Hanoi's popular shrimp paste noodles disparaged by TasteAtlas

The dish, known in Vietnamese as "bun dau mam tom," received only a three-star rating and ranked fifth in the list of 45 worst rated Vietnamese foods "based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bots, nationalist, or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable."

Some 4,427 ratings were recorded, of which 3,037 were recognized by the system as legitimate, according to TasteAtlas.

The website supports itself solely on advertising revenue, mostly generated by beneficiaries of its posts.

Considered one of Hanoi's mots popular street foods, traditional versions of bun dau are served with a cup of fermented shrimp paste mam tom and consisted just of fried tofu, vermicelli, and herbs.

But now, diners can enjoy various toppings such as cha com (young green rice and pork cake), boiled pork, and pig tripe.

A serving of 'bun dau mam tom' (rice vermicelli with shrimp paste). Photo by Bui Thuy

Though the unusual scent of the fermented shrimp sauce deters many from trying the dish, some foreign tourists also have managed to try this dish and praised it, with shrimp paste being the most unique thing they had experienced.

Many food enthusiasts were also surprised as banh dau xanh (mung bean cake), a delicacy from the northern province of Hai Duong, was named the worst rated dish in Vietnam with a 2.8-star rating, followed by tiet canh (raw blood pudding), banh troi (floating glutinous rice dumplings) and thit dong (Vietnamese pork jelly).

A bowl of 'bun mam' (fermented fish noodle soup), listed among worst rated dishes in Vietnam by TasteAtlas. Photo by VnExpress/Khanh Thien

The rating flies in the face of other international food critics' praise of Vietnamese dishes, including the late-great Anthony Bourdain, and the likes of Jonathan Gold.

Popular online influencers and connoisseurs of Vietnamese food wholeheartedly disagreed with the insult.

"They have almost listed the entire Vietnamese cuisine. No matter how foreigners score, to me these are always delicious dishes," a reader commented on the list of 45 worst dishes.