What I Ate in Vietnam for a Week (And What I’d Order Again)

What I Ate in Vietnam for a Week (And What I’d Order Again)

Vietnamese food was one of the main reasons I enjoyed travelling around the country. A typical day could start with pho, continue with a quick banh mi, and end with grilled meat, seafood, noodles, or a bowl of something I had never seen before.

What I liked most was the variety between regions. Northern Vietnamese food is generally lighter and more restrained, while central dishes are often bolder and spicier. Southern cooking tends to use sweeter flavours.

I spent a week eating my way through Vietnam, trying some famous dishes along with a few things I had not originally intended to order.

Here is what I ate and, more importantly, what I would order again.

Day 1: Pho for Breakfast and Banh Mi for Lunch

I started the first morning with pho, which seemed like the obvious choice.

A bowl of pho usually comes with flat rice noodles, beef or chicken, herbs, and a slow-cooked broth. Hanoi-style pho is known for its clear, delicate broth, while southern versions are often served with more herbs and bean sprouts.

I ordered beef pho and kept the toppings fairly simple.

The broth was the part that stood out. It was fragrant without being overwhelmingly spicy, and the noodles made it filling enough for breakfast.

For lunch, I switched to banh mi.

The contrast was almost perfect. Instead of a bowl of hot broth, I had a crisp baguette filled with meat, pâté, pickled vegetables, cucumber, herbs, and sauce.

Would I order them again? Absolutely both.

Day 2: Bun Cha in Hanoi

On the second day, I tried bun cha, one of the dishes I had been looking forward to most.

It consists of grilled pork, rice vermicelli, fresh herbs, and a fish-sauce-based broth or dipping mixture. The pork is usually grilled over charcoal, which gives it a smoky flavour.

The best part was the combination of textures.

The noodles were soft, the herbs were fresh, and the grilled pork had slightly crispy edges.

It also felt very different from pho even though both are common Vietnamese meals.

I would definitely order bun cha again, especially for lunch.

Day 3: Cao Lau in Hoi An

When I reached Hoi An, I wanted something that was strongly associated with the city.

That meant cao lau.

Cao lau is a noodle dish made with thick noodles, sliced pork, fresh herbs, and crispy pieces of pork crackling. Vietnam Tourism describes it as a dish unique to Hoi An, with influences connected to the city's history as a trading port.

The noodles were much thicker than the rice noodles I had eaten in pho.

There was also less broth, so the dish felt closer to a noodle bowl than a soup.

The combination of chewy noodles, tender pork, herbs, and crunchy toppings made it one of my favourite meals of the week.

This is one I would order again without hesitation.

Day 4: Banh Mi Again

By the fourth day, I realised how easy it was to become obsessed with banh mi.

I tried a different version rather than ordering exactly the same sandwich.

There are many regional variations, including versions with roasted pork, fish cakes, eggs, and different combinations of pickled vegetables and sauces.

This time, I went for a meat-filled version with plenty of pickled vegetables and fresh coriander.

It was inexpensive, quick, and easy to eat while walking around.

That made it particularly useful on a busy sightseeing day.

Would I order it again? Yes — and probably more than once.

Day 5: Bun Bo Hue

Day five was when I wanted something with more heat.

I ordered bun bo Hue, a spicy beef noodle soup from central Vietnam.

It is very different from pho. The broth has a stronger flavour and commonly includes lemongrass, chilli, and fermented shrimp paste. It can also contain beef and pork ingredients depending on the version.

The first few spoonfuls were noticeably spicier than the food I had eaten earlier in the week.

But the flavour was also deeper and more complex.

If you do not handle chilli well, it is worth asking about the spice level before ordering.

For me, it was one of the best noodle dishes of the trip.

Day 6: Com Tam in Ho Chi Minh City

In Ho Chi Minh City, I tried com tam, or broken rice.

The dish is commonly served with grilled pork and can come with other additions such as egg, vegetables, or different types of meat.

It felt more like a complete rice meal than the noodle dishes I had been eating throughout the week.

The grilled pork was the highlight.

The smoky meat combined well with the rice and sauce, and the portion was filling without feeling too heavy.

I would order this again when I wanted something other than noodles.

Day 7: Street Food and Vietnamese Coffee

By the final day, I stopped trying to organise every meal around a famous dish.

Instead, I went back to some of the things I enjoyed most during the week.

I had another banh mi, followed by Vietnamese coffee.

Vietnamese coffee is often made using robusta beans and a small drip filter. It can be served with sweetened condensed milk, producing a strong and sweet drink. Vietnam Tourism also lists iced milk coffee among classic Vietnamese foods and drinks.

The coffee was much stronger than what I normally drink.

The condensed milk helped balance the bitterness, especially when served over ice.

After a week of Vietnamese food, coffee became part of my daily routine.

The Street Food I Did Not Expect to Like

One evening in Ho Chi Minh City, I decided to try oc, Vietnamese snail dishes.

Snails can be boiled, steamed, grilled, or stir-fried and served with rich, spicy sauces. They are a well-known part of the city's street-food culture.

Eating them was messy.

You have to remove the meat from the shell and work through each piece individually, which is not exactly the easiest meal when you are travelling alone.

But the sauces were excellent.

I would order them again, although probably when sitting somewhere with plenty of napkins.

What I Would Order Again

After seven days, these were the dishes that made my personal list:

• Pho — especially for breakfast
• Banh mi — an easy choice any time of day
• Bun cha — one of my favourite meals in Hanoi
• Cao lau — my favourite dish from Hoi An
• Bun bo Hue — for something spicy
• Com tam — when I wanted rice instead of noodles
• Vietnamese iced coffee — basically every afternoon

Vietnam Tourism highlights many of these dishes as important parts of the country's regional food culture, with noticeable differences between northern, central, and southern cooking.

What I Learned About Eating in Vietnam

The biggest lesson was not to stick only to the dishes I already knew.

Before arriving, I thought I would mostly eat pho and banh mi. Those ended up being some of my favourites, but the dishes I remembered most were the ones that were completely different from each other.

Cao lau in Hoi An, bun cha in Hanoi, bun bo Hue, and com tam in Ho Chi Minh City each gave me a different idea of what Vietnamese food could be.

I also found that eating locally was much easier on my budget than choosing international restaurants for every meal. Small food stalls and local restaurants made it possible to try several dishes without spending a huge amount.

A Few Things I Would Do Differently

If I did the same food trip again, I would leave more room between meals.

Vietnamese portions are not always enormous, but eating several times a day adds up quickly when every dish looks tempting.

I would also carry some cash for smaller food stalls and keep a translation app available for menus that were difficult to understand.

Most importantly, I would ask locals what they recommend instead of automatically ordering the most famous dish on the menu.

That was how I ended up trying some of my favourite meals.

Before Travelling to Vietnam

Food was the easy part of my trip. The paperwork was something I preferred to handle before arriving.

Travellers should check the Vietnam visa requirements that apply to their nationality before departure. If an Vietnam electronic visa is required, make sure the passport information entered during the application matches the travel document.

It is also worth keeping a copy of your approved Vietnam eVisa or other travel documents accessible during the trip.

Once those details were sorted, I could focus on the important decisions — whether to order another bowl of pho, try a different banh mi, or find out what the restaurant owner recommended that evening.