Bun Cha Huong Lien (Obama Bun Cha)
Bún Chả Hương Liên
The bun cha restaurant where Barack Obama and Anthony Bourdain dined together in 2016, with their table and chairs still preserved and displayed upstairs.
Located at 24 Lê Văn Hưu Street in Hai Ba Trung District. A classic bun cha costs about 60,000 VND, including charcoal-grilled pork patties, pork belly, rice noodles, fresh herbs, and dipping sauce. The "Obama Combo" is about 130,000 VND and includes a portion of bun cha, a fried seafood spring roll, and a bottle of Hanoi Beer. The restaurant has multiple floors where local lunch crowds and tourists sit together. The table and dishes used by Obama and Bourdain are sealed in a glass case upstairs, and staff will guide you to view it. No reservations are needed, but it gets crowded at lunch. The flavors are simple and mild; its fame is perhaps more striking than the food itself. It is somewhat far from the center of the Old Quarter, so taking a taxi or pairing it with a trip to the south side of Hoan Kiem Lake is recommended.
Opening hours
Daily 8:00–20:00
Nearby sights
- Vietnamese Women's Museum
- Hanoi Opera House
- Vietnam National Museum of History
- Hỏa Lò Prison
- Hoan Kiem Lake
- St. Joseph's Cathedral
- Hanoi Train Street
- Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre