Street Eats: Tasting Our Way Through Hanoi
We only spent three days in Hanoi, which was about the right amount of time for us. It’s a busy city, with insane traffic and motorbikes zipping everywhere, which made it very difficult to move around safely with young children. We were glad we had the opportunity to experience it, but also equally glad to move along to somewhere a little less hectic after our time there was finished.
Given our short time in Hanoi, we can’t provide a “best of” food post — Hanoi is a city known worldwide for its street food culture, and there’s no way we could do it justice after only a few short days in the city. However, we do have a few general recommendations for local dishes and spots you should try based on our experience.
Banh Mi
First, you should give the local banh mi sandwiches a try and, if your hotel is in the old quarter like ours was, you should definitely check out Banh Mi 25. This place is a Hanoi institution (mostly for the tourists), but it is that way for a reason and well worth checking out. It’s an easy first stop to orient yourself to street food in Hanoi.
There’s a takeaway window as well as a full service restaurant immediately across the street. The staff working the window are friendly, speak some English, and will walk you through everything you need to know to order. Easy.
A banh mi will set you back between 1.50 and 2 USD. Bring cash. Always bring cash when dining out in Hanoi!
Admittedly, we ultimately ended up simply going to another banh mi shop, Banh Mi Hoi An, after a few trips to Banh Mi 25, but this was because it was closer to our hotel, just as good, and slightly cheaper. Banh Mi 25 is still recommended as a good first stop.
Bun Cha
Second, you should try out bun cha, a dish that consists of Vietnamese pork (sometimes meatballs, sometimes just grilled) in a sweet garlicky broth with rice noodles, veggies, and greens. This was a new one for us and was really a very unique flavor combination.
We tried bun cha at a restaurant called Huong Viet, which was also in the old quarter and also very good across the board, though we’re sure some of the restaurants that specialize in bun cha (for example, Bun Cha Ta, which is also in the Old Quarter) may be even better options if you’re going out specifically looking to try bun cha.
We liked Huong Viet, however, because it’s an affordable (for tourists) restaurant in the Old Quarter with great reviews that serves a variety of local food, with many meals available for between 2.50 USD and 3.50 USD. Bonus points if you eat your meal at the small stools and low tables set up street side. The beer is nice and cold here, and it’s a great spot to sit and watch the chaos of Hanoi street traffic from the sidelines
Pho
Third, you should test out pho. Again, this is likely something you’ve tried back home, but you really can’t beat the real authentic version of a Vietnamese staple. Most restaurants have it, but we would recommend Thang Tran Quan as a very good, and inexpensive, option that will have you deep into pho heaven for 2 USD.
Milk Tea
As tea lovers, we would definitely recommend testing out the local milk tea in Hanoi. There are tea shops everywhere throughout Hanoi, of greatly varying qualities. We stopped at Yihe Tang Dinh Liet for some of their milk tea with boba and were not disappointed. Highly recommended while you are shopping your way through the city.
(We also tested out Tra Sua ToCoToCo in the Old Quarter at one point, and were greatly disappointed — the tea was so cloyingly sweet that we couldn’t even drink it, despite the fact that we’d ordered it “not sweet.” This is also something to keep in mind in general: the Vietnamese tend to like their drinks VERY sugary and sweet as compared to western tastes, so it’s always a good idea to ask for them to make your drinks “not sweet” or “only a little sweet” when ordering.)
Roti
We walked by KingRoti a few times, and it always had a long line of both tourists and locals out front, so we figured it might be worth checking out — especially after we got a little closer and smelled the incredible aroma of freshly baked bread wafting from the storefront. The rotis are large, fluffy custard-filled sweet buns with a hard crackle topping that come in a variety of flavours, including chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and matcha. They’re sold warm, fresh out of the oven, and at 20,000 dong (less than 1 USD) apiece, they’re an affordable little slice of heaven that makes an excellent afternoon snack.