13 Best Restaurants in The Central Coast, Vietnam

Madam Phuong, the shop owner, serves from a simple little take-away counter, next door to a bakery on the edge of Old Town. When famed foodie Anthony Bourdain visited, he declared the banh mi served here to be quite possibly the best in Vietnam; and he might just have been right. What you get here is a symphony in a sandwich, and though both her menu and popularity have grown, Phuong is still serving up the same secret family recipes and silence-inducing sandwiches. Bourdain's favorite banh mi deluxe is a pork feast consisting of a mouth-melting slow-roasted five-spiced fillet, a rich peppery pate, a handful of herbs, pickled vegetables, and finished off with a generous scoop of mayonnaise, smoked chili sauce, and messy fried egg. Phuong also has vegetarian alternatives; ask for banh mi chay.

A great place to stop for a midday drink and refreshing splash in the river, this bar sits between two large bomb craters left during the American war. Run jointly by a Vietnamese couple and Australian couple, the bar is halfway between Phong Nha village and Farmstay Village. In the winter they’ll also keep a fire raging to warm you up on your Bong Lai Valley bike tour.

The most social spot on the beach, Soul Kitchen attracts a year-round mix of expats and local visitors, with frequent live music and open mic events. During the day the shady grass frontage, pool table, and board games keep kids entertained, leaving parents free to relax in raised cabanas with a Vietnamese-French menu, wine list, and cold draft Tiger beer. Thursday through Sunday, rain or shine, Soul Kitchen hosts a live music event 7–10 pm.

No visit to Dong Ha is complete without a visit to this cheerful spot in the heart of town. It's both a charity café (Mr. Tam employs and supports deaf people in the area) and a one-stop information shop, without the hard sell. The menu is a wholesome mix of excellent Vietnamese and Western staples, including pizza, banh mi, and half-decent espresso. Tam also employs local war veterans and offers excellent tours of the DMZ and surrounding area.

If you are staying overnight in Dong Ha, Tam's also offers decent accommodations at very cheap prices (starting at 160,000d) as well as guided tours to the DMZ.

Don't be put off by the grungy interior of this restaurant. The quality of the decor is in inverse proportion to the quality of the food. This favorite among locals serves only eight dishes, all specialties of the region. The price of 30,000d per dish should allow you to try them all—if you're hungry enough.

This inspired little beach club 15 km (10 miles) from Hue has shady beach cabanas, hammocks, and a large cobalt-blue fishing boat that serves as the bar. It's a laid-back place, with a simple Vietnamese seafood menu, where you feel a world away from the annoyances of the city. They make it easy to stay with a few huts housing dorm-style accommodations. Its sister accommodation Villa Louise with tastefully designed ocean view villas and three swimming pools is a gem in the crown of this stretch of pristine beach. The Beach Bar is on private land, and you pay 100,000d on weekdays and 150,000d during weekends and on holidays to enter (which is refundable against food and drink orders).

Managed by the Vietnam Backpackers Hostel, this beach bar offers a complimentary pool, bocce ball court, and great music, as well as alcoholic slushies for 50,000d. The cheeseburger spring rolls are an interesting fusion, and the buffalo chicken sandwich is definitely worth the money. If you’re trying to stay healthy, try a breakfast smoothie in an edible coconut bowl or order a bean and pepper feta salad.

Packed with tourists and teeming with easy riders and souvenir hawkers, this basic restaurant located near the entrance to the citadel is run by guidebook sweetheart, Mr. Lac. Sadly, what once was a great little local spot churning out a couple of delicious staple Hue dishes has turned into a giant enterprise with an equally giant menu and following. Despite the lackluster food, you can't help but admire Lac for building such a successful business, especially as he is deaf and mute and lives in a country where opportunities for the disabled are few and far between. Eat elsewhere, but do drop in for a drink (preferably a beer), and wander upstairs, where the secret of Lac's success is revealed. Every customer is given a wooden stick and bolt bottle opener, fashioned and signed by Lac himself. The lucky few travelers that have spent enough time with him to appreciate his desire to travel, send photos of the bottle opener from various landmarks worldwide.

This busy little café is one of the oldest in Hue. On a busy corner by the side of the river, it specializes in just one dish: banh khoai, crispy pancakes stuffed with bean sprouts, shrimp, and little mounds of pork, served up with herbaceous side salads and a spicy peanut sauce. To eat, cut them in half, wrap them in herbs and rice paper, and dip. The shady seats on the sidewalk are perfectly positioned for watching life go by.

Pitch-perfect sangria is the best way to start a meal at Merkat. This restaurant, owned by Mamen and Dani from Spain, is the genuine article; and their open kitchen design allows customers to see the masters at work. The menu includes photos, cook time, and ingredients, and the pig thigh in the dining area is meant for consumption. Bookings are highly recommended as this place can fill up in minutes at peak meal times.

In a tastefully restored former teahouse, this café-restaurant is the perfect place to unwind over a coffee and French pastry or a cold beer during a busy day of sightseeing. For people-watching grab a balcony table; for shady seclusion there's a quiet courtyard garden; and for rainy days there's a pool table and games room. Despite a promising dinner menu offering both French and Vietnamese delights, meals can be a bit disappointing.

This vegetarian food stall is located right on the edge of Hue's Night Pedestrian Zone. This is the cheapest food stall in town with tasty plant-based dishes starting from 10,000d. It's overcrowded during full moon and new moon days (on the 14th, the 15th, the last and first day of each lunar month) when most of the Buddhist local people have vegetarian meals for religious purpose.

This peaceful restaurant serves seafood and local specialties such as "white roses," the delicious shrimp dumpling that resembles a rose. Chinese lanterns and lacquered chairs decorate the place, which caters primarily to tourists. Vinh Hung offers Central Coast Vietnamese and Western cuisines.