Dishes help promote Vietnamese tourism

The US leader ate bun cha (rice noodles with grilled pork and meatballs), one of Hanoi’s must-try delicacies, on his second night in the Vietnamese capital on May 23.

Bun cha is a Hanoi speciality, beloved by many foreign tourists. And now it is even more famous and attractive, thanks to the President’s prestige.

Despite the rain in the capital, a number of visitors flocked to the restaurant yesterday morning to taste the dish praised by President Obama. Or they came to contemplate his seat on the previous day.

Dao Van Dat, husband of the restaurant owner Nguyen Thi Hang Nga, said the restaurant is usually crowded from 11am to 1pm. But yesterday (May 23) he and other employees were surprised when all the seats in the restaurant were full from 7am on.

“Many old people came and asked me to bring them servings similar to President Obama’s on May 23 evening,” Dat said.

At 10am, Dat and his employees apologised to their customers that the restaurant had run out of meat. Customers could have eaten their meals at other restaurants. But many insisted on waiting for their meals here.

Each complete serving costs VND80,000 (US$3.5). This is quite expensive for a meal for Hanoians, not including the cost of travelling to the restaurant. And they had to wait at least 30 minutes for their food. 

But many customers waited patiently to try the food that President Obama - one of the most famous and powerful presidents in the world - enjoyed. And everyone wanted a photograph documenting their visit to the restaurant where the President ate.

Some customers even joyfully call the restaurant “Obama Bun Restaurant” now, instead of Huong Lien Restaurant.

Bun cha is not the only Hanoi delicacy made more famous by a US President.

Earlier in 2000, then US President Bill Clinton visited Vietnam and ate pho - a famous Vietnamese dish with noodles and beef or chicken - in a restaurant near the Ben Thanh Market in HCM City. The pho restaurant where he ate has been famous ever since then. It is now called “Pho 2000”, to commemorate the year the President visited Vietnam.

Pho is listed as a world famous dish by CNN. The beloved Vietnamese dish is globally famous, too. Foreign visitors try not to miss pho restaurants listed in tourist guidebooks when visiting Vietnam.

Now, thanks to President Obama, foreign visitors have one more must-try dish – bun cha.

And we can hope that the culinary specialties of Vietnam will fly higher and further.

Speaking about Singapore, visitors think of tidiness and civilisation. Speaking about Japan, visitors think of carefulness and respect. Speaking about Italy, visitors think of romanticism. And speaking about Vietnam, visitors now think of delicious and famous dishes.

In a recent conference about developing Vietnam’s tourism brand, Le Quoc Vinh, general director of the LeBros Media Group, said Vietnam’s tourism promotional activities have only advertised landscapes, while ignoring the core and the highest element of a brand – emotion.

Vinh and other experts at the conference agreed that to promote the country’s tourism, the country should focuse on gastronomy. International visitors highly appreciate the culture, cuisine, friendly people, and daily life experiences of Vietnam.

Vinh said Philip Kotler, the world famous marketing expert, said Vietnam is the kitchen of the world.

“So cuisine is one of the unique features we can use to promote national tourism,” he said.

At the conference, Ton Nu Thi Ninh, the former Ambassador of Vietnam to the European Union - and the former deputy chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee under Vietnam’s National Assembly - said many leading travel magazines globally also praise Vietnam’s food, calling it a "superpower".

"It is very bad if we do not promote Vietnamese cuisine," Ninh said.

Given the meal choices of the two US Presidents, I think it’s the right time to develop our country’s culinary culture, and tourism in general.