Short answer: The five Vietnamese dishes not to miss are pho in Hanoi, bun cha, banh mi, bun bo Hue and cao lau in Hoi An, with an iced coffee or an egg coffee on the side. Eat them where they were born, on low plastic stools at busy street stalls, and you will eat better than in most restaurants.
Vietnamese food is fresh, herby and built on balance: salty fish sauce, sour lime and tamarind, sweet palm sugar, chili heat and plates of raw herbs and greens on every table. It also changes as you travel down a country more than 1,600 km (1,000 miles) long. The north, around Hanoi, cooks clean, subtle broths; the center, around Hue and Hoi An, is the home of the spiciest food and of dishes once cooked for the royal court; and the south, around Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta, is sweeter, with more fruit, coconut and herbs. This guide covers 14 dishes and drinks worth traveling for, where to find them and how to order. For everything else, start with our Vietnam travel guide.
Noodle soups
1. Pho (phở)
The national favorite: rice noodles in a clear, long-simmered beef broth scented with star anise, cinnamon and charred ginger and onion, topped with beef (phở bò) or chicken (phở gà). Pho grew up in northern Vietnam in the early 20th century, and in 2024 Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture added Hanoi pho and Nam Dinh pho to its list of national intangible cultural heritage. In Hanoi it is mainly a breakfast dish, served with lime, chili and a few herbs; in the south it comes with a big plate of bean sprouts and basil and a dash of hoisin. Order tái for rare beef that cooks in the broth, or chín for well-done.
2. Bun bo Hue (bún bò Huế)
The great soup of central Vietnam: thick round rice noodles in a beef and pork broth flavored with lemongrass, fermented shrimp paste and chili oil, often with beef shank and pork knuckle. It is spicier and punchier than pho, and it is best in Hue itself, where it is eaten for breakfast and lunch. Ask for ít cay (a little spicy) if you want less heat.
3. Mi Quang (mì Quảng)
The noodle dish of Quang Nam, around Hoi An and Da Nang: flat, turmeric-yellow rice noodles served with only a few spoonfuls of rich broth, pork, shrimp or chicken, peanuts, herbs and a crunchy sesame rice cracker to crumble on top. In 2024, the folk knowledge of making mi Quang was also added to Vietnam’s national intangible cultural heritage list. It is a lunchtime dish; mix everything together before you eat.
4. Cao lau (cao lầu)
Hoi An’s own noodle dish: chewy, thick noodles with slices of pork, crisp croutons, greens and herbs, served with a little dark, savory sauce rather than a soup. Locals say it is only authentic in Hoi An, so it is the dish to order there, at lunch or as an early dinner after a walk through the old town.
5. Hu tieu (hủ tiếu)
The breakfast soup of the south, with Chinese-Cambodian roots: thin, clear rice or tapioca noodles in a light, slightly sweet pork broth, with pork, shrimp, quail egg and crisp garlic, eaten as a soup or “dry” (khô) with the broth on the side. Try it in Ho Chi Minh City and in the Mekong Delta.
Street food and northern classics
6. Bun cha (bún chả)
Hanoi’s lunch: smoky grilled pork patties and slices of pork belly served in a bowl of warm, sweet-and-sour fish sauce dressing, with cold rice vermicelli and a basket of herbs to dip as you go. Smoke from charcoal grills on the pavement around midday tells you where to find it. Add a crisp fried spring roll (nem rán) on the side.
7. Banh mi (bánh mì)
A light, crisp baguette, a legacy of French bread-making, filled with pâté, cold cuts or grilled pork, pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber, coriander, chili and a splash of soy or mayonnaise. It is the classic grab-and-go breakfast or snack, sold from street carts and small bakeries all over the country, and Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City are particularly proud of theirs. Egg (trứng) or tofu fillings make easy vegetarian versions.
8. Banh xeo (bánh xèo)
A crisp, golden rice-flour pancake colored with turmeric and filled with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts. The name echoes the sizzle as the batter hits the pan. Tear off a piece, wrap it in lettuce and herbs, or rice paper in the center, and dip it in fish sauce. Southern versions are large and thin; on the central coast they are small and crunchy.
9. Fresh spring rolls (gỏi cuốn)
Soft rice-paper rolls of shrimp, pork, rice noodles and herbs, served cold with a peanut and hoisin dip in the south or fish sauce elsewhere. They are light, fresh and not fried, which makes them a good choice on hot afternoons, and vegetarian versions with tofu are common.
10. Cha ca (chả cá)
A Hanoi specialty: chunks of white fish marinated in turmeric and galangal, fried at the table in a pan with lots of dill and spring onion, then eaten with rice noodles, peanuts, herbs and shrimp paste or fish sauce. It is a sit-down dish for lunch or dinner rather than street food, and a fun one to share.
11. Banh cuon (bánh cuốn)
Silky steamed rice sheets, rolled around minced pork and wood-ear mushrooms, topped with fried shallots and served with a dipping sauce and Vietnamese sausage (chả lụa). Watching the sheets being steamed on cloth over a pot is part of the fun. It is a northern breakfast dish, best early in the morning in Hanoi’s Old Quarter.
12. Com tam (cơm tấm)
“Broken rice,” the everyday plate of Ho Chi Minh City: fragrant broken rice grains topped with a grilled, lemongrass-marinated pork chop, shredded pork skin, a slice of egg meatloaf and a fried egg, with pickles and sweet fish sauce. It is eaten at any time of day, from breakfast to late at night, at simple sidewalk restaurants.
Sweets and drinks
13. Che (chè)
The catch-all name for Vietnamese sweet soups and puddings, served hot or over crushed ice: beans, jellies, taro, lotus seeds, fruit and tapioca pearls in coconut milk or syrup. Che stalls line up glass jars of colorful ingredients, so you can point at what you want. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, in September or early October, bakeries add mooncakes to the sweet side of the menu.
14. Vietnamese coffee: iced coffee and egg coffee
Vietnam grows a lot of coffee, much of it in the Central Highlands, and drinks it strong, dripped slowly through a small metal filter. Cà phê sữa đá is iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk; cà phê đen đá is black. Hanoi’s specialty is egg coffee (cà phê trứng), topped with a thick, sweet foam of whipped egg yolk and sugar, like a liquid dessert. Coffee shops are a social institution, so sit down, take your time and watch the street.
Where to eat: Hanoi and beyond
- Hanoi: the Old Quarter is the best street-food neighborhood in the country, with whole streets specializing in one dish and the big covered Dong Xuan Market on its northern edge. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, streets around Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter close to traffic and fill with families and night-market stalls.
- Ho Chi Minh City: Ben Thanh Market, in the historic center, has rows of food stalls under its roof, and District 3 and the alleys of the old center have some of the best street food in the city. Cho Lon, the Chinese quarter, is the place for noodle soups and dim sum.
- Hoi An: the central market by the river for cao lau, mi Quang and banh mi, and the night market across the bridge in An Hoi for snacks after the lanterns come on.
- Hue: the Dong Ba Market just outside the citadel walls, and small restaurants serving bun bo Hue and the city’s little steamed rice cakes, a reminder of its royal cooking.
- Can Tho and the Mekong Delta: the Cai Rang Floating Market, part of Vietnam’s national intangible cultural heritage, where wholesale boats sell fruit and vegetables from about 4 to 9 a.m., busiest from 5 to 8 a.m. Breakfast noodles and coffee are sold from small boats among them.
- Phu Quoc and Da Nang: seafood grills by the beach, and on Phu Quoc the Duong Dong night market every evening.
Food etiquette and tipping
Most Vietnamese meals are shared. Dishes go in the middle of the table, everyone has a small bowl of rice, and you take a little at a time with chopsticks and a spoon. Don’t leave chopsticks standing upright in a bowl of rice, which is associated with offerings to the dead; rest them across the bowl instead. At street stalls you sit on low stools, order by pointing at what others are eating, and pay at the end; prices are usually fixed, and a stall often serves only one dish.
Tipping is not a traditional custom in Vietnam, and simple restaurants and stalls don’t expect it. In tourist restaurants, hotels and on tours, a small tip or rounding up is appreciated, and some upmarket places add a service charge to the bill. Our tip calculator helps with the sums, and our phrase cards have the Vietnamese for “not spicy” (không cay), “no meat” (không thịt) and “the bill, please” (tính tiền).
Locals eat early: breakfast stalls are busiest from about 6 to 8 a.m., lunch is around 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and many street dishes sell out and close once the pot is empty. Around Tet, the Lunar New Year (6 February 2027), many restaurants and stalls close for several days.
Eating on a budget
Vietnam is one of the cheapest places in the world to eat well. Numbeo’s October 2026 figures for Hanoi, used in our Vietnam trip cost guide, put a meal at an inexpensive restaurant at about 55,000 VND (about $2) and a local draft beer at about 28,000 VND, and a bowl of pho at a street stall is often cheaper than Western fast food. Eating local is both the cheapest and the best way to travel here; imported wine and rooftop cocktails cost close to Western prices. Street-food walks with a local guide, often by motorbike in Ho Chi Minh City, and cooking classes in Hoi An are popular; browse them in our tour finder.
Plan your trip: our free trip planner can build a day-by-day route from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City with time to eat your way through each region. Our best time to visit Vietnam guide covers the seasons, Tet and the Mid-Autumn Festival, our Vietnam itinerary plans 7, 10 and 14 days, and our top 10 places to visit in Vietnam helps you choose where to go.
Frequently asked questions
What is the national dish of Vietnam?
Pho is the dish most people would name, at home and abroad. It has no official title as the national dish, but in 2024 Hanoi pho and Nam Dinh pho were added to Vietnam’s list of national intangible cultural heritage.
Is Vietnamese food spicy?
Mostly no. Northern and southern food is fresh and mild, and chili, chili sauce and fresh chilies are served on the side for you to add. Central Vietnam is the exception: Hue’s food, such as bun bo Hue, is noticeably hotter. Say không cay (not spicy) when you order if you want to be sure.
What do people eat for breakfast in Vietnam?
Noodle soup is the classic breakfast: pho in the north, bun bo in Hue and hu tieu in the south. Banh mi, sticky rice (xôi) with toppings, steamed rice rolls (banh cuon) and broken rice (com tam) are just as common, always with a coffee.
Is Vietnam good for vegetarians?
Yes, more than you might think. Vietnam has a strong Buddhist vegetarian tradition, and vegetarian restaurants (look for “chay”) are found in every city, often near pagodas, serving tofu and mushroom versions of classic dishes. At ordinary stalls, fish sauce and meat broths are everywhere, so ask for “chay” and “không nước mắm” (no fish sauce).
What is the difference between pho and bun?
Phở is made with flat rice noodles and is a soup. Bún is the name for round rice vermicelli, used in many different dishes, such as bun cha (grilled pork with cold noodles) and bun bo Hue (spicy beef soup). If you see “bún” on a sign, expect round noodles, not necessarily soup.
Where is the best street food in Vietnam?
Hanoi’s Old Quarter and the alleys of Ho Chi Minh City are the two great street-food cities, and Hoi An and Hue are best for central Vietnam’s regional dishes. In each, the best stalls are the busy ones full of locals.