Soho Pho With a 24-Hour Beef Broth: Cây Tre Soho

If you are standing in the West End and searching for pho near me, Cây Tre Soho is the bowl with the longest London pedigree within easy walking distance. Cây Tre Soho, at 42-43 Dean Street, London W1D 4PZ, sits between Soho Square and the Shaftesbury Avenue theatres. Its beef broth is simmered for 24 hours with marrowbones and 18 herbs and spices, and the kitchen has served the same classic phở since the group's first day in 2003.

Cây Tre belongs to founder Hieu, whom the group calls the godfather of London's Vietnamese food movement. He was born in Hanoi, raised in Saigon and came to London as a student in 1999. Unable to find the cooking he grew up with, he opened the first Cây Tre on Old Street in Shoreditch in 2003, and that flagship still trades from the same spot. The Dean Street branch followed in 2011, bringing the Shoreditch broth into the middle of Soho. The family of restaurants now also includes Viet Grill on Kingsland Road and Kêu for bánh mì.

The Soho room gets busy partly because of its press. Time Out named Cây Tre the best Vietnamese restaurant in London in 2025, and Condé Nast Traveller included it in its 2026 guide to the city's top Vietnamese kitchens. That attention brings a mix of theatre-goers, office lunches from Soho Square and visitors walking up from Chinatown, so the dining room rarely feels quiet at the obvious meal times. The upside is turnover: pho is a fast dish, and tables clear quickly between sittings.

Start with the Original Phở (phở tái chín nạm, £20), rare steak and slow-braised brisket in the clear 24-hour beef broth. The Saigon Phở (£21) adds fatty flank for a richer bowl, while the Hanoi Garlicky Phở (£21) swaps the rare slices for wok-seared steak tossed with garlic, which gives the soup a toasty edge. The Special Large Combo Phở, called tô xe lửa or the train bowl, is £29.75 and loads in meatballs, tendon and tripe alongside the steak and brisket.

The chicken section uses a separate, lighter broth made from slow-simmered free-range chicken, served the Hanoi way. The Chicken Breast Phở is £18.75 and the Special Chicken Phở with breast, boneless thigh and drumstick is £23.50. Regional bowls include a Beef Brisket Stew Phở seasoned with lemongrass and cinnamon (£21.25), a Saigon Satay Phở in a spicy peanut broth (£20.75) and an Assorted Mushroom Phở with tofu and kai choy (£18.50), which has a vegetarian option.

Each bowl arrives with herbs such as saw-tooth coriander and Thai basil. The restaurant suggests two ways to finish it: add a little hoisin for a southern style, or keep it northern with just a splash of Cậu Vinh, the house chilli sauce. Taste the broth before you add anything, because the star anise and cinnamon are the point of a 24-hour stock. The kitchen sources Hereford sirloin and corn-fed, free-range chicken, and its meats are halal-friendly, which matters for a lot of groups choosing a central London noodle spot.

Two people can split small plates without overloading the table. Summer rolls with prawn or tofu are £9.50, and the Hanoi crispy crab parcel, nem cua, is £11.75. If you prefer a sharing dish to a starter, the Hanoi Platter (£44, built for two) brings crispy tofu, pork hock, chả cốm and blood sausage with rice vermicelli and fermented mắm tôm. The Soho menu also lists Hanoi-style bánh cuốn rice rolls at £13.50 or £20.25 depending on size. A discretionary 13% service charge is added to the bill.

If someone at the table wants a spicier soup, the bún bò Huế section is the alternative. It is described as a take on phở from the imperial city of Huế, with a slow-cooked bone broth infused with lemongrass, shrimp paste and chilli oil. The chicken version is £19.75 and the special bowl with beef, pork hock, cinnamon sausage and crab cakes is £23.50. For a group of two or more, the set menu at £48.50 per person includes a main from a short list that features both the Original beef pho and the Chicken breast pho, with seasonal greens, jasmine rice and ice cream.

Cây Tre says walk-ins are always welcome and that it will seat you as quickly as it can, but it advises booking at busy times, which on Dean Street means weekday lunch from about 12:30pm and the pre-theatre rush before evening curtain-up. Opening hours are 11am to 11pm Monday to Thursday, 11am to 11:30pm on Friday and Saturday, and 11am to 10pm on Sunday. An 11am arrival is the easiest way to get a window table and a fast bowl. Larger parties can arrange group bookings through the restaurant.

Tottenham Court Road station, on the Elizabeth, Central and Northern lines, is the closest Tube stop and is roughly a five-minute walk via Soho Square. Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus are both about ten minutes on foot, which makes Cây Tre a practical choice before a show on Shaftesbury Avenue. Dean Street is narrow and busy with delivery riders in the evening, so meet your group inside rather than on the pavement outside.

After lunch, walk north to Soho Square, where the mock-Tudor garden hut sits in the middle of the lawn and office workers eat on the benches. From there, Greek Street and Frith Street lead back south past old Soho pubs and cafés. If you want something sweet, cut down to Gerrard Street in Chinatown for egg tarts and bubble tea, then finish at Leicester Square or carry on to Covent Garden. The whole loop takes about half an hour at an easy pace.

Cây Tre Soho, 42-43 Dean Street, London W1D 4PZ. Opening hours: Monday to Thursday 11am to 11pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to 11:30pm, Sunday 11am to 10pm. Walk-ins are accepted, and booking is advised at peak times. Prices quoted come from the Soho à la carte menu published on caytrerestaurant.co.uk. Cây Tre also runs takeaway and Deliveroo delivery from this branch. The sister restaurant on Old Street in Shoreditch has its own hours and phone line.