Vietnamese cuisine is an amazing mixture of colours, textures and tastes. Here in Hanoi you have to try at least some of the most famous dishes of it!

What to try in Hanoi: most famous dishes

Noodle dishes, especially Pho, is a must in Hanoi. You can probably find this speciality everywhere! Usually pho consist of rice noodles, broth, chicken or beef meat and some herbs. My favourite was the duck pho we had in Don Duck, one of the small restaurants in the Old Quarter specialising on duck dishes They are even included in the Michelin guide with a Bib Gourmand! You can also try other noodle dishes in Hanoi such as Bun bo nam bo, kind of a noodle salad.

Variations of rice dishes such as Com tam, Ga nuong or Com suon nuong with rice and different buns and dumplings such as Banh goi would be a good choice as well. And don’t forget famous Banh mi sandwich!

And my absolute favourite would be the rolls such as Goi cuon! The filling of herbs, veggies and protein is wrapped in a transparent rice paper and is served with a sauce. You can also try nem ran or cha gio, those are the deep fried rolls with a crispy shell outside.

For the best place with a view over Hoan Kiem Lake, the background for the central legend of Hanoi with the returned sword and the turtle, I’d suggest you go to Cau Go restaurant, which serves Vietnamese food.

Beverages

In Hanoi there are so many drinks you can try! My favourite is ca phe trung, egg coffee that is served everywhere, and it’s absolutely delicious: the best ones were served in Ga Dong Du’ong cafe on the Train street, in the Temple of Literature cafe and by our hotel Le Chanvre.

There are also many super sweet drinks with herbs like lemongrass, fresh coconuts, smoothies and fresh juices too such as Nuoc mia (sugar cane juice). And don’t miss fruit salads Hoa qua dam!

Street food

The street food markets with Vietnamese food are pretty popular among tourists. Old district’s most famous food area is probably Ta Hien Street, come to try some skewers and other fried and chargrilled dishes – there are tiny tables and tiny chairs outside where you can seat and eat! But if you’d better not eat on the street, you can always have same dishes in more traditional local restaurants.

Western cuisine

Of course, you can try not only Vietnamese cuisine in Hanoi but Western cuisine as well. I’d suggest you to go to Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, a five-star hotel and an important historical landmark.

We went there for an afternoon tea, and it was a pretty good classic one. The territory of the hotel is vast, it has many shops and Angelina cafe.

You might also like my other blogs about Asia.

Hope you liked my blog!
Yours,
Anna xxx