In a shock move at the time, Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh city claimed its first McDonald’s in 2014. Fast, cheap food in Vietnam, finally. To the contrary, it was the absence of exactly this kind of franchise that allowed the country’s well deserved reputation as having some of the best food in the world, to flourish.

Vietnam’s communist government had forbidden companies such as McDonald’s to open for decades, a move that gave local cuisine and stellar street food to chance be the country’s answer to cheap, accessible food.

But given that over 400,000 people flocked to the franchise for a French-fries fix within its first month, we’d be forgiven for wondering whether Vietnam’s reputation as a food destination is deserved.

The locals have no such doubts: At UNESCO World Heritage site Phong Nha-Ke Bang, for example, you can visit “The Best BBQ Pork and Noodle Shop in the World (Probably)” – and it’s only one on a long list of food gems beyond the glitz of old Saigon.

In Hoi An, a former port city on Vietnam’s central coast famous for its top-quality and inexpensive tailoring industry, Nguyễn Thị Lộc, 79, is better known as “Madam Khanh, the banh mi queen”.

Lộc has been in the business for 50 years, and has run her famous sandwich stand north of the Thu Bon river from 7am to 7pm (strictly) since 1985. Banh mi is the only thing on the menu – and with good reason: it’s arguably the best you’ll find in Vietnam (and so anywhere, for that matter).

Lộc makes literally hundreds of the Vietnamese sandwiches every day, but it’s a slow process. Each banh mi is painstakingly assembled using chopsticks, as is custom in Vietnamese cooking, and vibrant, fresh ingredients, which are re-stocked on a daily basis. Egg, pork, and vegetables such as pickled carrots and cucumber together with herbs including coriander are meticulously arranged on a crispy French-style baguette. There’s a queue to order, to say the least.

Those who choose to dine-in do so at four tables behind Lộc’s stand, in what looks suspiciously like her living room. Walls display letters of gratitude from satisfied customers from all over the world.

It buzzes with conversation from fellow travelers and members of her family, who pop in throughout the day.

One of Madam Khanh’s creations will set you back 20,000 Vietnamese dong, or around $1.20.

As with banh mi, the vast majority of Vietnamese cuisine is based on a combination of meat (usually pork), shrimp, rice, and French-style bread. And while it’s a formula that works, it’s also what makes Da Lat stand out on a food tour of Vietnam.

Situated in Vietnam’s south-central highlands and known as “the city of eternal spring” for its comparably moderate climate, Da Lat is one of Vietnam’s largest sources of produce – from fruits and vegetables to tea, coffee and flowers – supplying markets in northern Vietnam alone with over 50 metric tonnes per day and exporting goods to 10 countries worldwide.

At the local market, you’ll find avocado and broccoli the size of your head, bright dragon fruit and mounds of fresh seafood, but it’s in the hills of Da Lat that you’ll enjoy the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had – provided you keep your mind off how it’s brewed.

The beans, known as ca phe chon or “civet-cat coffee”, are harvested from the faeces of weasel-like civets. Nature’s little coffee snobs, civets will only eat what they determine to be the best beans on a coffee tree, which are then fermented by special stomach enzymes after consumption and harvested for production. Rest assured no part of the bean that’s been in contact with poop will pass your lips thanks to the bean’s outer shell, which is discarded.

The result is a smooth, dark coffee typically served over ice with condensed milk, producing an unforgettable flavour that costs up to $500 per kg in Britain and beyond.

Also in Da Lat you can sample the residents at a local cricket farm (which are tasty with sweet chili sauce), but if that’s all too adventurous for those new to the cuisine, phở (pronounced “fur”) is a Vietnamese staple enjoyed in every part of the country – and in most parts of the world. It’s a simple dish comprised of a satisfyingly salty broth, stringy rice noodles, herbs (usually coriander) and chicken or beef, and you’ll probably find it at your local Vietnamese take-away.

But just because it’s available here it at home is no excuse to put off a trip – Vietnam’s reputation for food is well-deserved, and well worth sampling for yourself.