What to eat and drink in Vietnam

04.12.2024 - 14:39 / lonelyplanet.com

Dec 4, 2024 • 12 min read

The rich and varied cuisine of Vietnam often sneaks under the radar, but any visitor will tell you that the food here is some of the best in Asia. Historically, Vietnam’s chefs looked north towards China and west towards Thailand for influences creating a unique regional cuisine, shaped over hundreds of years, that meets somewhere in the middle.

The resulting fusion has Southeast Asia’s zeal for herbs and spices, tempered by China’s love of clean, clear flavors. Some of the most popular food and drink in Vietnam also has subtle influences from the country's six decades under French colonial rule. Needless to say, every trip to Vietnam is a feast.

Cookery classes, market visits, and food-themed walking tours make it easy to discover the country's culinary heritage, but street food is where the love affair with Vietnamese food is forged – and where you’ll find the best traditional Vietnamese dishes. Combine snacking on the street with fine dining in restaurants set in imperial-era mansions and French colonial villas in cities such as Hanoi and Hoi An.

Vietnamese food is so much more than the super-popular bowls of pho noodle soup and banh mi sandwiches. Each region has its own specialties based on local produce and local cooking techniques. If you think you know Vietnamese food, head to the tribal communities of the far northwest and you’re sure to find dishes you’ve never encountered before.

Wherever you go, eat like a local and you’ll discover the incredible culinary diversity this country has to offer. Here’s our guide to eating and drinking in Vietnam.

Pho, a satisfying soup made from flat rice noodles (banh pho), broth, herbs, and beef or chicken, was invented in the north of the country, but it spread around the globe as refugees found sanctuary outside Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The exact ingredients vary from region to region and establishment to establishment, but it’s always satisfying, nourishing, and filling.

Favorite seafood soups in Vietnam include banh canh cua – a rich, thick crab soup with quail eggs and white tapioca noodles – and bun rieu cua, thin rice noodles in a crimson-hued broth made from tomatoes and pulverized crab meat, topped with crab fat that’s sautéed with shallots.

In central Vietnam, seek out bun bo Hue, a spicy beef soup made with round, vermicelli-like rice noodles. Further south, the soup to sample is bun mam, a strong fish-flavored rice-noodle broth with tomatoes, pineapple and bac ha – a thick, spongy plant stem.

Where to try it: Find the best bun bo Hue in the country in the eponymous Hue; Quan Bun Bo Hue is a great place to slurp down a bowl, but they usually sell out by the early afternoon.

Rice, or com, is the bedrock of Vietnamese cooking,