What to eat and drink in Vietnam: dishes, etiquette and dietary tips

Vietnam's cooking splits into three broad styles. The north is restrained: clear broths, black pepper, few herbs, and noodle soups eaten before work. The centre, especially around Huế and Hội An, is hotter and more elaborate, with chilli, shrimp paste and small dishes built for a table. The south is sweeter, uses coconut and sugar more freely, and puts a basket of raw herbs on every table.

Most dishes are sold one per stall, and the sign over the stall is the menu. That is why a plastic stool with a single pot of broth usually beats a restaurant with a long menu: the cook has made the same bowl thousands of times.

Breakfast is the best meal of the day in Vietnam. Phở bò is a long-simmered beef broth with rice noodles, served from about 06:00 and often gone by 10:00. Bún riêu, a tomato and crab-paste broth with tofu, and bánh cuốn, steamed rice sheets rolled around minced pork and wood-ear mushroom, fill the same slot. Xôi, sticky rice with mung bean or fried shallot, is the cheap takeaway version.

Lunch and dinner shift with the region. In Hanoi, bún chả — grilled pork patties and belly in a sweet-sour dip with cold noodles — is a lunch dish, while chả cá Lã Vọng is a dinner of turmeric-marinated fish fried at the table with dill. In the centre, cao lầu is a Hội An noodle with pork and crackling, and mì Quảng is wide turmeric noodles with shrimp or pork and a splash of broth. In the south, cơm tấm is broken rice with a grilled pork chop and egg meatloaf, eaten at any hour, and bánh xèo is an evening crisp pancake wrapped in lettuce.

Bánh mì, the baguette with pâté, cold cuts and pickles, and chả giò (nem rán in the north), fried spring rolls, are nationwide and available all day. Gỏi cuốn, fresh rice-paper rolls with shrimp and herbs, make a good snack. For a meat-free meal, look for 'chay' signs: cơm chay is a Buddhist rice plate of tofu, mock meat and greens, and đậu phụ sốt cà chua is tofu in tomato sauce.

Street food is one of the cheapest parts of a Vietnam trip. A bowl of phở or a bánh mì at a stall is a few dollars; a sit-down meal with drinks in a city restaurant costs several times that. Prices below are 2026 estimates and vary by city — Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City run higher than provincial towns.

Beer is cheap and local: bia hơi, the fresh draft sold by the glass in Hanoi, is the cheapest option, with bottled lager costing a little more. Coffee is a national institution — cà phê sữa đá is iced coffee with condensed milk, and egg coffee (cà phê trứng) is a Hanoi specialty.

Ordering is simple: point at what looks good, say the name of the dish, and pay at the end or up front depending on the stall. Chopsticks go on the table or a rest, not standing upright in rice. Sharing is normal — dishes arrive as they are cooked, and everyone takes from the middle. If you are offered food or tea by a host, accepting is polite.

Tipping is not expected at street stalls. At restaurants and cafés, rounding up or leaving 5–10% is a reasonable gesture but not a rule. Bargaining is for markets, not for a bowl of noodles.

Fish sauce (nước mắm) and shrimp paste appear in most savoury dishes, including many that look vegetarian, so strict vegetarians should ask for 'không nước mắm' (no fish sauce) or eat at 'chay' restaurants, which follow a Buddhist meat-free kitchen. Peanuts turn up in gỏi cuốn dip and in many sauces. For serious allergies, carry a card in Vietnamese naming the ingredient and show it before ordering.

Tap water is not for drinking in Vietnam; use sealed bottled water, filtered refill stations or boiled water. Ice is common in drinks — factory tube ice is generally considered safer than crushed block ice. Street food is usually fine when the stall is busy and the food is cooked to order and served hot; go easy on raw herbs and pre-cut fruit in your first days. If you get sick, oral rehydration salts from any pharmacy are the first step, and travel insurance is worth having before you go.