Consistency is key with Tầm Vị (and Michelin agrees)

Tầm Vị was one of three restaurants in the capital awarded a Michelin star. Photos Alex Reeves

Tầm Vị is the perfect setting for tourists, businesspeople, and locals to convene, serving traditional Vietnamese classics and specialties to be cherished by anyone with a set of taste buds 

By Alex Reeves

Have you heard? Michelin’s been in town. Seemingly anyone with even a passing interest in taking food from their plate, bowl, or polystyrene tray and placing it into their mouths seems to have — and they all have an opinion about it. 

Such is the magnitude of the world’s most prestigious purveyor of dining: the perennial powerhouse of making tires and telling us what and, most importantly, where to eat.

Michelin, along with everyone else, has had some things to say about a handful of restaurants throughout Hà Nội — and one in our sister city of Hồ Chí Minh City, or Sài Gòn. In total, four eateries were awarded stars and over a hundred were finally acknowledged.

So, I thought I’d join in by actually visiting these newly anointed culinary kings and let our readers know what they’ll be getting themselves into.

Today, I’ll focus on Tầm Vị — perhaps, to some, a surprise addition to the list of acclaimed awardees. However, Michelin’s been producing their guide annually since 1900 and you most certainly do not end up being awarded a star for anything other than excellence.

Tầm Vị is not a house of fine dining, serving up an 18-course tasting menu by transforming things — that you were never entirely sure you wanted to eat in the first place — into foams and other equally confounding concoctions.

Nor is it a street food stall firing out fifteen bowls of the same dish each and every minute from dawn till dusk, sending lines around already congested urban corners as quickly as it sends the local competition out of business.

It fits neither end of the conventional spectrum we seem to find in the Michelin guide, and the reason behind this, I believe, is what has led them to this very recognition. We’ll get to that.

Diners exchanged smiles and took in the ambience as they enjoyed their meals in the finely lit dining room.

Speaking of powerhouses, Việt Nam has been a growing global gastronomic one for decades now. While half the world may not have got their tongues around the pronunciation of our beloved phở, they’ve certainly welcomed the flavours into their minds and mouths.

Vietnamese cuisine can be found in places from Pennsylvania to Prague and is roundly celebrated as some of the most varied and delicious food on an already culinary-rich continent. Even the small village near my rural northeastern English hometown now boasts its own restaurant simply named “Bánh Mì”.

Where we often run into trouble — both with finding Vietnamese food abroad and enjoying the delights of Michelin-starred dining — concerns the price. Be it a US$1,000 evening in Paris or a $20 bowl of broth, these sorts of sums (somewhat ironically) leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Thankfully, that is not an issue here at Tầm Vị. In the venue — itself a juxtaposition of old and new, much like the country from which it draws its culinary inspiration — you can expect to pay between VNĐ100-200,000 ($5-10) for most dishes, and as much as VNĐ300,000 ($15) for something more special.

This sparkling gem is nestled in the heart of the city, a stone's throw from the Temple of Literature, the cultural landmark by which the traditional feel of Tầm Vị could easily have been inspired.

Rustic wooden tables dot the space, backdropped by a tight modern finish and attention to detail which reminds you that this isn't just any Vietnamese restaurant. It’s intimate, yet unpretentious; the walls are adorned with art from Việt Nam’s more ancient history, and a gramophone sits gracefully on a desk as you enter.

Circular windows let perfect amounts of light into private rooms downstairs and add a feel of cosiness, while lamps and natural light diffused from the curtains along the length of the balcony set the tone in the dining room, until the long doors open in the evening.

Having lived here for over five years and having consumed almost everything present on the menu at one time or another, I needed other perspectives, so invited guests of varied culinary heritages.

These included local artist Tedd Pomaski — whose Vietnamese mother lovingly prepared these dishes for him at home during his childhood in Hawaii — and a fellow five-year expatriated Mancunian for whom bánh cuốn is the finest of all life’s dishes.

We were joined by Leon, a close friend and relative newcomer to Việt Nam who’s travelled the length of the country twice already, and for whom Vietnamese food couldn’t be more different from the hearty fare served back home in Germany.

Just two of countless well-presented dishes on offer.

The consistency of their response corresponds to the finer and notable qualities of the restaurant. We found ourselves foraging through the remaining beansprouts and luffa gourd for the last remnants of stir-fried chicken heart, and chasing the final drops of caramelised pork fat in the richness of the thịt kho tàu (caramelised pork belly and eggs).

Collectively acknowledged highlights included the banana flower and pig ear salad — which added crunch and texture to the table — while the beef and seasonal Tonkin jasmine flower provided the aroma and depth of flavour to diversify the variety of dishes on display to us.

Gordon Ramsay once referred to Việt Nam as “an extraordinary melting pot of great food”, and remarked that the Vietnamese people eat as well as anyone anywhere in the world. And he’s right.

To that end, this is where I believe Tầm Vị has hit gold of the Michelin star variety. The true skill and artistry of its team is in taking so many delicately flavoured dishes — with such variety of texture and depth — and applying consistency to them under one roof.

Many restaurants in Việt Nam serve one dish very well. As they specialise in that one singular dish, it’s no wonder they’re firm favourites with locals already in the know. There are other spots to dine at that house with multiple traditional dishes, but not of this calibre.

It would be too easy for a native or regular visitor to simply consider this high-end Vietnamese food. To the rest of the world, this is intriguing, new, challenging, and inventive cuisine, and Tầm Vị is the perfect place to be introduced to such a spectrum of flavours.

Smiles were shared between customers; the staff were warm and humble despite their newfound success, as well as the inordinate amount of custom and logistical challenges it must be bringing them.

I trust that Tầm Vị will wear their Michelin star with pride, and I look forward to my next visit — if I’m able to grab a seat. VNS