Food– category –

In the final of GrabFood’s “Strongest Shop,” more than 7,000 shops across 18 provinces and cities battle in four categories — rice, noodles, banh mi, and drinks. Finalist shops see orders rise to three or four times the usual. A practical guide on how travelers can find and eat at these named shops.

CCCP, a Soviet and Eastern European restaurant in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. We introduce the home cooking made by an owner who studied in Russia and his Ukrainian mother-in-law, along with the nostalgic red-and-white checkered interior, from a traveler’s point of view.

The long-established "Trần" opens its third branch in front of Da Nang's My Khe Beach. We read this central-Vietnam restaurant, which delivers vegetables straight from a 4-ha organic farm in Lam Dong Province, from the perspective of a Japanese traveler's Da Nang itinerary.

A former security instructor self-taught the Quang Nam hometown flavor cao lau in Ho Chi Minh, running the shop solo. We explain this perfectionist shop, which sells dozens of bowls daily and sells out to close at 1 p.m., and what Hoi An's specialty cao lau really is.

A Vietnamese couple who invested and emigrated to Thessaloniki, Greece, make their own fish sauce, rice noodles, and fruit in a 5,700-square-meter garden. We read the wisdom of overseas Vietnamese rebuilding food culture abroad.

Singaporean chef Chris Fong's NÔM Dining won Vietnam's first-ever "Opening of the Year." We consider the ideas that refined street food, how to book in HCMC, and the trend of foreigners elevating local food culture.

At the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival DIFF 2026, an ice-cream vendor who cut through the booming BGM with his voice became a talking point. From the human drama of 45-year-old Quang, we consider Da Nang's street-stall culture and how to enjoy it.

Seven-Eleven put Vietnam's banh mi on sale nationwide at its "World Bread Expo." We consider the price and fillings, and why convenience stores are now stepping into authentic banh mi, from the perspective of a Vietnam lover.

On June 17, 2026, in Ho Chi Minh City, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Ho Chi Minh office and the Consulate-General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh held a food-culture event with a washoku demonstration. The consulate's chef, a goodwill ambassador for Japanese cuisine in Vietnam, and the consul general himself took the stage, presenting dashi, seasonal...

Thao Dien is a district of Ho Chi Minh City where many resident Japanese, Europeans, and Americans gather. In this area lined with stylish cafés, Italian restaurants, and Korean barbecue, down the innermost alley of a residential street, sits a tiny shop serving Tibetan steamed dumplings, momo. The shop is called "Om Momo." Local...