Bún Chả Hà Nội — Restaurant in Hà Nội

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Ô Bún Chả located at 46 Nguyễn Hữu Huân in Hanoi's Old Quarter, and it was truly an exceptional culinary experience that I cannot recommend highly enough.

From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with warm smiles and exceptional hospitality. The restaurant offers both street-level seating where you can immerse yourself in Hanoi's vibrant atmosphere, as well as a more peaceful upstairs dining area. We chose to sit upstairs where we could observe the bustling streets below while enjoying our meal in comfort.

The star of the show is undoubtedly their traditional bún chả - a Hanoi specialty featuring charcoal-grilled pork served with rice noodles and a flavorful dipping sauce. What sets Ô Bún Chả apart is their meticulous preparation and attention to detail. The pork is perfectly grilled on bamboo skewers, creating that authentic smoky flavor that is essential to great bún chả. They offer both meatball-style pork and thinly sliced marinated pork, both equally delicious and tender.

The dipping sauce deserves special mention - slightly sweet with perfect balance, allowing you to customize the flavor with fresh garlic and chili peppers according to your preference. The accompanying herbs and fresh vegetables add wonderful texture and brightness to each bite. I particularly enjoyed their nem cua bể (crab spring rolls), which made for a perfect accompaniment to the bún chả.

Our server, Tuan Anh, truly elevated our dining experience with his attentive service and genuine warmth. He took the time to explain the traditional way to enjoy bún chả and made excellent recommendations for complementary dishes. His friendly demeanor and knowledge of the menu made us feel like welcomed guests rather than tourists. Tuan Anh's passion for sharing authentic Vietnamese cuisine was evident, and he even took a moment to pose for a photo with us, creating a wonderful memory of our visit.

The restaurant itself is immaculately clean with tasteful decor that honors traditional Vietnamese aesthetics while offering modern comfort. Watching the chefs prepare the skewers and grill the meat adds to the authentic experience - you can actually see your food being freshly prepared.

Open from 6:00 AM to 9:30 PM daily, Ô Bún Chả is perfect for any meal, though I particularly recommend it for lunch when you can fuel up for an afternoon of exploring Hanoi's Old Quarter. The prices are quite reasonable for the quality and quantity of food provided, making it excellent value.

If you're looking for an authentic taste of Hanoi's culinary heritage in a welcoming environment with exceptional service, Ô Bún Chả should be at the top of your list. I'm already planning my return visit on my next...

We were SO excited about this place. The prices looked reasonable, the building looked cute, balcony dining sounded fun. Plus, the food looked yummy! As big Bún Cha fans we were really excited to try some in vietnam!

While everything went smoothly at first, things got strange as we continued. Firstly, they made us pay and order at the beginning, but allowed other customers to take menus upstairs and pay/order later. (For context we are both black women). We paid for extra pork, and changed our tea to pineapple tea instead of corn tea. We were handed a table number and brought it with us to a table of our choice.

We sat down and looked through the spices available, very excited to try our food. First, only one plate arrived (which is fine, but this is when it gets weird). They then bring the second plate which has less skewers than the first one. They also forgot our tea and we had to request that as well. Then we asked for the extra meat that we paid for, as one plate had 3 skewers and the other had two. This caused some sort of confusion because about ten minutes later a girl shows up with about 15 skewers of meat in her hand.

She begins moving meat from one plate to the other, which was already very confusing and definitely a bit annoying. BUT THEN she begins removing meat from both plates and taking it into her hand before switching them with COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MEAT. At this point we went from a total of 5 skewers of pork, to 7 skewers, 3 ground meat and 4 pork. Needless to say the 5 minutes of juggling that occurred moving the meat around on our plates with their hands and switching it for skewers they’d brought up was EXTREMELY OVERWHELMING and felt very invasive. We had just requested our one extra skewer that we didn’t receive and had paid for.

I’ve rated the service 2 stars instead of 0 because they were definitely trying to help, but the way they were doing it was WILD.

Once that whole situation calmed down we did finally get to eat our food, which was quite tasty, but definitely overshadowed by...

I was very excited to come because the place look beautiful ! Big deception. The Noodles and meet were very cold and with a lot of oil, it was disgusting we couldn't eat, the food taste old, tasteless. My father saw a guy in the kitchen with nem, falling on the floor, and he take it back and put it in a plate. For the service, a disaster. I wanted to change the tea for water, they refused. So I asked for one more water to pay, and they gave me the bill of the water more the food, but we already paid for the food and she didn't believe me ! until I found the server whom I paid and he confirmed we already paid for the food. A server came at my table and ask me a cigarette, I was a little bit shocked and I said yes, and finally he asked me for two cigarettes! First time ever a server ask cigarettes to a client, at his table. Well, we will...