Before boarding my flights to Saigon and Hanoi, I had read a lot about Vietnam as a culinary destination. Friends also have gone there and come back to share with us popular Vietnamese products. Travel blogs have lauded it. Anthony Bourdain fell in love with it.

So I decided to go have a look.

First night. Hanoi. The street scene in the Old Quarter is absolute chaos. Every corner is dotted with eateries. Dozens and dozens of diners park themselves on low tables and stools, ignoring the noise of the million mopeds passing by and the rubbish beneath their feet. Why?

This is why. Street food here is phenomenal! Imagine a big bowl of the freshest beef strips, rice noodles, cucumber, cilantro, basil, garlic chips and peanuts you can find and top that off with the most flavorful, steaming broth straight from the pot next to you. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Pho — Vietnam’s national dish. I couldn’t get enough of this soup. One month after my visit, I could still (vividly) remember how it tasted like.

Pho is a humble, nourishing dish. Native to the North of Vietnam, it may have borrowed the technique from the French where onion is charred and added to the broth for a full-bodied flavor. There’s even a theory that the word pho came from the last syllable of pot-au-feu (literally “pot on the fire”), a French beef stew that is cooked in a stockpot for hours. This is a definite must-try.

The following day: tour of the city’s temples, pagodas, museums and gardens. Every so often, we take a break. And what better way to relax than sitting by the roadside, watching the locals go about their day and sipping one of the best coffees in the world!

Yes, people, Vietnam is coffee paradise. There’s a cafe in practically every other street. The locals are big coffee drinkers. They like it thick; they like it strong. And I’m not about to complain. Because it’s that good!

It’s also very easy to replicate at home. Start off with authentic Vietnamese coffee, then get yourself a Vietnamese coffee filter which is commonly a metal cup with tiny holes on the bottom. Place that over your glass mug with your desired amount of condensed milk. Spoon freshly ground coffee into the filter, fill with hot water, cover. Presto! You got ambrosia dripping into your cup.

After a long day getting ourselves acculturated, time to embark on another culinary adventure. This time the target is a proper restaurant serving posh nosh. Introducing Highway4. Located in Hang Tre in the Hoan Kiem District, this local institution has been pleasing customers since 2000 and I can see why.

A Vietnamese classic, this spring roll is the freshest I’ve had with the sweetest shrimp I’ve tasted.

Not unlike our famous humba, this braised pork dish is simmered in an earthen pot with slivers of fresh coconut that is just absolutely divine!

Encased in a crunchy coat, this succulent squid entree screams “Butter!” and tastes just like it!

And you can’t go wrong with this fried rice loaded with cubed chicken, diced carrots and green beans. It’s a meal in itself.

The next day is spent just on the outskirts of Hanoi, visiting the Silk and Ceramic Villages. The tour ends at the popular Quan An Ngon restaurant.

Did they look like hawker stalls to you? Yup, they actually are! As it happens, the owner of the restaurant rounded up the best cooks he could find on the alleys of Hanoi, enclosed them inside four walls and gave them freedom to cook their specialties in their very own space in this massive street kitchen. You can browse the individual stalls for Vietnamese favorites or take a look at their extensive menu like we did.

Grilled Beef Salad

Deep Fried Pork Ribs in Sweet & Sour Sauce

Grilled Beef with Chilli Salt

It will take at least a week’s worth of visits to this food paradise to sample all the dishes. And I only have one night left in Hanoi! I think to myself, there will be another time. Still got so many restaurants to try. I will certainly be back.

So packing my bags for the second leg of my Vietnam trip, I check the notes I made earlier on what to try in Saigon. Coconut candies, durian sweets, chicken in bamboo, lemon squid, snake wine, honey tea. But where to start? Hmmm…perhaps the famous street baguettes that I have heard so much about.

Fresh, fragrant, intoxicating. Anthony Bourdain, I’m totally with you on this one.

xx

Karima