Eat at the restaurant so singular the street was renamed after its one dish
One dish since 1871
An old wooden upstairs dining room where a charcoal pan of yellow turmeric fish arrives half-cooked and you finish it yourself in a heap of dill, eating it over rice noodles with peanuts, herbs and shrimp paste.
Why it's unique
Cha Ca La Vong opened in 1871 and has served exactly one dish ever since: turmeric-marinated freshwater fish, finished at your table in a pan of dill and spring onion. There is nothing else to order.
It was the first such restaurant on its street, imitators opened around it under near-identical names, and the street itself was eventually renamed after the dish. A public street named for one restaurant's only dish is not a thing that happens twice.
Before you go
There is no menu decision. The only question is how many are eating, and the food starts arriving.
Staff will finish the cooking for you if you look unsure, and you should let them — the dill goes in at the very end and wilts in seconds, and the difference between good and mediocre here is about thirty seconds of timing. The shrimp paste is the traditional dip and is strong; a small amount stirred with lime and chilli is how it is meant to be eaten, but nobody minds if you use the fish sauce instead. Copycats operate on the same street under similar names, which is exactly why the street was renamed, so check the number: 14.