Vietnamese cuisine is universally recognised as one of Asia's most refined and healthiest. Its philosophy rests on balancing five flavours (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, spicy) and on the abundant use of fresh herbs — mint, coriander, Thai basil, lemongrass, dill — which give dishes a lightness and freshness that is entirely characteristic. Unlike Thai or Indian cooking, Vietnamese food uses little fat and little coconut milk: flavour comes from condiments, long-simmered broths and fish sauce (nuoc mam) seasonings.
Pho is the soul of Vietnam in a bowl. This beef (pho bo) or chicken (pho ga) broth — slow-simmered with bones, cinnamon, star anise, charred ginger and cardamom — is served over flat rice noodles with thin slices of raw beef that cook in the scalding liquid, topped with bean sprouts, lime wedges, fresh chilli and fragrant herbs. It is far more than breakfast: it is a daily ritual. The best pho is eaten in Hanoi, at 5 am, in an unnamed corner shop, for 30,000-50,000 ₫ (€1.10-1.85).
Banh mi is the most delicious legacy of French colonialism: a crisp baguette (adapted with rice flour for extra lightness) stuffed with pâté, ham, pickled vegetables (carrot, daikon radish), coriander, jalapeños and hoisin or sriracha sauce. In Hoi An, Bánh Mì Phượng is legendary — a 20-minute queue for a baguette at 25,000 ₫ (under €1), absolute perfection.
Bun bo Hue (Hue's spicy beef noodle soup, more pungent than pho with fermented shrimp paste and sliced pork), com tam (broken grilled rice with pork chop and fried egg, Ho Chi Minh City's emblematic lunch), cao lau (thick Hoi An noodles, traditionally made with water drawn from the Old Town's ancient wells), banh xeo (crispy rice flour pancakes filled with prawns, pork and bean sprouts) and goi cuon (fresh spring rolls — transparent rice paper with prawns, pork and herbs) form the essential culinary canon.
Bia hoi is Vietnam's daily-brewed draught beer, unpasteurised, served at around 25,000-30,000 ₫ a glass (under €1). Tạ Hiện Street in Hanoi, nicknamed Beer Corner, assembles dozens of open-air tables every evening where locals and travellers meet on tiny plastic stools — one of the most authentic experiences Vietnam has to offer.
Coffee culture: cà phê trứng (Hanoi's egg coffee — whipped egg yolk foam atop a short espresso) and cà phê sữa đá (iced drip coffee with sweetened condensed milk) are the two unmissable expressions of Vietnamese coffee culture, in the world's second largest coffee-exporting country.
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- Northern Vietnam — Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Sapa rice terraces — The historic capital, the emblematic karst bay and the terraced paddies of the Northwest minorities.
- Central Vietnam — Hoi An, Hue and the central coast — The lantern town, the imperial citadel and the beaches of the old Cochinchina.
- Southern Vietnam — Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta — The pulsating southern megalopolis and the labyrinthine waterways of the Mekong.
- Hanoi, the millennial capital — The 36 guild streets, the Temple of Literature and pho at dawn.