Best Places to Eat Street Food in Hanoi
Vietnam’s capital city, Hanoi, has plenty of sights to appeal to visitors – Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, One-Pillar Pagoda, the old quarter with it’s bustling streets – but if you really want to understand the Vietnamese people and their culture, you’ll need to delve deep into its street food.
Hanoi’s food scene can be overwhelming with its mix of smells and tastes but it’s well worth exploring since it’s one of the freshest, healthiest and most flavorful cuisines in the world.
Let us guide you to five of the hottest spots where you can eat like (and together with) the locals.
1. Bánh Cuốn
Address: 14 Hang Ga St, Old Quarter, Hanoi, Vietnam
Bánh cuốn is one of Hanoi’s favorite breakfast items and essential to any list of must-try Vietnamese dishes.
By itself, the pale white rice batter is silky smooth and soft but otherwise rather bland. Flavor and texture come from a filling of seasoned ground pork, mushrooms, and shallots. The rice noodle roll is served with a separate bowl of clear amber dipping sauce, nước chấm, which is essentially fish sauce.
2. Bánh Tôm Hồ Tây
Address: 1 Thanh Nien, Truc Bach, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, Vietnam
Bánh Tôm is another Vietnamese dish originating from Hanoi. It’s made of battered and deep-fried sweet potato and shrimp.
The bright orange color comes from the natural flesh of the sweet potato and a bit of turmeric powder in the batter. Often served as an appetizer, Bánh Tôm is commonly wrapped with lettuce, herbs, and pickled vegetables and dipped in nuoc mam cham dipping sauce.
3. Phở Gia Truyền
Address: 49 Bat Dan St, Old Quarter, Hanoi, Vietnam
Locals form a long queue every morning at Phở Gia Truyền, the most famous place in the old quarter for a delicious bowl of Phở Bò.
Phở Bò is arguably the most well-known of all Vietnamese soups. It was inspired by French settlers who commonly ate beef, where Vietnamese traditionally preferred pork, chicken and fish (whilst using cattle as work animals). Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the number of soup kitchens has risen significantly and Phở Bò has become the favorite dish for breakfast and dinner in Hanoi, and throughout Vietnam.
4. Bún Chả ( Grilled Pork )
Adrress: 01 Hang Manh St, Old Quater, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
Bún chả is the signature dish of Hanoi. At lunchtime you’ll find just about all of Hanoi sitting on kid-sized stools and slurping down this combination of grilled pork, salty-sweet broth, slices of green papaya, rice noodles, and fresh herbs. Every neighbourhood in Hanoi has a Bún chả place — just follow your nose to the smoky streetside grill.
5. Bún chả nem cua bể Đắc Kim
Address: 67 Duong Thanh St, Old Quater, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
The dish consisted of grilled pork patties in a sweet and salty broth containing pickled vegetables, a plate of fresh thin rice noodles and a plate of Vietnamese herbs and greens. The noodles, herbs and greens are then bit by bit dropped into the broth, which is then finished with a little chilli and a squeeze of lime. For me it was the most thrilling taste sensation of all the street food I had eaten.
6. Bún Thang Bà Đức
Address: 48 Cau Go St, Old Quater, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.
If Phở is compatible to linguine in shape, Bún is more like spaghetti. Bún thang is one of the most popular yet hidden fares in Hanoi and one can hardly find it outside of the Old quarters or a few special restaurants scattering across the city. The chicken broth is artistically done and the dish is beautifully served. Bun thang is a harmonious blend of color- the yellow of sliced egg; the white of bun; the off-white of chicken and the green of onions and herbs.
Bún is the name for thin rice noodles which are thinner than Phở. This dish is a chicken broth with chicken, bun, thinly sliced egg, and thinly sliced pork (cha lua) and garnished with hot chilli, herbs, bean shoots and lime. It was recommended by the stall owner, a young fellow who stands at the front of the shop commanding his troops like the captain of a steady ship. I concurred with his recommendation. All of us have eaten at this place a few times, and once when I turned up with just the kids, he jokingly refused to let us in as he cried “madame, where is madame?” – that’s my wife just in case you were wondering.
7. Chả Cá Lã Vọng
Address: 14 Cha Ca St, Old Quater, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.
You think you have read about this name somewhere and yes, you are right. Chả cá Lã Vọng is listed as one of the top 100 things you gotta try before you die by many cuisine experts. It is exquisitely grilled fish served with bún, peanut, green onions, dills and shrimp paste. The fish is carefully chosen so that there are not too many bones and fishy smells. A glass of bia hơi or trà đá will definitely give your meal more flavour.
8. Bánh Mỳ Hanoi ( Hanoi Bread )
Adress: 34 Lo Su St,Old Quater, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
The baguette is one of the enduring symbols of French colonialism. It’s given a Southeast Asian twist by stuffing it with pâté, mayonnaise, pickled carrots and daikon, jalapeños and gobs of cold cuts. But the Bánh mỳ is basically a blank slate to which cooks can add whatever they desire. Hanoian spell it “Banh My”, not Banh Mi. And most of the stands we came across only have 2 basic types: Bánh Mỳ Pate (where you choose your meat), and Bánh Mỳ Trứng (egg). You will feel like you could eat half a dozen before feeling full.
9. Xôi Việt Nam
Address: 35B Nguyen Huu Huan St, Old Quater, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi.
Chances are you will encounter this dish in almost every outdoors market. There are even two restaurants dedicated fully to this dish in the Old Quarters. Xôi xéo is sticky rice topped with ground de-hulled mung bean and fried onion. Sometimes it can be served with eggs or steamed chicken breast on request. The serving is really filling and it is good for any time of the day but most Vietnamese have it for breakfast or lunch.