Vietnamese cuisine is superb, as you would expect from a country that learned to combine the best of East and West. Eating out is very inexpensive, and there is an array of dishes to choose from. The national dish is
pho, a spicy noodle soup served with chicken or beef. Its less-spicy cousin is listed on menus as
bun. Nearly every city has its own specialty, such as
cao lau (thick noodles in gravy, garnished with pork cracklings) and delectable White Rose dumplings filled with shrimp or pork in Hoi An, or ultra-fresh seafood in Nha Trang and Mui Ne. No trip to Hanoi would be complete without sampling
cha ca, bite-sized pieces of fish grilled at your table and served with rice noodles and various spices.
Lau is a tasty hotpot cooked at your table (every restaurant seems to have a different recipe for this dish). And all over the country, ice cream is a staple: You'll find it in interesting flavors, from coconut to lemongrass.
Crusty baguettes are available everywhere and are usually served with breakfast or any meal that doesn't involve rice. Street vendors sell sandwiches made with baguettes, tomatoes, cucumbers, and either meat or cheese: Available ingredients will be displayed on a shelf behind the food cart's glass front. Traditional Vietnamese street-front restaurants have pots of various stews and vegetables set out for inspection. The food is often quite tasty, and if it smells good it's probably safe to eat. One problem for Westerners, though, is that the plastic chairs and tables in those cafes are very short, similar to ones found in a primary school, so taller visitors will have to fold themselves up quite a bit.
Vietnam is also a coffee-lover's dream. It seems like every street cafe sells the thick coffee preferred by locals. The typical southern drink is cafe sua-da—sweetened condensed milk and strong coffee. Black coffee, whether hot or on ice, drips slowly from a special steel filter placed directly on the glass, and its slowness is a reminder to take life at a leisurely, contemplative pace.
Fresh fruit is available everywhere. Watermelons, oranges, pineapples and bananas are cheap and plentiful. Try some of the more unusual offerings such as lychees with their spiky red coats, jackfruit (also spiky, but larger and green), tamarind (long, lumpy brown pods) and dragon-skin fruit (lipstick-pink with lime-green trim). Most tourists avoid the dreaded durian, which to Westerners smells like a dead mouse in a sewer pipe, but it apparently tastes delicious if you're Vietnamese.
The Vietnamese version of French cuisine is exceptional. If at all possible, make reservations in Ho Chi Minh City for La Bibliotheque, in the home of a former legislator. Not only is the food delicious, but some nights the proprietor invites musician friends over for a jam session with Vietnamese acoustic instruments—it's extraordinary.
You will come across dog meat, or thit cho, in both restaurants and markets. The meat actually comes from dogs that are raised for that purpose. You shouldn't worry about being served dog meat without knowing it: It's a costly Vietnamese delicacy that no cook would waste.
