You might grow to appreciate Hanoi even more by experiencing the traditional cuisine there while on vacation! One thing that thrill many visitors to Hanoi is the local cuisine, which can be found in traditional lanes or tiny stores. The ideal time to travel to Hanoi and do an old town food tour is the cold season (December, January). It’s great to enjoy a bowl of hot pho or a tray of delicious fish cake in that cold weather!
Cha Ca – 6B Duong Thanh street
The most impressive dish of Hanoi is Cha Ca. Hidden behind a small alley with 2 rows of green bamboo, the restaurant is full of Hanoi. However, the food’s quality received the highest marks. With stir-fried hearts and herbs, served with shrimp paste vermicelli with peanuts, the dish is extraordinary and highly delicious!
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Pho 10 – Ly Quoc Su Street
One of Hanoi’s iconic foods is pho.
Pho 10 always has customers in line, but it’s worth the wait. The noodle soup is very delicious and the sweet broth is warm, not afraid of the cold winter.
Bun Cha Hang Quat Street
The restaurant is located in a small alley on Hang Quat Street, so it has a variety of numbers, but it is easy to find by following Google Maps. Just entering the gallery is the smell of meat with fragrant grilled patties, vegetables, and broths served together, which are very delicious.
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Bun Bo Nam Bo – 73 Hang Dieu Street
Trying “Southern” food in Hanoi is a bit strange, but you should try this unique and famous restaurant. This dish differs from Bun Bo Hue, a bit like grilled meat vermicelli, but uses beef and other sauces mixed with strange vegetables.
Mien luon Dong Thinh (Eel noodles) – 87 Hang Dieu Street
Stir-fried eel noodles or water eel vermicelli are pretty interesting, and delicious eel meat is served with hot noodles and herbs. This dish may seem picky, but it should also be tried if you haven’t eaten it before.
Egg Coffee – Loading T
Loading T has an old, idyllic and familiar Hanoi space located in an ancient Hanoi house. The egg coffee here is super delicious, so drink it as soon as it’s hot to enjoy the full taste.
After wandering around Hanoi to experience typical dishes, try to find a cafe to see the quintessence of Hanoi. Hanoi has experienced many ups and downs in history and witnessed many changes in the society of Vietnam. Contributing to adorning its time-tinted beauty, it is impossible not to mention the French architecture of ancient villas in the heart of Hanoi.
Old Quarter Cafe
This is a famous coffee shop on top foreign tourism websites, described as a game of “finding treasure” when the shop is nestled in a small alley behind a fashion store. Although the year right on Hang Gai Street overlooks the lake, only some can find the restaurant. Plus, the age of over 100 years and the architecture of Hanoi’s ancient house is almost intact with wooden tables and chairs, symmetrical sentences, and flower enamel vases,… There always seems to be a mysterious and nostalgic color surrounding this place.
Address: 11 Hang Gai
Price: 35,000 – 50,000 VND
Opening hours: 8:00 – 22:00
Tranquil Books & Coffee
If most old house cafes in Hanoi are renovated from the old floor. Still, Tranquil Book and Coffee is a particular case: Modern coffee has existed with many generations living in a family in the same large and ancient garden villa. Once upon a time, a well-known bourgeoisie lived here.
Entering Tranquil, you can easily see the reminder sign: Go lightly, speak quietly not to affect the host. The former Hanoi garden villa is now divided into a part of the house for each person’s children and grandchildren, of which a small amount is rented as a cafe.
Address: 19 Cao Ba Quat
Price: 50,000 – 150,000 VND
Opening hours: 8:30 – 22:30
Fuku Coffee
Once upon a time, everyone on Quan Thanh Street knew the famous villa at No. 172. The most spacious villa in the city with 3 facades, up to 1000 square meters wide, surrounded by gardens and especially with three beautiful orchid trees, so much so that it was once used as a backdrop for the famous movie “Fallen Leaves Season.”
The shop uses a part of the ground floor, the 2nd floor and the 3rd floor of the house, of which the 2nd and 3rd floors are the most worthwhile places to experience if you want to admire the beautiful garden architecture of ancient Hanoi: The texture outside the house is simple but delicate, blended with the garden and the tall trees, significantly, the corridor around the house is shaped like an arc or hemisphere with an arch lock, making the overall look more elegant and graceful.
Address: 172 Quan Thanh
Price: 45,000 – 60,000 VND
Opening hours: 7h30 – 21h00
Hanoi xua 37
Unlike the above cafes, Hanoi xua 37 is located in an ancient, narrow, and long tube house, small but no less attractive. Located modestly on Nam Trang Street, if you go fast, you probably need to realize that the shop retains the ancient house architecture to look like a… residential house instead of a coffee shop. However, anyone who comes here can easily fall in love with the house’s front yard; there are fruit jackfruit trees, beautiful small wooden tables and chairs blended in the autumn sun color and yellow walls, bold in Hanoi.
Address: 37 Nam Trang Street, Truc Bach
Price: 25,000 – 45,000 VND
Opening hours: 6:45 – 22:30
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