Travel trend of sharing meals with Vietnamese families
DNO - For many visitors, one of the most memorable parts of a trip to Vietnam may begin not at a famous attraction or a luxury hotel, but around a family dining table.
Sharing a home-cooked meal with local people offers travellers a closer look at everyday life, while the warmth and hospitality of hosts can turn a simple lunch or dinner into a lasting travel memory.
That was the experience of a 21-year-old South Korean visitor to Vietnam, who unexpectedly received an invitation to lunch while browsing a small jewellery shop in Hoi An, Da Nang.
She later attracted attention on social media after sharing a photo of this impressive meal. “Can someone explain to me why I was just walking around a jewellery shop and they invited me to eat?” she wrote.
She had entered Ky Vi Souvenir Gift Shop on Tran Hung Dao Street in Hoi An to look for some lightweight jewellery for her trip.
The shop owner was having lunch with another woman at the time. As the shop was small, he asked the woman to move aside so she could look around more easily.
“I told them to continue eating, but unexpectedly they invited me to join them”, the foreign tourist recalled. The owner gave her a bowl and chopsticks and even picked up food for her.
He later continued serving her rice and soup and offered mango for dessert. The gesture left a strong impression on the young traveller. The owner’s hospitality reminded her of her grandmother and made the meal feel “warm, like home”.
For this female tourist, it was not the food alone that made the experience special, but the genuine friendliness of someone she had never met before.
The unexpected lunch became one of the memories that made her Hoi An trip particularly meaningful.
Similar experiences can be found through community-based tourism and homestays in many parts of Vietnam, where visitors stay with local families and share meals prepared from ingredients grown or sourced in the area.
A travel enthusiast from the southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City has visited destinations across Vietnam and in recent years has increasingly chosen community-based tourism.
In early 2026, she visited Si Thau Chai Community Tourism Village in Tam Duong, Lai Chau Province, where local Dao people run accommodation and tourism services themselves.
“The whole village is made up of local people. They use their own homes as guest accommodation, with shared spaces and private rooms,” she said.
Meals are also prepared by local residents, often using vegetables and other ingredients that families grow or produce themselves.
The food changes with the seasons, giving visitors an opportunity to experience local ingredients and traditional ways of preparing them.
What she enjoyed most was the chance to talk directly with local people and gain a closer understanding of their daily lives. She was also impressed by the care residents put into their village.
The surroundings were clean and well maintained, while flowers, trees and fences were carefully tended. Visitors could also take part in activities organised by local residents.
Experiences like these show why a meal shared with local people can mean much more than simply tasting Vietnamese food.
For travellers, sitting at the same table as a host family creates an opportunity to slow down, talk, share stories and experience a side of Vietnam that cannot easily be found on a standard sightseeing itinerary.
And for the hosts, a welcoming meal is a simple but meaningful way to share their culture and everyday lives with visitors from around the world.