Photo: Michelin Guides

The internationally renowned Michelin Guides will begin the process of adding Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to the international section of their guide book series this year. Anonymous restaurant reviewers will spend months surveying the best of the food scene in the two cities. The final selection of Michelin restaurants will be revealed at a special event in June 2023. 

After the public reveal, the full restaurant selection of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will be available on all Michelin’s digital platforms, alongside the 40 other international destinations the guide has evaluated and selected. 

The Michelin Guides

The Michelin tire company released its first Michelin Guide in 1900. At the time, it was a simple map with recommendations for hotels and Michelin tire change locations made for travelers on road trips. After a few decades, the Guide evolved to include restaurant listings. More than a century later, the Michelin Guide now highlights and uplifts the finest international food establishments, guiding foodies to the world’s best restaurants and culinary destinations. 

The Michelin Guide awards a restaurant one to three stars based on the culinary experience it offers. An anonymous Michelin inspector follows a five-point criteria system as they assess restaurants. Restaurants are judged on elements of the food itself such as ingredient quality, cooking techniques, and flavor harmony. The restaurants’ ability to maintain quality over time and across a variety of menu dishes also plays a role. The most interesting criteria, however, is whether or not the chef’s personality is accurately reflected in the food.

Source: MICHELIN Guide

One star is awarded to restaurants for “high-quality cooking that is worth a stop.” A restaurant with “excellent cooking that is worth a detour” is awarded two stars. The coveted prize is a three-star ranking, awarded to restaurants with “exceptional cuisine that is worth a special journey.”

Food in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City 

Vietnam as a whole is world-famous for its culinary excellence and diversity. In fact, the World Travel Awards recognized Vietnam as Asia’s Leading Culinary Destination in 2019 and 2020. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are two of the country’s gastronomic powerhouses, with both cities offering quite different experiences. 

Hanoi, the capital city, is known for its ancient heritage and tradition, expressed through its architecture and culture as well as its food. Dishes have been perfected over generations and centuries. Great-grandmothers serve boiling hot bun cha out of enormous vats on street corners to diners perched on humble plastic chairs – these recipes could compete with many a fine-dining establishment. But so too are there upscale gourmet restaurants whose head chefs have refined these time-honed techniques to such an extent that they serve these same traditional dishes with the highest-quality local ingredients to produce truly spectacular results. 

In Ho Chi Minh City, centuries of trade and migration have resulted in a cosmopolitan wonderland of fusion food. Vietnamese chefs have traveled the world to bring foreign influence to local dishes. In Ho Chi Minh City restaurants, the local and the international blend, harmonize, and elevate. 

The Future of Vietnamese Food and Tourism

A ranking from the Michelin Guide is one of the world’s most prestigious culinary awards. A recognition of any number of stars has a huge influence on a restaurant’s reputation, as well as the entire region where the restaurant runs. Many travelers choose establishments and destinations based on their Michelin Star rating, even choosing to repeat and extend their stays at Michelin-awarded locations. It’s a big boost to the local economy as well as to the individual restaurant. 

The arrival of the Michelin Guide to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will bring well-deserved international attention to Vietnamese cuisine. It will push the acclaim of the country’s food scene beyond its current boundaries. Local Vietnamese cuisine should be celebrated on an international stage. Such attention will in turn push Vietnamese chefs to practice their gastronomic art with even greater passion, creativity, technique, and the dedication that has run through the very soul of the country and its culture. 

Source: Vietnam Tourism

Photo: Collected

Vietnam food culture is characterized by rice, fish sauce, snacks and regional diversity.

If you live in one of the multicultural cities such as Toronto, Los Angeles, London or Paris, you will probably have some idea what Vietnam cuisine is like. The country boasts one of the most diverse, delicious and healthy gastronomy in the world. The main ingredients used in Vietnamese food are rice and its derivatives, fish sauce and vegetables. 

Thanks to Vietnam´s tropical climate, the long coast and the gigantic range of mountains, Vietnam is blessed with numerous varieties of plants. You will be pleasantly surprised by the amount of fruits and vegetables produced and consumed daily in the country. 

A visit to a Vietnamese restaurant abroad will probably spark some light: you are most likely to be served a plate of fresh herbs before anything else.

Nam Son at 245 Grand Street (Bowery, NYC) is among many famous overseas Vietnamese restaurants

A typical rice-based culture

Vietnamese sometimes wonder how westerners can eat bread day after day but the vice-versa also holds water. Most tourists coming to Vietnam are amazed at the omni-presence of rice and rice-related dishes.

Rice Production

Rice continues to be the most important component of agriculture and food scene.

Rice is an object for worship in many temples of Vietnam. It is said to originate from the Mother Goddess Worshiping, the most long–standing belief in Vietnam. Yes, rice is a big thing out here. The very first written characters constituting the word “Happiness' in ancient Vietnamese is the image of many rice plants and a square symbolizing a paddy field. Rice is not only happiness, it really forms Vietnamese.

Photo by vietnambiz.vn

Accordingly, many main dishes and snacks in Vietnam are made from rice: boiled rice in daily meals, rice porridge, steamed rice, glutinous rice cake, well-known Banh Chung (square cake) and uncountable made-from-rice dishes from every region in Vietnam.

Even the universal Pho that you definitely hear about is made from rice as well. Rice is the center of everything, like a sun lying in the center of the whole solar planet.

Considering rice important, Vietnamese have been always developing their farming method and new rice genres. Many Vietnam rice varieties exported to all over the world are renowned for their distinctive flavor, yet only when coming to Vietnam and having boiled rice with soya sauce pickled egg-plants, your adventure to Vietnam is considered perfect.

Vietnamese Rice

A Bowl of Rice if a must for all lunches and dinners.

Photo by baovanhoa.vn

If you believe the way people eat forms their society, you must feel excited to learn about the fish sauce in every Vietnamese meal. You often finish your meal portion in silence without putting your fork into others’? There are no transparent meal portions among Vietnam family members in a meal and they must think thoughtfully how much they should eat since all the food together is put in a tray.

Vietnam Fish Sauce

In the center of the tray, there goes the renowned fish sauce bowl which is used by all the eaters and supposed to form Vietnamese characteristics. Some say that the common fish sauce bowl represents Vietnamese solidarity, yet some others say the bowl is the root of many bad personalities such as jealousy and embezzlement.

Photo by daubepgiadinh.vn

Whatever it is, there is one thing for sure that fish sauce contributes to a great cultural feature in Vietnamese food. Vietnam is known as a wet rice farming country, animal breeding was not well developed and people mainly live on vegetable and aquatic things such as shrimp, fish and snail. As a result, boiled dishes are the most popular, and fish sauce is a certain demand.

Now, Vietnamese has a hundred kinds of sauce, applied for different dishes and different regions and four different seasons.

Snack paradise to venture into

Vietnam peasants used to have a lot of free time after the busy crop time passed, and preparing some nosh to eat is a certain result of the circumstance. Sweet potato is a prime example for the case. It is considered the most popular nosh in the countryside. Ever experienced Vietnam home-staying? You must realize boiled sweet potato, cassava and peanuts are the most typically Vietnamese snack - of course without salt or sugar added.

Vietnam Snacks often come in non-package no sugar or salt added form.

Photo by kenh14.vn

And if you dare venture beyond the standard ones, there are surely bizarre things to try. The best place to taste purely Vietnamese snacks is to have them right in a family or on the sidewalks along every street. Tasting a fertilized egg at 4pm in a breezy afternoon may scare you, yet it is one of the most popular snacks out here and is considered extremely nutritious.

Besides varieties of wonderful noodles, made-of-rice cakes, bean sweet soups you may be too shy to eat a bowl of pig raw blood soups. Does it originate from Totem belief? Not many Vietnamese questions when eating the dish. All they want to do is to choose the right restaurant and wait to be served the raw blood soups with Vietnamese spirit.

Of unity and diversity

If there is anything to conclude about Vietnamese food, it can only be the "unpredictable diversity". Each region- North, Central and South has something to be proud of. The influence of Chinese and French culture during colonial times adds more to the vibrant scenes of gastronomy. It is hard to describe and compare the specific features of cuisines from each region as there is more than a capital of food in Vietnam. While Hanoi offers some authentic and original food experience, Hue boasts about its royal trait and Ho Chi Minh City is proud that it is the most inclusive place when it comes to dining. You will have to discover it yourself and decide which one you like the most!

Photo by beptruong.vn

Sprout and Herbs

You know it is Pho South when your noodle is accompanied with bean sprout and Thai basil.

Different from the toast-butter-jam-cereal culture, breakfasts in Vietnam come in a variety of dishes, from noodle to rice to baguette. A famous and common dish is ¨Pho¨, while you can open your horizon of food knowledge by trying ¨banh cuon¨, ¨xoi xeo¨, ¨chao suon¨… For lunch and dinner, people have rice with a vegetable broth and some types of second dish. These include tofu, chicken, pork, beef or potatoes! This is where regional difference comes into play, with various types of processing and adding spice to food.

Photo by ngoisao.net

Besides local dishes, you are likely to run into many international food scenes in big cities. In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Greek and Chinese food can be found in touristic areas. Pizza and pasta are getting there, though only certain classes have access to this relatively expensive dish (compared with local food choice). Fast food chains are scantier than most other countries in the world: you may be disappointed as there is no Mc Donald. KFC is spreading and so is Pizza Hut. Nonetheless, what is the point of coming half way through the earth to have a bite of burger?

Source: Vietnam Online

Photo: Freepik

We are pretty sure that you have heard a lot about Phở - the most famous Vietnamese noodles cuisine with flavorful and refreshing broth. It is undoubtedly delectable, but do you know that Vietnam has more than that? Across the country from the North to the South, Vietnamese people have different local ingredients and food preferences which have created variations of noodle dishes and left an unforgettable impression on foreigners on their trip to Vietnam.

If you are a first-time traveler to Vietnam, make sure to check out all the dishes in the list below to experience Vietnam to the fullest!

1. Phở

Chewy rice noodles, flavorful beef or chicken broth, thin beef slices, fresh herbs such as mints, green onions, bean sprouts, etc on top, Phở is truly one of the most delicate bowls coming from hours of preparation and cooking. Tasting the broth with a bit of lime juice, eaters often get shocked by how rich spices like star anise, cinamon, and cloves and the tanginess of limes can complement the dish in a perfect way.

A bowl of Pho with mints, green onions, bean sprouts (Source: Collected)

Most Vietnamese people love to dip bánh quẩy (fried dough stick) into this hot soup as well. They say it is an irreplaceable combination because bánh quẩy is airy and crispy and it can absorb the rich broth well, the feeling is almost like all flavors come outburst in your mouth. Next time, when you try Phở, you can order bánh quẩy separately and see whether it can capture your heart!

2. Crab Noodle Soup (Bún Riêu Cua)

Bún Riêu Cua is another Vietnamese noodle soup that has its roots in the Northern region and is now a popular dish in the Central and Southern Regions of Vietnam with some differences in broth and fillings.

The broth is the main character of noodle dishes, and Bún Riêu Cua is no exception. In a pot, shallots are sauteed until they fragrance and turn golden brown color, locals put flavorful meat or vegetable stock and add in tomatoes, and condiments such as shrimp paste and fish sauce to their liking.

Crab noodle soup is a noodle dish loved by both the North and the South (Source: Collected)

Bún Riêu Cua is often eaten with fried tofu, fried onions sprinkled on top and especially what makes the name of this dish - Riêu (Crab meatballs) consisting of minced pork, shrimp or prawn, and crab. 

Vietnamese people can eat Bún Riêu Cua at any time of the day as it is scrumptious, nutritious, and easy to make at home.

3. Grilled Pork Meatballs with Vermicelli noodles (Bún Chả)

In recent years, Bún Chả has always ranked number one the most loved dish among Koreans when they travel to Vietnam and even enjoy it in their home country. Are there any reasons for this flattering?

Bun Cha Ra Boom - A popular Vietnamese restaurant in Seoul, South Korea (Source: Collected)

The dish is often served with vermicelli noodles, crunchy unripe papaya, fresh herbs like mint and coriander, and a flavorful dipping sauce, known as nước chấm. Furthermore, the traditional Bún Chả has to feature marinated pork belly and meatballs grilled on charcoal, really adding a smokiness and crunchy texture to the meat. 

People love the moment when dipping noodles into a hot fish sauce, accompanied by a bit of meat and herbs, everything gathers together in a perfect bite. You can easily fall in love with Bún Chả from any corner of Vietnam from fine-dining restaurants to small street vendors as it is a big part of Vietnamese culture.

4. Hue Beef Noodles Soup (Bún Bò Huế)

Originating from Hue, a city in Central Vietnam, formerly the imperial capital of the Nguyen Dynasty, is renowned for its distinctive cuisine passed down from the royal families. This noodle soup may remind you of Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup but there are a few differences. 

Bún bò Huế features a broth made from pork and beef bones (not stewed beef like in that Taiwanese dish), vermicelli noodles, lemongrass, shrimp paste, lime juice, and an assortment of herbs. This spicy soup boasts a rich and complex flavor. 

A complete bowl of Bun Bo Hue that can capture your heart (Source: Collected)

While Phở represents the culinary charm of Northern Vietnam, the Central region boasts its signature dish - the renowned Bún Bò Huế. This Vietnamese noodle delicacy stands as a testament to the quintessence of the Central region's cuisine. 

5. Quang-style noodles (Mì Quảng)

Mì Quảng appears as a distinctive cuisine from Quang Nam province, Vietnam with yellow noodles and bánh đa (dry rice paper) dipped in a small amount of sauce. This dish features rice noodles, a medley of fresh vegetables and herbs, and a modest portion of pork, chicken, or shrimp broth. The unique characteristic lies in the minimal amount of broth which has a mild and umami flavor, just enough for dipping the noodles and creating a harmonious blend of flavors.

Yellow noodles and bánh đa (dry rice paper) dipped in a small amount of sauce (Source: Collected)

Foreigners who have a chance to visit this part of Vietnam should try eating Mì Quảng at the street vendors near rivers in Hoi An Old Town, full of memorable experiences that will make you go back to Vietnam.

The list will never stop at 5 as noodles play a crucial role in Vietnamese cuisine, you can see them everywhere from the North to the South such as Cao Lau (Hoi An), Bún Thịt Nướng (Grilled Pork With Rice Noodles), etc. So what are you waiting for? Travel to Vietnam and enjoy authentic Vietnamese food here!

Photo: Freepik

Like other Asian countries, Vietnam values hierarchy and holds etiquette to high standards, as it normally shows how educated and well-behaved the person is. Therefore, it is crucial for international visitors to learn the customs and etiquette of Vietnam, especially handy in navigating social situations and impressing local people.

An overview

Vietnam, a Southeast Asian nation, has a rich tradition of agricultural production, which makes rice a staple in every meal throughout the day for its people. Vietnamese households prepare a diverse array of dishes, which encompass meat, vegetables, soups, stews, and more. Besides, Vietnamese cuisine is predominantly characterized by mild flavors, complemented by unique condiments like nuoc mam (fish sauce) or mam tom (shrimp purple paste).

A tradition Vietnamese meal displayed in a round tray (Source: Collected)

Utensils! You may have seen chopsticks before in a lot of Asian dining tables. Vietnamese people use chopsticks to pick up food from the common dishes. When it comes to dishes with a soup base, they also employ spoons to enjoy the rich and flavorful broth.

As working hours mostly in Vietnam start at 8 AM and end at 5 PM, Vietnamese locals often grab food on the road or bring lunch boxes to their work. Consequently, dinner is considered the most important meal of the day since family members can come together and share the details of their respective day with the others. 

Do’s and Don’ts on Vietnamese dining etiquette 

Do’s

• Serve the oldest people first and wait for them to start eating. Vietnamese people honor traditional customs in a way to show respect and care to their seniors.
• Eat after everyone is present at the table, this will make people feel included and welcomed especially when you are a host.
• Learn to invite people to eat by saying “Mời mọi người ăn cơm!” meaning “Bon appétit” in French/English.
• Use both hands when giving or receiving food to show politeness, mostly with people older than you.
• Even if you like any dish better than others, eat moderately and make sure that everyone can try it too.
• Place your utensils neatly on top of your bowl or utensil holder if any.
• Say thanks after the meal “Cảm ơn về bữa ăn” to show your appreciation to the host. You can also offer to help with cleaning or putting away the setting. 

Don'ts 

• Eat directly from shared dishes but pick up food one at a time in your separate bowl. People think this action is rude when you seem to not care about others. 
• Make loud sounds when eating even though you are just excited. This is because Vietnam is a reserved culture and open reaction is not widely welcomed. 
• Stick chopsticks against the bowl is deemed to bring bad luck according to Buddhism and Taoism because the scene is quite similar to incense pinning on an altar.   
• Point with chopsticks toward someone. Foreigners easily get carried away with the conversation and make this mistake so be careful!
• Flip fish on the plate, especially when you are eating in coastline provinces since this act resembles an unfortunate event - flipping a vessel.