Update: Apr 2023

Hanoi – Heaven of street foods ranging from the snacks to main dishes that get you full up all night or sweet deserts for desert lovers. Everyone can find their favorite when strolling around Hanoi’s Old quarter. All the best street food are being sold here and you can’t try it all in one day I’m sure of this since there are too many good things to choose from. Let’s see some of our picks  and taste it for yourself when in Hanoi.

Pho Bo + Pho Ga

Pho Bo 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 Pho Bo has become the favorite dish for breakfast and dinner in Hanoi, and throughout Vietnam.

• Pho Bat Dan: 49 Bat Dan street or 34 Au Trieu (google map)
• Pho Manh Cuong: 23 Hang Muoi Street (google map)
• Pho Thin: 13 Lo Duc Street (google map)
• Pho Ly Quoc Su: 10 Ly Quoc Su street (google map)
• Pho Suong: 24 Trung Yen Alley, Dinh Liet street (google map)

Phở gà (chicken pho) is lighter than beef pho, and it is a natural remedy for a common cold. Similar to beef pho, it is usually served with chopped spring onions, coriander, onion slices and also quẩy, deep-fried flour-based snacks that are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Locals tend to dip them into their soup to let them absorb the tasty broth. The Vietnamese prefer chicken thighs to breasts, so chicken thigh pho is a little more expensive.

You can find it at:

• Pho Ga – 15 Hang Hom street (google map)
• Pho Ga Nguyet – 5b Phu Doan Street Hoan Kiem District (google map)
• Pho Ga 26 – 26 Luong Van Can street (google map)
• Pho Tình: 42 Quan Thanh street (google map)

Bun Cha

Bun Cha has long been in a list of most favorite food by Vietnamese people. You can see them eating Bun Cha at any time of the day whether it’s morning or late at night. The grilled meat eating together with vermicelli rice noodles originates in Hanoi for more than 60 years ago and still standing strong. The combination of meats, rice noodles, fresh herbs and sweet broth can easily satisfy anyone likes

You can find it at:

• Bun Cha Lien Huong – Bun Cha Obama: 24 Le Van Huu street (google map)
• Bun Cha Tuyet: 34 Hang Than (google map)
• Bun Cha Nem 41 Cua Dong street (google map)
• Bun Cha 74 Hang Quat street (google map)

Cha Ca La Vong

Cha Ca La Vong gives its best taste when it is still boiling in vegetable oil pan. Eating this special dish requires some techniques for the best enjoyment: grasp a piece of fish and then use spoon to draw some boiling oil in the pan to pour onto it and eat with rice vermicelli, peanuts, coriander, dill, spiced fresh onion and an indispensable ingredient – mắm tôm (fish sauce).

You can find it at:

• Cha Ca Thang Long: 2D or 6D Duong Thanh street  (google map)
• Vua Cha Ca: 1 Dinh Tien Hoang street (google map)
• Cha Ca Phan: 20 Xom Ha Hoi Street (google map)

Bun bo Nam Bo

Bun Bo Nam Bo (beef noodles in the south) is also known as stirred beef vermicelli. The simplicity and  elegance is what people describe about this dish. Instead of using sophisticated broth as Pho, sauce is used for Bun bo Nam Bo. Besides, fresh raw accompanying vegetables, fried onion, roasted peanuts and bean sprouts are indispensable elements. Beef used for the dish is well soaked in sugar, fish sauce and pepper and other seasonings.

You can find it at: Bach Phuong 73-75 Hang Dieu street (google map)

Fried fermented pork roll

If you ask every Hanoian what their favorite snack is, most of them will say Fried pork roll. For easy understanding, it’s like Vietnamese pork sausage eating together with a dip into chili sauce. The fried pork roll usually is a snack for afternoon with people sit in small plastic chairs in the street with their friends. The side dishes of fried pork roll are fresh cucumber or yum bean with a cup of iced tea.

You can find it at:

• Tam Thuong Alley (google map)
• Ngot Ran – 38 Hang Bong street (google map)

Bun Thang ( Hot rice noodle)

Yes, Hanoi is a paradise of noodles. You can’t count how many kinds of noodle that Hanoi proudly has. However, to my opinion, the special, signature noodle that you can only find the best in Hanoi is Bun Thang. The “Thang” in its name origins from the way the dish is prepared. Because it takes so many ingredients to perfect the dish that people link the process  to the process of old Vietnamese pharmacists prepare herbal medicine for their clients/patient .

You can find it at:

• Bun Thang Co Binh – 29 Cau Go street (google map)
• Lan Lun – 5 Hang Thiec street (google map)

Banh Cuon (Steamed pork wraps)

Banh cuon is made with a pork and mushroom filling wrapped in freshly steamed rice paper, then topped with crunchy fried shallots. Fish sauce, chilis, and fresh herbs are served alongside. Eat it all in one bite for maximum deliciousness! Often, cinnamon pork will be offered as an accompaniment too.

You can find it at:

• Thanh Van – 12 Hang Ga street (google map)

Xoi (sticky rice)

Xôi is a sweet (ngọt) or savory (mặn) Vietnamese dish made from glutinous rice and other ingredients. It will be a big miss if you come to Hanoi without trying “xoi”. Made from sticky rice, xoi has as many variants as you can imagine. “Xoi” is a very common food in Vietnam, and one can find it anywhere from the roadside vendors to luxuriously traditional restaurants. Xôi is a common on-the-go breakfast item, and a popular snack nationwide.

We have 2 kinds of xoi: bean xoi and salt with sauce and meat

• Bean Xoi: sitcky rice with bean such as corn, peanut, back bean, green bean with sugar on the top
• Salt xoi or Xoi xeo: sticky rice colored yellow, topped with fried onion and ground mung beans (~VND 15,000), sauce, pate, grilled pork, beef jerky or chinese sausage (lap xuong).

You can find it at:

• Xoi Cat Lam: 24B Duong Thanh Street (google map)
• Xoi Bu – 61 Lo Duc street (google map)
• Xoi Yen – 35B Nguyen Huu Huan street (google map)

Banh duc (Hot rice cake)

Banh duc (rice cake) is a cake made from non-glutinous rice flour. In the north it is typically garnished with savory ingredients such as ground pork, grilled ground shrimp, fried onions, sesame seeds, salt, peanuts, lime juice, and soy sauce or fish sauce.

You can find it at: 28 Hang Be street (google map)

Fried soya cheese with sauce of maserated shrimp noodle

The famous noodle that not every foreigner would have a bravery to try because the smell of the shrimp sauce. But we Vietnamese love it since behind the smell (which is unavoidable) the taste is pretty sweet and the combination of rice noodle, soya cheese and shrimp sauce brings joy to your mouth. Hanoians also add sliced boiled pork and its black pudding for more flavor while chewing.

You can find it at:

• Bun Dau Co Hoa – 25 Au Trieu street (google map)
• Bun Dau 1 Dong Thai – Hang Buom (google map)
• Bun Dau Huong 55 Phat Loc alley (google map)
• Bun Dau Co Tuyen 31 Hang Khay street (google map)

Bun Oc (Snail noodles)

Like the French, the Vietnamese eat snails too, but not the same kind of snails. They eat ốc (Vietnamese freshwater snails), which are smaller and chewier than their land-based cousins. Cooked snails are arranged neatly in a bowl of bún (rice vermicelli) with fried tofu and fresh herbs, and the dish is finished with a hot, sweet and sour broth that is poured over all of the cold ingredients. Finally, a few slices of cooked tomatoes are placed on top.

You can find it at:

• Bun Oc Co hue: 43 Nguyen Sieu street (google map)
• Bun Oc Suon 57 Hai Ba Trung Street (google map)
• Bun Co Them: 6 Hang Chai street (google map).

Bun Rieu

Bún (rice vermicelli) complements shellfish wonderfully, and it is eaten with both ốc (freshwater snails), and riêu (minced freshwater mini crabs). Similar to bún ốc, bún riêu is served with fried tofu and, sometimes, thinly sliced beef fillet.

You can find it at:

• Bun riêu Trang: 23 Nguyen Sieu street (google map)
• Bun ziu Co Yen: 54 Hang Bun street (google map)

Mien Luon (Eel noodles)

The main ingredients of miến lươn are miến (cellophane noodles), lươn (eels), fried shallots, bean sprouts and cilantro. The eels are usually deep fried to eliminate their fishy smell and to add a tasty, crunchy touch to the dish. In Chân Cầm street, Minh Lan restaurant specializes in eel dishes, and apart from eel noodle soup, you can also try eel soup and stir-fried eel noodle.

You can find it at:

• Minh Lan: 1 Chan Cam street (google map)
• Quan Luon – 34 Yen Ninh Street (google map)
• Dong Thinh: 87 Hang Dieu street (google map)

Bun Ngan

Bún ngan (Musk Duck noodles) is made from Musk Duck meat, white rice vermicelli noodles, bamboo shoots and green onion, served in broth made from stewed pig bones with tomatoes. You may have to line up in the long queue before getting a bowl of Bun Ngan in “Bun Ngan Nhan” place. It’s always crowded and require your patience to taste the dish.

You can find it at:

• Huyen Anh: 39 Nguyen Du street (google map)
• The Gioi Ngan: 49 Ngo Quyen street (google map)

Boiled snail

In the list of Hanoi street foods, perhaps boiled snail is a delicious dish that many people mentioned most. Unlike fried or roasted with tamarind types of snail in Saigon, genuine snail in Hanoi is one kind of swirl, rock or jackfruit snail, which is commonly known by the familiar names as “big snails, small snails”, boiled with lemongrass and lime leaves, served with chili sauce with fresh ginger, taken by real grapefruit linen or 1 sharp tinplate pieces.

You can find it at: Ha Trang – 1A Dinh Liet street (google map