The best street food in Hanoi

Sidewalk restaurants are a special feature of Hanoi. Enjoying delicious cuisines at age-old restaurants in the Old Quarter is very interesting.

The small Hang Chai Street is crowded every morning by the vehicles of people who come to enjoy bun oc (noodle and snails) at house number 6. This noodle shop has been operating for 25 years. The price for a bowl of noodles and snails has increased from VND2,000 to VND30,000 in the past 25 years.

The broth here has very specific flavor. Diners can choose large or small snails depending on their tastes. The restaurant is open from 7am to 12pm.

Another perfect choice for breakfast is bun rieu (noodle and crab soup) in Phat Loc Alley. The restaurant is next to Tien Ha Temple. Mr. Thanh, the owner, is very proud of his secret formula for the broth.

The price for a bowl of noodle here is only VND7,000. Diners can order tofu, beef or pork-pie and the price for such a bowl is VND20,000 ($0.90). The restaurant usually opens from 5am to 10am.

sidewalk restaurants, Hanoi, food, cusines, noodles

Also located in the small alley of Phat Loc is a bun cha (noodle and grilled pork) restaurant, which has been open for 30 years.

The price is from VND35,000 to VND50,000 ($1.20-2.40) per person. The restaurant opens from 11am to 2pm.

The shop selling noodle with crab soup at 32 Mai Hac De opened in the late 80's. Today it serves diners from 7am to 9am.

The price for a full bowl is VND30,000 ($1.40).

In the late afternoon, you can taste pho (Vietnamese noodle) from a vendor on Hang Trong Street.

This “shop” sells only one kind of noodle – beef noodle.

The shop opens from 4pm to 7pm and the price is VND25,000/bowl.

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA would like to recommend Discover Cultural Village in outskirt of Hanoi by bike tour.A genuine local experience in the intermingling of traditional and modern life brought to you by the Responsible Travel Club of Vietnam in partnership with local families in Dong Ngac Ancient Village. Visit the village’s ancient structures and slip into the local routine, going to market and lending your hosts a hand in preparing a delicious Vietnamese lunch. Moving by foot or bicycle around the village and through nearby flower fields helps minimize our local impact.

Highlights: 

• Browse local market
• Bicycle around village
• Visiting ancestral houses and its keepers
• Local interaction
• Farming experience with the farmers

Vietnamese cuisines stir the world in 2012

Bringing rice and bacon, an omelet with Vietnamese flavour in the final round of the MasterChef US, has won blind girl Christine Ha the championship. Vietnamese cuisines also set many records in 2012.

1. Christine Ha becomes MasterChef US 2012

In September 2012, Christine Ha – of Vietnamese-origin, 33-year-old blind girl from the University of Houston won the top spot of the MasterChef US, third season. Ha defeated 24-year-old chef Josh Marks to win the final prize worth $250,000 in cash, a cookbook publishing contract and the MasterChef trophy.

In the finale, Christine Ha and Josh Marks had to prepare three dishes in two hours. Josh Marks chose lobster poached in butter, lamb with sauce of curry and vegetable and bacon pecan cake. Christine Ha made Thai papaya crab salad, rice with bacon, omelet with Vietnamese flavor and ginger and coconut cream.

The meal was described by Christine Ha as "a symphony of flavors." They are simply but made the jury was surprised. Many Vietnamese dishes were also introduced by Ha at the MasterChef.

2. 10 Vietnamese dishes recognized as Asian records

On August 20, in Faridabad, Indian, the Asian Organization Record recognized 10 Vietnamese dishes as the Asian records based on the criteria for Asian Cuisine Value. 

Among them, Hanoi contributed three famous dishes - pho, bun thang and bun cha. HCM City had broken rice and goi cuon. The remaining dishes consist of Haiphong’s crab pancake; Ninh Binh’s rice crust; Nghe An’s eel vermicelli; Hue’s beef vermicelli; Quang Nam’s noodles; Gia Lai’s dried noodle; and Vung Tau’s khot cake.