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An specialities") or opt for some fairly upmarket international cuisine. In the evenings, tables and chairs line Bach Dang, whose restaurants may look more Mediterranean than Vietnamese, but largely focus on local produce. There’s also a glut of popular restaurants on Tran Phu, spreading up Nguyen Hue near the market. In addition to cut-price set meals featuring local specialties, many of Hoi An’s restaurants also offer cooking classes, costing from $10 per person and best arranged a day in advance; some establishments will help you personally select your ingredients at the market. Hoi An even boasts a few bars nowadays, the best of which occupy restored merchants’ houses along Nguyen Thai Hoc.

Before & Now 51 Le Loi. Double-storey Italian restaurant and bar inside a traditional shophouse. While the first floor serves good thick-crust pizzas, downstairs is a popular meeting point for travellers wanting a beer or one of the many inhouse cocktails.

Blue Dragon 46 Bach Dang. Offering a similar standard of food and service to many other restaurants on Bach Dang, but the Blue Dragon donates part of its profits to a charity that helps rural children stay in school. The fact that the tasty five-course meal is just 70,000đ is a bonus.

Brother’s Café 27 Phan Boi Chau. The garden setting on the banks of the Thu Bon River is reason enough to come to this Hoi An institution, though the food on the whole is overpriced. To experience the atmosphere without the cost, sip a coffee ($2) while the sun goes down.

Café Can 74 Bach Dang. A welcoming restaurant offering Hoi An specialities and a good-value, three-course set menu for 60,000đ. Tables tend to fill up as the sun starts to set and the service is always super friendly.

Cargo Club 107–109 Nguyen Thai Hoc 0510/391 0489. Despite having a good selection of local and international dishes, the real draw is the French bakery downstairs, which offers decadent pastries and an array of take-to-the-beach bread rolls. The home-made ice cream also has the crowds lining up.

Faifoo 104 Tran Phu. Locals rate the banh bao at this well-established and attractive restaurant as the best in town, though many travellers choose the cheap five-course sampler of Hoi An specialities.

Good Morning Vietnam 102 Nguyen Thai Hoc. The popular Ho Chi Minh City-based chain has brought its winning formula – authentic pasta and pizza dishes at moderate prices (from around 90,000đ), plus a bit of ambience – north to Hoi An.

Hong Phuc 86 Bach Dang. A friendly, good-value and deservedly popular place – get here early for a table on the balcony – in a great waterside location, run by two multilingual female cousins. If you want to know the secret, you can sign up for an afternoon cookery class ($10; one-day’s notice) during which you learn how to make four dishes.

Jean’s Café 48 Phan Dinh Phung. Cheap prices and a jovial patron have earned this little café a place on the backpacker circuit. It serves all the old favourites – pizza, pasta, sandwiches and omelettes – as well as Vietnamese dishes.

Lighthouse Cam Nam Island 0510/393 6235. As well as a moderately-priced mix of foreign and Vietnamese dishes, Dutch owner Hans runs interesting bike-plus-cooking tours in which you zoom through the countryside, stop off at a market or two to buy ingredients, then head back home in the evening to whip up your food. Diners can get a free ride here on their boat, which can be found off Bach Dang.

Mango Rooms 111 Nguyen Thai Hoc. The menu at this chilled restaurant is constantly changing but always wonderfully creative – imagine red snapper with coriander and pineapple, or prawns in a passion fruit and chocolate sauce – and there’s also an excellent wine list. Its sister restaurant – Mango Mango – is directly across the river from the Japanese Bridge, views of which make this it a better choice for sampling maverick owner Duc’s signature cocktails.

Miss Ly 22 Nguyen Hue. Miss Ly’s is a pretty little place with a well-deserved reputation for serving up some of the best cao lau and banh bao in Hoi An. Try the Vietnamese set