Food in Vietnam

northwest1965 · 12 November 2019 at 5:46PM

I am now in the serious planning stage for our visit in March.

I keep getting lost for hours on youtube with vlogs of food.

I am a little apprehensive, I suppose because a lot of the videos are made by "youngsters" and they tend to eat anywhere! I am concerned about getting ill. I love food especially spicy food so that doesn't bother me. What tips do you have for me. My rule is, if it isn't busy, keep walking

Should I stay away from all salad items? Not have any ice?

alwaysskint96 · 12 November 2019 at 5:53PM

Eat where u can see food being freshly cooked. And there’s a queue of locals . Worked for me in India and I’m going to Vietnam next month and will do the same

Voyager2002 · 12 November 2019 at 5:57PM

I suggest that you work on your general health and fitness and your stomach between now and March. Enjoy some fiery Christmas curries and perhaps relax your usual standards of hygiene a little to give your immune system a work-out. Then enjoy Vietnam, and basically rely on your body's natural defences to protect you.

Having said that, I think that eating only in busy places is a good idea. I can't remember ever seeing salad in Southeast Asia, and for lots of reasons I would avoid a local's idea of what western food such as salads is like. (I remember a Chinese cafe owner telling me that he was astonished that tourists wanted salad, which to him was uncooked vegetables, but since they were paying he did his best to meet the demand. Obviously I ate only the foods that he would cook for himself.)

Ngozi · 12 November 2019 at 5:59PM

Have you got a sensitive stomach, in terms of do you usually feel a bit of an upset stomach when travelling abroad for the first few days?
If not, you'll be fine.
I had ice in my drinks and was fine.

They're quite hygenic to be honest, if you're likely to be eating from street vendors or places where locals go, take you're own cultery but I drank, used and ate my food of everything the locals did and was fine.

northwest1965 · 12 November 2019 at 6:08PM

Voyager2002 wrote: »

I suggest that you work on your general health and fitness and your stomach between now and March. Enjoy some fiery Christmas curries and perhaps relax your usual standards of hygiene a little to give your immune system a work-out. Then enjoy Vietnam, and basically rely on your body's natural defences to protect you.

Having said that, I think that eating only in busy places is a good idea. I can't remember ever seeing salad in Southeast Asia, and for lots of reasons I would avoid a local's idea of what western food such as salads is like. (I remember a Chinese cafe owner telling me that he was astonished that tourists wanted salad, which to him was uncooked vegetables, but since they were paying he did his best to meet the demand. Obviously I ate only the foods that he would cook for himself.)

General health and fitness is great, I walk 25k steps a day. I eat fiery curries at least twice a week now!:rotfl:
It's a good excuse to not do much housework between now and then.

When I said salad, I have seen videos of food being wrapped in lettuce leaves?

I am sure I will be fine and am just worrying over nothing:)

Ballard · 12 November 2019 at 7:03PM

I was eating a salad in Vietnam back in 2003 when a gecko jumped out of it and legged it. Unusually for me I shrugged it off and finished my food anyway. I wouldn’t necessarily condone this but I had no ill effects.

Doshwaster · 12 November 2019 at 9:12PM

I've never had a problem with the food in Vietnam. If it's street food just make sure the place is busy so that food hasn't been sat around in the sun and flies for hours. If you are a bit more picky then you can get sit down restaurants for only a few dollars.

As with most of SE Asia, ice in bars and restaurants will be made from purified water and delivered daily

Otherwise, Bahn mi, pho, spring rolls... love it all.

phatbear · 12 November 2019 at 9:14PM

I visited vietnam a few years ago and the food was great, its use to be a french colony until the 1950's and theyve left a lot of their culinary traditions behind.

During my trip the one time i got ill was when my brother, who lives in vietnam, dragged me to a kfc every other meal i was eating street food and where the locals eat and had no ill effects

EveryWhere · 12 November 2019 at 11:26PM

Ngon Villa menu

They have them in Sai Gon, Ha Noi, Da Nang and Hoi An.

Should give you an opportunity to try things out and also to eat as much as like, at a fixed price.

From £12.25 for all you can eat(from the first ten pages of the menu..) Different from a buffet in that everything is ordered from the menu and brought to your table freshly prepared from the kitchen. No time limit.

koalakoala · 13 November 2019 at 8:52AM

The food in Vietnam is amazing.
You can get all sorts of food, due to the American influence.
Never had a problem there, unlike India, Greece and Turkey lol

Ganga · 13 November 2019 at 6:53PM

Ballard wrote: »

I was eating a salad in Vietnam back in 2003 when a gecko jumped out of it and legged it. Unusually for me I shrugged it off and finished my food anyway. I wouldn’t necessarily condone this but I had no ill effects.

So you had meat and two veg and you let the meat go :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Food in Vietnam

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