Nearly everyone knows the Vietnamese dish pho, but do you know other Vietnamese dishes besides the noodle soup? In this article, we will explore what to eat in Vietnam. We will describe our favorite dishes and what we recommend eating, including main dishes, soups, street food, desserts, and even drinks.
Vietnam has such a diverse cuisine and so much to explore. You will be amazed by the variety of dishes and their ability to do so much with simple ingredients. Some will seem weird, at least for Western tastes, while others are simple but will blow your mind.
Come with us to explore what to eat in Vietnam and its traditional dishes!
Page Contents
Information about Vietnamese cuisine
Vietnamese cuisine emphasizes a balance of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy flavors, using fresh ingredients and plenty of herbs like mint and cilantro. Lemongrass and ginger frequently add flavor. Unlike Thai or South Korean cuisine, Vietnamese food isn’t inherently spicy, allowing you to add chilies to taste once the meal is served.
It’s a cuisine based more on vegetables, with little or no meat. We found that the meat is usually of lower quality, more rigid, or less desirable cuts, especially beef. However, the dishes are incredibly fragrant with simple ingredients and offer several variations with different ingredients.
Rice is the basis of Vietnamese cuisine; it is eaten at every meal and in every form, including rice noodles and cakes. You can always count on fried rice if you don’t know what to eat or want something inexpensive.
Street food is King in Vietnam. It is diverse, fascinating, and delicious. Street vendors offer various foods, making it the best way to experience the local cuisine. Although hygiene conditions may not always be ideal, we never had any food poisoning during our one-month stay. Try everything, but exercise caution if anything seems off.
Not all Vietnamese cuisine is the same; regions have significant variations. Food in the north is usually more savory; in the south, it is sweeter. In the center, like in Hué, food is more complex and elaborate. In the Mekon Delta region, fish dishes are widely eaten.
Vietnamese cuisine was heavily influenced by French cuisine as it was under its domain for many years. The common use of Baguettes, coffee, and food preparations like broths evidences this.
Vietnamese Ingredients you should learn to say/read
Knowing how to identify and read certain ingredients is helpful when choosing what to eat in Vietnam. Although Vietnamese is a tonal language with six tones, it uses the Latin alphabet, making it easier for Westerners to read certain words.
Useful food-related words that will help you in Vietnam:
- Pho – soup
- Bánh – can be cake, bread, or noodles
- Gà – chicken
- Bò – beef
- Lon – pork
- Cá – fish
- Shrimp: Tôm
- Com – cooked rice
- Xôi – sticky rice
- Ché – dessert or pudding
Typical Vietnamese Street food
Banh Mi – Famous Vietnamese Sandwich
Banh Mi is a delicious Vietnamese sandwich made with baguette and various ingredients, from vegetables to chicken or tofu. You may be wondering what makes them so unique?… First, eating sandwiches in many Asian countries is an event; bread isn’t a common ingredient, and wheat isn’t available in Asian countries. Vietnam, which used to belong to Indochina, was under France’s influence, thus using wheat bread.
Second, the bread used is superb. It is crunchy on the outside and fluffy inside, just like the French baguette. The ingredients used are usually very good, like Pork, which can be grilled or roasted, and fresh vegetables, cucumbers, salad, and carrots. In the end, it is drizzled with a tasty sauce. You will find combinations that aren’t usual in Europe’s sandwiches, like tofu and scrambled eggs.
Banh mi is also a fast, cheap meal you can find everywhere, though some places are excellent and others nothing special. We loved eating banh mi in Hoi An at Madam Khanh—The Banh Mi Queen. They were so good, in our opinion, the best of Vietnam.
Goi Cuon – Fresh spring rolls
Goi cuon, which means salad rolls, are fresh rolls made with rice paper, abundant vegetables, herbs, shrimp, and pork. There are also vegetarian options that have mushrooms, cabbage, and tofu instead. Served with a sauce.
Goi Cuoun is a Vietnamese creation and a popular street food. It is fresh and delicious and is good to eat on the go. You can find it nationwide in food markets and street vendors. It is also served as an appetizer in restaurants.
To make these rolls, dip the rice paper in water and lay it on a plate. Fill it with pre-cooked ingredients, then roll it up. Unlike spring rolls, these are not deep-fried; simply serve them at room temperature.
They are so fresh, like eating a salad, but perfectly wrapped, and the sauce gives them an extra punch. There are several variations of sauces: some are sweet or spicy, and others are made with peanut and hoisin sauce. It is an iconic and delicious dish you must try in Vietnam.
Banh Xeo – Vietnamese Rice Crepe
Banh Xeo is a crispy pancake called a Vietnamese crepe and a popular street food. It is filled with a delicious filling. It has a delightful yellow hue and is made with rice flour, coconut milk, water, and turmeric powder.
Banh Xeo can be stuffed with various ingredients. The most traditional are prawns, pork, diced green onion, and mung beans, but they can also be filled with shredded chicken or beef. They are served with a spicy sauce called nuoc chan,
They are eaten with hands, with the crepe folded and filling inside. They are like big tacos. They are very easy to find in food markets or street vendors, and they’re definitely street food you should try.
Nem Lui – lemongrass pork Skewers
Nem Lui is a popular street food that originated in Hue. It is a skewer made with ground pork rolled into a sausage shape around a lemongrass stick and grilled on a charcoal grill. The lemongrass provides a fragrant taste to the meat, and the smoky taste of the grill makes it a perfect skewer.
There may be variations in how the meat is prepared according to the region in Vietnam. But traditionally, it is marinated in a paste made with black pepper, pork skin, garlic, shallots, and fish sauce.
You will find these skewers in street vendors alongside other skewers of chicken, octopus, and sometimes even frogs. The skewers are served with a dipping sauce, normally nuoc leo, which is a peanut sauce.
Soups and Stews in Vietnam
Pho – Vietnamese soup, National dish of Vietnam
Pho (pronounced “fuh”) is Vietnam’s most famous dish. It is known worldwide due to Vietnamese immigrants. Although its origin isn’t clear, it was created in the north of Vietnam, having some influence on Chinese cuisine. The Vietnamese started using beef bones in the soup’s broth as they had plenty due to the consumption of French beef during the colonization.
In the 1950s, this dish spread to the south of Vietnam as people migrated from the north to the south. It was adapted to the tastes of the Southern people. In the North, pho has a more savory broth with fewer toppings. In the South, it has a sweeter broth with many more herbs and vegetables. It is also the most frequent version served outside Vietnam.
The secret of the pho is in the broth; a good pho implies a rich broth made with beef bones and spices like cinnamon, star anis, cloves, charred onion, and ginger. In the south, sugar and fish sauce are added to the broth. After simmering for hours, the broth is strained, added rice noodles and slices of beef. In the end, you can add chili peppers and lime wedges. In the south, you also add Thai basil, bean sprouts, and other herbs.
Besides beef pho (pho bó), chicken pho (pho gá) exists; in this case, the broth is made with chicken bones and served with chicken instead of beef. The rest is exactly the same.
Our experience of eating pho in Vietnam varied a lot. Sometimes, it was delicious, and other times, it was really bad. It used to depend on the quality of the ingredients. We also found that the southern version was more tasty for us.
Bun Cha – A popular dish from Hanoi
Bun Cha is a traditional Vietnamese dish that originated in Hanoi. It is made with grilled pork meatballs and pork belly, rice noodles, pickled vegetables, and a mixture of fresh herbs, like basil, bean sprouts, and cabbage, all served in a bowl with a hot sauce (nuoc chan). The smoky meat and fresh herbs perfectly combine with the sweet and salty sauce, creating an explosion of flavors.
To eat this dish, you must submerge the meatballs and pork belly in a bowl with the hot sauce, then add the pickled vegetables, fresh herbs, and rice noodles. Just dig in and enjoy all the intense flavors.
This dish gained international popularity after former President Barack Obama and Anthony Bourdain shared a meal of Bun Cha at a restaurant in Hanoi. This renowned Hanoi specialty soon became sought after worldwide.
There are plenty of restaurants in Hanoi serving Bun Cha. We tried to dine in the famous restaurant where Anthony Bourdin ate, but it was packed with people, so we eventually went to another one. Although we aren’t experts, we think it can’t go wrong wherever you try.
Bun Bo – Beef noodle soup from Hue
Bun Bo is a traditional soup from Hué, Vietnam’s old capital, with a rich culinary legacy. This soup normally is served for breakfast in the morning. It is a delicious meal that will satisfy you for the rest of the day.
Bun Bo is made with tasty broth made with various types of beef, pork bones, lemongrass, lime leaves, fish sauce, shrimp paste, sugar, and some recipes have pineapple. After simmering the broth for hours, add the broth to a bowl with thick rice noodles, beef shank, ham hocks, pork blood cake, and green onions. Finally, garnish with lime wedges, cilantro, and bean sprouts. The soup has a rich flavor, combining sweet and sour with a pinch of acid.
You can easily find this dish in Hue. We even ate it for breakfast in the hotel. Hue is the ideal place to explore Vietnam’s cuisine; it has so many impressive and fantastic dishes as we explain below.
Mi Quang – Typical soup from the center of Vietnam
Mi Quang is part soup, part salad. It originated in the province of Quang Nam, where the beautiful town of Hoi Ann is located. This soup is made with thick rice noodles infused with turmeric, meat, plenty of herbs, and a splash of broth. It is garnished with peanuts, toasted sesame rice crackers, quail eggs, and sometimes pork rinds.
Something about this soup makes it so comforting that you want to eat more. The broth has an intense flavor and is made with bones, meat, fish sauce, garlic, onion, turmeric, and peanut oil. This contrasts with the freshness and crunchiness of the herbs (basil, cilantro, scallions, onions, lettuce). As for the meat, you can choose shrimp, chicken, pork, fish, or beef. In the end, the garnish makes everything much better.
We ate this soup in Hoi An, in a restaurant called Mr. Hai Noodles, which had delicious and cheap Mi Quang with shrimp, pork, and quail eggs; just thinking of it makes me salivate.
Cao Lau – Noodles specialty of Hoi An
Cau Lau is also a specialty of Hoi An. It is more of a noodle dish than a soup, with just a small amount of broth. It has a special and unique ingredient: a different type of rice noodles. The rice noodles used in Cau lau are made in a particular way: they are soaked with water from a Ba Le well from Hoi An. To this water, ashes from certain trees are added, which creates a lye solution. This makes the noodles chewier with a yellowish tone. So, it can only be made in Hoi An.
Traditionally, this dish is made with pork, but there are versions with tofu. You add slices of roasted pork marinated in a sauce made with five spices, sugar, pepper, garlic, and soy sauce, to the noodles. Plus, some herbs and vegetables like lettuce, bean sprouts, mint, chives, and basil. And at the end, you add some croutons made with dough.
It is so scrumptious, and a pity that it can only be found in restaurants in Hoi An. We ate it in a fantastic restaurant called Nhan’s Kitchen, which serves tasty and cheap food and which we highly recommend.
Side Dishes
Hue special side dishes
Hue was the capital of Vietnam until 1945 and was home to the Royal Family, which influenced the city’s food scene. The dishes in Hué are more elegant and high-end, so presentation is a bigger concern, and the dishes are smaller and delicate. Food is often called “royal cuisine.”
Hue is the ideal place to experiment with new flavors, and since the dishes are served in small portions, you can sample a variety of items. Some of the most popular and delicious dishes are:
- Bánh bèo – are steamed rice cakes topped with savory fillings like shrimp, pork cracklings, and herbs served with a nuoc mam phai, a dipping sauce (made with fish sauce, sugar, and lime)
- Banh nam – steamed rice cakes with shrimp, pork, and scallions wrapped in banana leaves
- Banh loc – made with tapioca flour and stuffed with caramelized shrimp and pork
These dishes are available in several restaurants in Hué. We love the restaurant Fast Food 22 in Hue. The owner was a delight, and the food was delicious and cheap. We highly recommend it.
Papaya Salad
Papaya Salad is a popular dish in Southeast Asia, including Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The dish’s origin is unclear, but some say it comes from Laos. Independently of its origin, each Southeast Asian country has its own version, and they are all delicious. We ate papaya salad in several countries, and it didn’t disappoint in Vietnam. It is a simple but fresh salad with an intense flavor that will satisfy you.
It is made with green papaya and carrots, julienne cut, soy sprouts, herbs like Thai basil and mint, roasted peanuts, and sometimes it can have beef jerky. It is dressed with a sweet and sour sauce made with fish sauce, sugar, vinegar, and lime. Simple and delicious.
You will normally find it in restaurants or served alongside other foods as a side dish.
Bò Né Dac Biet – Breakfast dish from Dalat
Bò Né isn’t a famous dish, but we loved it so much that we had to include it in this list. It is a breakfast dish typical of Dalat. It is a sizzling beef dish served on a hot plate with steak, pâté, a sunny-side-up fried egg, pickled vegetables, cheese, and baguette.
Although it is a breakfast dish, it can be eaten at any time of the day. The dish originated from the fusion of Vietnamese and French cuisine, which is delicious and satisfying. Dipping your baguette in the egg and the meat sauce is so good. Just thinking about it makes me hungry.
It can be found in several restaurants in Da Lat. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find it in other regions of Vietnam.
Main dishes
Com Ga – Vietnamese chicken and rice dish
Com Ga means chicken and rice, and it is a typical dish worldwide. But in Vietnam, Com Ga has a unique twist. It is especially traditional in Hoi An; they even call it Com Gai Hoi An.
Com Ga is made with free-range chicken, so the meat is a bit tough, as the chicken has more muscle and less fat. The chicken is poached with aromatics and served with rice cooked in the chicken broth with turmeric. The chicken is served on top of the rice with a small bowl of chicken broth. Some restaurants also add cubes of congealed blood.
You will also find Com Ga Xé, which means that is shredded chicken and rice. In this dish, the shredded chicken can be mixed with fish sauce and served on top of the turmeric chicken, along with a salad of julienned papaya.
This dish is influenced by the famous Hainanese chicken rice, made by immigrants from the Hainan province in China. It is pretty easy to find in Hoi An, which has plenty of food stalls selling this specialty.
Com Tam Suon Nuong – Broken rice with pork Chop
Com Tam Suon Nuong is a typical dish of the south of Vietnam, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City. It is made with broken rice, grilled pork chop, fresh and pickled veggies, and usually pork and egg meatloaf, served with a sweet and sour sauce. It is savory and sweet and such a hearty meal.
Com Tam (broken rice) was a staple food of the farmers of the Mekong Delta. It used damaged rice grains that weren’t good enough to sell. It was a humble ingredient that spread through Ho Chi Minh City with the migration of the farmers. Nowadays, it is a well-beloved ingredient. Experts say this rice cooks faster and soaks up the broth and flavor.
Com tam is normally served with grilled pork chops or pork skin, grilled chicken, steamed pork, meatloaf or/and sunny-side-up fried eggs. Before being grilled, the meat is marinated with minced lemongrass, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, honey, and vegetable oil, making it fragrant.
A curious fact is that although you eat all Vietnamese food with chopsticks, Com Tam Suon Nuong is eaten with a fork and a spoon. You will find this dish in several restaurants and street stalls in Ho Chi Minh; it is even eaten for breakfast.
Lau – Vietnamese Hot Pot
Hot pot is a common dish throughout Asia and not an exclusive Vietnamese dish, but we loved eating lau in Vietnam; it was such a wonderful memory that we had to include it. Hot pot is a dish to share, a way to bond through food, and is a fun event per si.
The dish consists of a large metal pot with a fragrant broth prepared beforehand and simmering in a portable burner in the middle of the table. The broths vary, but most of them have lemongrass, fish sauce, sugar, ginger, fried garlic, and onion, among other things. A plate with thinly cut vegetables, meat, fish, or seafood is provided (depending on the type of hot pot). And instant noodles. You cook the ingredients as you wish and serve them on your plate.
In Vietnam, there are several typical hot pots: chicken stew and lemon basil leaves, fermented fish, beef, duck, crab paste, vegetarian, and seafood. We ate a delicious hot pot in Sapa, which had a mixture of fish and meat. It was fantastic; just thinking of it makes me salivate.
Cha Ca La Vong – A fish dish from Hanoi
Cha Ca Lan Vong is a traditional fish dish originally from Hanoi. Typically, it is made with catfish fillets, but other fish are used, like tilapia, cod, or snakehead fish. The fish is marinated with turmeric, shrimp paste, fish sauce, ginger, and chili. It is pan-fried or deep-fried and served with herbs (plenty of dill, scallions, green onions, and basil), rice noodles, and peanuts. It comes with a sauce made of fermented shrimp sauce, sugar, lime, garlic, and chili.
This dish is so flavorful. The combination of sweet, salty, and spicy works so well. You will only find this dish in restaurants. Although it is a dish of Hanoi, we ate it in Ho Chi Minh, and it was so good, but a bit pricy, called Den Long.
Sweets and Desserts you must try in Vietnam
Xoi Ngot – Vietnamese sweet sticky rice
Xoi Ngot means sweet sticky rice and is one of the most common Vietnamese desserts. If you have been to Thailand, sweet sticky rice is no stranger to you, as it is also a common dessert there. Sweet sticky rice is made with glutinous rice cooked with coconut milk and has different flavors and colors. Depending on the flavor, it can be green, purple, red, or black.
The most common flavors and ingredients are fruits like mango, coconut, peanuts, mung beans, and corn. Normally, this is street food, and several stalls are serving it. You can even choose different flavors in the same serving. It is such a tasty and appealing dessert.
Be aware that savory Xoi also exists. It is a frequent breakfast dish served with eggs, bacon, and other ingredients. It is also very good, but not when craving something sweet.
Chè – Vietnamese Sweet soup
Chè is such a fun, versatile dessert. It is a kind of sweet soup or pudding made with various ingredients, whatever you imagine it to be. It is also so popular that you will see it everywhere in Vietnam, from street stalls to restaurants. It is something you can’t miss and don’t want to miss.
Common ingredients in ché are mung beans, kidney beans, tapioca balls, jellies, sticky rice, mango, durian, jackfruit, and lychee, and immersed in coconut milk or ice. It is such a unique combination of flavors and textures that it is mind-blowing. Try as many different ones as you can.
Drinks in Vietnam
Coffee
Vietnamese coffee culture totally surprised us. The coffee is amazing, and there is a wide variety of coffee drinks. Without a doubt, coffee is one of the best things about Vietnam.
The French introduced coffee in the Central Highlands of Vietnam in the 17th century. Initially, the Arabica type was most frequently produced, and with the independence of Vietnam, production continued and shifted to the robusta type. Nowadays, Vietnam is the second largest coffee producer in the world after Brazil.
Vietnam also has a unique brewing method using a metal drip filter called a phin, which brews a strong coffee. It also has an original way of preparing coffee using condensed milk, coconut milk, and egg yolk. They are all so different and tasty.
Some of the best coffee in Vietnam are:
- White coffee – Coffee with condensed milk
- Egg coffee – Coffee with condensed milk and a beaten raw egg yolk
- Salt Coffee – Coffee with cream, condensed milk, and a pinch of salt
- Coconut Coffee – Coffee with coconut milk and condensed milk
- Iced black coffee
- Coffee with yogurt
Vietnam has a vibrant coffee scene, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh are full of stunning coffee houses with characteristic designs and tables on the promenade where people gather to talk and watch the busy streets.
It makes you want to travel to Vietnam just for a cup of delicious and fragrant coffee…
Fruit Juices
Vietnam has various exotic, sweet, and succulent fruits that produce amazing juices. Drinking fruit juices or smoothies with your meal or even when on the road is popular. You will find fruit juice vendors all over Vietnam selling various juices and smoothies with different fruits and combinations.
The most popular Fruit Juices are orange juice, mango juice, avocado juice, smoothies with different fruits and condensed milk, and sugar cane juice (made from pressed sugar cane).
Going to Vietnam and not drinking a Fruit Juice in the street is impossible.
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