Bún chả Hương Liên

2 Days in Hanoi

"A Bib Gourmand recipient known for its delicious bowl of bun cha, a local specialty of grilled pork with vermicelli noodles. Offers a Combo Obama, featuring a fried seafood roll, bun cha, and local beer." - Pruepat 'Maprang' Songtieng

Bún Chả Hương Liên (Hai Ba Trung)

"Playing on their claim to fame, this joint displays photos of its celebrity guests and offers a Combo Obama, which includes a fried seafood roll, a bowl of the special bún chả and a bia hà nội. The bún chả itself delivers a satisfying blend of rustic flavours, with smoky pork, meat patties, fragrant herbs and fresh salad leaves. They also serve a tasty pork skewer." - Michelin Inspector

7 Restaurants and Bars That Celebrate American Presidents

"In May 2016, the Vietnamese noodle store Bún Chả Hương Liên went from relative obscurity to being on television screens all over the world, after two of the world’s most famous men chose it as their dinner spot in Hanoi. Anthony Bourdain and President Barack Obama came for the slippery noodles or fragrant pork patties—but the world tuned in not for the food, but to see these two icons sit on blue plastic stools drinking chilled bottles of local beer. At the time of the meal, Bourdain was filming the CNN series Parts Unknown. A year earlier, he told the network, the White House had reached out to try to arrange a meal between the president and himself: something fun and unexpected. This relative hole-in-the-wall, where the total cost of the meal came in at under $10, fit the bill. (Bourdain picked up the check.) Footage from the series shows the men laughing and chatting over their noodles like two old friends. “Is it appropriate to chuck one of these whole suckers in your mouth?” the president asks, gesturing at a patty with his chopsticks. “Well, slurping is totally acceptable in this part of the world,” Bourdain replies, with a laugh. They received no directive from the White House about which topics were and were not up for discussion, Bourdain later told the network. “We spoke like two dads, and Southeast Asian enthusiasts, and had a good time.” Today, the restaurant continues to thrive. It looks much as it did when Bourdain and Obama sat down to eat there, but there are a few key changes. Guests hoping to relive the experience can now order a “Combo Obama” from the menu: bun cha, a seafood spring roll, and a bottle of Hanoi beer for a total of 105,000 VND, or about $4.50. But what they can’t do is sit down at that same table, in those same blue plastic stools. The restaurant’s encased the entire set-up in glass for posterity. (From time to time, they also pop a decorative plant on top.) The metal-topped table’s still set, as if waiting for the return of its diners, ready with plates, bowls, chopsticks, and beers. When Bourdain died in June 2018, Obama tweeted a photo of the two men drinking their beers in that restaurant, with the caption: “This is how I’ll remember Tony. He taught us about food — but more importantly, about its ability to bring us together. To make us a little less afraid of the unknown. We’ll miss him.”" - ATLAS_OBSCURA

Tony met with President Obama (while he was in office) to have bún chả. It was Obama's first visit to Vietnam, and it reminded him of his childhood visits to Indonesia. They shared cold beers and bún chả, a traditional Vietnamese soup of grilled pork belly, pork patties, and noodles served in a broth of vinegar, sugar, fish sauce and served with chilies. Obama told a story about a city in Indonesia called Puncak where he would eat at a roadside restaurant overlooking the tea fields, with a river running through the restaurant. You could pick a fish and they'd fry it and serve it with a bed of rice. Obama said it was a simple meal but his favorite.

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"Feast on grilled pork in fish sauce, a spot visited by President Obama and Anthony Bourdain."