Established in 2014, “Pho Vietnam” - the first Vietnamese restaurant in Sri Lanka – has helped popularise Vietnamese cuisine to local people including pho (noodle soup served with beef or chicken), fresh spring rolls and fried spring rolls.
The restaurant owner, Phung Huyen Nga said although many Vietnamese and visitors to Vietnam like "banh mi", few people in Sri Lanka know about this popular Vietnamese street food.
Together with “banh mi”, Nga’s restaurant also started to offer popular Vietnamese street drinks - lemon tea and iced milk coffee.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Ho Thi Thanh Truc on this occasion commended Nga in particular and the Vietnamese community in Sri Lanka in general for their efforts to promote Vietnamese cuisine.
Four Vietnamese restaurants have opened in Sri Lanka so far. The restaurants usually coordinate with the embassy to hold cuisine promotional events on the occasion of Vietnam's national celebrations including Vietnamese “Pho” Day, Ho Chi Minh President’s birthday (May 19) or National Day (September 2).
On March 11, international food magazine Taste Atlas announced that its readers voted Vietnam's popular "banh mi" as the best sandwich in the world with a rating of 4.6 out of 5, along with Turkey's Tombik doner, a variety of kebabs.
