Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [269]
104 Hang Bac and 45 Ly Quoc Su Both serve delicious nem chua nuong, grilled spring rolls, usually served up with cucumber and/or green mango.
Pho Hoan Kiem and 31 Le Van Huu Both good places to try nom, finely shredded papaya topped with dried beef, chilli and peanuts, and sometimes slices of barbecued quail.
Pho Gia Truyen 49 Bat Dan and 10 Ly Quoc Su Hanoians come here for breakfast to eat the city’s most famous dish, pho bo, a beef noodle soup with chopped spring onion.
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Hanoi and around | Eating |
Restaurants
One step up from the street kitchens (See "Eating"), at the inexpensive end of the scale, are the excellent-value local restaurants. Moving up a notch you’ll find a growing number of moderately priced Western-style establishments which serve a range of cuisine, from classic Vietnamese dishes to increasingly sophisticated Western fare, via sandwiches, pizzas and burgers for the homesick. Top-notch restaurants offering Vietnamese or international cuisine in atmospheric surroundings are on the increase, too, as Hanoi challenges Ho Chi Minh City’s culinary supremacy.
When it comes to number and variety of budget and mid-price eating places, the Old Quarter and the streets to the west of Hoan Kiem Lake take some beating, while Hanoi’s glitziest dining rooms tend to be located in the French Quarter. Here several moderately priced restaurants are charmingly housed in renovated colonial villas; there’s also a smattering of less formal, local eating places and cafés to suit more modest budgets. Further out of the centre there are a few places scattered in the outer districts that come in useful for a respite from sightseeing around Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and West Lake.
Restaurants tend to be small: in the listings below, we’ve given phone numbers for those where it’s advisable to make reservations. Note also that even though this is the capital city, you still need to eat early: whatever the advertised closing time might be, local places stop serving before 8pm and peak time is 6–7pm, while Western-style restaurants and hotels tend to allow an extra hour or two.
Hanoi and around | Eating | Restaurants |
The Old Quarter and west of Hoan Kiem Lake
The following are all marked on Central Hanoi map "Central Hanoi".
69 Bar & Restaurant 69 Ma May. Exposed beams and brickwork give a rustic feel to this traditional house now converted into a lively bar-cum-restaurant. Some of the more innovative dishes include caramelised pork claypot with coconut cream, while the brave can sample home-made rice wine such as Fire Arrow and Violet Ticky. 9am–11pm.
Bach Giai 23 Hang Mam. One of a growing number of Old Quarter restaurants making the most of their tube-house decor. This unpretentious and inexpensive place offers traditional foods, from breakfast pho and rice soups to full meals. The spring rolls and beef with pepper come highly recommended. 7am–10pm.
Bittet 51 Hang Buom. Hidden down a long, dark passage at the back of a tube-house (See "The Old Quarter"), this small and bustling restaurant serves platters of bittet – a Vietnamese corruption of French biftek – with lashings of garlic and chips for 30,000đ. Or you can opt for roast chicken, roast pigeon, crab or prawn. 5–9pm.
Cha Ca La Vong 14 Cha Ca 04/3825 3929. Although it’s definitely seen better days, this place – founded in 1871 – is a local institution. It serves just one dish: cha ca, fried fish with fresh dill cooked at your table on a brazier, then eaten with cold rice noodles, chilli and peanuts. At 70,000đ, it’s moderately expensive for what you get. 11am–2pm & 4.30–10pm.
Cha Ca Thang Long 31 Duong Thanh. Patronized by locals, this is a newer and less touristy version of Cha Ca La Vong. Again, there’s only one dish – do-it-yourself fried fish with lashings of fresh dill – for 80,000đ a head, but portions are generous. 10am–3pm & 5–10pm.
Green Tangerine 48 Hang Be 04/3825 1286. The setting