What to eat in Cambodia/Vietnam?

Hi ChefSteps community! You may not have seen me around the forum much yet, but I'm Reva and I'm one of the photographers and filmmakers here at ChefSteps.

I'll be spending December on vacation in Cambodia (and a few days in Vietnam), and wanted to know if anyone has suggestions for what I should eat while I'm there. Places to eat? Specific dishes to try? What should I absolutely not miss?

I'm sure I'll be taking a tons of photos so expect an update around New Years, and after that I'll be around the forum more as well

Thanks!

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Jack_Mayer_85396

Hello Reva, thanks for introducing yourself and for all of the wonderful content you provide here at CS! Sorry I don't have any recommendations for you ...

Matthew_Snyder_68770

My wife is trying to sell me on the idea of going to Vietnam. Absolutely love the food, and the people are said be extraordinarily polite and generous. But it's a hump I admit I'm not totally ready to get over just yet.

What areas of the two countries will you be visiting?

ajcampelli

Here are some recommendations for Hanoi. I've been twice (2000, 2010) and absolutely love the food, people, and city.

Most of these food recs are obvious, but for a good reason.

Bun cha with nem ran (fried spring rolls)
Banh cuon: a real treat to watch them being made; get the cold pork pate (cha lua?) on the side if available
Pho: many, many street stall options; I liked mine with the you tiao (Chinese cruller - not sure what it's called in Vietnamese)
Cha Ca La Vong: a restaurant and a dish - touristy, but iconic
Banh my: a lot of versions were quite different than the cold pork/pate sandwich I'm used to in the U.S. - for example, one was a sizzling plate of beef, onions, egg, pate, and pickles, with a baguette on the side (DIY sandwich approach)
Coffee / cafe culture: try the egg coffee (ca phe trung?)
Bia hoi: low alcohol draft beer, but the social aspect is more interesting than the beer

Of course, you can try all sorts of exotica (e.g. dog) as well, and there are places that specialize in each.

Some restaurants (sorry, no addresses):

Cha Ca La Vong
Bun Cha Dac Kim
Quan An Ngon: street food without the street - touristy, but a good place to easily sample a wide range of street specialties (not always the best examples, but pretty good overall)
Fanny's Ice Cream
Bia hoi across from Ham Long Church
Lan Chin Bia Hoi: more upscale - indoors, air-conditioning, western-style seating

Hope that helps. Enjoy the trip!!!

Brendan_Lee_56950

One of my good friends is station in Hanoi as a part of the foreign service and my mom is from saigon. I recommend eating as much claypot anything as you can. It's a style of Vietnamese food I don't think gets enough recognition.

Catherine_110236

We're going to be in Cambodia for a short while next year as part of a tour to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. I appreciate any information that y'all have also.

Rich_McDonough_67546

I just returned to live in Hanoi (I lived here before for almost four years). Before that I lived in Cambodia for, erm...fifteen years! Vietnam certainly wins for better food over Cambodia (Chefs were amongst those targeted for execution under the KR and years of eating bugs and bark doesn't make for an advance palate...). That said, in the last few years (and sadly after I left) a lot of old recipes have been re-discovered and many new places opened with much higher quality offerings. My favourite was always the Amok - white freshwater fish poached in a light coconut curry sauce in small banana leaf cups. The variety of restaurants in Phnom Penh is now unbelievable. If you are on the Southern coast, head to Kep for the best pepper crab ever (so I am assured, I'm allergic). Skoum is famous for it's deep fried tarantulas. Plenty of other bugs and small critters available if that's your thing and fertilised duck eggs which are boiled. You get a mildly disconcerting mouthful of gamey, feathery, richness...

Vietnam...where to start...the food varies a lot from North to South (which is 1000km or more) and every region is kinda snobbish and likes to point out why it's version of something is better than the others. If you have some time before you go I would suggest sniffing out relevant groups on Facebook. "Foodies in Hanoi" has reviews of Vietnamese and foreign restaurants and lots of suggestions for people's favourites. You'll see some of the awesome breadth of choice this way and much more than I could include in a post. Keep a pen and paper handy and make a list! This is an awesome resource - Nonna Chong's google map of Hanoi street food! I am slowly working my way through it... https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?dg=feature&msa=0&mid=zCkf8fj9cT_Y.kQf4L_R22G-g

For high end in Hanoi, I would strongly recommend Restaurant Bobby Chinn (disclaimer: he's an old friend of mine and I'm helping him out there at the moment) www.bobbychinn.com. He's a celebrity chef in Asia with more than half a dozen TV series under his belt but rather oddly barely known outside the region. He was my first introduction to sous vide eggs about ten years ago, so fairly early to the game, I guess. It was a revelation! Bobby is now the Vietnamese Tourism Ambassador to the EU and also has a restaurant in London (The House of Ho). He does classic Vietnamese dishes but gives them a twist and elevates them to another place with modern methods. His sous vide egg banh coun is outrageous. The apple smoked pork belly with poached egg (pictured) is improbably good. As I said, I'm helping out there now so this might be SLIGHTLY biased but I was a customer first for many years and this seemed to easiest way to assure access to the food ;-) If you happen to make it, come and find me. That goes for any ChefSteppers heading to Hanoi. It would be great to meet you. Did I mention the cocktails?

This is the Ho'rny Devil - chili vodka, lemongrass vodka and toasted coconut syrup (all pressure-infused) topped off with coconut water and garnished with a chilli in a coconut rimmed glass - spicy, refreshing, indulgent and moreish...

Matthew Snyder - DO IT!