Who doesn’t love a nice bánh mì? It’s often the first choice for lunch, and even the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain once described the Vietnamese bread as ‘a symphony in a sandwich’.

It’s seems bánh mì could become a little more popular, but it’s not to everyone’s taste.

Miss Vietnam 2017, H’Hen Niê will represent the country at the upcoming Miss Universe pageant in Thailand next month. She has been asked to wear a national costume. And what has she chosen? bánh mì of course.

Her choice of outfit has caused a stir online.

Many Vietnamese people expressed the view that H’Hen Nie’s is not suitable for and does not match the costume chosen to represent the culture and identity of the country.

Others said that the design very creative, unique and contributes to the promotion of street food in Việt Nam. They said “baguette” is a famous kind of French bread but the costume by designer Phạm Phước Điền took inspiration from the classic Vietnamese style sandwich.

In September this year, CNN, a US news-based cable and satellite television channel, has listed the best bánh mì restaurants in Hội An for visitors who want to discover the beauty in Hội An cuisine. 

“Whether you go to the poorest areas of the North and Central Highlands, or the most exquisite places of HCM City and Hà Nội, you will find the presence of bread. For foreigners, seeing bánh mì and phở (noodles) they will think of Việt Nam,” H’Hen Niê was quoted by zing.vn as saying.

Contrary to the controversy of the costume, many international beauty forums have highly appreciated the national costume of the country’s representative.

The outfit has received the approval of many people for its creative design and that was the favourite cuisine for foreigners when they came to Việt Nam.

“What I love about the national costume award now is that it’s not just about who has the most extravagant costume anymore, they chose the most original. And this year is going to be tough because I already see  beautiful and unique costumes and we haven’t even seen it all. I think my personal favouriate for now would be @hhenie.official Miss Universe Vietnam,” a supporter wrote on Missnews.fr. — VNS