What to eat in Huế: bún bò, bánh bèo and the food of the emperors

From 1802 to 1945 Huế was the capital of the Nguyễn emperors. Their cooks sent dozens of small, beautiful dishes to the table, and the city never quite stopped. Huế food is delicate, fiddly, and hotter than anywhere else in Việt Nam.

The dishes to try

• Bún bò: in Huế nobody adds “Huế”. Round rice noodles in a beef and pork broth with lemongrass, chilli oil and a little fermented shrimp paste (mắm ruốc). A breakfast dish.
• Bánh bèo: tiny steamed rice cakes in little saucers, topped with dried shrimp and crispy pork skin. Spoon on fish sauce and eat a dozen.
• Bánh nậm: a thin rice-flour cake with shrimp and pork, steamed flat in a banana leaf.
• Bánh lọc: chewy, see-through tapioca dumplings with a whole shrimp and a bit of pork belly inside.
• Nem lụi: minced pork grilled on lemongrass sticks, rolled in rice paper with herbs and dipped in a thick peanut sauce.
• Cơm hến: rice with tiny river clams, herbs, peanuts and crackling, with the clam broth on the side. Cheap, served at room temperature, and very Huế.
• Chè: sweet soups of beans, tapioca and fruit. Huế has dozens of kinds.

Royal food, home kitchens

Imperial cooking was about how a dish looked as much as how it tasted: vegetables carved into flowers, food laid out like a painting. Today the best place to taste that tradition is often not a restaurant but a nhà vườn, one of Huế’s garden houses, where families still cook the old recipes for guests.

Vegetarian Huế

Huế is a city of pagodas, and it has some of the best Buddhist vegetarian cooking in Việt Nam. Look for signs saying cơm chay (vegetarian rice).

Good to know

• Huế food is spicy. Say “không cay” (not spicy) or “ít cay” (a little spicy) if you want it gentler.
• Bún bò is for the morning; bánh bèo, nậm and lọc are snacks for any time.
• Portions are small. Order several and share.

Eat with a family

Our Royal Recipes, Home Dinner is a seven-course evening in a garden house: a family cooks dishes once made for the Nguyễn court, and you cook two of them yourself.