Vietnamese food is the result of a cuisine that achieved extraordinary sophistication with minimal fat and maximum fresh herb, and the result is a food culture that manages to be both delicate and intensely flavoured. Phở — beef broth reduced for hours from bones charred on an open flame, poured over rice noodles with rare beef or tendon, and topped with bean sprouts, lime, basil, and chili at the table — is the dish that Vietnam is known for, but the regional variation is enormous: Hanoi phở is clear and precise, Saigon phở is sweeter and more garnished. Bún bò Huế (spicy beef and pork noodle soup from the old imperial capital), bánh mì (the French baguette filled with pork, pickled vegetables, and sriracha — the best use of colonial inheritance in food history), and gỏi cuốn (fresh spring rolls with shrimp and herbs in rice paper) form the quick-food trinity. The bia hơi pavement culture — fresh-brewed draught beer at plastic tables on the street for 25 cents a glass — is Vietnam's most democratic food-and-drink institution. That's where it gets good.