Vietnam has an amazing cuisine with its variety of almost five hundred dishes, ranging from noodle soups in relatively cheap food stalls to meal in luxury restaurant in hotels but mostly Vietnamese food is well-prepared and reasonably priced. Although, gaining some influences from French and Chinese food, Vietnamese cuisine is still unique in flavor because of the use of the Vietnamese fermented fish sauce called Nuoc Mam, an abundance of fresh vegetables and herbs, and the dominance of rice. The strategic site of Vietnam, surrounded with sea, ensures the use of fish and seafood in many dishes.

On Vietnamese menus, dishes are usually listed according to their main ingredient, for instance, all chicken dishes appear together and so on. The most popular dishes is Vietnamese spring rolls which are made from rice paper, and are filled with mince pork, crab, vermicelli, onion, mushroom, and an edible fungus known as Moc nhi which then are fried until the rice paper turns brown, and serve with vegetable when prompts.

Rice is very common in Vietnam cuisine both for steam rice and rice noodles. Though, the most common Vietnamese-style restaurants known as com pho, means rice-and-noodles shop are found throughout the country. Otherwise, there are steam-rice restaurants called com binh dan which serve steam rice with an array of fresh vegetables and meats in an inexpensive price.

There are three types of noodles: white-rice noodles; clear noodles made from rice mixed with manioc powder; and yellow or egg noodles. For Vietnamese, noodles are preferred to be eaten as soup rather than dry like spaghetti. It is a breakfast favorite even though noodles seem to be eaten at all hours of the day.

There is also a wide range of western-style food available in Vietnam. French bread can be found everywhere - especially in the morning when it is fresh and warm- and if you are a cheese lover, imported cheese are sold in the street stalls, also, some kind of salami or pâté is available. Lunch for Westerners can be Vietnamese noodles which is always preferred.

It is worth noting that on full-moon days (the 15th day of the lunar month), many Vietnamese and Chinese avoid eating meat or ever the nuoc mam, the fish sauce, and for that particular day, street food stalls serve vegetarian meals. Because it does not include expensive ingredients, the vegetarian meals are incredibly cheap. In some special restaurants, vegetarian dishes (especially tofu-based) bare a remarkable resemblance to common meat dishes.