Bun Cha Ta Hanoi — Restaurant in Hà Nội

We visited Bun Cha Ta on the recommendation of online reviews and our hotel. Upon arrival, we were ushered from the ground floor to an air-conditioned dining room on the second floor. The seating is interestingly of the Japanese Horigotatsu style, where there is a recessed floor beneath the table for your legs and shoes are removed before entering the dining room. This contributed to a tranquil ambience which we appreciated, having spent the better part of the day on the crowded and chaotic streets of the Old Quarter.

Bun Cha is Vietnamese grilled pork, eaten with rice vermicelli (i.e. thin rice noodles) and herbs. Contrary to our initial expectations of grilled meat, the grilled pork was served in something which I would categorise as between a stew and a sauce. The meat is well-marinated with a tasty charred flavour. As we had not eaten Bun Cha before, the service staff enthusiastically explained to us how to prepare this simple dish. While I personally opted not to add the herbs, I thoroughly enjoyed the flavourful and comforting meal. The grilled pork and its broth complemented the rice vermicelli well. The side dish of fried spring rolls was also notably delicious.

Overall, Bun Cha Ta was certainly worth the visit. While it was a little pricey and touristy compared to the food around, the cleanliness of the restaurant was reassuring and the dining experience was memorable. Would definitely visit Bun Cha Ta again if we happen to be in the Old...

1st Bun Cha we tried on this Hanoi trip, found this one got the very high ratings, so we get it a try. Not particularly impress with their Bun Cha, a bit too sweet for us.

There were few youngster working there, the young girl brought us the menu, I told her we will order after we look through the menu, but I need to repeated 3 times, then only she understand we need sometime to look at the menu, then only she walked away.

We ordered 2 beer as well as the 2 sets of bun Cha with the spring rolls. When they served the beer, we realised is can instead of bottle, so we requested the glasses. When I poured mine into the glass, I found something, like jelly form kind of thing, so I told them, a young lad, he took it away, inspecting what is that, and talked to the rest of the staff/owner for minutes…. Seems like I was making the trouble?

After about 4 minutes, then they finally decided to bring me a new can…. Really? The worse thing was, the young lad, who basically like to practice his English with us, actually we were fine with it, but something really unbelievable what he said to me, he said: I think the beer is fine, he repeated 2-3 times, and I just responded then you can have it then, and he still repeat again: I THINK THAT IS FINE…..

It was quite a shock, sometimes the common sense of some people (like to making excuses, but maybe they think they are explaining….) who working in the hospitality...

One star is too generous for this place! The worst restaurant experience I’ve had in Vietnam. To put it bluntly, the food was disgusting, it was luke warm, and the herbs were covered in dirt. Bland food with no flavour. The service was appalling and the staff are rude, when they weren’t sitting around playing on their phones, they were blatantly talking about and laughing at the customers. The place is absolutely filthy, there is grime everywhere and it’s clearly not been cleaned in decades, which was probably the reason why there was a very big rat in the restaurant walking along the counter top. We decided to leave immediately, very happy to leave the less than average food behind. On paying, we pointed out to the staff that there was a rat behind the counter and they couldn’t have cared less, the owner (I assume) offered a cursory “sorry”, but made no attempt to do anything about there being a rodent in her restaurant. Two other people sitting next to us also saw the rat and ran from the restaurant and the staff couldn’t have cared less, only coming outside to take their money. This place does not deserve a Michelin star. I don’t know how it’s got so many good reviews. My advice, DO NOT GO!! Awful, disgusting place!!! I’m now waiting for the food...