If you’re planning to travel to this beautiful city and adore this city’s typical and original foods, the post below will guide you to find the Best Foods in Hanoi. You will be surprised how the food in the capital is so varied that you can find anything from cheap street food to high-end fine dining.
Best Foods in Hanoi
Banh mi Hanoi – Vietnamese bread
Source: her86m2.com
Vietnamese bread has been famous worldwide for a long time as a typical Vietnamese food called “Banh mi.” In the 20th century, the French brought baguettes to South Vietnam. The travel website of the newspaper The Guardian picked banh mi as one of the top 10 best street foods in the world in March 2012.
In recent years, Banh mi shops have become popular on the streets and one of the best foods in Hanoi. Before that, Banh mi was a staple food of the working poor, who ate it for breakfast and lunch because it was tasty. So, Banh mi was a street food that people didn’t think much about before foodies became obsessed with street eats in Hanoi.
Ingredients: Vietnamese bread has a thin, crunchy crust with:
- a variety of meats, like homemade pork liver paté, cured ham, pickled daikon radish, or carrot
- cilantro leaves
- slices of cucumber
- chili pepper
- a few dashes of mixed fish sauce
- sometimes a light spread of mayonnaise
Price: $1.00 – $2.50
Source: asianwaytravel.com
Where to eat banh mi
- Banh mi Hoang Duc with meat skewers: No.55, Chua Lang street, Lang Thuong, Dong Da, Hanoi
- Banh mi Dan To: No. 32, Tran Nhat Duat street, Dong Xuan, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
- Banh mi 25: No. 25, Hang Ca street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
- Bami Bread (Banh Mi Hoi An): No. 98, Hang Bac street, Hang Buom, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
- Banh mi Duc Long: No. 6, Luong Ngoc Quyen street, Hang Buom, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
- Banh mi Pho: No. 61E, Hang Ma street, Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Banh mi Lan Ong: No. 20, Cha Ca street, Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Banh mi Tram: No. 30, Dinh Ngang street, Cua Nam, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
Compare The Best Hanoi Street Food Tours!
Xoi – Steamed sticky rice
Source: vinwonders.com
A popular dish in Hanoi and all of Vietnam is Xoi, which is steamed sticky rice. They are available on many streets in Hanoi, including sticky rice with peanuts, sticky rice with gac fruit, and green beans with sticky rice.
Xoi can be either savory or sweet. People often eat xoi for breakfast or as a snack all over the country. Although it is usually for breakfast or dessert, people in many parts of Vietnam also enjoy it as one of the best foods in Hanoi for lunch or dinner.
Ingredients:
- From the main white plain “xoi,” nearly a hundred different styles have been created.
- Steamed sticky rice can usually be steamed with other seeds like mung bean (including black and red mung bean), corn, peanut, etc.
- People usually eat “xoi” for breakfast with “ruoc”: dried, stringy, salty pork; “muoi vung,” which is salted sesame and peanut; or even just deep-fried shallots and a tablespoon of vegetable oil.
- Different places have different kinds of “xoi” that taste different. The ethnic minority people who live in the mountainous area of Northern Vietnam are very proud of their “five-color xoi.”
Price: A street vendor will sell you a pack of Xoi for 25 cents. In food shops, though, it might cost more, not more than $1.5 per pack.
Source: bestprice.vn
Where to eat
Most of the time, “xoi” appears on small roadside stands in the morning. But you can find the best xoi at these addresses:
- Xoi Yen: No. 35B, Nguyen Huu Huan street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Xoi suon cay 628: No. 628, Truong Chinh street, Dong Da district, Hanoi
- Xoi Loc: No. 68, Ta Quang Buu street, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi
- Xoi Co Son: No. 38-42, Cau Go street, Hang Bac, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Xoi Nguyet: No. 30A, Tho Nhuom street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Xoi Ba Thu: No. 57, Tho Nhuom street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
Compare Best Hanoi Street Food Tours at Night!
Bun cha – Rice noodles with barbecue pork
Source: culturephamtravel.com
Bun cha is a dish of grilled pork and noodles from Hanoi, Vietnam; since then, it has been famous as one of the best foods in Hanoi. In 1959, Vu Bang, a Vietnamese food writer from 1913 to 1984, wrote about the dish, that he was “stunned by bun cha Hanoi.”
Hanoi is where bun cha was first produced, and its fame has spread throughout Vietnam and the world. Similarly, a dish called “bun cha thit nuong” is constructed of rice vermicelli with grilled beef, although it takes various forms in the southern region of Vietnam.
Ingredients: Bun cha is a combination of a lot of different things, like:
- Meat: pork shoulder minced for meatballs and pork belly.
- Rice vermicelli
- Fish sauce diluted with sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, stock, crushed garlic, chili, etc., can be used as a dipping sauce.
- Pickled vegetables: green papaya (or carrots, onion, kohlrabi).
- Fresh herbs include cabbage, basil, bean sprouts, rice paddy herb, and Vietnamese balm.
- Chopped garlic, chili, vinegar, ground pepper, and sliced limes as sides
Price: $2 – $3
Source: digifood.vn
Where to eat
- Bun cha Sinh Tu: No. 452, Tran Khat Chan street, Pho Hue, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi
- Bun cha Huong Lien: No. 24, Le Van Huu street, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi
- Bun cha Hang Quat: No. 74, Hang Quat street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Bun cha Cua Don: No. 41, Cua Dong street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Bun cha Dac Kim: No. 1, Hang Manh street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Bun cha Tuyet: No. 34, Hang Than street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi
- Bun cha Binh Chung: No. 88, Le Van Huu street, Hang Bai, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi
- Bun cha Duy Diem: No. 140, Ngoc Khanh street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi
Compare Best Hanoi Street Food Tours at Night!
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Cha ca La Vong – Grilled fish dish
Source: susanhom.com
In the 1800s, people knew that the Doan family cooked grilled fish for their neighbors. The dish was so popular that people in Hanoi’s old quarter helped the family open a restaurant in 1871, Cha Ca La Vong. However, Cha Ca La Vong is a special dish and the best food in Hanoi because it is rarely shown on the street, and you almost always find it in restaurants.
When you say “Cha ca” in Vietnamese, it means “grilled fish.” “La Vong,” on the other hand, was an inspiration from Jiang Ziya – known as Lu Wang (pronounced “La Vong” in Vietnamese), a fisherman who became a politician and a symbol of what people with patience and talent can do.
Ingredients:
- The dish is usually made with “ca lang,” a type of catfish in Vietnamese.
- The fish is cut into pieces and soaked in a sauce made with turmeric, ginger, chili peppers, and shrimp paste or fish sauce.
- Turmeric is preferable, but sometimes saffron is the plan B.
- The fish is then grilled briefly over charcoal.
- The food is served in a hot pan with a marinade sauce and herbs, especially dill, on top.
- You could also add other spices, like scallions or basil.
- It is eaten with vermicelli rice noodles and peanuts.
Price: from $2-$13
Source: digiticket.vn
Where to eat
- Cha ca Hang Son: No. 77, Hao Nam street, O Cho Dua, Dong Da district, Hanoi
- Cha ca La Vong: No. 107, Nguyen Truong To street, Quan Thanh, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi
- Cha ca Gia Nguyen: No. 339, Tran Khat Chan street, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi
- Cha ca Thang Long: No. 6B, Duong Thanh street, Cua Dong, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Cha ca Lao Ngu: No. 171, Thai Ha street, Lang Ha, Dong Da district, Hanoi
- Vua cha ca Giang Vo: No. 269, Giang Vo street, O Cho Dua, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi
- Cha ca Song Anh: No. 383, Truong Chinh street, Nga Tu So, Dong Da district, Hanoi
Pho – Vietnamese noodle soup
Source: www.bestpricetravel.com
Pho is a Vietnamese soup made with broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat (usually beef or sometimes chicken). Pho is one of the famous and best foods of Hanoi in Vietnam, served in homes, on the street, and in restaurants all over the country.
Because there isn’t much information about where pho came from, people disagree about the cultural influences that led to its origin in Vietnam and where the name comes from. The styles of pho from Hanoi (in the north) and Saigon (in the south) differ in how wide the noodles are, how sweet the broth is, and what herbs and sauces are used.
Ingredients:
- Thin slices of beef, flat rice noodles, and broth are the main parts of pho. There are also different versions with beef tripe, meatballs, or chicken.
- Beef bones, oxtails, flank steak, charred onions, and spices are boiled together to make the broth. For chicken pho, the broth is made by simmering meat and bones from a chicken for a long time.
- The unique seasoning recipes of pho are wrapped in cheesecloth and cooked for a long time in a pot.
- To make the broth clearer, the top of the boiling pot is often skimmed off.
- Fish sauce is added last.
- Green onions, Thai basil, chili peppers, lime, bean sprouts, and coriander leaves can be used as toppings for pho. Most of the time, fish sauce, hoisin sauce, chili oil, and hot chili sauce are served with pho.
Price: $2-$4
Source: digiticket.vn
Where to eat
- Pho Ly Quoc Su: No. 10, Ly Quoc Su street, Hang Trong, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Pho Vui – Hang Giay: No. 25, Hang Giay street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Pho Thin: No. 61, Dinh Tien Hoang street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi / No. 1, Hang Tre district, Ly Thai To, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Pho ga Nguyet: No. 5B, Phu Doan street, Hang Trong, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Pho Bo Tu Lun: No. 23C, Hang Bai street, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi
- Pho That: No. 48, Tran Nhat Duat street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
- Pho Co Chieu: No. 48, Hang Dong street, Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi
We hope you now know what to enjoy in Hanoi; if you ever travel there, don’t miss the opportunity to sample some of the Best Foods in Hanoi and the city’s most famous drinks in the following posts!
TourTeller’s Pick – Best Food Experiences in Hanoi!
