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Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Vietnam
In tourist areas, a wide range of food acceptable to the international palate is freely available, restaurants are usually clean and menus often have English translations. Elsewhere, the variety is far less, dishes and menus are often unrecognizable and preparation and eating areas are a long way from international standards of hygiene. Having said that, few visitors seem suffer food-related illnesses during their stay!
Apart from the most expensive establishments, hotel food is nearly always offered as a buffet with a mixture of Asian and international dishes. Although the quality may be good, the variety is often unimaginative. Lighthouse International Tours usually leaves you to your own devices in the evening so that you can choose the type of food and level of restaurant that you prefer.
We also offer an 'eat street' alternative in Hanoi, whereby you can sample the bewildering array of specialist pavement 'cafés'. Our staff will be pleased to accompany you to the places where the locals eat - the food will be wholly authentic, delicious and cost a fraction of restaurant prices.
Don't expect Western-style 'hygiene' though - however, we've taken plenty of our guests to 'eat street' without a single stomach upset! On tours including meals, we use the best available restaurants. In remote areas without suitable restaurants, picnic meals will be provided.
Food
Vietnamese food is mostly nutritious and healthy. The cuisine of Vietnam comes as a pleasant surprise to many visitors and is definitely a part of the Vietnam experience not to be missed. One of the characteristics of Vietnamese food is that it is always fresh being bought the same morning straight from the market. Cooking methods are confined to grilling, frying, boiling and steaming, as ovens are not used A typical Vietnamese meal consists of rice or noodles with soup, a stir-fry, and another main dish and is eaten on a communal basis. The dishes are usually not spicy and are accompanied with chili sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce. The traditional Vietnamese breakfast is Pho - a large bowl of rice noodles flavored with sliced beef or chicken and fragrant broth and garnished with fresh coriander and bean sprouts. Other typical Vietnamese dishes you can expect to try include “Cha gio”, deep-fried spring rolls and “Goi ngo sen”, a delicious salad made with lotus stems, shrimps and peanuts “Nuoc mam” is the fermented fish sauce used to spice absolutely everything in Vietnam. “Banh cuon”, a steamed rice dumpling into which minced port and vegetables are rolled. Bun Bo, rice vermicelli and vegetables served dry, or with beef soup. The dish originates in Hue, where it is called Bun Bo Hue. Lau, Vietnamese hot pot, popularly served with fish (Lau ca), goat (Lau de) or vegetables only (Lau rau).
Due to the strong Buddhist influence upon Vietnam, vegetarian food is widely available.
The countries 3 main regions, the North, the Center and the South each have distinct cuisine. Generally the North is best known for its noodle soups and meat and seafood stir-fries. It is comparatively bland, with a strong Chinese influence. The central region especially around Hue has some of the most elaborate dishes. In the Hue, food is spicier, with some French touches In the south, where there is a greater abundance of spices the food tends to be a little hotter. With over 3,000km of coastline the seafood here is both delicious and varied. Crabs prawns, crayfish and squid are in plentiful supply, not to mention hundreds of varieties of fish.
Due to the strong Buddhist influence in Vietnam, vegetarian food is widely available.
Drinks:
Bottled drinking water and mineral water are obtainable at any shops in most cities. It is advisable to drink boiled water and not to drink ice and tap water. The most reliable local brand is LA VIE (Don’t confuse them with the imitations such as La Ville or La Vierge), Lucky, Aquafina of Pepsi and real Evian also available at many shops.
Vietnam has wide variety of soft drinks, ranging from ‘Coke’ and ‘Pepsi’ produced here under license to locally produced fizzy drinks and ‘energy-boosting’ concoctions. Fruit juices are ubiquitous, “Nuoc chanh” (water, lemon juice and sugar) being very popular. Fresh orange juice and other sweet fruits are sometimes served with added sugar or salt – watch the person making it and stop them if necessary. Also very popular with visitors are fruit ‘shakes’: chopped fruit with ice, water and milk frothed up in a blender.
Vietnamese coffee is mostly grown in the Central Highlands. Robusta is the usual variety served in Vietnamese establishments – black, thick, and very strong. The minority of Vietnamese people who drink coffee usually mix it with condensed milk – definitely an acquired taste for most foreign visitors. In the cities, smoother Arabica coffee and fresh milk is becoming popular.
For Vietnamese coffee look for the sign 'Trung Nguyen' - they are franchised cafés, very common throughout Vietnam. For Western-style coffee, visit the tourist areas.
A curious, and expensive, variety is ‘Weasel Coffee’. Arabica beans are fed to a weasel. They pass though the animal’s digestive system, are excreted whole, collected, and processed. The passage of the beans through the creature’s intestines is supposed to create a more mellow flavour.
Vietnamese tea is mainly green, sometimes with flavourings, and drunk without milk or sugar from small handle-less cups. This is the drink traditionally offered to people visiting families, friends, offices, shops and so on. Black tea is also popular, but drunk without milk. If you want a traditional cup of tea with milk, stick to the tourist areas - elsewhere you're likely to end up with lukewarm water with a tea bag and condensed milk.
The range of alcoholic drinks in Vietnam is limited. Apart from expensive imported wines and spirits, most drinks available are domestically produced variations on rice wine, or lager-type beer. Rice wine is drunk neat, often direct from the fermentation jar via a bamboo straw, or distilled into a spirit, usually unlabelled as ‘vodka’. The wine is also used as a base for the addition of plants, barks or animals. These are usually drunk for their ‘medicinal’ purposes – snake wine is very popular with men who believe it enhances virility.
In the north, 'medicinal' wines and spirits can be found easily - definitely worth a tasting session. In Hanoi, there is a restaurant that specializes in fruit wines and liquors from the hill tribe villages - our staff will be pleased to escort you and help you to return to your hotel.
Beer comes as variations of locally-brewed French-style lager, and as ‘bia hoi’. Also known as 'fresh beer’, “Bia hoi” is relatively low in alcohol, produced daily, and served ice-cold. It’s cheap, ubiquitous and delicious on a hot day!
In tourist areas, a wide range of food acceptable to the international palate is freely available, restaurants are usually clean and menus often have English translations. Elsewhere, the variety is far less, dishes and menus are often unrecognizable and preparation and eating areas are a long way from international standards of hygiene. Having said that, few visitors seem suffer food-related illnesses during their stay!
Apart from the most expensive establishments, hotel food is nearly always offered as a buffet with a mixture of Asian and international dishes. Although the quality may be good, the variety is often unimaginative. Lighthouse International Tours usually leaves you to your own devices in the evening so that you can choose the type of food and level of restaurant that you prefer.
We also offer an 'eat street' alternative in Hanoi, whereby you can sample the bewildering array of specialist pavement 'cafés'. Our staff will be pleased to accompany you to the places where the locals eat - the food will be wholly authentic, delicious and cost a fraction of restaurant prices.
Don't expect Western-style 'hygiene' though - however, we've taken plenty of our guests to 'eat street' without a single stomach upset! On tours including meals, we use the best available restaurants. In remote areas without suitable restaurants, picnic meals will be provided.
Food
Vietnamese food is mostly nutritious and healthy. The cuisine of Vietnam comes as a pleasant surprise to many visitors and is definitely a part of the Vietnam experience not to be missed. One of the characteristics of Vietnamese food is that it is always fresh being bought the same morning straight from the market. Cooking methods are confined to grilling, frying, boiling and steaming, as ovens are not used A typical Vietnamese meal consists of rice or noodles with soup, a stir-fry, and another main dish and is eaten on a communal basis. The dishes are usually not spicy and are accompanied with chili sauce, fish sauce and soy sauce. The traditional Vietnamese breakfast is Pho - a large bowl of rice noodles flavored with sliced beef or chicken and fragrant broth and garnished with fresh coriander and bean sprouts. Other typical Vietnamese dishes you can expect to try include “Cha gio”, deep-fried spring rolls and “Goi ngo sen”, a delicious salad made with lotus stems, shrimps and peanuts “Nuoc mam” is the fermented fish sauce used to spice absolutely everything in Vietnam. “Banh cuon”, a steamed rice dumpling into which minced port and vegetables are rolled. Bun Bo, rice vermicelli and vegetables served dry, or with beef soup. The dish originates in Hue, where it is called Bun Bo Hue. Lau, Vietnamese hot pot, popularly served with fish (Lau ca), goat (Lau de) or vegetables only (Lau rau).
Due to the strong Buddhist influence upon Vietnam, vegetarian food is widely available.
The countries 3 main regions, the North, the Center and the South each have distinct cuisine. Generally the North is best known for its noodle soups and meat and seafood stir-fries. It is comparatively bland, with a strong Chinese influence. The central region especially around Hue has some of the most elaborate dishes. In the Hue, food is spicier, with some French touches In the south, where there is a greater abundance of spices the food tends to be a little hotter. With over 3,000km of coastline the seafood here is both delicious and varied. Crabs prawns, crayfish and squid are in plentiful supply, not to mention hundreds of varieties of fish.
Due to the strong Buddhist influence in Vietnam, vegetarian food is widely available.
Drinks:
Bottled drinking water and mineral water are obtainable at any shops in most cities. It is advisable to drink boiled water and not to drink ice and tap water. The most reliable local brand is LA VIE (Don’t confuse them with the imitations such as La Ville or La Vierge), Lucky, Aquafina of Pepsi and real Evian also available at many shops.
Vietnam has wide variety of soft drinks, ranging from ‘Coke’ and ‘Pepsi’ produced here under license to locally produced fizzy drinks and ‘energy-boosting’ concoctions. Fruit juices are ubiquitous, “Nuoc chanh” (water, lemon juice and sugar) being very popular. Fresh orange juice and other sweet fruits are sometimes served with added sugar or salt – watch the person making it and stop them if necessary. Also very popular with visitors are fruit ‘shakes’: chopped fruit with ice, water and milk frothed up in a blender.
Vietnamese coffee is mostly grown in the Central Highlands. Robusta is the usual variety served in Vietnamese establishments – black, thick, and very strong. The minority of Vietnamese people who drink coffee usually mix it with condensed milk – definitely an acquired taste for most foreign visitors. In the cities, smoother Arabica coffee and fresh milk is becoming popular.
For Vietnamese coffee look for the sign 'Trung Nguyen' - they are franchised cafés, very common throughout Vietnam. For Western-style coffee, visit the tourist areas.
A curious, and expensive, variety is ‘Weasel Coffee’. Arabica beans are fed to a weasel. They pass though the animal’s digestive system, are excreted whole, collected, and processed. The passage of the beans through the creature’s intestines is supposed to create a more mellow flavour.
Vietnamese tea is mainly green, sometimes with flavourings, and drunk without milk or sugar from small handle-less cups. This is the drink traditionally offered to people visiting families, friends, offices, shops and so on. Black tea is also popular, but drunk without milk. If you want a traditional cup of tea with milk, stick to the tourist areas - elsewhere you're likely to end up with lukewarm water with a tea bag and condensed milk.
The range of alcoholic drinks in Vietnam is limited. Apart from expensive imported wines and spirits, most drinks available are domestically produced variations on rice wine, or lager-type beer. Rice wine is drunk neat, often direct from the fermentation jar via a bamboo straw, or distilled into a spirit, usually unlabelled as ‘vodka’. The wine is also used as a base for the addition of plants, barks or animals. These are usually drunk for their ‘medicinal’ purposes – snake wine is very popular with men who believe it enhances virility.
In the north, 'medicinal' wines and spirits can be found easily - definitely worth a tasting session. In Hanoi, there is a restaurant that specializes in fruit wines and liquors from the hill tribe villages - our staff will be pleased to escort you and help you to return to your hotel.
Beer comes as variations of locally-brewed French-style lager, and as ‘bia hoi’. Also known as 'fresh beer’, “Bia hoi” is relatively low in alcohol, produced daily, and served ice-cold. It’s cheap, ubiquitous and delicious on a hot day!
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