Hugh, a Scottish tourist, is currently on a long trip to Vietnam. He has visited many places such as: Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Da Nang, Hanoi... and spent time experiencing a variety of street foods at affordable prices.

Recently, during a trip to explore Hanoi cuisine , Hugh had the opportunity to enjoy a rustic yet equally attractive noodle dish. That is bun doc mung.

The place he stopped was a restaurant on Bat Dan Street, Hoan Kiem District. The restaurant has been open for 26 years and is a familiar dining address for locals and foreign tourists thanks to its famous bun doc mung dish.

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Hugh enjoys bun doc mung at a sidewalk restaurant on Bat Dan street.

The first thing that impressed Hugh when he arrived was the pot of steaming hot broth, emitting a fragrant aroma, placed right in front of the restaurant door. The owner was quickly putting the ingredients into bowls to serve the diners.

When the staff gave him the menu to order, he looked at it and decided to choose the regular bowl of vermicelli with mushrooms and elephant ear, priced at 40,000 VND.

According to the Western customer's observation, the noodle shop has a rather modest space, so he decided to sit and eat on the sidewalk to have a real local experience, while easily observing the surrounding streets.

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When the customer orders, the chef pours hot broth over the bowl of noodles with elephant ear.

When the noodle dish was brought out, Hugh was quite surprised to see that there were many types of vegetables in the bowl, which looked green and refreshing. He admitted that although he had not tasted it, “it looked delicious”.

The young man also showed off his gourmet skills by squeezing kumquats and adding a few slices of chili to make the noodle dish more appealing.

Then, the seller also brought a bowl of fish sauce so he could season the dish with it, if he wanted a stronger flavor.

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Western guests enjoyed bun doc mung for the first time and kept praising it as delicious.

When enjoying the dish, Hugh commented that the taste of the noodle dish with doc mung bean was very delicious. “These meatballs seem to be handmade so the meat is quite soft, juicy, and feels like it melts in your mouth,” he described.

The Western guest also tried the fried dough sticks, dipped in the broth to soften them and make them more flavorful. He praised the fried dough sticks for their deliciousness, with a crispy outer layer and soft inside, the texture similar to “pa-tong-go” - a famous fried doughnut in Bangkok, Thailand.

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Scottish guy praises the meatballs for being soft, juicy, rich and aromatic

After enjoying the ingredients in the bowl of bun doc mung, Hugh said that, in his personal opinion, he rated the dish 9/10 because "the flavors are perfectly combined".

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Hai - owner of the restaurant that Hugh visited said that the restaurant opened in 1998, specializing in serving vermicelli with elephant ear mushroom and 5 accompanying ingredients such as nails, meatballs, tongue, and ribs.

Diners can order according to their needs and preferences. A bowl of noodles with 2 types of meat, meatballs or ribs and meatballs costs 40,000 VND. If customers eat 3 or more types of meat such as ribs, meatballs, tongue, it will cost 50,000 VND/bowl.

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Diners enjoy vermicelli with elephant ear mushroom on Bat Dan street (Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi ). Although this dish is easy to eat, not everyone likes and can enjoy it because they can get an “itchy tongue” after eating elephant ear mushroom. Photo: Ninh Tito

According to Ms. Hai, elephant ear is the highlight ingredient of the noodle bowl and the preparation process is very laborious to ensure the crunchiness and avoid itching.

The taro stem must be peeled, rubbed with salt and then rinsed with clean water several times. Then, the taro stem is pressed tightly in a basin to drain the water, increasing its crispness and deliciousness.

Taro stem cannot be boiled for long, just drop it into the pot of simmering broth until half cooked then remove immediately to avoid making the ingredient soft and mushy.

However, many diners who have enjoyed bun doc mung still feel their tongues tingling after eating, even though the ingredients have been carefully prepared.

Photo: Hugh Abroad

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