Vietnam Local Foods 

Fresher than fresh 

Some facts

Vegan & Vegetarian

Being a Vegetarian in Vietnam isn’t really difficult. Besides that the Vietnamese people think that meat is the most important part of the meal, there are a lot vegetarian friendly restaurants where you can eat. If there is not a vegetarian option on the menu, you can always ask them to leave the meat out and to create a vegetarian meal for you. Just tell them ‘’Toi an chay’’ . This means ‘’I am a vegetarian’’. Sometimes you have to repeat yourself a few times to make sure they understand you. A tip is to write it down! 

Most common vegetarian food

• Tofu
• Fresh or fried spring rolls
• Aubergine or mushroom claypot
• Pho Chay
• Banh Mi Chay 

Best restaurants for vegetarians

Go for the best vegetarian restaurants to your destiny and chose the option food, vegetarian.

Extreme Local Food

Cha Ruoi

A very popular dish, especially in Hanoi, that is not available all year. It is a type of sand worm and can only be found from the end of September to the middle of October. The worms are mostly fried with egg and served with vermicelli, salad and fish sauce.

Where to eat?

1. Cha Ruoi Hang Beo Add: 244 Lo Duc Str
2. Cha Ruoi 25 Gia Ngư
3. Cha ruoi Hang Chieu – O Quan Chuong
   

Balut - Baby Duck

This egg is a fully-formed duck egg and a very popular food in Vietnam. When you eat the egg, you see that it contains a duck fetus. You can see its feet, beak and feathers after breaking the shell of the egg. It looks a little bit scary, but it seems to be tasty and nutritious.

Vietnam Non Local Food

Craving for Western food?!!

The Vietnamese kitchen is very tasty with all her flavors. We can imagine that there will be a point where you want to have some food from another kitchen. That’s where we are going to help you. 

• In the most cities in Vietnam you can find international restaurants. The prices are a little higher than the local restaurants. You can find a good meal for 10 dollars. The most common kitchens are: Italian, European, French, Indian, Japanese, and Grill. Think about main dishes like: pizza, pasta, fries & burgers, sushi and curries. 
• Craving for fast-food or a company you are familiar with? There are a lot fast food chains like Burger King, McDonald's and Domino’s. order food online. Vietnam
• Don’t feel like going out for food? It is very easy to order food in Vietnam. Use the website Vietnammm.com. You can find every kitchen with a lot dishes. 
• Staying in a ho(s)tel? That’s an easy way to get some western food. A French bakery is always there to have a nice breakfast, lunch or snack. 

Per destiny you can find under the heading ‘non-local food’ some suggestions for restaurants with different kitchens. 

Halal Foods in Vietnam

For Muslim travellers it can be a big challenge to find Halal food in a non-Muslim country, but there are plenty of facilities available. It might be easier to find Halal food in big cities than small cities. 

To find out what kind of restaurants serve Halal food and where, go to your destiny and choose ‘’halal’’.

Top Vietnamese Halal dishes

1. Cha Ca - is an unique North-Vietnam seafood dish. The white flaky fish is sauteed with vegetables and dill. Served with noodles and crunchy peanuts. 
2. Canh Chua - a sour soup with fish tomatoes, vegetables and pineapple. 
3. Rau Muong - the popular vegetable, which known as morning glory or water spinach. 
4. Mi Quang - just like all the other noodle dishes you should make sure they use halal meat instead of pork.
   

Vietnam Drinks

Green tea

The national drink of Vietnam is green tea. Green tea is drunk a lot after eating and is used for social gathering or business meetings. 

Nuoc Sam (Ginseng tea) 

This is a typical Vietnamese tea, which taste is sweet and nutty, and mostly served iced. You often get this drink with your meal (especially rice dishes). The main ingredients are nettle leaves, sugarcane, nettle leaves and corn silk. There are variations that also have ingredients such as roaster water chestnuts, dried longan and spiky cilantro.

Nuoc mia (sugar cane juice)

This sweet drink is often drunk in the summer to cool down. You’ll find the vendors everywhere at the streets with their squashing machines. They use it to squeeze the juice from stalks of sugarcane. Usually, they mix it with the juice from the calamansi, a tiny lime found naturally in Southeast Asia.. 

Caphe (coffee) 

Vietnam is the second largest producer of coffee in the world. Most of the Vietnamese drink their coffee iced. Usually, they mix the coffee with condensed milk (ca phe sua), but you can also choose for black coffee (ca phe den). The coffee is brewed using a phin and a small metal drip filter on top of a mug. When it’s served, you probably have to wait a while because the coffee is slowly dripping into your mug. 

One very popular drink, especially in Hanoi, is the ‘egg coffee’. This specialty makes it to the world top 10 best drink list. Vietnamese whip egg yolk and condensed milk together until it gets thick and creamy. Then black coffee is poured over the top and left to sink to the bottom. 

Coconut 

A very popular drink and you can find many fresh coconuts, especially in the south. They cut a hole in the coconut and then drink the juice with a straw. The taste of a fresh coconut is sweet and more flavoured than the coconut juice in your supermarket. The smaller the coconut the sweeter it is. 

Fruit smoothies

Findable everywhere in any region in Vietnam. It’s really easy to make and get. Choose the fruits you want and the vendor will put them into a liquidizer. Wait for a bit and you’ll get your fresh served fruit smoothie. Some vendors put sugar or milk in the smoothie, so you should tell them if you don’t want it in your drink. 

Courses

Let's cook!

Vietnam has amazing food that you might want to try at home to let your friends taste a little bit of Vietnam. They cook food in a different way, but it is very easy to learn. Take a cooking class to experience the Vietnamese cuisine, traditionals and cooking skills! 

Going Out

Vietnam is a growing country and you can see that in everything. You will find plenty of pubs, bars and clubs in the main cities and backpacker areas. Take Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, Halong Bay, Mui Ne and Phan Thiet are places that offers a lot.

Backpackers nightlife   

There are enough places to have a good nightlife and for the real party people: it almost costs nothing! You can get a beer at the street for less than a dollar and mixed drinks for about 4 dollars. It depends in the bars and clubs of course where you go.

Because Vietnamese love Karaoke

Not looking for a big night out? There’s a lot more to do besides drinking and dancing. Karaoke, for example, you will find it everywhere in Vietnam. Enjoy a night singing your favorite songs with your friends in a private room 

Live music bars 

Is singing not your thing and you would rather listen to some live music? Also possible! Vietnam has a lot of live music bars with jazz, rock and more music genres. 

More fancy 

Looking for a little more fancy night out? Enjoy a rooftop bar with the most amazing view or go to a nice wine bar to enjoy different wines. 

Soooo?

There is plenty enough to do in Vietnam when it comes to its nightlife. For everyone is something that will fit their needs. If you want to know what you can do per city, go to the city, select food & drinks and go to the header ‘’nightlife’’.