There are a wide variety of opinions about Vietnamese food, and many many soups! I tried my best to eat them all. ‘But aren’t you afraid to get sick eating street food?’- that’s the most common question I get from friends or other backpackers I meet during the travels. ‘But it’s worth it’s my regular response would be- and the last soup as every other i tried, was just that good. Knock wood, I never got sick. Overstepping fear and unconfirmed assumptions about street food safety, I eat my way around the world, discovering the best dishes that man can create, and all of them are cooked on streets. Vietnam is no exception. It’s always soup o’clock here for us. Chicken, beef, pork, the choice is yours.
I hope these delicious soups help sway public opinion toward a more favourable consensus of trying street food.
Local soup tasters
Food wagon crammed into a small side street in Nha Trang with kids size table and stools next to the eatery and a woman watching us with what can be described as mixture of confusion and fascination, thinking why are we here. As with most of these soupladies and their tiny, hidden stalls of wonder, we were the only foreigners in the place. Having been in Vietnam for several weeks already, I got used to the constant staring when I come into local eateries– but what makes SE Asia so special is that such staring is followed by a bright, genuine smile (most of the times). And her mixed meat noodle soup was genuinely the best I’ve ever tried in my life! Costing me 20,000VD (around $1)
Best soup ever!
Another great find was in Mui Ne. Seafood glass noodle soup in one of the local restaurants priced at 35,000VD, which is on a cheaper side of a scale, knowing how overpriced Mui Ne is. I’ve tried a few other restaurants around but all I got was disappointment, as soups were oily and filled with instant noodles. And broke not only my pocket but my stomach as well.
Seafood soup in Mui Ne
On the way to the old town in Hoi An saw a whole street lined up with food trolleys and a bunch of locals buzzing around. Which means- it’s dinner time, which double means- it’s soup o’clock! My face instantly lit up, as I was dead hungry, in means of ‘ready to chew on banana leaf.’ When I saw ‘Soup glorious souuuuuuup’ instantly went for chicken rice soup, as never tried it before. Tasted wonderful and cost only 20,000VD ($1).
Chicken rice soup in Hoi An
Next stop on a map is Hue. Filled with history and monuments, as well as delicious new discoveries. Streets filled with silver trolleys, sounds of chopsticks and nose tickling smells. Pork and chilli noodle soup was perfect one to end up our long and tiring day. Simply heartwarming.
Pork & chilli soup in Hue
Oh, dear Hanoi, capital of the capitals. Discovering all those soupilicious eats around Vietnam, can you surprise me with anything new?! Crab and tomato soup you said? Why not! Even tho, it took ages to walk what seemed like hundreds of confusing streets, finally found something undiscovered. Most of soup ladies trying to charge 40 or even 50k for a bowl of street soup as a ‘welcome to Hanoi my lovely tourist’, we bargained this tasteful discovery down to 20,000VD. As always, bunch of salad leaves included but strangely no lime. Another notice, the more north we go, the smaller those already kids size chairs get. Just saying:)
Crab and tomato soup in Hanoi
I would encourage everyone to ignore the reputation Asia has for its street food – with little effort, I found a verity of wonderful, delicious choices during my stay in Vietnam. From roadside eats to snack stalls in the cities to the more pricey tourist restaurants, soup is always at the first page of the menu. And the most delicious lesson I’ve learned from my road trip- It’s always soup o’clock in Vietnam!
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