--- title: President Obama, Anthony Bourdain Share $6 Meal in Vietnam description: President Barack Obama stopped for a meal with celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain on the first leg of the President's historic Asia trip canonical: https://time.com/4345465/barack-obama-anthony-bourdain-vietnam-food-meal/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-23T20:08:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:46:41.869Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama and Anthony Bourdain Ate a $6 Meal in Vietnam og:description: Bourdain picked up the check og:url: https://time.com/4345465/barack-obama-anthony-bourdain-vietnam-food-meal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama and Anthony Bourdain Ate a $6 Meal in Vietnam twitter:description: Bourdain picked up the check twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # President Obama and Anthony Bourdain Ate a $6 Meal in Vietnam by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 23, 2016 8:08 PM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 23, 2016 8:08 PM UTC President Barack Obama stopped for a meal with celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain on the first leg of the President’s historic Asia trip. The President will appear on an upcoming episode of _Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown_ on CNN, where the host dines on local eats off the beaten path around the globe. The two ate at Bun Cha Huong Lien in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi just hours after the president lifted a decades-long arms embargo on the first day of his trip. Bourdain shared a picture of the two dining on Instagram Monday, saying Obama’s “chopstick skills are on point.” The celebrity chef also tweeted the total cost of their meal was $6 — and the adventurous eater paid the bill. > [](https://twitter.com/Bourdain/status/734752429242081281) President Obama will soon travel from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City before heading off to Japan. While in Japan, the President will become the first sitting U.S. President to visit Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb during World War II. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4345465/barack-obama-anthony-bourdain-vietnam-food-meal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4345465/barack-obama-anthony-bourdain-vietnam-food-meal/"},"headline":"President Obama and Anthony Bourdain Ate a $6 Meal in Vietnam","datePublished":"2016-05-23T20:08:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:46:41.869Z","description":"Bourdain picked up the check","url":"https://time.com/4345465/barack-obama-anthony-bourdain-vietnam-food-meal/","keywords":["Barack Obama","Vietnam","Obama","Asia"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4345465/barack-obama-anthony-bourdain-vietnam-food-meal/","name":"President Obama and Anthony Bourdain Ate a $6 Meal in Vietnam"}}]}] ```