Vietnam - Food & Drink

7 Must Try Street Foods In Hanoi

Hanoi is food paradise buzzing with colours, flavours and smells. The streets of Old quarter are packed with makeshift and mobile food stalls. The streets have the best food in Hanoi and people are thronging them night and day. Here is my list for simple fresh and absolutely delicious street food in Hanoi.

Cha Ca La Vong – Fish with Turmeric Dill and other Herbs and Spices, 14 Cha Ca Street, Hanoi City

This is an iconic dish and on top of my list of favourites. In a little dining room packed with tables set up with burners get ready for a little tabletop cooking and do it yourself plating.T urmeric, dill, fish sauce, shrimp paste, ginger coriander, fresh rice noodles, greens and herbs combine with chunks of fresh white fish topped with some crunchy peanuts. Delicious, washed done with Hanoi beer.

Pho restaurant – Noodle soup, Bun Thang Ba Duc, 48 Cau Gho Street, Hanoi City

Pho which is fragrant noodle soup served here is fragrant, fresh and lip-smackingly delicious. Hot broth served with rice noodles and with either chicken or beef. Eaten with chili vinegar, sprouts, a dash of kumquat….

Vietnamese Spring Rolls, The ladies on 21 Hang Be Street, Hanoi City

They have all the ingredients neatly arranged in a small square space.And the spring-rolls are wrapped in rice paper and fried fresh and handed out crisp and tasty.

Chao Ga – Rice Porridge, 28 Hang Be Street, Hanoi City or on Hang Chao Street

Basically a thick rice soup which is comfort food anytime of day or night. Topped with chicken strips and garnished with poached eggs if you like and spring onion.

Boiled snails, 1 Dinh Liet Street, Hanoi City

Big bowls of boiled snail boiled with lemongrass and lime leaves served with chilli sauce and fresh ginger.Sitting on the pavement intermingled with the bustling crowd on the streets eating the snails and drinking the boiled sauce with curious passers by looking at you is an unforgettable experience.

Barbeque Restaurant – Thai Dat, 66 Hang Bong Street, Hanoi City

Sit on small stools centimetres off the ground around a food heater on the table. You then choose the vegetables, meat or fish that you would like on the skewers and order the drinks. They par cook what you chose and then you continue cooking them on your table top barbeque. Served with honey glazed bread.

Ice Cream – Kem Trang Tien, 35 Trang Tien Street, City

This is an institution in Hanoi and has been around fo a long time. The local flavours are delicious. Coconut, vanilla and green rice ice cream are great. Have them in the cones…

Star apple, mandarins, bananas, sweet potato fritters, weasel coffee…..the food is endless in the streets of Old Quarter Hanoi.