Every country all over the world has its specific and diverse food culture. And I love being the person who explores the best local foods, captures lively photos and writes interesting posts to help all food-aholic in general and travelers in particular easily discover the best places when they visit another country. And today, I would like to introduce our top 5 amazing street foods that travelers cannot miss when they come to Vietnam and some major reasons why food is one of my favorite topics. Let’s go, guys!!!
- Pho - Rice noodle soup
Yes, Pho is the first name in the list. It seems to be the first popular dish which can be easily and quickly seen when you walk along the streets.
At first glance, this dish isn’t too special which is inclusive of flavorful noodle soup, tough noodle. Above are thin slices of beef or chicken are torn apart, then little aromatic herbs, and we have a bowl of delicious noodle soup.
However, it’s the noodle soup that is the decisive factor. To my knowledge, Pho’s noodle soup is made from 8 natural vegetables with some other ingredients following a special recipe. It’s truly not an easy task to have perfect noodle soup by amateur cooks. Pho is basically a delicious, popular and cheap dish that is almost available anywhere, anytime.
>>> Price: 30,000 – 50,000 VND/ bowl of Pho
- Bun Cha – Kebab rice noodles
Right after Pho, Bun Cha is the second character in the list. Although Pho is considered the most famous dish in Vietnam, Bun Cha is the first and ideal choice for lunch.
After 11AM as usual, people may be caught across the streets by thin smoke of barbecued slices of pork from Bun Cha restaurants. Pork is cut into thin slices and marinated with different spices for a while and barbecued on a coal fire.
Wow, what an irresistible flavor! I am sure that you will love it from the first taste. A full meal of Bun Cha includes barbecued pork, noodles eaten with herbs and sauces. In some places, this combination will be more perfect if you have a great plate of crab cake.
Then, how do you think? If you are still considering whether to have this dish, just let you know that the US former president Obama was enjoying Bun Cha with the famous chef – Bourdain when he visited Vietnam in 2016 
>>> Price: 50,000 – 70,000 VND/set
- Banh Mi - Vietnamese bread
As I know, the French were the one who brought Banh Mi to Vietnam, but the Vietnamese themselves have brought Banh Mi to a higher level. In the recent Miss Universe 2018, Miss Vietnam had a great performance of national costume with “Banh Mi” and was proudly presented as one of the top 12 excellent national costumes. How wonderful it is to introduce our local street food to friends from all over the world!
Banh Mi seems to be so popular that you can easily find a store with the name of Vietnamese bread when you visit any piece of land in the world. Vietnamese bread is very diverse but the most famous one is still the traditional bread.
That is the perfect combination of an aromatic crispy bread , a fatty pâté layer, little melon vegetables , little meatballs, spring rolls and a variety of sauces which makes it unforgettable. Thus, it is absolutely easy to understand that you must try Vietnamese bread when you visit our country, isn’t it?
>>> Price: 15,000 – 25,000 VND/ a loaf of Banh Mi
- Xoi – Steamed sticky rice
Xoi (steamed sticky rice) is an indispensable dish in the list of delicious Vietnamese street food cannot have a lack of Xoi – steamed sticky rice. It’s not a snack itself but can be considered a main dish. Xoi has two main tastes which are sweet and salty steamed sticky rice.
A sweet small sticky rice has various tastes such as sticky green bean, sticky black bean, sticky white bean, steamed Momordica glutinous rice , charcoal sticky rice , etc.
And if you are not a fan of sweet flavor, there are still other choices of salty sticky rice for you. It can be added with other countless ingredients such as shredded chicken, roasted meat, fried egg and sprinkles with a little onion. There cannot be a more perfect street food.
>>> Price: 10,000 – 20,000 VND/ a pack of Xoi
- Banh xeo – Vietnamese pancake
And, finally, Banh xeo – Vietnamese pancake is a delicious Vietnamese crepe which is a must-try when visiting Vietnam. There are also different kinds of Vietnamese pancakes from various regions of Vietnam such as Southern pancake, Central pancake, Western pancake that everyone can choose depending on their hobby and individual taste. Below is the Southern pancake that I love the most.
The cake is the combination of a crispy and fatty cake crust, shrimp, meat, bean sprouts and little more herbs. And do you know how to enjoy it correctly?
Let’s see! Cut a piece of cake and roll it with a rice paper, raw vegetable, sour vegetables and dip it into a special blended sauce . I am sure that you guys just want to eat more and more after the first bite.
>>> Price: 30,000 – 40,000 VND/ a cake
Talking about why I would love to share the topic of food on Google Map. Actually, it is for not only the travelers but also the indigenous peoples who have never experienced different kinds of foods in their country. This motivates me to write posts of food review to let them know whether the quality of food is as good as their advertisements, how restaurants or stores serve their customers, and how the features of a certain place match customers’ purpose of organization, etc?
Moreover, from management perspective, I believe that this also helps restaurant’s managers control the quality of all factors such as food, drinks, staff, customer service, etc by real and objective feedback from customers. And last but not the least, I would like to introduce our Vietnamese foods to people around the world so that they know more about diverse food culture in Vietnam.
