The four restaurants given the honour are Gia, Hibana by Koki and Tam Vi in Hanoi along with Anan Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City.

The status bestowed on these eateries will elevate Vietnamese cuisine to even higher levels around the world.

They were given the prestigious star from the famous French guidebook for offering high quality cooking and outstanding culinary experiences. 

Gia (Hanoi) is a Vietnamese contemporary restaurant, run by chef Sam Tran. The award is recognition for its menu that changes with the seasons and is inspired by Vietnamese culinary heritage. Sam Tran also has been granted the Michelin Young Chef Award which recognises a young chef working in a restaurant of the selection and whose exceptional talent and great potential impressed inspectors.

Hibana by Koki (Hanoi) presents a theatrical experience at a 14-seat counter in the basement of Capella Hotel, with chef Hiroshi Yamaguchi skillfully and precisely cooked teppanyaki dishes rich in complex flavours.

Tam Vi (Hanoi) is a vintage tea house that feels distinctly northern Vietnamese with its nostalgic collection of traditional furniture and hand-written calligraphies. They serve northern Vietnamese dishes with some central and southern options.

Anan Saigon (HCM City), is a Vietnamese contemporary restaurant, whose Vietnamese-American chef Peter Cuong Franklin applies modern cooking techniques to street food recipes to create enticing flavours. The restaurant was named Vietnam's best restaurant in 2021 and 39th in Asia by the website theworlds50best.com on the 'Asia's 50 Best Restaurants' list.

"It’s not easy to run a restaurant. When we opened ours six years ago, we went through six months without a single customer, but now everyone has accepted our food," chef Cuong Franklin said after receiving the recognition.

Also at the ceremony, 29 establishments with 13 in Hanoi and 16 in HCM City were awarded a Bib Gourmand (Inspectors’ Favourites for Quality Cooking at Moderate Prices).

The Bib Gourmand distinction highlights the restaurants within the Michelin Guide restaurant selection that stand out for value-for-money offers. Out of the 29 Bib Gourmand establishments, more than half offer Vietnamese cuisine or street food, strongly reflecting the high popularity of street food being rooted in the local culture.  

A total of 70 other eateries (32 in Hanoi and 38 in HCM City) also joined the Michelin Guide Hanoi and HCM City 2023 selection, known as the Michelin Selected restaurants. 

If street food and local cuisine are again widely represented in this selection, the traffic of international travellers to Vietnam allows the blossom of various cuisine types. A good mix of French, European, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Latin American or Mediterranean restaurants are for example featured. 

Among the selected are La Badiane (Hanoi), a charming French restaurant with fusion cuisine; Truffle (HCM City), a French contemporary restaurant; T.U.N.G dining (Hanoi), The Monkey Gallery Dining (HCM City) both with European contemporary cuisine; Akira Back (Hanoi) serving Japanese cuisine, Octo (HCM City) serving Spanish cuisine, and Quan An Ngon (Hanoi) with its traditional Vietnamese delicacies. 

In addition to recommending quality restaurants, the Michelin Guide also aims to highlight talented individuals who contribute to enhancing the gastronomic dining experience.

Alongside the Michelin Young Chef Award given to chef Sam Tran, the Michelin Service Award, aiming to highlight and encourage skilled and talented front-of-house professional who dramatically adds to the customer experience, was granted to Nguyen Thi Nu from Michelin Selected restaurant Vietnam House in HCM City.

The Michelin Sommelier Award recognises the skills, knowledge, and passion of talented sommelier of the industry, and is given to Yu Yamamoto from Michelin Selected restaurant Lua in HCM City. 

“We’re very proud to finally present the first restaurant selection in Vietnam, with a total of 103 restaurants in the Guide, highlighting four restaurants awarded with one Michelin Star,” said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guide.

“The first selection in Hanoi and HCM City highlights the differences and variety in what these two cities have to offer.

“This is just the beginning of the Michelin Guide’s journey in Vietnam, and our inspectors have been more than pleased to have discovered many gastronomic spots in Hanoi and HCM City, and I am sure, many more in the coming years.”/. VNA