TasteAtlas, an online travel guide based in Croatia specializing in traditional cuisine worldwide, has recently unveiled its catalog of the 45 lowest-rated Vietnamese dishes.

According to the site, TasteAtlas food rankings are “based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bots, nationalist, or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable.”

For the '45 Worst Rated Vietnamese Foods' list until March 16, 2024, 4,427 ratings were recorded, of which 3,037 were recognized by the system as legitimate. 

However, it is emphasized that TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. 

“Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried,” TasteAtlas declared. 

The '45 Worst Rated Vietnamese Foods' includes some dishes long considered challenging for foreign tourists to the country such as tiết canh (raw blood pudding), bún đậu mắm tôm (rice vermicelli noodles with fried tofu and shrimp paste), and bún mắm (fermented fish noodle soup), to name a few.

However, it left many Vietnamese readers in dismay as their favorite dishes were included on the list.

Topping the catalog with a 2.8-star rating was bánh đậu xanh (mung bean cake), a delicacy from the northern province of Hai Duong. 

“This traditional Vietnamese dessert originated in Hải Dương. It combines mung beans, vegetable oil or pork fat, sugar, and flavorings to create a cake with a fudge-like consistency and a smooth texture,” TasteAtlas wrote. 

“It is believed that the cake first appeared in the 1920s, and since then, this simple combination has earned a status as a favorite local sweet and has become well known in the entire country.

“Traditionally, pieces of bánh đậu xanh are accompanied by a cup of green or lotus tea.”

While tiết canh was also rated with 2.8 stars and came in second, bánh trôi (floating glutinous rice dumplings) placed third with 2.9 stars.

“Bánh trôi is the name of a traditional Vietnamese dessert which consists of delicious tiny balls of glutinous rice wrapped around a sweet filling,” TasteAtlas said.

Other included in the 10 worst-rated Vietnamese dishes were thịt đông (Vietnamese pork aspic) with a three-star rating, bún đậu mắm tôm also with three stars, bún mắm with 3.2 stars, cháo lòng (Vietnamese pork offal porridge) with 3.2 stars, chè chuối (banana coconut tapioca pudding) with 3.2 stars, xôi gấc (sticky rice cooked with gac fruit) with 3.3 stars, and mooncake with 3.4 stars.

The five-bottom dishes were 3.8-starred hủ tiếu Nam Vang (Nam Vang noodle soup), 3.9-starred nem nướng (Vietnamese grilled pork sausage), 3.9-starred bò lá lốt (grilled beef wrapped in betel leaf), 3.9-starred Vietnamese hotpot, and 3.9-starred bò né (Vietnamese steak and eggs).

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