Can Michelin 'touch' Hanoi street food?

Many Hanoi sidewalk restaurants have been honored by Michelin, but the question is: is that enough to promote street food?

Hoan Kiem and bun cha, pho

Bun cha, a popular dish, has quickly attracted Michelin culinary experts since the first season the brand came to Vietnam. In 2023, Hanoi had two bun cha restaurants on the Michelin recommended list: Dac Kim bun cha on Hang Manh Street (Hoan Kiem District) and Huong Lien bun cha on Le Van Huu Street (Hoan Kiem District). In the same year, Ba Xuan rice rolls on Hoe Nhai Street (Hoan Kiem District), Cham chicken pho on Quan Thanh Street (Ba Dinh District), and Tien pho on Nguyen Truong To Street, Quan Thanh (Ba Dinh District) were also sidewalk restaurants on Michelin recommendations.

Sketch of Dac Kim vermicelli with grilled pork

PHOTO: THU HANG'S PAINTING, HANOI CULINARY SKETCHING PROJECT

Also in the first season, bun cha and pho continued to be honored in the category of Delicious and Affordable. These include Bun Cha Ta Nguyen Huu Huan (Hoan Kiem District), Tuyet Bun Cha Pho Hang Than (Ba Dinh District), Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su (Hoan Kiem District), Pho Au Trieu (Hoan Kiem District), Pho Ga Nguyet Pho Phu Doan (Hoan Kiem District), and Pho Gia Truyen Bat Dan (Hoan Kiem District).

The list of vermicelli and pho recognized by Michelin continues to expand in the following years. Now, Hanoi has more honored names such as: Pho Khoi Hoi (Hoan Kiem District), Pho Lam (Hoan Kiem District), Pho Ga Cham on Yen Ninh Street (Ba Dinh District), Pho Cuon Chinh Thang (Ba Dinh District). Besides, there are Dong Thinh eel vermicelli (Hoan Kiem District), Chan Cam eel vermicelli (Hoan Kiem District), Hieu Luc Hung Yen perch soup on Hai Ba Trung Street (Hoan Kiem District)..., all of which are popular dishes in sidewalk restaurants.

You can see on the Michelin map that street food stalls are concentrated in Hoan Kiem District, more precisely the old quarter of this district. In addition, the eateries in Ba Dinh District are also very close to the old quarter.

"I think there is nothing surprising about this map. There are quite a few good restaurants concentrated in the Old Quarter. However, there are still many good restaurants in other areas. Michelin may not pay attention to restaurants in other areas, but managers who want to promote Hanoi's cuisine and culinary tourism must do so," a culinary expert shared.

In addition, this expert also noted that no Vietnamese sandwich shop has made it to the Michelin list. "It is clear that Vietnamese sandwiches have appeared in many world culinary rankings, but no sandwich shop has made it to Michelin. I regret that Hanoi, Saigon, and Hoi An sandwiches have not appeared on this list," the expert said. In fact, "banh mi" has been included in the Oxford dictionary with the explanation "It is a type of sandwich from Vietnam". Most recently, in 2024, Vietnamese sandwiches were included in the list of the best sandwiches in the world.

Elevating sidewalk restaurants and Hanoi street food

In Hanoi, there are currently no statistics on whether the number of people eating at Michelin-recognized restaurants has increased dramatically or not. However, from the perspective of cuisine and culinary tourism, this is clearly a premise for those restaurants to develop. In particular, if you know how to "choose", this is an opportunity for the overall development of Hanoi cuisine. For example, honoring many bun cha restaurants may have a stimulating effect on many other excellent bun cha restaurants in the capital, as long as there is a specific plan.

Michelin chooses Chan Cam eel vermicelli

PHOTO: DINH HUY

One of the solutions is to develop cultural projects to promote cuisine. Recently, when introducing the project Sketching the flavors of Hanoi's Old Quarter , the expected content showed that many bun cha shops are also "top notch" and worth experiencing. Accordingly, author Pham Tien Long wrote: "The capital city of Hanoi has countless bun cha shops, of which the most famous shops are often concentrated in the Hoan Kiem area, including bun cha in alley 74 Hang Quat, bun cha 23 Bat Su, bun cha 41 Cua Dong, bun cha Chien Loan 25 Gia Ngu... In addition, nostalgic Hanoians who are food connoisseurs often go to familiar shops in the alley of Dong Xuan market, Luong Ngoc Quyen street or Nguyen Du street to enjoy grilled meat in the traditional style: bun cha on bamboo sticks".

Author Pham Tien Long also revealed one of the notable points of Dac Kim Michelin Bun Cha: "Western customers also come to eat at the restaurant regularly because the restaurant's name appears in food, delicacies, and tourism magazines of the capital Hanoi. They also recommend their friends to come to the restaurant, because the restaurant is very thoughtful when it puts a fork in the chopsticks tube, in case diners are not used to using chopsticks."

Hung Yen perch farming efficiency on Michelin 2025 list

PHOTO: DINH HUY

Thus, just from the bun cha in the Michelin list, we can see the need for other lists honoring sidewalk restaurants for Hanoi's delicious dishes. Besides, upgrading service, thoughtfulness like "having a fork ready in case diners are not used to using chopsticks" is also extremely important.

Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy (Hanoi National University) believes that in order to elevate the level of street food and sidewalk restaurants in Hanoi, the first thing to do is to have unique and distinctive products - this will contribute to positioning the brand. In addition, the following needs to be done: "Food hygiene and safety must be ensured. There also needs to be a friendly and enthusiastic service attitude. Restaurants need to be more proactive in communication activities on many platforms, interacting with customers so that they become ambassadors for their restaurants."

There are currently 2 eel noodle shops in Hanoi that have made it onto Michelin's list.

PHOTO: DINH HUY

According to Dr. Thuy, sidewalk restaurants should develop both dine-in and take-out. "Integrating technology is also a way to promote this. Using a food ordering app saves on staff and manages the process, customers have pictures of the food and the price to order. Currently, there is a team specializing in providing food app services, applying this will greatly improve the quality of service," said Dr. Thuy.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/michelin-co-cham-duoc-am-thuc-duong-pho-ha-noi-185250622213809135.htm