Food
Phở, bánh mì, bún chả, regional cuisines, street-food etiquette.
43 articles in this section. Most stand on their own.
Alcohol in Vietnam — bia hơi, rượu, beer, and the etiquette
Bia hơi street culture, the major Vietnamese beers (Saigon, Hanoi, 333, Tiger), rượu cần ethnic rice spirits, plus the toasting and refusing etiquette.
Vietnamese breakfast — region by region
Phở in the north, bánh mì in the south, bún bò Huế in the central, plus the lesser-known regional breakfasts (xôi xéo, bún riêu, hủ tiếu, mì Quảng).
Cooking classes in Vietnam — tourist guide
Hoi An (the classics), Hanoi (Old Quarter food tours), HCMC fine-dining classes — the cooking class landscape compared.
Dietary restriction guides by Vietnamese city
Vegan in Hoi An, gluten-free in HCMC, halal in Hanoi — the city-by-city dietary restriction map.
Vietnamese festive foods — Tết, Mid-Autumn, full-moon
Bánh chưng and bánh tét at Tết, bánh trung thu at Mid-Autumn, vegetarian feasts at Vu Lan. The festival foods every Vietnamese family makes and serves.
Regional specialty plates by Vietnamese province
Beyond the national dishes — what each Vietnamese province is actually known for at the dinner table.
How spicy is Vietnamese food, region by region
Northern food is mild. Central food (Huế especially) is genuinely hot. Southern food sits in the middle but uses chillies as condiment. The honest regional spice map.
Vietnamese seafood — what to order, what to skip, by city
Phú Quốc, Côn Đảo, Đà Nẵng, Nha Trang, Vũng Tàu — the cities where seafood is at its best, what to order, and where the tourist-trap pricing happens.
Street-food hygiene rules — how to choose where to eat
Vietnamese street food is mostly safer than its reputation. The rules for picking a stall: turnover, ice, plates, hands, fresh ingredients on display.
Vietnamese tea — beyond trà đá
Lotus tea in Hanoi, highland Arabica-style green teas, Hà Giang shan tuyết, plus the everyday trà đá. Where the country's real tea culture lives.
Vegetarian and vegan dining in Vietnam — beyond ăn chay
Vietnamese Buddhist vegetarian (ăn chay) is genuinely strong, but it differs from Western vegan. Plus the foreign-style vegan restaurants now in HCMC, Hanoi, Hội An.
Vietnamese desserts and bánh — the sweet side of Vietnamese food
Chè, bánh flan, sweet sticky-rice variants, mung-bean cakes, and the lunar-new-year sweets. The Vietnamese dessert map travellers usually miss.
Bánh Cuốn: Hanoi's Steamed Rice Pancakes
Translucent rice-flour pancakes filled with minced pork and wood-ear mushroom, eaten with fish sauce, herbs and a slice of pork sausage.
Bánh Xèo: The Sizzling Turmeric Crepe
A crisp turmeric-yellow rice-flour crepe filled with shrimp, pork and bean sprouts, wrapped in lettuce and dipped in fish sauce.
Bia Hơi Culture: Fresh Draft Beer on Plastic Stools
Brewed in the morning, drunk in the evening, sold at 10,000 VND a glass on Hanoi pavements — bia hơi is the country's most democratic drink.
Bún Bò Huế: The Spicy Beef Noodle Soup of Central Vietnam
A lemongrass-and-chilli beef-and-pork noodle soup from the old imperial capital. Bolder, redder and more aromatic than phở.
Bún Mắm: The Mekong's Fermented-Fish Noodle Soup
A dark, deeply pungent noodle soup from the Mekong delta built on fermented fish — divisive, beloved, and unmissable if you can handle it.
Bún Thang: Hanoi's Delicate Celebration Soup
A clear chicken-and-egg vermicelli soup of fastidious garnish work, made traditionally for Tết and special occasions.
Cao Lầu: Hội An's Well-Water Noodle
Thick chewy noodles, char siu pork, crisp pork crackling and herbs — a dish made only in Hội An, traditionally with water from the Bá Lễ well.
Chè: The Sweet World of Vietnamese Desserts
Bean soups, fruit soups, jellies and coconut creams — chè is a whole category of dessert that doesn't quite map to any Western equivalent.
Cơm Tấm: The Broken-Rice Plate of Saigon
Grilled pork chop, a fried egg, pickles and a mound of broken jasmine rice — the classic Saigon working lunch.
Cooking Classes in Vietnam: Where and How to Learn
Hội An, Hanoi and HCMC all offer serious cooking schools. What to expect, what they cost, and which to pick depending on what you want to learn.
Đà Nẵng Food Guide: Mì Quảng, Bánh Xèo and Beach-Road Seafood
Vietnam's third city eats well and cheaply. Where to find the best mì Quảng, central bánh xèo, and beach-road seafood.
Egg Coffee: Hanoi's Cà Phê Trứng
Whipped egg yolk over strong black coffee — a Hanoi invention from the milk-shortage years of 1946 that has become a city icon.
Gỏi Cuốn: Fresh Vietnamese Summer Rolls
Translucent rice-paper rolls of shrimp, pork, herbs and rice noodles, dipped in peanut hoisin. The lightest snack in Vietnam.
Hanoi Food Guide: Where to Eat, by Neighbourhood
A practical, dish-by-dish guide to eating in Hanoi, with specific Old Quarter and West Lake addresses worth the journey.
Ho Chi Minh City Food Guide: Where to Eat, by District
From cơm tấm pavement stalls to Pizza 4P's — a district-by-district plan for eating in HCMC.
Hội An Food Guide: Cao Lầu, White Rose and Bánh Mì Phượng
A short walk in Hội An's old town will take you through the four or five dishes the city is famous for, plus the best cooking-class options.
Hủ Tiếu: Saigon's Sino-Vietnamese Noodle Soup
A clear pork-bone broth with rice noodles, prawns and crackling — Saigon's everyday alternative to phở, with Chinese roots.
Huế Food Guide: Bún Bò, Court Cuisine and Bánh Khoái
The old imperial capital's food is finickier and spicier than anywhere else in Vietnam. Where to find both court cuisine and street bún bò.
Markets of Vietnam: Where to Wander and What to Buy
Đồng Xuân in Hanoi, Bến Thành and Bình Tây in HCMC, Đông Ba in Huế, Cồn in Đà Nẵng — the great wet markets and how to navigate them.
Mì Quảng: The Turmeric Noodle of Quảng Nam
Broad yellow rice noodles in a small, intense broth, topped with pork, shrimp, peanuts and a shard of crisp rice cracker.
Nem Rán and Chả Giò: Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls
The same dish under two names — northern nem rán and southern chả giò. Crisp rolls of pork, mushroom and glass noodles wrapped in rice paper or pastry.
Phở: Vietnam's National Dish
A clear noodle soup with deep beef or chicken broth — Vietnam's most exported food. How it's made, how to order it, and the north-south split.
Vegetarian Vietnam: Eating Chay
Buddhist temple cuisine, monthly chay days, mock-meat restaurants and a country that takes vegetarian cooking seriously.
Vietnamese Coffee: A Deep Dive
Vietnam is the world's second-largest coffee producer and a robusta giant. From cà phê sữa đá to third-wave roasteries — and beans worth taking home.
Vietnamese Fruits: A Tropical Guide
Durian, mangosteen, rambutan, dragon fruit, longan, lychee, jackfruit, custard apple — what they are, when they're in season, and how to eat them.
Xôi: Vietnamese Sticky Rice in All Its Forms
From breakfast xôi xéo with fried shallots to celebratory red xôi gấc — sticky rice is the carbohydrate backbone of Vietnam.
Bánh Mì: The French-Colonial Sandwich That Became Vietnamese
A baguette filled with pâté, pork, pickled vegetables and herbs — colonial-era hybrid food, now Vietnam's defining street snack.
Bún Chả: Hanoi's Other Famous Dish
Grilled pork, rice vermicelli, a bowl of warm sweet-sour dipping sauce, and a pile of herbs. Lunch in Hanoi at its best.
Street Food Etiquette in Vietnam
How to order, where to sit, what to pay, what to avoid — a working set of conventions for the pavement food scene.
Northern Vietnamese Cuisine: Restrained, Aromatic, Cold-Weather
Hanoi food is the country's least sweet and most herb-driven. Subtle broths, freshwater fish, and dishes that suit a temperate climate.
Central and Southern Vietnamese Cuisine
Imperial-era court food in the centre; rich coconut and tropical produce in the south. Two distinct food cultures, both excellent.