Why You Can't Try The McDonald's Pho Burger Everyone's Talking About

McDonald's opened its first store in Vietnam in February 2014, with Ho Chi Minh City claiming this coveted anchor position. Locals refer to this location as McDonald's Ben Thanh (via Vietnam Briefing). Today, McDonald's boasts 17 restaurants in the country (via CNBC), and like with its other global stores, the McDonald's menu is infused with flavors and favorites to cater to the local culture.  Most recently, McDonald's Vietnam shared that their customers can now order a new creation called the Pho Burger. This latest nod to culturally inspired food will round out a menu that includes a New Year Prosperity burger, a pork burger, and lots of rice and veggies as sides. According to Vietnam News, the Pho Burger was launched to celebrate Vietnam National Day 2020. 

But what is this new McDonald's Pho Burger and will anyone actually eat it? Pho is a popular soup made with bone beef broth and rice noodles in its simplest form. It hails from Northern Vietnam but is believed to have been heavily influenced by the French soup known as pot au feu as well as the Chinese whose noodles and spices are used in the dish (via Pho Fever). So how does a soup translate into a burger, and why can't you get this McDonald's Pho Burger in the United States?

The answer is simple: the new McDonald's Pho Burger was created specifically for the fast food chain's Vietnamese market. One review of this new sandwich was fairly positive. The Smart Local Vietnam described the burger as two beef patties with a trickling of pho broth-flavored sauce, a fried egg, topped with onions, cilantro, and basil – all of which would adorn a classic bowl of pho. And their review of the new menu item was exceptionally kind, complimenting the bun – which per Brand Eating is actually an English muffin – as fluffy and "mildly sweet". They described the egg as perfectly seasoned, and the reviewer also enjoyed the flavor of the pho sauce. However, the one critique they offered was that the sauce was sweet like Southern pho, and being from the North, he would have preferred something with a little less spice and "blander" to the taste buds.

Unfortunately, this new McDonald's Pho Burger has not been met with equal excitement and accolades from the internet. In fact, it caused quite a commotion on social media. One Twitter user wrote, "My colleagues tried the McDonald's phở thing, and judging by their universal disgust I will not. (It looks truly dreadful.)" While another offered, "@McDonalds They couldn't pay me to eat that abomination . . ." Still, if you're in Vietnam, it would be silly not to at least try it.