Not just Obama's Buncha

by Abigail Chang (Singapore)

I didn't expect to find Vietnam

What food is there at Hanoi? The first thing that might come to mind is the humble Bun Cha Huong Lien that hosted a meal with Anthony Bourdain and the well loved ex-US President, Barack Obama. Now famously known as Obama’s Bun Cha place, ask anyone on the streets of Hanoi, “Where can I get a bowl of the Bun Cha Obama ate?”, and they’ll gladly point you towards the unsuspecting alley where you can slurp up some rice noodles for a decent price of USD $6. The restaurant was a buzz, filled with a mix of both locals and tourists waiting to tantalise their taste buds. The waiters barely have a minute to breathe in between taking orders and serving up food. Most of the food preparation action happens hidden away, with the building that houses Bun Cha Huong Lien seem like a commercialised street food eatery in town. The whole experience felt, cold. Don’t get me wrong - the food was good. It just felt like I was eating at a normal soup restaurant. I left feeling not quite satisfied as the constant snaking queue outside the store pressured me to rush through my meal. So my food hunt continues. Hopping onto a grabbike, the most common way of travel in Hanoi, we travelled through little lanes to beat traffic yet still got stuck in a jam on the main road. The constant symphony of honking never ends with my rider occasionally chiming in. As she skillfully squeezed into the smallest of space available in between the sidewalk and the cars, we scooted through the district of Old Quarter, where skinny buildings built beside each other mimicked sardines in a tin. It was not hard to miss the French like architectures, a testament of the French’s influence during their period of colonisation, one that has helped organised the streets of Hanoi in attempts to mimic the city of Paris. “Beep beep”, she let out a warning before stopping. “Ok stop here?”, she asked in broken English, without leaving out hand gestures to help convey what she wanted from me. I nodded my head, paid and hopped off to enter a similar looking street from before. Almost all of the streets look the same in Hanoi, one can see why it’s so easy to get lost. I didn’t have to search for long as the sweet burnt smell of pork drew me to it. It was a traditional family run Bun Cha eatery that had the experience I was looking for. Seated at the front of the store was an elderly lady in her early 70s that has probably honed her craft for years. She faced a hot charcoal grill, flipping out trays of pork, making sure not only were they cooked but also charred to give it extra depth of flavour. Sweating buckets but not missing a beat, she was like a machine at the production line. Once ready, she placed the grilled meat over to a tray where her partner in crime was seated. Another chef enters the scene. She assembles endless bowls of rice noodles, vegetables and carefully portions out the different cuts of pork to make sure each bowl has a variety. It was like watching a show, with every step carefully yet effortlessly executed. I could've watch for hours. The lady preparing the noodles, looked up and shoved a bowl in my direction, “One?”. “Yes!”, and I was quickly ushered in. Within a few minutes, my complete meal was presented to me. Dipping the noodles into the broth, I quickly slurped up the sweet broth, and sank my teeth into the perfectly grilled pork that carried a taste of sweet, salty and that charcoal charred fragrance all in one bite. Even the spring rolls were jam packed with generous amounts of minced meat, carrots, mung bean noodles and also carried a good crispy skin that left me wanting for more. It reminded me much of a meal that my grandmother would have prepared for me at home. Amidst the vietnamese chatter, the lady that prepared the noodles approached me, gestured a thumbs up with a questioning smile, “Good good good?” “Yes, perfect.”