Category: Food

Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Vietnam, is not only famous for its lantern-lit streets and charming architecture but also for its exceptional food scene. The city’s cuisine is a delightful mix of Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese influences, shaped over centuries of cultural exchange. (more…)

Vietnam is one of those places where you can plan your whole trip around delicious eats. Not only are the country’s many dishes a treat for your palate, eating local food is one of the best ways to get to know Vietnamese culture and people. Dedicated foodies who go beyond famous eats like phở and bánh mì will find each regional dish is a unique combination of local ingredients, preferences and influences. Here’s a quick guide to a gastronomic adventure around Vietnam. (more…)

Pho Vietnam, widely known as Vietnamese noodle soup, is a highlight of Vietnamese cuisine. Pho is also considered one of the most popular street foods in almost all big cities of Vietnam such as Hanoi, Halong, Nam Dinh, and Ho Chi Minh City. Up to now, there has been no dish that can represent the essence of Vietnamese cuisine like pho. (more…)

Hanoi has been known internationally as a melting pot of Vietnamese cuisine, foods are served on a moving cranky bicycle, on the edge of bustling streets full of motorbikes, on the narrow sidewalks appropriated by the sea of plastic stools, in a memorable passageway a meter wide, right at someone’s doorstep or up a spiral staircase overlooking the frenetic passing traffic and a lake. If you love eating, it’s almost impossible not to love Hanoi street food. (more…)

I’ve been going on and on about Vietnamese food and how delicious it is. And every now and then I mention in my posts about “pho”- the most famous Vietnamese noodle soup. Many of my foreign friends and guests fell in love with “pho’’ when they discovered the traditional food of Hanoi. Pho is no doubt the most shining star in Hanoi’s food map. Ever wonder what is the right way to eat pho? Who doesn’t know about pho you said? You have eaten pho many times and you can eat it even with your eyes closed? Well, it is not that easy to eat this brilliant Hanoi dish. (more…)

In a recent survey conducted by the city of Hanoi, visitors were asked which Vietnamese dishes they had enjoyed the most, most responses were pho bo (beef noodle soup). That doesn’t surprise me, because pho bo is not only famous for its tenderness of the rice noodles, the texture characteristics of low fat thinly sliced beef and the sweetness of the stock attained from low simmering rich marrow bones overnight, but pho bo has also been a symbol of the Vietnamese cuisine. (more…)

Which are the best local restaurants in Sapa, Vietnam, is one of the most asked questions I have as a trip leader, which I do love to answer. I like delicious food, so I want to make sure my travelers find their way to the best local restaurants in the town. Also, it requires quite an amount of some time to reach the mountains of Sapa, then besides enjoying the mountain hikes we should be rewarded with good local food available there as well. This article therefore shows you the best 5 local restaurants in Sapa. (more…)

Shrimp paste- the ingredient that has an incredible inconsistency in Vietnamese gastronomy culture. People think of it with eyebrows raised and nose wings bobbing. Everyone remembers it with an extremely strong smell but there is a long list of Vietnamese food that, without shrimp paste, they won’t be completed at all. In Vietnamese food culture, shrimp paste is a love-hate dipping sauce. (more…)

Hanoi is full of iconic foods, and of all the dishes to result from the French influence on the local cuisines, Vietnamese Banh Mi is still the undisputed king. Choosing the best Banh Mi to try while you’re in Hanoi can be overwhelming, scrolling through all those recommendations and mouthwatering photos would take eons. And seriously, you’re passing by as a visitor, the best experience is what you’re looking for. (more…)