Gluten-Free Pho Steps From Borough Market: Pho Borough

Borough Market is one of the best places in London to graze, but it is a hard place to sit down with a hot bowl of soup. That is where Pho Borough comes in. Pho Borough, at 9 Southwark Street, London SE1 1RQ, sits a few steps from the market and opens from noon to 10pm every day. If you are searching for pho near me after a lap of the stalls, this is a reliable bowl at a fair price, with brisket pho at £13.95.

Pho is a UK restaurant group rather than a single shop, and its origin story is a holiday one. Stephen and Juliette Wall travelled to Vietnam, fell for the food, and in 2005 decided to open a restaurant while sitting on high stools in Ho Chi Minh City eating phở bò. Since then the group has grown to dozens of branches across the country. The company says every kitchen cooks fresh each day, nothing is frozen or pre-packaged, and its bone broths simmer for at least 12 hours.

The big draw for many regulars is the menu's dietary range. Pho says 98% of its menu is gluten free, and it is accredited by Coeliac UK, which is rare for a noodle restaurant. There are plenty of vegan dishes, including pho in a vegetable broth, and the menu marks calories on every item. For groups where one person is coeliac, another vegan and a third just wants beef, this makes ordering much simpler than at a traditional family-run noodle house.

The classic list starts with beef brisket pho (phở chín) at £13.95, slow-cooked brisket in the house broth. Thinly sliced steak (phở tái) is £14.25, and the Hanoi-style steak with garlic (phở tái lăn), flash-fried before it goes in the bowl, is £14.50. The beef combo with steak, brisket and meatballs is £15.25. Chicken pho with breast meat in chicken broth is £13.50, king prawn pho is £14.75, and both the tofu and button mushroom bowl and the three-mushroom bowl with enoki, shiitake and button mushrooms are £13.75.

Two bowls stand out on the specials list. Phở house, or phở đặc biệt, combines king prawns, chicken and garlic steak in beef broth for £15.95, and 25p from each one goes to the Christina Noble Children's Foundation in Vietnam. The brisket and mushroom bowl (phở bò nấm trúng) adds enoki, button mushrooms and a creamy egg yolk for £15.25. Evening diners can also order bún riêu, the Hà Nội crab noodle soup with tomato and crab broth, wafer-thin steak and tofu, at £14.95.

If you want heat, the Huế section serves bún bò Huế, a hot and spicy beef brisket soup with chilli shrimp paste, for £14.50. A chicken version is £13.95 and king prawn is £15.25. For the table, crispy baby squid with a salt, pepper and lime dip is £8.95, as are the seasoned chicken wings with sriracha. Summer rolls start at £7.50 for the veggie version. Extra toppings such as tofu, mange tout or a creamy egg yolk cost £1.50, while extra steak, brisket, meatballs or king prawns are £2.50.

Not everyone wants a big bowl of broth at lunch, and the menu covers that. Phở xào uses the same flat rice noodles, wok-fried with lemongrass, chilli and Asian greens and served with peanuts and nước chấm: chicken is £13.50, beef £13.95, and tofu and mushroom £13.25. Rice bowls come topped with wok-fried Chinese leaf, radish, cucumber, pickles, herbs and peanuts, with chargrilled chicken thigh at £13.95, tofu and veg at £13.50 and a three-meat combo at £15.50. Broken rice can be swapped for cauliflower rice for £1, a small detail that again makes Pho easy for mixed groups to agree on.

Every pho comes with a side plate of fresh herbs, and the menu calls these, with the table condiments, an essential part of eating it. Taste the broth first, then add Thai basil, beansprouts, lime and fresh chilli to taste. Hoisin and sriracha sit on the table. Use them in a small dish for dipping meat rather than squeezing them into the broth, which keeps the soup clear. The menu also reminds first-timers that phở is pronounced fuh.

Pho Borough is open Monday to Sunday from 12pm to 10pm. The group says it keeps some tables back for walk-ins, and if the online booking system shows nothing at your time, it suggests turning up anyway and it will try to seat you quickly. Saturday lunch, when Borough Market is at its busiest, is the time to book. Students can get 25% off food with the Just Pho Students offer, and the branch also runs delivery and click and collect.

London Bridge station, served by the Jubilee and Northern lines and National Rail, is about a five-minute walk east along Borough High Street. Borough station on the Northern line is a similar distance to the south. From Bankside and Tate Modern, walking east along Southwark Street brings you straight to the door in about 15 minutes.

Start with a slow loop of Borough Market, where you can pick up cheese, coffee beans or pastries to take home. Southwark Cathedral sits right beside the market, and its quiet churchyard is a good place to rest. From there, follow the Thames Path west under Southwark Bridge to the Globe and Tate Modern, or cross London Bridge for views of Tower Bridge. On a cold afternoon, finish the walk back at Southwark Street with a bowl of pho. If you shopped at the market first, a window seat makes a good spot to sort your bags. The steak pho is also a good restorative after a long walk along the river, as it is lighter than the combo bowl.

Pho Borough, 9 Southwark Street, London SE1 1RQ. Opening hours: Monday to Sunday 12pm to 10pm. Walk-ins welcome, with online booking on phocafe.co.uk. Prices are from the June 2026 main menu published by Pho, and allergen and nutrition guides are online too.