ブランド物語 · Brand Story
This dish holds all our love for Vietnam and the flavors carved deep into our hearts. We bring Vietnam's time-honored hospitality to Japan through traditional recipes.
2018 · Tokyo
In 2018, when we moved to Tokyo, we realized something: authentic Vietnamese restaurants were rare in Japan. On occasional business trips to North America we enjoyed great Vietnamese food on the spot — but in Japan there was almost no place worthy of the name.
As Vietnamese living in Japan, we could never forget the flavors we grew up with. Every time we ate out, we searched for the traditional Vietnamese dishes familiar to us since childhood. Above all, phở — the signature of Vietnamese cuisine, eaten at breakfast, lunch, or dinner — always lingered in our hearts.
Of course there were a few places selling phở in Tokyo. But most were "Japanese-style phở", far removed from the traditional Vietnamese bowl we knew.
Words of doubt
When we shared the idea, we heard the same three things again and again from friends, colleagues, and people in the industry:
「Phở just doesn't suit the Japanese palate.」
「Phở hasn't taken root in Japanese eating habits.」
「Starting a business with this dish would be very hard.」
Conviction
There were plenty of reasons why hardly anyone opens a real phở shop in Japan. But the founders — who grew up in Vietnam and traveled through many countries — still believed one simple thing:
"Traditional Vietnamese phở is a dish that transcends borders."
And so we told ourselves: "Then we ourselves should be the ones to do it."
Barrier · 生フォー麺
Making phở sounds simple but is anything but easy. Where to source ingredients rarely circulated in Japan? How much time and labor to recreate the traditional recipe? So many questions.
Above all, the most important ingredient is fresh phở noodles. In Vietnam phở is an everyday dish, so finding a maker of fresh noodles is easy. In Japan there is no such workshop. A circular logic:
"Because there is no fresh phở noodle maker, no one uses fresh phở noodles.
Because there is no demand for fresh phở noodles, even if you made them, they wouldn't sell."
2021 · Tsukiji
In that context, in 2021, we happened to meet someone willing to make fresh phở noodles for us. At the same time, a broth recipe reproducible in Japan was also complete. Perfect timing.
Right in the middle of COVID, we still decided to open 『ベト屋』 (Bet屋) in Tsukiji — Tokyo. Bet屋 is a Vietnamese eatery founded in Japan, devoted to recreating authentic flavors and serving guests with care.
こだわり · Attention to detail
Broth simmered for 14 hours, seasoning from vegetables, fresh phở noodles every day — three principles that close the story and open a real experience in every bowl.