Hue Food Guide: 20 Must-Try Street Food Stalls and Restaurants in Hue

I’ll never forget that first spoonful in Hue. It was explosive with flavor.

Bun bo hue wasn’t the dish I was most excited to try in Hue but it turned out to be my favorite dish in central Vietnam. The combination of its rich, deeply flavorful broth with the soft and gelatinous beef shank and thin rice vermicelli was like an umami bomb dressed up as a bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup.

Of all the places I visited on my most recent trips to Vietnam (2019, 2023), Hue was the city I was most looking forward to. We skipped it in 2017 and had been regretting it ever since, especially after hearing about interesting and delicious-sounding regional dishes like banh hue, com hen, and banh khoai. On paper, Hue cuisine sounded like one of the most fascinating and unique in the country!

I had two months to divvy up between multiple cities in Vietnam but I was happy to allocate two weeks to Hue, so I’d have enough time to really sink my teeth into its plethora of delicious regional dishes and dining experiences.

If you enjoy local food as much as we do, then this list of the best Vietnamese dishes and restaurants in Hue will be very useful to you.

MUST-TRY REGIONAL FOOD IN HUE

Hue is home to some of the best and most interesting regional food in Vietnam. There are many delicious dishes to be had there but in my opinion, these five are the most important – bun bo hue, com/bun hen, banh hue, nem lui, and banh khoai. Here’s a brief description of each dish.

Bun Bo Hue

If you were to have just one dish in Hue, then it should definitely be bun bo. It’s a popular noodle soup made with rice vermicelli, thin slices of beef, hefty chunks of beef shank, beef balls, blood cake, and other ingredients.

The broth is prepared by simmering pork and beef bones with lemongrass then seasoning it with fermented shrimp paste, annatto, sugar, and chili oil. Based on those ingredients, you can already tell how flavorful the broth is going to be. The soup is then garnished with additional ingredients like chopped green onion, slivers of raw onion, and cilantro.

Outside of the city, this delicious noodle soup is referred to as “bun bo hue” to designate its origin, but in Hue, many refer to it simply as “bun bo”.

Com Hen / Bun Hen

Com hen or bun hen refers to one of the most delicious signature dishes in Hue. It’s made with either rice (com) or rice noodles (bun) topped with stir-fried baby basket clams and vegetables. Depending on the cook, it can be made with other ingredients as well like fermented shrimp paste, fish sauce, fresh herbs, chopped fruit, pork crackling, banana flower salad, and roasted peanuts.

Com hen is the original version of the dish, which was typically made with leftover rice. Personally, I prefer bun hen. You can also try versions made with mie noodles (mie hen) or served in a rice porridge (chao hen).

Banh Hue (Steamed Rice Cakes)

The term “banh hue” refers to a family of small steamed rice cakes that originated in Hue. They vary in shape and size but they’re all made with the same basic ingredients – rice flour and shrimp.

I believe many types of banh hue exist but the most popular you’ll find in Hue are banh beo, banh bot loc, banh nam, banh ram it, banh uot, and chao tom. Most are soft and silky in texture with an eye-opening punch of umami flavor.

Nem Lui

Nem lui refers to a charcoal-grilled dish of minced pork rolls wrapped around lemongrass stalks or bamboo skewers. They’re served with thin rice paper, rice vermicelli, lettuce, cucumber slices, and fresh herbs along with a bowl of peanut sauce made with fermented beans, sesame seeds, shrimp paste, garlic, chili, and shallots.

To eat, you wrap the grilled meat in the rice paper along with some lettuce, rice noodles, and other ingredients before dipping it into the peanut sauce. It’s smokey, sweet, savory, nutty, crunchy, a little sour, and a whole lot of delicious. If you like smokey grilled meat, then you’re going to love nem lui.

Banh Khoai

If you like banh xeo, then chances are, you’re going to enjoy banh khoai as well. It’s a very similar dish but much crunchier in texture.

Like banh xeo, banh khoai is a rice flour and turmeric crepe typically filled with pork, shrimp, scallions, and beansprouts. It’s rolled and eaten in rice paper with leafy fresh greens, herbs, and a few slices of star fruit or young banana. A fermented soybean (salty hoisin) dipping sauce is served on the side.

Banh khoai is about the same size as a central Vietnamese banh xeo but it’s a whole lot crunchier, probably because of the addition of soda water to the batter. Another difference is that banh xeo is served with fish sauce instead of a hoisin sauce.

THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN IN HUE

I’m not Vietnamese so I don’t claim to be an expert on any of these dishes. I do, however, do thorough research and ask the opinion of locals whenever possible to find the best versions of each dish. Of all the Hue restaurants I’ve been to thus far, these are my personal favorites:

BUN BO HUE: Bun Bo Mu Roi (Bui Tre Vang)
COM/BUN HEN: Com Hen Hoa Dong
BANH HUE: Original Hang Me
NEM LUI: Cozy Restaurant
BANH KHOAI: Cozy Restaurant

You can click/tap on the link to jump to that section of the guide. Otherwise, you can go through the descriptions of all twenty restaurants.

1. Bun Bo Hue Ba Gai

This was the very first restaurant we visited on our most recent trip to Hue (2023). We had just checked in to our homestay and the front desk staff was kind enough to sit us down and recommend a few restaurants and cafes to us. Ba Gai was one of the restaurants they suggested.

As described, bun bo is a Vietnamese noodle soup dish made with thick rice noodles, thin slices of beef brisket, and boiled beef shank. Depending on the restaurant, it may be served with other ingredients as well like oxtail, pig’s knuckle, crab balls, and congealed pig’s blood.

Like many Vietnamese noodle soup dishes, bun bo is typically served with a basket of fresh greens like mint, perilla, fish wort, banana blossom, and bean sprouts which you generously heap into your bowl. They’ll also provide a few lime wedges for acidity and chopped chili in nuoc cham (Vietnamese fish sauce) for some heat.

Some restaurants will show you a menu with different types of bun bo toppings. The problem is, they’re almost always in Vietnamese so it’s difficult to know exactly what you’re getting. If you want the works, then just say “bun bo hue”. In our experience, that usually translates to the most loaded bowl with all sorts of goodies like crab balls, pork knuckle, blood cake, and more.

We never went to an empty bun bo shop but Ba Gai was definitely one of the most popular restaurants we visited in Hue. The locals all seem to love it. Based on what I’ve read, they stay open 24/7.

Bun Bo Hue Ba Gai

Address: 11A Hà Nội, Vĩnh Ninh, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 24/7
What to Order: Bun bo

2. Bun Bo Hue My Tam

The owner of the hotel I stayed at in 2019 recommended My Tam to me. He called it his favorite bun bo shop in Hue.

Compared to the previous bowl, the broth in this bun bo is considerably more orange. You can see the globules of chili oil sitting on top. If you enjoy spicy food like I do, then you’re going to love the heat in this one.

I live for spicy food so I loaded mine with more chili and lots of fresh greens to balance out the oiliness of the broth. I was sweating bullets the entire time I was eating this!

You don’t have to dig too far to unearth that delicious chunk of pork hock. It practically takes up half the bowl! You can see a thick layer of soft and gelatinous skin on this one. I can almost imagine its texture in my mouth from just looking at this picture. So good!

My hotel’s owner told me that foreigners sometimes complain about the pricing at My Tam restaurant. It’s inconsistent so many think they’re being overcharged.

The truth is, bun bo prices at My Tam can sometimes vary depending on what they put inside your bowl. Depending on what’s available that day, they can sometimes add other ingredients like beef tendon, pork knuckle, meatballs, and other good stuff hence the fluctuations in pricing.

So if you get a slightly higher-priced bowl of bun bo, at My Tam or any other restaurant in Hue for that matter, then just sift through all the extra goodies swimming in your broth and say thank you.

As described, Bun Bo Hue My Tam is only open from 5PM onwards. I’m not exactly sure when they close but based on similar restaurants, I believe it’s when they run out of food so come early.

Bun Bo Hue My Tam

Address: 5 Trần Cao Vân, Vĩnh Ninh, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 5PM onwards, until the food runs out
What to Order: Bun bo

3. Quan Cam – Bun Bo Hue

Remember what I said about ignoring any menus and just asking for “bun bo hue”? This is one example.

As you can see from the picture below, this overflowing bowl was swimming with pork knuckle, beef slices, blood cake, crab balls, and more. This was absolutely delicious and one of the best bowls of bun bo we’ve had so far in Hue.

This fatty gelatinous hunk of pork knuckle was my second favorite ingredient in this bowl of bun bo.

My favorite? This orange chunk of crab patty deliciousness. Man this was good!

Quan Cam is located along Le Loi Street, near the Perfume River. If good bun bo is what you’re after, then it would be a crime not to visit this shop on your next trip to Hue.

Quan Cam – Bun Bo Hue

Address: 45 Lê Lợi, Phú Hội, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 6AM-7PM, daily
What to Order: Bun bo

4. Bun Bo Mu Roi (Bui Tre Vang)

I’ll come right out and say it. This was the best bowl of bun bo we’ve had in Vietnam so far. It’s so incredibly delicious that I would go back to Hue just for this.

We asked auntie for the “bun bo hue” and these invitingly dark bowls of broth with a generous amount of crab patties, beef slices, and blood cakes were served to us.

Every other bowl of bun bo had blood cakes that were well-cooked. They were fine and tasted great but the blood cakes here at Mu Roi were just better. They were slightly softer than the rest, which leads me to believe that auntie knows exactly when to take them off the heat for the ideal texture.

The blood cakes were the best we had in Hue but they weren’t even my favorite thing about this bun bo. These crab patties were clearly the star of this bowl.

Based on local reviews, Mu Roi is known for its crab patties. They’re tasty and well-formed without being over-kneaded. Every crab ball we had in Hue was good but these were on another level. They’re seriously delicious.

Bun Bo Mu Roi is located in the Citadel, about two blocks east of the Imperial Palace. You can refer to our location map to see exactly where it is.

As good as Quan Cam was, we thought that Mu Roi was even better.

Bun Bo Mu Roi (Bui Tre Vang)

Address: 1-48 Nguyễn Chí Diểu, Phú Hậu, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 6:30-11AM, Mon-Fri / 6:30AM-9:30PM, Sat-Sun
What to Order: Bun bo

5. Quan Ba Hoa

I went to Quan Ba Hoa in 2019 to try their bun hen, but I read they make a mean bun bo too so we came back in 2023 to try it. I’m glad we did because it was every bit as delicious as people say it is.

You see how absolutely loaded this bowl is? Like I said, just ask for “bun bo hue” and you’ll be given bowls overflowing with all kinds of delicious goodies.

If I remember correctly, this bowl has slices of beef, blood cakes, a crab patty, and this irresistible chunk of pork hock.

The crab patty in this bun bo was delicious though not quite as good as Mu Roi’s. Still a killer though.

Here’s a shot of Ba Hoa’s bun hen from 2019. We had it again on our most recent trip and it’s still just as good as ever. Together with bun bo, it’s my favorite regional dish in Hue.

As described, com/bun hen is made with stir-fried baby basket clams and any number of additional toppings like fresh herbs, bean sprouts, banana flower salad, pork crackling, and roasted peanuts. Some restaurants will even serve it with a bowl of clam broth.

Com hen is nice but personally, I think the dish is even better with rice noodles. It’s an interesting medley of flavors and textures that gives you sweet, salty, spicy, briny, and sour to go with the crunchiness of the cracklings and peanuts.

Here’s a closer look at the young basket clams used in bun hen.

Not only is bun hen tasty, but it’s one of the most affordable Vietnamese dishes in Hue as well. At the time of our last visit in February 2023, each bowl was going for around VND 15,000-20,000.

Ba Hoa is located near the corner of Truong Dinh and Pham Hong Thai streets, about a couple blocks south of the riverfront.

Quan Ba Hoa

Address: 11A Trương Định, Vĩnh Ninh, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 6AM-7:30PM, daily
What to Order: Bun bo, com hen, bun hen

6. Com Hen 17

I asked the owner of my hotel for com hen recommendations and he pointed me to this street food restaurant across the Nhu Y River. It was the only time I had the version made with rice.

Com hen is tasty but I couldn’t get past the fact that I wish I had ordered bun hen instead. As described, I think the soft silky noodles make for better textural variety than the rice.

A cluster of those delicious baby basket clams.

Com Hen 17 is a street food restaurant that also sells different types of che. Che refers to a family of Vietnamese dessert soups or pudding containing coconut milk and a hodge podge of ingredients like beans, jelly, fruit, tapioca, tubers, cereal, and glutinous rice. There’s an endless variety of che but I wanted to have the che bap, which is a type made with sweet corn.

You can find sweet corn pudding throughout the country but many say the best che bap comes from central Vietnam, particularly in Hoi An, which uses local sweet Cam Nam corn. In Hue, the best corn is said to grow on Con Hen Island.

The sweetness of che bap comes naturally from the corn. This one was decent, a little thin perhaps. It wasn’t the best che bap I’d have in Hue.

Com Hen 17 is a humble, open-air street food restaurant overlooking the Nhu Y River.

Com Hen 17

Address: Kiệt 17 Hàn Mặc Tử, Vỹ Dạ, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 8AM-9PM, daily
What to Order: Com hen, bun hen, che bap

7. Com Hen Ba Den

Ba Den is a com hen restaurant that we visited more recently in 2023. It’s one of those local-only places that serves delicious food in the most humble of settings.

Ren wasn’t with me in 2019 so this was her very first taste of bun hen. She became as wide-eyed as I was after that first bite. Ba Den is one of the few restaurants we’ve visited that serves their com/bun hen with clam broth.

Unless you were looking for it, you could easily walk by Ba Den without realizing it was there. The entrance is through that door under the blue-striped awning. The stall is open only in the mornings so try to arrive early before they run out of food.

Com Hen Ba Den

Address: 31 Trần Quang Khải, Phú Hội, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 6-11:30AM, daily
What to Order: Com hen, bun hen

8. Com Hen Hoa Dong

I didn’t even have this restaurant on my itinerary, but I’m grateful I found it because Hoa Dong turned out to be one of my favorite restaurants in Hue. For me, they have the best bun hen and che bap in the city.

I was having coffee at a nearby cafe when I noticed a sliver of an island in the middle of the Perfume River. I was intrigued so I googled it. As it turns out, that small island was Con Hen Island and recognized by many as the birthplace of com hen. In fact, the name con hen literally means “baby clam island”!

I walked to the island after finishing my coffee and made a beeline for Com Hen Hoa Dong, an open-air restaurant with the highest and largest number of ratings on Google Maps. Based on what I’ve read, the restaurant has been open since the 1960s and is currently in its third generation of ownership.

As described, it’s believed that com hen was invented right here on Con Hen Island. Fish and shrimp were considered premium seafood meant to be sold at market, so the villagers relegated themselves to a diet of less expensive proteins like baby clams which they’d breed in the alluvial-rich banks of the island. I walked the entire length of Con Hen and found thousands of discarded clam shells at one end of the island.

I was taking my time, taking pictures of my bowl of com hen, when one of Hoa Dong’s elderly owners walked over with her cane and started mixing my bowl for me. I guess she thought I didn’t know how to eat it so she took it upon herself to show me. Ha!

As previously described, every other bowl of bun hen or com hen tasted pretty much the same to my inexperienced taste buds, except this one. This bun hen was clearly the best one. It was redolent with briny clam flavor. It was absolutely delicious and something I wouldn’t mind having everyday in Hue.

Com hen or bun hen aren’t the only dishes you should have on Con Hen Island. You should also have the che bap. It’s made with the island’s corn which many believe is the best in Hue.

Notice how much thicker and goopier this looks compared to the che bap at Com Hen 17? It was creamier and chunkier with a fuller, more pronounced flavor of sweet corn. It was delicious. Definitely follow up your bowl of bun hen or com hen with a glass of this.

Con Hen is a small island with just two main roads running along either side, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding Com Hen Hoa Dong. It’s the biggest restaurant there.

Com Hen Hoa Dong

Address: 64 kiệt 7 Ưng Bình, Vỹ Dạ, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 7AM-10PM, daily
What to Order: Com hen, bun hen, che bap

9. Com Hen Tim Hue

Basically every eatery on Con Hen Island serves com hen. Hoa Dong and Tim Hue are arguably the two best com hen restaurants on the island, though they couldn’t be more different from each other. More on that later.

Tim Hue is located just a stone’s throw from Hoa Dong. We had already eaten a bowl each of bun hen at Hoa Dong so we wanted to try something a little different.

Com hen and bun hen are the most common but many restaurants serve variations called mie hen and chao hen as well. What you’re looking at below is mie hen. It’s a version of the dish served with yellow wheat noodles (mie) instead of the usual rice vermicelli.

Pictured below is the chao hen. It’s basically a rice porridge served with baby basket clams. These two variations were nice but I still think bun hen is the best.

Tim Hue serves a pretty decent che bap, though the che bap at Hoa Dong is definitely better.

Tim Hue is just a 2-minute walk from Hoa Dong. Servings of com/bun hen are generally small so you can easily eat at both restaurants on the same trip.

As much as I love the bun hen and che bap at Hoa Dong, their restaurant isn’t the cleanest. There are enough flies to annoy you and the floor could use a good sweeping.

In contrast, Tim Hue is cleaner, newer, and nicer with better tables and chairs. In my opinion, Hoa Dong’s food is better but if a dirty restaurant is a deal breaker for you, then I suggest going to Tim Hue instead.

Com Hen Tim Hue

Address: 26 Kiệt 7 Ưng Bình, Cồn Hến, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế 530000, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 7AM-10PM, daily
What to Order: Com hen, bun hen

10. Original Hang Me

This family of steamed rice cakes collectively known as “banh hue” is what drew me to Hue in the first place. We were intrigued by the banh beo we had in Hoi An on our first trip. When I learned it was a dish associated with Hue, I knew it was something I needed to have at the source.

Google “best restaurants in hue to have {insert banh hue type here}” and Original Hang Me often comes up. They offer sampler platters with banh beo, banh nam, banh bot loc, banh ram it, banh uot, and cha tom. It’s normally for two people but they were nice enough to give me a single-person serving at a little over half the price.

I’ll describe each one in more detail below, but you’ll find that almost every one of these steamed rice cakes is made with rice flour and shrimp in some form. Because they share similar ingredients, they taste relatively the same – soft, silky, and loaded with sweet and savory umami flavor.

Banh beo is perhaps the most famous steamed rice cake from Hue. They’re served in shallow bowls and topped with dried shrimp and pork rinds. Sometimes, they can be made with a few other ingredients as well like scallions, roasted peanuts, mung bean paste, and fried shallots.

For reasons that are unclear, the term banh beo literally translates to “water fern cake”. In Vietnamese slang, perhaps due to its plain white appearance, banh beo is used to refer to girls that are perceived to be “typical, basic, boring, or cliched”. Girls like that need some nuoc cham!

Banh uot is similar to banh beo except the steamed rice flour is formed into thin rolled-up sheets. It’s also eaten with fish sauce and a side of cha lua or Vietnamese pork sausage.

On the left are cha tom or Vietnamese shrimp cakes or patties. Original Hang Me’s menu describes it as a mixture of the five types of banh hue listed here.

On the right are banh ram it which consists of crunchy rice crackers topped with steamed sticky rice dumplings containing shrimp and sprinkled with bits of pork crackling. This was definitely one of my favorites because of the textural variety.

The last two types of banh hue come wrapped in banana leaves. Banh nam consists of rice batter, ground shrimp, and scallions wrapped in banana leaves before being steamed.

Banh bot loc is the only type of banh hue that isn’t made with rice flour. Instead, it’s made with tapioca flour containing a piece of marinated shrimp wrapped and steamed in banana leaves. As you can see, the wrapper becomes translucent after being steamed.

When I visited in 2019, there were two restaurants of similar names right next to each other – Hang Me Me and Original Hang Me.

I did some digging and according to this Vietnamese reviewer, Hang Me was the original restaurant. The owner’s younger sister opened her own restaurant right next door and called it Hang Me Me.

I believe Hang Me Me closed sometime during the pandemic but Original Hang Me is still in business.

Original Hang Me

Address: 29 Nguyễn Công Trứ, Phú Hội, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 7AM-10PM, daily
What to Order: Banh hue

11. Quan Ba Gai

We were still high from our bun hen breakfast at Ba Den when we passed by this similarly unassuming restaurant that specializes in banh hue. We hopped on the internet and found solid reviews so we walked right in.

What would follow is a late morning feast of banh nam, banh bot loc, and banh beo. Pictured below are the banh name and banh bot loc wrapped in banana leaves.

Here’s a look at the banh bot loc with the whole shrimp visible through the translucent tapioca dough skin.

This is the banh nam. It’s softer and silkier than the chewier banh bot loc.

As is usually the case, my favorite was the banh beo. These were delicious and always fun to eat.

Quan Ba Gai is located just down the street from Com Hen Ba Den. If the bun hen isn’t enough fill you up, then you may want to visit this restaurant to feast on their banh hue.

Quan Ba Gai

Address: 60 Trần Quang Khải, Phú Hội, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
What to Order: Banh beo, banh name, banh bot loc

12. Cozy Restaurant

This restaurant was a great find. Our homestay was located at the end of an alley and right next door to us was this cute restaurant aptly named Cozy. Unlike most of the restaurants featured in this guide so far, they’re more a full-service type of restaurant that serves a more extensive menu of Vietnamese food.

Aside from the usual Hue specialties, Cozy Restaurant also serves breakfast, salads, fried spring rolls, Vietnamese curry, fried noodles, grilled chicken, and fried rice. They serve a good number of vegetarian dishes as well.

We stick to local food as much as possible when we travel so we started with this delicious banh khoai. As described earlier in this guide, banh khoai is a close cousin of banh xeo except it’s much crunchier in texture thanks to the soda water used in the batter.

To eat, you take pieces of the crunchy banh khoai and wrap it in rice paper along with leafy greens, cucumber slivers, and other vegetables.

You then roll it up as tightly and neatly as you can before dipping the roll into the fermented soybean sauce. Banh xeo is one of the most beloved Vietnamese dishes for both locals and tourists alike so you’ll probably enjoy banh khoai as well.

If you’re a fan of nem nuong or Vietnamese grilled pork patties, then you’ll surely enjoy nem lui. It’s an easy-to-like Hue version of the popular meat dish that’s eaten in the same way as banh khoai.

As previously described, nem lui consists of seasoned minced pork rolls wrapped around lemongrass stalks or bamboo skewers. They’re commonly made with pork but they can be made with beef as well.

With a sheet of Vietnamese rice paper in your hand, you pull the meat roll off the stick and wrap it with a similar set of ingredients as banh khoai. You then roll it up tightly and dip it into the peanut sauce to eat.

We’ve eaten nem nuong in a similar way so I’m not entirely sure what the difference is between nem lui and nem nuong. Perhaps in the blend of spices and seasonings used? Either way, it’s delicious and something many tourists will surely enjoy.

I usually stick to the local food script but Ren couldn’t help but order her favorite Vietnamese dish – bun thit nuong. It refers to an incredibly delicious southern Vietnamese dish of grilled pork served with noodles, vegetables, fresh herbs, and fried spring rolls.

Here’s a shot of Ren eagerly pouring in the sauce.

The bun thit nuong in Saigon is amazing but the versions we’ve had in central Vietnam just aren’t the same. They’ve been disappointing but this was the best version we’ve found so far in Hue, Hoi An, or Da Nang.

As if our meal wasn’t enjoyable enough, the kind servers at Cozy Restaurant gave us complimentary servings of one of my favorite desserts – banh flan or Vietnamese creme caramel. Cám ơn!

What makes a meal at Cozy Restaurant even more special is that it’s hidden inside this alley just off Ha Noi Street. You can refer to the location map at the bottom to see exactly where it is.

Isn’t the restaurant’s facade cute? It’s just as pretty inside.

Cozy Restaurant is a 2022 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice awardee that maintains a perfect 5-star rating, even after over 700 reviews.

As you can see, Cozy Restaurant is different from most of the other restaurants featured in this guide. It’s a proper restaurant in a cute and modern space with two floors of seating. Street food eateries will always be my preference but I absolutely loved this place.

Cozy Restaurant

Address: 27 Hà Nội, Phú Nhuận, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 12NN-10PM, Sun-Fri (closed Saturdays)
What to Order: Nem lui, banh khoai

13. Hue Xua

If you’d like to explore a part of Hue that fewer tourists get to visit, then you may want to enjoy a meal at Hue Xua. It’s a local restaurant with lovely owners that specialize in banh hue, nem lui, and banh khoai.

Pictured below is a plate of banh ram it, which after banh beo, may be my favorite type of Hue steamed rice cake. These were topped with a generous amount of shrimp.

Check out that beautiful banh khoai! Hue cuisine isn’t just delicious, but they often make it fun to eat too.

Not to be outdone, their skewers of nem lui are terrific as well.

I don’t know the name of the neighborhood but Hue Xua is located in an area east of the Citadel and west of Con Hen Island. It’s a bit far to get to on foot so you may want to book a Grab to go there.

Hue Xua

Address: 1 Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm, Phú Cát, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 8AM-9PM, daily
What to Order: Banh hue, nem lui, banh khoai

14. Lac Thien

Do a search for the best restaurants in Hue and Lac Thien will surely come up. It’s one of the most popular restaurants in Hue that’s known for many Vietnamese and regional dishes, including banh khoai.

After eating a few banh khoais, it’s clear that some are crunchier than others. The banh khoai at Lac Thien was definitely the crunchiest we’ve had so far in Hue.

I read Lac Thien’s banh beo was pretty good so I had that as well. It was good though I think I still preferred Original Hang Me’s version.

Lac Thien is a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence awardee with a near-perfect 4.5 star rating. As described, it’s one of the best and most popular restaurants in Hue.

The restaurant is located near the Imperial City making it a great place to have lunch or dinner after touring the walled city. They serve many other dishes as well like bun bo, nem lui, and other types of banh hue.

Lac Thien

Address: 6 Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Phú Hoà, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 10AM-9:30PM, daily
What to Order: Banh khoai

15. Hanh Restaurant

I was excited to eat at Hanh Restaurant because of its stellar reviews. It was also recommended to us by the staff at our homestay.

Hanh is a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence awardee with a stellar 4.5 star rating even after over 2,000 reviews. They offer these set meals featuring some of the best Hue regional delicacies like banh beo, banh khoai, nem lui, banh cuon thit nuong, and nem ran.

If I hadn’t already eaten these individual dishes on my own, then I would have loved this set menu. Many of Hue’s must-try regional dishes are here in one place. Everything at Hanh Restaurant was pretty good, but just not as good as the experiences I had at the different restaurants listed above.

The banh beo was perhaps not as robust in flavor, the nem lui not as smokey, and the banh khoai dipping sauce not as nuanced in flavor. All those reviewers can’t be wrong so I may be in the minority with this, but if you have time to try each of these dishes at different restaurants, then I suggest doing that. Otherwise, this set menu at Hanh Restaurant gives you a decent and convenient introduction to Hue cuisine.

Based on its number of reviews, Hanh seems to be one of the most popular restaurants in Hue. It was packed when I was there with a good mix of both locals and tourists.

Hanh Restaurant

Address: 11 Đường Phó Đức Chính, Phú Hội, Tp. Huế, Phú Hội, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 9AM-9:30PM, daily
What to Order: Set menu

16. Ancient Hue Restaurant

When I first heard about Hue royal cuisine, I thought it pertained to everyday dishes like banh beo which were originally created in the imperial kitchen. While many of Hue’s popular dishes may indeed have been originally developed for Vietnamese royalty, the term “imperial cuisine” or “royal cuisine” refers to a set menu of about eight or nine dishes meant to recreate the royal dining experience.

I love Vietnamese street food so I’m perfectly happy with dishes like bun bo and bun hen, but I couldn’t write a Hue food guide without including this imperial dining experience. I did my research and every restaurant I found that offered “authentic royal cuisine” had terrible reviews, all except for this one – Ancient Hue Garden Houses.

Their set menu was by far the most expensive – at least double of every other restaurant I found – but I figured this was the one and only time I’d be doing it so why not go for the best. I bit the bullet and made a reservation at Ancient Hue Garden Houses, which also happens to be one of the nicer resorts in Hue.

You certainly get what you pay for. The other restaurants I looked at for this royal cuisine experience were mostly in cheaper- and kitschier-looking hotels. Ancient Hue Garden Houses is a beautiful resort with an elegant restaurant in a more secluded, heavily wooded area west of the Imperial City.

As you can see, presentation is definitely a priority. Many of the courses are decorated with these elaborate carvings of animals meant to impress and amuse. This was a dish of tender and juicy grilled beef wrapped around a stalk of green onion. Have you ever been served Vietnamese cuisine that looked like this?

This dish was an appetizer of fried shrimp on a crunchy “flower boat”. This was one of the standout dishes from tonight’s set menu. The shrimp was doused in some type of sweet mango sauce.

This was a Chinese mushroom soup made with seafood. It had perfectly cooked shrimp, egg, sweet corn, and other tasty ingredients.

This was one of three main courses – a tender and succulent fillet of fish doused in a robust and orange-y sweet and sour sauce.

How dorky do I look? I wasn’t sure I was going to do this, but I figured if I were to do this imperial dinner, then I may as well go all the way. I look like a tool. Ha!

In all seriousness, other than the price, part of the reason why I hesitated doing this was because of this costume. Many people were wearing them in reviews so it made me question the authenticity of the experience. Was this a meal designed exclusively for tourists? Perhaps, but I don’t regret doing it.

The food was good, the ambiance even better, and it gave me the chance to sit down at a nice restaurant after all the street food I had been eating in Vietnam. Would I do it again? Definitely not. The food was tasty but in my opinion, not good enough to merit a second go around, especially considering the price.

If you’re in the market for a more extravagant dining experience, then you may be interested in this authentic royal cuisine experience at Ancient Hue Garden Houses. By all accounts, it’s one of the best restaurants in Hue to try it.

Ancient Hue Restaurant

Address: 47 Kiệt 104 Kim Long, Kim Long, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 7AM-10PM, daily
What to Order: Nam Phuong Empress menu

17. Quan 20 – Banh Ep Nguyen Du

I learned about this interesting trio of snacks – banh ep, banh trang trung, and banh loc chien – from one of my favorite travel food bloggers – Jodi Ettenberg of Legal Nomads.

I was drawn to this interesting-sounding dish called banh ep which is a small disc of tapioca or cassava dough topped with pork and egg and flattened on a griddle. It’s sprinkled with chopped scallions and served with herbs, pickled vegetables, and nuoc cham. Like a thick tortilla, it’s soft and quite chewy.

This next dish is called banh trang trung. It’s a form of Vietnamese pizza made with grilled rice paper topped with egg, green onion, and any number of ingredients like pork, beef, or chicken. It was nice and crunchy and my favorite among the three snacks I had here today. You can think of it as a pizza-like dish on a crisp, eggy rice paper cracker.

I had a similar dish in Saigon called banh trang nuong. According to Jodi, the main difference is in the egg. In southern Vietnam, they use a small quail egg while in Hue a much bigger chicken egg is poured over the pizza.

This third dish is called banh loc chien. It appears to be made with deep-fried tapioca flour, at the center of which is a seasoned pork and shrimp mixture. It’s served with a vinegar-based sweet and sour dipping sauce.

I don’t know if they’re meant to be like this but the ones I had were hard and quite chewy. This was easily my least favorite of the three.

Based on what I’ve read, banh ep is popular mainly with kids. It can be found throughout the city but one street in particular seems to be known for it – Nguyen Du Street. There seem to be a few schools in the neighborhood which is why you’ll find a few restaurants and street food stands selling these same three dishes. I ate at the first stall I could find.

Quan 20 – Banh Ep Nguyen Du

Address: 20 Nguyen Du, Tp. Hue, Hue, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 4-10PM, daily
What to Order: Banh ep, banh trang trung, banh loc chien

18. Banh Mi Truong Tien O Tho

Banh mi isn’t a part of Hue cuisine but I could never resist a good Vietnamese sandwich, especially if the stall making it was recommended by a local. O Tho is a terrific and exceedingly popular banh mi stall that was recommended to us by the front desk staff at our homestay.

When we got there, there was a small army of locals waiting to get their banh mis to go. Their menu was entirely in Vietnamese but I did recognize two words – dac biet. I know that means “special” so I got the two dac biet banh mis on their menu to go. As advertised, they were delicious and probably one of the best banh mis you can get in hue.

When the bread is this good, it really doesn’t matter what you put in it. The sandwich will be delicious.

I don’t know if you can tell from these pictures but these sandwiches were smaller than your average banh mi. You’ll need at least two or three to fill you up.

Banh Mi Truong Thien O Tho is located in the heart of downtown Hue so it shouldn’t be hard to find.

O Tho may be popular but this banh mi operation runs like a well-oiled machine. Many locals get the barbecued pork and it was fun watching these ladies ladle that delicious-looking sauce onto the inside of the bread. Seriously delicious.

Banh Mi Truong Tien O Tho

Address: 14 Trần Cao Vân, Phú Hội, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 7-10AM, 4PM-3AM, daily
What to Order: Banh mi

19. Banh Canh Cua Roi Huong

We were introduced to this bowl of heavenly deliciousness known as banh canh in Hoi An by our My Son Sanctuary guide in 2017. I never forgot it so when I read about this banh canh restaurant in Hue, I made sure to leave some stomach space for it.

I don’t believe banh canh is necessarily associated with Hue or central Vietnam but it’s a type of noodle soup made with thick tapioca or tapioca-rice flour noodles. There are several types of banh canh, but what I had today was this stunningly beautiful bowl of banh canh cua made with crab.

Have you ever seen a more beautiful sight? Crab is one of my favorite dishes which is why I was so excited to have this dish. I enjoy banh canh for the chewiness and texture of its thicker noodles. It reminds of Japanese udon.

As beautiful as this bowl of banh canh cua looks, it wasn’t as good as the banh canh we had in Hoi An in 2017. The noodles and crab were great but I found it to be a little too spicy. I adore spicy food and have a high tolerance for it but I felt the spice in this one drowned out the flavors of the broth a bit. That may have been partly my fault because I added even more chili to the dish. Whoops!

If you like crab and have never tried banh canh, then you may want to have a bowl at Banh Canh Cua Roi Huong.

Banh Canh Cua Roi Huong

Address: 30 Phạm Hồng Thái, Vĩnh Ninh, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế 530000, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 6AM-10PM, daily
What to Order: Banh canh cua

20. Che Hem

Che bap is just one type of che. You’ll find a seemingly limitless variety of sweet soups and pudding in Vietnam. Unlike bun bo and com hen, it didn’t originate in Hue and is popular throughout Vietnam.

Che Hem serves only che and as you can see below, they offer many different types. There’s che made from beans, che from rice and grains, che with jellies, che with fruits, and the endless variety mixing and matching these ingredients.

I usually ask restaurant servers for recommendations, but no one here seemed particularly eager to help so I just grabbed the most attractive-looking glass. This one with dark golden brown contents looked pretty good to me. It had different types of beans, glutinous rice balls, and perhaps a few other ingredients.

Here’s a closer look at this che’s ingredients. Filipinos will say that che looks like the Vietnamese version of halo-halo, a popular Filipino dessert, and they’d be right. They’re similar desserts but che seems to have an even wider assortment of ingredients.

The Che Hem restaurant stall is located inside this alley just off Hung Vuong Street.

Che Hem

Address: 1 kiệt, 29 Hùng Vương, Phú Hội, Thành phố Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Vietnam
Operating Hours: 10AM-10PM, daily
What to Order: Che

HUE RESTAURANTS LOCATION MAP

To help you find these street food stalls and restaurants in Hue, I’ve pinned them all on this map. Click on the link for a live version of the map.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE RESTAURANTS IN HUE

Everything I heard about Hue was right. It really is home to some of the country’s best and most interesting food.

Hanoi’s bun cha may still be my single favorite Vietnamese dish, but bun bo isn’t far behind. Add to that the deliciousness of bun hen and nem lui, the uniqueness of banh hue, and the novelty of salty coffee, and you’ve got one of the most dynamic and diverse cuisines I’ve experienced so far in Vietnam.

Together with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Hue is definitely one of my favorite food cities in Vietnam and a place I’ll be looking to visit again and again.

Thanks for reading and have an amazing time eating your way through the many delicious restaurants in Hue!

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