Vietnamese identity marks on the Michelin map

Honoring local cuisine

At the beginning of June, Hieu Luc tilapia soup restaurant on Hai Ba Trung street (Hanoi) continued to be recognized by Michelin Selected for the second consecutive year. At noon, the small restaurant is bustling with customers. Bottles of hot tilapia soup, clear broth, sweet taste from field tilapia and green vegetables, evoke the rustic but rich Hung Yen specialty.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyen - the restaurant owner - shared: "Michelin helps more diners know the restaurant, especially visitors from other provinces and international visitors. Some people come for the first time because they see the restaurant's name in the Michelin list, and then become regular customers. For me, that is the greatest joy, because Hung Yen perch soup still has its own appeal to today's diners.

Efficiency is not the only case. In the Michelin Guide Vietnam 2026 list, many familiar restaurants to Vietnamese people continue to be honored, from Pho Ha Hang Hom, Thanh Van family-inherited banh cuon in Hanoi to Bun rieu Yen, Banh canh cua Ba Ba in Ho Chi Minh City or Ba Vui, Banh beo - Banh dap in Da Nang...

After four years of presence in Vietnam, the Michelin Guide seems to be showing a broader perspective on Vietnamese cuisine, where local values are placed on par with processing techniques or service experiences.

Taking the Vietnamese flavor far

Commenting on Michelin Guide Vietnam 2026, Mr. Gwendal Poullennec - International Director of Michelin Guide - said that the most impressive thing is the maturity of a young generation of chefs who were trained abroad but chose to return to their homeland to create from local ingredients, childhood memories and national pride.

“It is a new generation of Vietnamese chefs leading the trend - young people who studied abroad and now return to their homeland to create their own unique dishes: rooted in local ingredients, nurtured by homeland memories and ignited by national pride” - Mr. Gwendal Poullennec said.

That assessment is expressed through Upstairs - one of the two restaurants newly awarded a Michelin Star this year. Chef Truong Hiep put familiar ingredients such as fish sauce, various types of fish sauce and Vietnamese herbs into the modern menu.

The important thing for me is to use the most typical ingredients and flavors of Vietnam to honor the soul of Vietnamese cuisine, and at the same time introduce the cultural values of our country's cuisine to diners" - he shared.

If Upstairs represents the trend of refreshing Vietnamese dishes with contemporary techniques and thinking, Tales by Chapter shows another direction that is being highly appreciated by Michelin: Sustainable development.

This year, Tales by Chapter continues to be awarded the Michelin Green Star thanks to its purely plant-based model and "Zero Waste" philosophy. Instead of using expensive imported ingredients, the restaurant exploits familiar Vietnamese vegetables and fruits to create a menu.

Our biggest goal is sustainable development. All ingredients at Tales by Chapter are 100% from Vietnam. We want to turn familiar products into new experiences, not only to create delicious dishes but also to tell other stories about Vietnamese cuisine" - Mr. Truong Quang Dung shared.

Michelin-recognized chefs all start from the close value of Vietnamese cuisine: fish sauce, herbs, childhood dishes and local agricultural products. From there, they tell new stories to international diners, helping Vietnamese identity to be more clearly present on the journey to reach out to the world.