easy. I was worried that customers might stop coming if we raised the price."