Chả Rươi Gia Ngư, Hanoi, Vietnam

The very best places that we ate on our trip to Vietnam were those where they serve mostly one dish, the tables are low and the chairs are lower, and for the most part, only Vietnamese people are eating there. This is one such place, found in the Old Quarter in Hanoi. The dish here is Bún chả. Bún chả is served with grilled fatty pork and a pork meatball (chả) over a plate of white rice noodles (bún) and herbs with a side dish of dipping sauces and a fish sauce broth that you put the noodles in and take them out, but do not consume it. It is thought to have originated from Hanoi, Vietnam.The dish was described in 1959 by Vietnamese food writer Vu Bang (1913–1984), who described Hanoi as a town "transfixed by bún chả." It is well worth seeking this out, either here or in any one of a dozen places nearby that serve it.

Here you can also get bánh tôm on the side--a shrimp fritter.