Vietnam a Nominee for World’s Leading Culinary Destination Award

A bowl of Pho Bo (beef noodle) - an iconic food in Vietnam. Photo: VNE

Last November, Vietnam was announced as the winner of Asia’s Leading Culinary Destination 2020 category by World Travel Awards.

The winning title marked the second consecutive year that the nation had been awarded the leading position in the category, surpassing a number of other outstanding culinary destinations, including China, India, Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Vietnamese cuisine has become better known in the world over the past few years, with international chefs and prestigious food magazines praising several national dishes.

Some of the dishes found on street corners here have made it to all corners of the world, like the banh mi, listed among the world's top 20 street foods by Fodors Travel, a U.S. travel site.

A loaf of bread filled with pork slices and herbs in HCMC. Photo: VNE

The grilled pork banh mi sold on a sidewalk of HCMC also tops a list of 12 street food compiled by the US magazine Condé Nast Traveler.

HongKong’s prestigious news outlet South China Morning Post in March listed banh mi among the top 6 best breakfast delights in Asia.

SCMP explains how Vietnam's banh mi went global. Photo: Captured

“The fast food breakfast choice in Vietnam is the banh mi, a small baguette that must rank as one of the world’s best sandwiches, sold on stalls across the country”, the article wrote.

SCMP also tells the history of Vietnam’s banh mi, which was influenced and inherited from the French colonial rulers.

In another article published in June 2020, SCMP explained how Vietnamese banh mi becomes a global favorite. Banh mi appears on the menu of many restaurants the world over, including Australia, the US, the UK, Korea, etc. There are also many stalls selling banh mi only in foreign countries, proving the popularity of Vietnam’s most symbolic street food globally, it said.

Vietnamese iced cofee with condensed milk. Photo: Quang Tan Hoa

Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk has also been lauded by publications like NatGeo and The New York Times.

Coffee is deeply woven into the social and economic fabric of Vietnam. It’s the world’s second-largest coffee exporter, and local speciality ca phe sua da – coffee with condensed milk – is gaining global popularity.

Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk features a rich, strong chicory coffee slowly dripped through a phin filter into sweetened condensed milk.

Photo: Cafe Nguyen Chat

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The banh mi honored as world’s best street food by US magazine The grilled pork banh mi sold on a sidewalk of Ho Chi Minh City tops a list of 12 street foods in Condé Nast Traveler