Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [192]
Nhu Y 2 Tran Phu. This restaurant has a strong reputation for service and value. Their speciality is grills, such as snapper on banana leaf with ginger or tuna with turmeric, or try the set dinner – a starter, choice of two main courses plus dessert for 80,000đ.
Phone Cafe 80b Bach Dang. This relaxed, homely restaurant is most notable for its cooking classes, which get you five courses worth of food for just $10, as well as a trip to the market to choose your ingredients. In the evening you can get “fresh beer” for just 4,000đ, or go for the more adventurous gin and mango shake.
Quan An 18 Hoang Van Thu. On a quiet street near the river, this simple restaurant serves mouth-watering local cuisine at very reasonable prices. The duck dishes are particularly recommended, and they also rustle up a mean fried wonton. While you’re waiting, slake your thirst on a glass of chilled bia tuoi (local draught beer).
Red Bridge Thon 4, Cam Thanh 0510/393 3222. In just a short space of time, this restaurant has gained a reputation for serving some of Hoi An’s finest modern Vietnamese cuisine. Situated 2km east of town, in incredibly scenic riverside surroundings, it will take you there on its own boat, which departs outside 74 Bach Dang (daily noon & 1.30pm and Fri–Sun 5.30pm & 7pm; 20min). It also runs half-day cooking classes which can be booked at Hai’s Scout Café (98 Nguyen Thai Hoc).
Shree Ganesh 24 Phan Dinh Phung. You may not find many locals here, but you are sure to find lots of travellers getting their fix of hot curries (they have their own tandoor oven) and cold beers. An Indian chef oversees proceedings, and takes pride in the fact that he uses local spices and ingredients.
Sleepy Gecko Cam Nam Island. Picture-perfect sunsets are the norm at this chilled bar, which can get nice and busy in the evenings despite its isolated location on Cam Nam.
Tam Tam Café 2f/110 Nguyen Thai Hoc 0510/386 2212. Stylish French-run bar (serving bar meals such as sandwiches, salads, and great Aussie steaks) that’s open late, with music, pool and happy-hour beers (4–9pm). Head for the comfy sofas at the back if you want to chill out, or upstairs for what many expats deem the town’s best nightspot.
Treat’s Café 158 Tran Phu. Upbeat bar-restaurant with good music, a shady interior courtyard, pool and cheap happy-hour deals (4–9pm). A second, less popular outlet at 31 Phan Dinh Phung enigmatically promises to be “same same but different”.
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The central provinces | Hoi An and around | Eating and drinking |
Hoi An specialities
Hoi An has a number of tasty specialities to sample. Most famous is cao lau, a mouthwatering bowlful of thick rice-flour noodles, bean sprouts and pork-rind croutons in a light soup flavoured with mint and star anise, topped with thin slices of pork and served with grilled rice-flour crackers or sprinkled with crispy rice paper. Legend has it that the genuine article is cooked using water drawn from one particular local well. Lovers of seafood should try the delicately flavoured steamed manioc-flour parcels of finely diced crab or shrimp called banh bao, translated as “white rose”, with lemon, sugar and nuoc mam, complemented by a crunchy onion-flake topping, adding extra flavour. A local variation of hoanh thanh chien (fried wonton), using shrimp and crab meat instead of pork, is also popular. To fill any remaining gaps, try Hoi An cake, banh it, triangular parcels made by steaming green-bean paste and strands of sweetened coconut in banana leaves.
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The central provinces | Hoi An and around |
Arts, handicrafts and shopping
With the influx of tourists, Hoi An is becoming a centre for the arts. A delightful hour-long medley of traditional music and dance is performed most evenings in a cramped room rather grandly known as the Traditional Arts Theatre, 75 Nguyen Thai Hoc (Mon–Sat 9pm; 45,000đ). Folk musicians also play short concerts at the Hoi