Bun dau in Hanoi, Vietnam

bun dau hanoi

Bun dau is the cousin of the famous bun cha. It is essentially the same but bun cha has grilled pork as its main meat dish instead of tofu. I was wondering around the streets of the Old Quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam when I saw this small bun dau place that is full of locals.

bun dau shop

The place piqued my interest, even though I’m not a huge fan of tofu. I reckon I could use some food to wash down all the fresh local draft beer that I had. smirk

bun dau frying

The bun dau place is quite a simple setup with a place for frying and cutting tofu and the ubiquitous pieces of meat in flour and seating arrangements inside and outside.

bun dau meal

I was overwhelmed by the chunks of rice vermicelli, deep fried tofu, and the veritable forest of herbs and vegetables that came so I started eating it with the dipping sauce (made of fish sauce – as most Vietnamese dishes are).

bun dau girls

There was a table of three girls sitting beside me and after watching me for a while, one of them came over and showed me how to mix the dipping sauce:

bun dau dipping sauce

You’re supposed to put some bird’s eye chilli and squeeze a couple of limes into it for the taste to shine through.

bun dau me

It tastes pretty good but I have to admit, I had a lot of trouble finishing it coz I really dislike tofu.

bun dau clientale

The place attracts a lot of people from different walks in life – I saw everyone from office workers to stall owners at the Old Quarter pulling up a chair and ordering some bun dau.

bun dau

The chunks of rice vermicelli have a very interesting texture. It has no taste per se, but the way it rolls around and unravels in your mouth when you dip it is quite an epicurean experience that is worth noting.

The best part is that it only costs VND 20,000 with a bottle of Bia Ha Noi! That works out to slightly over RM 3 – not too shabby for a tofu dish. πŸ˜‰

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75 thoughts on “Bun dau in Hanoi, Vietnam”

  1. rocket: Haha! I’m very easy person to please. I just want a nice person to be my wife that’s all. :p
    That playa image has gotta go. πŸ˜‰
    kampungboycitygal: It’s the only way to travel! It’s fun to talk to the locals and all that and even though the language barrier is HUGE, they still try very hard. I was a regular at their fresh beer (delivered daily) draft outlets and got free beer from the owner, who introduced me as “The Malaysian”. Got to smoke their local pipes too. πŸ™‚
    I like your travel posts too though. πŸ™‚

    Reply
  2. for food. . nothing beats HCMC KY . . .but for scenery and solid VN girl. . .go north or central.
    HB – Thit = meat, cho = dog, ga=chicken,bo=beef.
    wanna learn ome basic VN ?

    Reply
  3. foodcrazee: Thanks for the tip! Yeah, need to learn some Vietnamese from you before the next trip. πŸ™‚
    xes: HAHAHA! Have to be careful sometimes in these areas. πŸ˜‰
    Erica: Cheers Erica! πŸ™‚
    I don’t know how to make the chunks though. πŸ™‚
    Tommi Chen Thet Ngian: Oh, I will just coz you said so. *sarcastic
    kien truc dep: Yeah, it’s pretty cheap eh? The fresh beer is very cheap too. Nice! I like Vietnam. πŸ™‚
    Mike: Heh! Unfortunately, no I don’t have a thesaurus function since Office expired. :S
    Hmm…I thought so too at that time. πŸ˜‰

    Reply
  4. why you an’t be a playa? man, if your wife wants to change you, then she is a not a good wife. she should let you do what you need to do.

    Reply
  5. foodcrazee: Thanks for the tip! Yeah, need to learn some Vietnamese from you before the next trip. πŸ™‚
    xes: HAHAHA! Have to be careful sometimes in these areas. πŸ˜‰
    Erica: Cheers Erica! πŸ™‚
    I don’t know how to make the chunks though. πŸ™‚
    Tommi Chen Thet Ngian: Oh, I will just coz you said so. *sarcastic
    kien truc dep: Yeah, it’s pretty cheap eh? The fresh beer is very cheap too. Nice! I like Vietnam. πŸ™‚
    Mike: Heh! Unfortunately, no I don’t have a thesaurus function since Office expired. :S
    Hmm…I thought so too at that time. πŸ˜‰

    Reply
  6. HB, the noodle rice cake is made by putting hot cooked noodle into tray and let it cool it will stick together and cut into chunk of noodle cake. Hope that what you refering to? Maybe I am wrong.

    Reply
  7. J2Kfm: I had it by itself! It’s damn good right, those pork patties! πŸ™‚
    Tommi Chen Thet Ngian: O RLY?
    eiling: Yeah, it’s a lot of fun! πŸ™‚
    Come let’s go Vietnam one day. Leave your business class flights and 5 star hotels behind. πŸ˜‰
    Michael: AH! Yeah, that’s the info I was looking for!
    Thanks so much Michael! πŸ™‚
    Appeciate the clarification on how it’s done. πŸ™‚
    Chee Ching: You can have my tofu next time we go out and eat. I HATE tofu, I’ll only eat it for two reasons – if it’s like covered with sauce e.g. mapo tofu, or if it’s something local when I travel. πŸ™‚

    Reply
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