Lau, the Vietnamese hot pot, and how a table orders one
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Vietnamese hot pot, lau, is the meal people here eat when there are five of them and an evening to spend. Visitors mostly miss it, because it is not street food, not lunch, and not designed for one.
What is lau?
A Vietnamese hot pot is a pot of broth on a gas burner in the middle of the table, with a procession of raw things to cook in it: sliced beef, prawns, fish, tofu, mushrooms, noodles, and greens by the armful.
Nothing arrives finished. You cook as you eat, the broth concentrates over the evening, and the noodles go in last when the liquid has become something worth having.
Which kind should you order?
Lau thai is the safe first choice: sour, spicy, tomato-red, and on every menu in the country. From there the regional versions are where it gets interesting.
| Kind | What it is | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Lau thai | Sour, spicy, tomato and lemongrass | Everywhere |
| Lau mam | Fermented fish base, powerful | Mekong Delta |
| Lau ga la e | Chicken with wild betel leaf | South and centre |
| Lau bo | Beef, often with vinegar broth | Everywhere |
| Lau hai san | Seafood, clean broth | The coast |
| Lau chay | Mushroom, vegetarian | Chay restaurants |
Lau mam is the one to try if you already like Vietnamese food and the one to avoid on day two. It is built on fermented fish, it smells like it, and it is the Mekong Delta at its most uncompromising.
How does ordering work?
Broth first, then the raw plates. Most menus price a pot for two, so a table of four orders one large pot and more plates rather than two pots.
The greens arrive unasked and are not optional in any meaningful sense. Water spinach, chrysanthemum leaf, banana blossom and whatever else is in season come as a pile, and they are half the dish.
Say how spicy you want the broth when you order it rather than afterwards. Adding chilli is easy; removing it is not.
What does a hot pot cost a head?
Roughly 150,000 to 400,000 dong per person at a local restaurant, covering the broth, the raw plates and the greens. At about 26,000 dong to the dollar that is 6 to 15 US dollars.
For four people it is usually the cheapest good meal available, which is exactly why it is the standard birthday and payday dinner. The trip cost guide puts that against the rest of a day's spending.
Where do you find it?
Away from the tourist streets, and in the evening. Lau restaurants are large, loud, often open-fronted, and identifiable by the burners on every table and the extractor tubing overhead.
Lau restaurants rarely appear on lists of things to eat in Vietnam, because they are not photogenic and not quick. The what to eat guide covers the dishes that are; this is the one to order when you have a group and three hours.
Cold weather helps. Vietnamese hot pot is far more common in Hanoi in January than in Saigon in April, and in Sapa or Da Lat it is close to the default dinner.
The cold-weather pattern is worth using. A pot in the highlands at 15°C is a different and better evening from the same pot on a humid southern night, and it costs the same.
Can you eat it vegetarian?
Lau chay exists and is good, usually mushroom-based and served at chay restaurants near pagodas. That word is what makes it safe.
An ordinary restaurant's vegetable pot is almost certainly built on a stock containing fish sauce or bones, and asking for no meat does not change the broth. The vegetarian guide covers the phrasing, and fish sauce explains what is hiding in the base.
Is it worth going out of your way for?
Only if you have the group. Lau for two is possible and slightly sad, because the pot is sized for a table and the pleasure is in the length of it.
If you are travelling alone, the noodle soups deliver the same broth-and-greens satisfaction in a bowl and twenty minutes. If there are four of you and it is raining, order the lau.
FAQ
What is lau in Vietnam?
Lau is Vietnamese hot pot: a pot of simmering broth set on a burner in the middle of the table, with raw meat, seafood, noodles and a mountain of greens brought alongside to cook in it. It is a group dish and an evening rather than a meal.
What kinds of Vietnamese hot pot are there?
Lau thai, sour and spicy, is the most common. Lau mam is the Mekong version built on fermented fish and is the strongest. Lau ga la e uses chicken with wild betel leaf, lau bo is beef, and seafood lau is the coastal default. Most places do two or three, not all of them.
How much does hot pot cost in Vietnam?
Roughly 150,000 to 400,000 dong per person at a local place, including the broth, the raw plates and the greens. That is about 6 to 15 US dollars at mid-2026 rates of around 26,000 dong to the dollar, and it is usually the cheapest way to feed four people well.
How do you order hot pot in Vietnam?
Choose the broth first, then the raw ingredients, and expect the greens to arrive without being asked. Most menus price the pot for two, so a table of four orders one large pot rather than two. Noodles go in at the end rather than the beginning.
Is Vietnamese hot pot vegetarian friendly?
Lau chay exists and is common at chay restaurants, usually mushroom-based. An ordinary restaurant's vegetable pot will almost certainly be built on a stock containing fish sauce or bones, so the word chay is what makes the difference rather than asking for no meat.
When do Vietnamese people eat hot pot?
In the evening, in groups, and more often when it is cold. It is the standard birthday, payday and reunion meal, which is why lau restaurants are loud and why a table of two can feel conspicuous ordering one.