Ngọc Chi

The Verdict

If you are weighing up where to eat vegetarian food in Da Nang, Ngọc Chi is the clearest answer in the city. It holds a 2024 Michelin Bib Gourmand — the guide's marker for serious quality at accessible prices — and it has been operating for over a decade, which is a meaningful track record in a city where restaurant turnover is high. At the ₫ price tier, you are paying local street-food rates for cooking that has been formally recognised on an international stage. That combination is hard to find anywhere in Vietnam, let alone at a single address on Hoàng Diệu.

What Ngọc Chi Is

Ngọc Chi is a Vietnamese vegetarian restaurant that has spent more than ten years building a menu around local vegetables, herbs, and fermented seasonings. The kitchen draws on central Vietnamese flavour principles , sour, saline, and aromatic , and applies them without meat. Plant-based protein appears on the menu alongside whole-vegetable preparations, but the kitchen does not lean on substitutes as a crutch. The fermented condiments do real work here, adding depth and salinity that means the food does not taste like it is missing anything.

The energy inside is the kind you find at a well-run neighbourhood restaurant that has earned a loyal local following: occupied tables, a steady pace, and an ambient noise level that keeps conversation easy without the place feeling empty. This is not a quiet, contemplative dining room. It runs at the pace of a busy Vietnamese family restaurant, which is part of what makes it feel authentic rather than staged for visitors. If you have been once and found it louder or more hectic than expected, that is the baseline , go early in a meal sitting if you want a calmer atmosphere.

Chef Kanda Takuji is attached to the kitchen, which points toward a degree of precision and consistency above what you would expect at this price point. The Michelin recognition supports that reading. A Bib Gourmand is awarded for value as much as quality , the inspectors are specifically looking for places where the cooking is genuinely good and the bill does not punish you for going. Ngọc Chi clears both bars.

What to Order If You Are Going Back

The sour soup with mixed vegetables is the anchor dish , documented in the venue's own description as a recommended starting point, and a good way to read how the kitchen handles acidity and seasoning. From there, the wontons and spring rolls are hand-wrapped and fried to order, which matters for texture. Deep-fried items that sit lose the point. Getting these fresh off the pass is the difference between a good plate and a forgettable one. If you visited before and skipped the soup in favour of going straight to the spring rolls, reverse the order on your next visit.

The menu is described as extensive and mostly Vietnamese in origin. That breadth means there is room to explore across visits, but it also means a first return trip benefits from focusing on the dishes the kitchen is known for rather than working through unfamiliar items. The fermented seasoning approach is what distinguishes this kitchen from simpler vegetarian spots, so look for preparations where those flavours are most prominent.

Wine and Drinks Context

At the ₫ price tier in Da Nang, a formal wine program is not part of the offer at Vietnamese vegetarian restaurants in this category. Ngọc Chi is priced and positioned as a neighbourhood dining destination, not a beverage-led experience. The fermented seasonings in the food , which are doing the same flavour-building work that wine sometimes does at the table , are the closest analog to a drinks program this kitchen has. If you are travelling through central Vietnam and want to understand how fermentation drives flavour in this cuisine, the food itself is the lens. For wine-forward dining in Da Nang, La Maison 1888 operates at the opposite end of the price spectrum and serves a different purpose entirely.

Booking and Getting There

Ngọc Chi is at 202 Hoàng Diệu, in the Phước Ninh ward of Hải Châu district , central Da Nang, accessible from most hotels in the city without difficulty. Booking difficulty is rated easy, which reflects both the price tier and the capacity of a restaurant that has been serving a broad local and visitor base for over a decade. Walk-ins are likely workable for most visits, though going at off-peak hours , before the main lunch or dinner rush , gives you more control over seating and pace. Current hours are not confirmed in our data, so verify before you go. The restaurant's address is fixed and well-indexed across local maps apps.

For context on the broader Da Nang dining scene, see our full Da Nang restaurants guide. If you are planning accommodation or other activities, our Da Nang hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the full picture.

How It Compares Across Vietnam

Michelin-recognised vegetarian cooking at this price point is rare in Vietnam. For comparison, Anan Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City sits at a different price tier and a different register entirely. If you are interested in how Vietnam's vegetarian traditions compare to broader Asian vegetarian cooking, Fu He Hui in Shanghai and Lamdre in Beijing show what high-end Buddhist vegetarian kitchens do at the other end of the investment scale. Ngọc Chi is not trying to be either of those , it is making the case that serious vegetarian cooking does not require a serious price tag.

Within central Vietnam, Bánh Mì Phượng in Hoi An and Rice Bowl in Hue City serve different categories but give a sense of how the ₫ tier performs across the region. For Da Nang specifically, Shamballa and noodle-focused spots like Bà Diệu and Bà Đông fill out the broader local picture if you are building a multi-day eating itinerary.

FAQ

• What should I order at Ngọc Chi? Start with the sour soup , it is the kitchen's signature opener and gives you a read on the fermented seasoning approach that defines the menu. Follow with the hand-wrapped wontons or spring rolls, ordered fresh. These are fried to order, so timing matters. The Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition points to consistent kitchen execution, so the core dishes are the safest place to start on a return visit.
• What should I wear to Ngọc Chi? Casual. This is a ₫-tier neighbourhood restaurant in central Da Nang, not a formal dining room. There is no dress code implied by the price, the setting, or the Bib Gourmand category. Clean, comfortable clothes suitable for a busy local restaurant are all you need.
• Is Ngọc Chi worth the price? Yes, without qualification. A Michelin Bib Gourmand at ₫ pricing means you are getting formally recognised cooking at local street-food rates. The value case here is direct: the price is low, the quality bar has been independently verified, and the restaurant has maintained both for over ten years.
• Is the tasting menu worth it at Ngọc Chi? No confirmed tasting menu format is documented for Ngọc Chi. The menu is described as extensive rather than fixed-format. At this price tier, an à la carte approach across several dishes , soup, wontons, spring rolls , effectively builds a multi-course meal without a formal tasting structure. Order broadly and you will cover more ground than a set menu would at a comparable venue.
• What should a first-timer know about Ngọc Chi? The restaurant has been running for over ten years with a loyal local following, which means the room runs at pace and energy levels reflect that. Go in knowing it is a busy neighbourhood restaurant, not a quiet retreat. The menu is extensive and mostly Vietnamese, so narrowing your order to the documented anchor dishes , sour soup, wontons, spring rolls , gives you the clearest read on the kitchen. Current hours are unconfirmed, so check before visiting. Booking is easy and walk-ins are workable, but earlier sittings are calmer.
• Does Ngọc Chi handle dietary restrictions? The entire menu is vegetarian, which removes the most common dietary conflict for plant-based diners. Plant-based meat appears on the menu alongside whole-vegetable dishes, so if you are avoiding meat analogues specifically, it is worth asking when you arrive about which dishes use them. No phone or website is currently listed in our data, so direct contact in advance is not direct , plan to clarify on arrival.