Thu’s bun rieu on the alley

The small shop, located in Tho Xuong alley near the Cathedral in Hanoi with only a few sets of old plastic tables and chairs, is famous and once appeared on CNN. At Thu’s bun rieu, diners can enjoy a hot bowl of crab noodle soup with slight vinegar fragrance and sometimes hear sounds from the church’s bell.

There are many choices: crab soup, dau phu ran (fried soya curd), thit bo chan (scalded beef), oc (snail) and trung vit lon (balut). Some people want frugal traditional bun rieu, while others want full toppings.

Asked about her know-how, Thu said she doesn’t have any secret handed down from generation to generation. She just tries to make bun rieu that she finds delicious. 

“I prepare bun rieu for sale like the bun rieu for myself,” she said. However, she sometimes adjusts the recipe a little after receiving comments from diners.

The only know-how, according to Thu, is that she only uses fresh crabs, never frozen. “If you use frozen crab, the production cost would be halved, but this is not my choice, because the taste won’t be good,” Thu said.

Each bowl of Thu’s bun rieu is priced at VND25,000-55,000.

Huyen Thu’s bun rieu on Quang Trung street

Diners at the eatery can enjoy cool, clean space. The menu there is diverse and the most expensive bun rieu is priced up to VND90,000 per bowl. The owner says that the bun rieu quality there deserves the price.

There have been positive comments about the quality of bun rieu. Diners praise both the taste and the service quality.

They like Huyen Thu’s bun rieu because of its characteristic crab flavor and mild vinegar taste. Vermicelli noodles are served with large snails and cleanly prepared. The beef is soft, and well blanched. 

Huong Beo’s bun rieu on Tran Xuan Soan street

The special dish served at the eatery is top mo, or cracklings. Having vermicelli of different kinds with cracklings is now in fashion. Many people said they like cracklings because this is a call from the past (cracklings were used many years ago in the subsidy period and they fell into oblivion when Vietnamese living standards improved). She fries 40-50 kilograms of fat each day to get 8-10 kilograms of crispy top mo.

“Unlike other bun rieu shops, which serve vermicelli with whole pieces of tomatoes, I knead tomatoes to create a sour slight taste. I always ferment vinegar for seven days before use. Pure crab-roe is fried with onions to become fragrant, fatty, and golden brown,” she said.

Hoan’s bun rieu on Hang Luoc street

The broth has the sour taste of vinegar, mixed with tomatoes to bring out the flavor of crabs. A full-topping bowl of vermicelli is attractive with beef, crispy pork sausage, and eye-catching fried beans.

The eatery is always crowded and sometimes clients have to queue up to wait for their turn to taste bun rieu there.

Bun rieu at No11 Hang Bac

Bun rieu at No 11 Hang Bac street in the Old Quarter of Hanoi was introduced by Le Figaro in 2020. The bun rieu there has strong flavor of grinded crabs, served with snails, fried beans and crab-roes. The essence of bun rieu lies in the broth with the strong flavor of crabs.

Those who want to enjoy traditional bun rieu taste will call some ‘quay’, or fried dough sticks, and fennel.

Covering a small area, the bun rieu eatery still attracts a lot of diners. Morning and noon are the peak hours of the shop.

A bowl of bun rieu there is priced at VND25,000-45,000.

Besides these five bun rieu shops, diners can also enjoy bun rieu at other shops in Hanoi. A shop on Nguyen Du street serves bun rieu with pig cartilage. Other addresses are No40 Hang Tre, Huong Beo at Dong Xuan Market, the biggest wholesale market in Hanoi. 

Linh Trang