Gastro Obscura’s 10 Essential Places to Eat in Vietnam

Vietnam has long drawn travelers in search of street food—traditional dishes passed down and perfected over decades by multi-generational food hawkers. Never was this more apparent to global audiences than when Anthony Bourdain and President Barack Obama famously met over bowls of bún chả, a northern Vietnamese grilled pork noodle salad, at a family-owned establishment in Hanoi back in 2016.

Complex yet humble, this type of street cooking remains the heart of Vietnamese food. While it’s hard to overstate the vastness and diversity of the cuisine—which actually encompasses numerous geographies and cultures—it’s generally noted for its contrasting textures and interactive manner of consumption. In Vietnam, food is typically eaten with your hands, wrapped in fresh herbs, and dipped in sauces and condiments.

More recently, the rapidly developing Southeast Asian nation has also become known for modern restaurants led by a new generation of local chefs, who reimagine and reinterpret Vietnamese ingredients and dishes.

Of course, there’s a lot more to Vietnam than the megacities of Hanoi and Saigon (as Ho Chi Minh City is still commonly known). But as the country’s northern historical capital and southern commercial hub, respectively, they’re great places to start. Here is your guide to 10 essential Vietnamese establishments between the two, from a street vendor hawking a peasant rice dish to a traditional Vietnamese coffee shop and an array of different noodle soup specialists.

Cơm Tấm Nguyễn Văn Cừ

Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam’s everyman “broken rice” dish, cơm tấm, is a symbol of innovation in times of great struggle. Believed to have originated in the southern Mekong Delta, the dish was created during French colonial-era famines when people resorted to cooking with rice that had been broken in the milling process. In operation since 1968, this Saigon institution specializes in the dish, which comes with a heaping marinated pork chop, shredded pork skin, and an egg-and-meat loaf.

Bún Riêu Gánh

Ho Chi Minh City

This bún riêu, or crab paste noodle soup, specialist has been serving its namesake dish for some four decades in the heart of downtown Saigon. Greeting you at the front of the restaurant is a huge pot of bright red-orange broth simmering with crab paste, tofu, and pork blood. The broth is ladled directly over bún, or rice vermicelli noodles, and served with perilla leaves, basil, and a tamarind fish sauce.

Nhớ Tuyết

Ho Chi Minh City

There are countless nhậu restaurants, or gastropubs, all over Vietnam. To nhậu is to get together with plentiful snack foods and drinks—often seafood and beer—for meals that can last for hours. One of our favorites is Nhớ Tuyết, which serves an array of seafood ranging from clams steamed in lemongrass broth or topped with scallion oil and crushed peanuts, to colossal river prawns cooked to order via your preference of salt-toasted or tossed in a wok with tamarind sauce.

Hue Cafe Roastery

Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam is the world’s second-largest producer of coffee—which comes largely from the Central Highlands region—and every city is teeming with cafes where folks come to recharge and linger for hours. The signature order at this standout coffee shop with two locations is a fluffy, whipped salt coffee, a specialty from the cafe’s namesake, Hue, the former imperial capital located in central Vietnam.

Ănăn Saigon

Ho Chi Minh City

The brainchild of chef Peter Cuong Franklin, this “New Vietnamese” restaurant reimagines quintessential Vietnamese dishes through modern, global culinary techniques. The sole Michelin star in Saigon, Ănăn (which translates to “eat eat”) turns out a pizza-inspired riff on open-faced rice paper, and reformats crispy turmeric crepes as tacos. Beyond the food, the restaurant sprawls out over five levels that also include Franklin’s new-school noodle soup counter called Pot au Pho and an on-site cocktail bar called Nhau Nhau.

Bún Chả Hàng Quạt

Hanoi

No dish represents Hanoian cuisine specifically more than bún chả, a local staple of rice vermicelli with charcoal-grilled pork patties and pork belly—made globally famous by Anthony Bourdain and President Obama. Popularized in the early 20th century, the noodles are often referred to as a “salad” as they are served cold in a bowl, then dipped in a warm, broth-like fish sauce concoction and mixed with aromatics like Thai basil, perilla, raw garlic, and bird’s eye chili. While there are dozens of bún chả vendors in town, this 25-year-old mainstay, set in the back of a narrow alley, does an excellent take.

Phở Hàng Trống

Hanoi

For a bowl of true northern-style Vietnamese phở with a beef broth as clear as consommé, you’ll need to first locate this restaurant hidden within the residential home of Ms. Minh—who moved her one-time street operation indoors in 2017. In contrast to the bold, southern-style phở often found in diasporic Vietnamese communities around the world, Hanoian phở is lighter, and typically consumed in the morning or early afternoon, providing savory sustenance without overwhelming the body.

Bánh Cuốn Bà Xuân

Hanoi

This Michelin-recognized steamed rice crepe specialist has been rolling up its namesake dish—the steamed rice roll called bánh cuốn (pronounced “banh kwohn”)—for over 30 years in the heart of Hanoi’s storied Old Quarter neighborhood. The rolls are crafted by steaming liquid rice flour on a hot plate until it congeals into a sheet, which is then filled with minced pork and wood-ear mushroom. Here, a specialty includes a version with a soft-poached egg.

Bún Thang 29 Hàng Hành

Hanoi

Beyond the iconic phở, there are several other northern Vietnamese noodle soups worth trying, including bún thang (pronounced “boon taang”). The dish is composed of rice vermicelli noodles, chicken broth, and a trio of proteins: shredded chicken, Vietnamese ham, and strips of fried egg. Located near Hoàn Kiếm Lake, this 20-year-old establishment pairs its bún thang with Vietnamese savory sticky rice made with Chinese sausage.

Phở Xào Bà Thanh Béo

Hanoi

“Phở” not only refers to the noodle soup, but also the flat rice stick noodles—or bánh phở—that are used in the dish. This open-till-late street vendor serves both the soup version as well as their signature, a stir-fried take on beef phở. Grab a seat and watch the show as the noodles are tossed in a wok with thinly-sliced beef and leafy vegetables.

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