Bún ốc cô Huệ — Restaurant in Hà Nội

My first time ever trying bún ốc. As I didn’t speak any Vietnamese and just said “one” for one bowl, Cô Huệ made a bowl of the mixed bún ốc (small snails + large snails + meatballs) for me.

The soup was very very good. I love the acidity from tomato + possibly dam bong rice vinegar, the umami, and the freshness of some herbs. As a heads up, the soup came just a little bit spicy by default because of some dried chili oil in the base soup.

The snails were fresh. No fishy smells; there was just a little bit of that freshwater animal smell that I can’t really explain in English (we call it “the smell of soil”/bau tanah in Indonesian) for the large snails. For the small snails, I found 2-3 pieces of very small rock/dirt which ruined the texture of those few bites but not a problem that I would overly complain about.

It came with the usual basket of herbs (which in my case were mostly just lettuce and perilla — not sure if this was the norm for bún ốc) and the table had dam bong vinegar + chili oil. I added more dam bong (whose acidity is not too strong and had a soy/tofu smell in my opinion) and dried chili oil to my soup and made it taste even better.

At the end of the day, I’m not sure if snails are for me, but Cô Huệ did serve a very good version of bún ốc...

The food was incredible. A great combination of quality and quantity, and yet only 60,000 VND for there bowl that contains everything. I will mention we didn't actually get a chance to order. The guy just brought us the most expensive option. I assume he thought we wanted the snail and pork and snail meatballs but zi was planning on choosing just snails. Also, I was going to choose the cold soup as I had heard this was more traditional but the server brought us hot soups. Nevertheless, the food was delicious. They clearly have an incredible chef who takes pride in their work and chooses high quality ingredients. I love the side of herbs you can soak in the delicious broth making the meal so much lighter so you can finish the whole portion. You need to make sure your dish had both the large and small snails in it as they provide different textures when you want to change it up. I have no faults with the dish and would happily order it again...

This is the kind of place you dream of visiting when you travel.

A warm, friendly auntie who offers you iced cold tea with a smile and a big laugh because you’ve been sweating in the Hanoi heat before pantomiming her recommendation. She’s not afraid to bark orders at her staff while also engaging in a conversation with the auntie from across the street who has wandered over to help stir. Only locals shoulder-to-shoulder with you - both the fashionable young and those with families in tow.

The bun oc (vermicelli with snails) has a nuanced broth, open to your adjustments with condiments. It’s clean and clear compared to others where a heartiness can be overpowering. I can have this for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

This place seems to be getting more recognition online from the foreign tourist crowd, and this auntie deserves all the recognition in the world. I’ll be...