in Hanoi Ngõ Nooks

Ngõ Nooks: Xóm Hạ Hồi's 30-Year-Old Bún Thang Stands the Test of Time

If you peel through the peaceful residential areas around the Quang Trung and Trần Hưng Đạo crossroads, you might just chance upon Bún Thang 11 Hạ Hồi, a humble, household noodle spot.

in Hanoi Ngõ Nooks

Ngõ Nooks: Căng Tin Cafe, a Gateway to the Past for the City's New Youth

Hanoi’s café scene is saturated with cafés selling a vision of the past.

in Hanoi Ngõ Nooks

Ngõ Nooks: Blue Crab and Beer for a Bodacious Snack on the Hanoi Sidewalk

Of all seafood in Vietnam, ghẹ (blue crab) is among the most expensive. Even at wholesale markets, these crustaceans can fetch from VND300,000 to 400,000 a kilogram and any buffet deal that boasts their presence naturally comes with an exorbitant price tag. It was a personal surprise for me to find this highly sought-after delicacy right on the pavement at Quán Ghẹ Cô Tươi.

in Hanoi Ngõ Nooks

Ngõ Nooks: A Blissful Fish Feast at Bún Cá Sâm Cây Si

As hot as it gets, Hanoi’s scorching summer is no match for delightful fish rolls and refreshing sour soup.

in Hanoi Ngõ Nooks

Ngõ Nooks: Cozy up at Ẩn Cà Phê With Morning Coffees and Night Cocktails

In the Mood for Love , Wong Kar-wai’s elegantly restrained movie about married lovers resisting adultery, offers up a del...

Paul Christiansen

in Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: Cà Phê Sữa and Cơm Tấm With a Side of Espionage History

Kimchi is not a common cơm tấm accouterment. The extra helping of chili pepper heat, palate-cleansing bitterness and cabbage leaf crunch doesn't taste out of place beside a fully loaded plate of broken rice, it’s just not a common feature of the southern staple. This is not so at Cà Phê Đỗ Phủ-Cơm Tấm Đại Hàn, where the story behind kimchi’s existence on the plate is more interesting than the meal itself.

in Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: Tân Định's Tried-and-True Bánh Canh Cua for a Late Breakfast

Bánh canh, at times described as Vietnamese udon or even “mouse-tail noodles,” is a great mystery on its own. Etymologically speaking, bánh canh translates to “soup-cake,” and these thick, cylindrical noodles made with tapioca and rice flour of varying ratios do invoke a sense of cognitive dissonance.

in Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: The Midnight Hủ Tiếu Only for Saigon's Most Patient Night Owls

As a Saigonese who has lived abroad for half of her life, I have a huge craving for hủ tiếu khô (dry noodles), my go-to breakfast meal and a dish my family always made sure to get on our way to my mother’s hometown in the Mekong Delta. Something special about the combination of the rich rice noodle, bone broth, and pork slices made us return for more. Though I later moved to the US and was exposed to other versions of dry noodle dishes and flavorful cuisines from different parts of the world, the memory of savoring a rich and topping-full hủ tiếu khô bowl from the motherland still remains in my mind. 

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in Food Culture

Saijo, Huế's Sister City in Japan, Adds Bún Bò to School Lunch Program

Another step toward bún bò domination has been taken.

Linh Pham

in Hanoi Ngõ Nooks

Ngõ Nooks: At Ốc Cô Nhung, an Affordable Five-Course Banquet of Snails and Snacks

If there is a restaurant in Hanoi that embodies the proverb “good wine needs no bush,” it’s Ốc cô Nhung. Though in this case, instead of wine, it is snails.

Khôi Phạm

in Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: The Dream of the 2010s Is Alive at Pacey Cupcakes

Pick your favorite cupcake flavor; perhaps a pitcher of hot fragrant tea too. Ascend the dizzyingly steep flight of stairs. Mind your head. Tread gently on the wooden attic floor. There your friends a...

in Food Culture

Pack a Basket, Fill up Your Water Bottle, It's Sugarcane Harvest Season in Đắk Lắk

In March, at early dawn in M'Drắk, long baskets follow farmers to sugarcane farms to bring back wealth. The people here were in the midst of a sweaty and sweet season.

in Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: Cô Thủy and 25 Years of Breakfast Bò Né in D4

Historically, District 4 has been known for snail and barbecue restaurants. As a long-term resident, I suggest it should also be famous for having the most delicious bò né place as Bò Né Thanh Tuyền d...

in Food Culture

In Thailand, Selling Unripe Sầu Riêng Could Land You in Jail

Harvesting durians before they are ripe in Thailand can land a first-time offender in jail for up to three years, while recidivists face even stricter sentences.

in Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: In Warmth and Good Drinks, an Amiable Cafe's Spirit Lives On

How would you feel if everything about your favorite spot suddenly changed one day? Would the same attachment still stand? Those were the questions that popped into my head the afternoon I paid my vis...

Khoi Pham

in Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: Curry Shika and 12 Years of Making Memories in Saigon

Unlike a normal human, there is a chance that my body is not 70% water, but 70% curry; and a good 50% of that might actually be Japanese curry.

in Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: In Saigon, Go Mô Rứa for a Well-Crafted Huế Culinary Feast?

In the Huế dialect, mô rứa is a phrase one might encounter often in daily conversation. When a Huế resident asks “Mi đi mô rứa?” they might be wondering where you’re heading.

Linh Pham

in Food Culture

For 2 Decades, a Hanoi Family Has Kept the Fire of the Bánh Chưng Pot Burning

Much like the peach blossom or the lucky money envelope, bánh chưng is a staple part of Tết.

Khoi Pham

in Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: In D6, Oyster Omelette, Porridge and Bột Chiên for the Soul

“He was a bold man that first ate an oyster,” satirist Jonathan Swift wrote in the 1700s. Famously fearful of the now-prized bivalves, Swift eventually grew to appreciate their briny, ocean-forward es...

in Snack Attack

What We Talk About When We Talk About Tết Snacks

While Tết is filled with many traditions, perhaps nothing is more central to the holiday than the food that families prepare and share together.

in Ănthology

A Tale of Two Rượus

The first time I bought rượu, it was from Lang Giang, my tour guide in Sa Pa. We were staying in a Red Dao village known for its rice liquor production, and that night I received three water bottles, ...

in Food Culture

US Eatery Targeted by Angry Reviewers for Providing Raw Beef With Takeaway Phở Tái

Customers ordering phở tái to go were confused to receive raw beef, not understanding they were expected to cook it, and responded with cruel reviews.

in Food Culture

A Feast for Your Eyes, Ears and Soul in Culinary Frank's ASMR Cooking

Based in Melbourne, a Vietnamese chef-turned-YouTuber has been cooking up a delicious storm of homey dishes and global cuisines imbued with ASMR, inspiring home cooks to go on culinary adventures in t...

in Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: In the Mood for Lẩu? A Ngưu Offers Hong Kong Vibes and Tasty Bites.

I visit Tiệm Lẩu A Ngưu on a rare wintry Saturday evening in Saigon, the perfect occasion to fill one’s stomach with warm broth, noodles, and a host of other tasty accouterments.

in Hanoi Ngõ Nooks

Ngõ Nooks: A Salted Coffee in Gạt Tàn Is Not What It Sounds Like

Is it not just the weirdest combination ever, coffee and salt?

Paul Christiansen

in Food Culture

How a Vietnamese Food Stylist Puts 'the Bling Bling' on Bánh Chưng

“When people know what they are doing, they bring food to life,” says Thu Pham Buser, a New York-based food stylist of her profession.

in Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: One Bowl, Two Noodle Dishes, and Heaps of Hometown Glory

On the slope connecting Binh Thanh and Phu Nhuan districts lives a small pocket of Quang Nam culinary spirits — in the form of “two-in-one” noodles.

in Ănthology

The Vietnamese Man Who Makes America's Most Sought-After Tofu

Twenty years ago in America, tofu was considered, at best, a bland, tasteless, hippie meat replacement, and at worst, a dangerous, highly processed food product that would allegedly cause men to grow ...