Street restaurants in Vietnam, how to choose

For many western travelers, the search for authenticity is often compromised by the numerous obstacles that constitute language, the lack of knowledge of social codes and culture shock in general. You want to eat like a Vietnamese, but it's so much more convenient to choose a dish in a tourist restaurant, with a menu in English, even in French! If like me you want to taste the real flavors of Vietnam but you dare not go into a street restaurant for fear of looking ridiculous, here is a little guide that will help you get out of trouble, order the right dish and enjoy it.

THE CHOICE OF THE RESTAURANT
If you have no place to advise you, it will be difficult to recognize a good restaurant from an extraordinary restaurant. Indeed, the best addresses are passed on by word of mouth! Do not despair however: by searching at random, you may come across a nice surprise. A useful indication: each restaurant specializes in one or two dishes and immediately announces it on its facade (Pho, Bun Com). This will help you make your choice if you already know what you want. And if you still can't read these curious words of a single syllable, don't panic, read on.

READING THE MENU
If you go to a real street restaurant outside the tourist areas, you will not be provided with a "western" menu: you will see, in large, on a wall, the different proposals available to you. This is where you will need to master these few basics of Vietnamese that I give you here:

Phở: noodle soup
Mỳ: second kind of noodles
Miến: third kind of noodles!
Bun: vermicelli
Bo: beef
Ga: chicken
Lợn: pork
Ca: fish
Cua: crab
Xao: dry - it is used to distinguish noodle soups from sauted noodles; so you can have Pho Xao and My Xao.
Cơm: rice - Com restaurants serve you a ball of sticky rice with steam, and you then choose several toppings from an impressive choice! (meat, vegetable, fish, tofu, bamboo shoots, etc.).
Rank: fried - fried rice is served with fresh meat and vegetables
Hop: "Com Hop", literally "rice in a box", can be used if you want to take your rice to go.

Now that you have chosen, point to the selected item (it will be better than trying in vain to pronounce it correctly), and enjoy!

PAYMENT
Nothing too complex, and prices are usually posted in advance. However, if you want to take up the challenge, you can try to understand your interlocutor orally, thanks to this brief explanation of the use of numbers in Vietnamese.

1 = one
2 = two
3 = three
4 = four
5 = five
6 = six
7 = seven
8 = eight
9 = nine
10 = ten

To form tens, in Vietnamese, we use the two unit digits. Instead of saying 51, we will say Five One. Finally, do not forget that when he says "bon muoi" (40), your interlocutor implies the "thousand" which inevitably follow all prices in VND.