Banh my is everywhere in Hanoi, but one eatery on Pho Hue serves the Vietnamese baguette the way it used to be made. Words by Tran Cam Thu. Photos by Julie Vola

Owner and executive chef Hoang Nguyen opened Cutisun just over three years ago. Since that time, it has expanded from a modest single-room diner to having five dining rooms spread across two restaurants opposite to each other. The name, incidentally, comes from Hoang’s childhood moniker — cu ti sun refers to a small boy whose teeth have gone black from too much candy.

We often forget how much work goes into the food that appears on our plate or the drink that fills up our glass. Yet look at the chain of people and events that brings this all to us, and you realise the ubiquity and enormity of today’s food and beverage industry. Look even further and you see the stories behind the food. Everyone’s got an anecdote or a narrative.

Vietnam has an obsession with eating snails. And one dish that leaves a long, glistening trail is snails with rice noodle soup. Words by Huyen Tran. Photos by Julie Vola

I’ve eaten at Le Corto three times, the first two times with the owners. On the third occasion I went unannounced with a friend. What I was told before turned out to be correct; thanks to their reasonably priced set lunch (VND180,000 for two courses, VND250,000 for three), even their lunchtimes are busy at the moment. It was a Tuesday and we were lucky to get a table.

In among the bustle of downtown Hoan Kiem lives Highway 4, an elegant yet laid-back setting with a knockout menu and an impressive selection of award-winning traditional rice liquors, all under the roof of a renovated French villa dating back to the 1950s; yellow brick with an inviting sign hanging over the door, nestled in green ivy.

Aspiring to Michelin-star greatness, R&J is a hotel restaurant that screams bling. So, what does our Mystery Diner think? Photos by Kyle Phanroy

It’s winter and you’re in search of some sugar, something sweet to give you some energy. What could be better than banh troi tau? Words by Jesse Meadows. Photos by Vu Bao Khanh

Laid back and unobtrusive, Le Terroir is one of those French restaurants that nestles seamlessly into the Thai Van Lung area of Saigon. So, what does our Mystery Diner think? Photos by Kyle Phanroy

On the trail of one of the capital’s favourite dishes, Huyen Tran checks out some of Hanoi’s best bun cha. But this is not the dish as you know it. Photos by Julie Vola