Home » Blog » Vietnam » I didn’t pho-get: what I ate in Vietnam.
I didn’t pho-get: what I ate in Vietnam.
I ate a lot of amazing food while traveling and I made sure not to pho-get to show you what I ate in Vietnam!
I ate a lot of Pho, which is a Vietnamese soup made of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat. It’s perhaps one of Vietnam’s most famous dishes and popular street in restaurants and as street food. I tried many variations throughout the country, including one from a street stall that told me and my companions that it was made from “special cow.” I’m still not quite sure what that special cow was…
And I tasted a lot of other popular Vietnamese dishes and local specialties like a Bahn Mi sandwich, spring rolls, and rice pancakes. My favorite might have been the local dishes in Hoi An. There was the White Rose (banh bao vac), a translucent white dumpling filled with spiced minced meat and bunched up to look like delicate white rose. There was the Hoi An wonton, a mix between a ravioli and nachos, the Hoi An Wonton is a crispy filled wonton topped with a salsa-like topping of vegetables and sweet and sour shrimp. And there was Cao Lau, a bowl of barbecue pork slices, pork crackling, bean sprouts, lettuce and herbs, it is then finished with stock.
As much as I loved the local food in Vietnam, I, of course, needed to sometimes satisfy some Western cravings. Like pizza. Because I always end up eating a lot of pizza…
Want to know everything I ate in Vietnam? Here you go…
What I ate in Vietnam…
I ate a lot of pho in Vietnam. A lot of Pho…
I of course ate lots of pho. The last one was made with “special cow.” Still not sure what that means…
Pho in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
Pho in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
Pho in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Special cow Pho in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Other local food I ate in Vietnam:
Spoiler alert: it was all delicious.
Bahn Mi sandwich in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
Cashew chicken in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
Street food in Dalat, Vietnam.
Street food in Dalat, Vietnam.
Street food in Dalat, Vietnam.
Weasel coffee in Dalat, Vietnam.
Lots of cheap food for lunch while on my motorbike tour in Dalat, Vietnam.
Lots of cheap food for lunch while on my motorbike tour in Dalat, Vietnam.
Clay Pot Fish in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
Mango fish in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
Seafood noodles in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Ginger Pork and cheap beer in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Ginger Pork and cheap beer in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Hoi An specialties: White rose in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Hoi An specialties: Wontons in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Hoi An specialties: Spring rolls in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Hoi An specialties: Cao Lau in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Rice pancakes by the side of the river in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Mango fish on Christmas in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Rice dish on the streets of Hue, Vietnam.
An amazing meal out in Hue. We ordered the entire menu.
An amazing meal out in Hue. We ordered the entire menu.
An amazing meal out in Hue. We ordered the entire menu.
An amazing meal out in Hue. We ordered the entire menu.
An amazing meal out in Hue. We ordered the entire menu.
Fried shrimps on the DMZ tour. (I was desperate for something fried in my hungover state…)
A street food meal in Hue, Vietnam.
A street food meal in Hanoi.
And, of course, I didn’t eat all Asian food…
Sometimes a girl just needs pizza.
Pizza in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
Pizza in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Pizza in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Fish and chips in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Bruschetta in Hoi An, Vietnam.
Hamburger at the hostel in Hue, Vietnam.
The hostel in Hanoi had amazing mac and cheese. I ordered it. Twice.
The hostel in Hanoi had amazing mac and cheese. I ordered it. Twice.
Hi, I'm Val. I spent most of my 20s in a standstill, unable to pick which path in life I wanted to take. I wanted the nomadic life of a traveler but also wanted the husband, the condo, and the kitten. Unable to decide which life I wanted more, I did nothing. When I turned 30 I’d had enough of putting my life on hold and decided to start “choosing my figs.” So, I quit my job, bought a one-way ticket to Europe, and traveled for three years. Now I'm back in Chicago, decorating my apartment in all the teal, petting my cats, and planning my next adventure.
At the beginning of 2019 I made a list of 12 restaurants that I really wanted to go to, one...
2 Comments
Tom
January 12, 2012at8:32 am
That pho looks amazing, as does the cashew chicken. Although as a Brit (and therefore fish and chips aficionado) the Vietnamese version looks just plain wrong! 😉
Tom
January 12, 2012at8:32 amThat pho looks amazing, as does the cashew chicken. Although as a Brit (and therefore fish and chips aficionado) the Vietnamese version looks just plain wrong! 😉
Val
January 12, 2012at9:04 pmIt was pretty bad. And as an American I was offended by the weird not-really-ketchup they use for my fries.