Best eats in Hanoi

I can think of two type of Vietnamese dishes that you should try but I'm sure the other Fodorites will recommend more.

Pho noodle is a must. For an easy to find and clean place try Pho 24 overlooking the lake. Cha Ca La Vong at the original old restaurant(14 Cha ca street) is a nice experience. You can get an idea from this blog(sorry in Thai but the pictures are quite good): http://www.bloggang.com/viewblog.php?id=chim&date=03-06-2008&group=5&gblog=15

Another name for Cha Ca street is Hang Son.

Please eat some Bun Cha at this place. Seriously.
Bun Cha Dac Kim
So 1 Hang Manh
It's in the old quarter. Every cyclo/taxi driver will know where it is. Lunch only.
A visual:
http://www.pbase.com/loricarlson/image/75955806

I second the vote for Bun Cha! I love that stuff....almost lived on it for the six months I was in Hanoi.

My "bible" for where to eat when I was living in Hanoi was a blog called Sticky Rice.

http://www.stickyrice.typepad.com/

It has great pictures....explains the dishes and gives an address! Great stuff...and enjoy your visit.

I second the vote for Cha ca at Cha Ca La Vong. The fish sauce is insanely delicious. There is a second kind of sauce that is served with cha ca (made from fermented langhostinos?)

I intend to go to both of these i cant wait.....

Hi,

Thanks for your help. Are there any other restaurants that serve genuine Vietnamese food?

Thanks again

The best Pho we had during our time in Hanoi was at Gia Thuyen Pho @ 49 Bat Dan St. which is on the west side of the Old Quarter close to the old citadel wall). No service to speak of but quite simply the best soup of any description I have had anywhere in the world.

Try Bahn Xeo which is a sort of crispy pancake, fried in front of you and filled with beansprouts, crisp fried pork and garlic - delicious.

The last time we were there was during Tet and many of the restaurants were closed so we often ended up "grazing" a few of street or market stalls (the spring rolls, fried and fresh are particular favouites and IMHO this is where the best and most authentic Vietnamese food is to be found.

We were quite dissappointed with most of the "famous" restaurants like Bobby Chinns, Brothers etc. and much preferred the smaller, hole in the wall type restaurants which tended to focus on one dish only (and did it really well). Probably the worst meal we have had in Hanoi over the years was in the main restarant at the Sofitel Metropole.

Pho 24 is a chain of Pho restarants which can be found all around Hanoi and other cities. It is much more expensive than traditional pho shops but does serve great pho in many different varieties - a good introduction.

For a large range of authentic Vietnamese dishes the Quan An Ngon (18 Phan Boi Chau) takes some beating. It is very popular with Hanoians, which is a good indication of the authenticity of the food. The courtyard is best for atmosphere, but if that is full there are many tables in the rooms inside the villa. It is certainly not as cheap as street food but the choice is far greater. Eat as the Vietnamese do and order a number of dishes to share.

Thanks for your help!

I second RedKite's suggestion! We had so much fun eating at Quan An Ngnon. We also had a dinner at their sister location: Sen. Sen is a buffet so it was fun trying tiny bits of this and that (including grilled sparrow!).

One of my personal favorite foods is Vietnamese Spring Rolls. It's eaten rolled up in a piece of lettuce or some green-- bunched with various herbs... then dipped into nuoc cham (sweetened fish sauce).

Oh, and don't forget to have a "cafe sua da"... iced coffee with sweet condensed milk. Perfect for a quick afternoon energy boost!

Aaaah, heaven is cafe sua da junkgalore! Do you have the address of Sen? I'm returning to Hanoi for a few weeks next spring and am looking for an alternative place to treat my Vietnamese friends to a meal - they won't eat anything that strays away from strictly Vietnamese cuisine.

RK,

Sen (Lotus) is near the water park in the Westlake area.

No. 10, Lane 431, Au Co Road, Tay Ho, Hanoi

We were staying at the Intercontinental for a few nights so it wasn't terribly out of the way. But for anyone staying in the Old Quarter, it would be a far taxi ride.

There were 2 buffets. The one we did with traditional Vietnamese food for 170,000 VND or there was a more "special" one that cost about 50,000 more. They said it has more seafood. We had just returned from Halong Bay so we were a bit seafood-ed out.
We thought we'd see mostly tourists but the buffet was surprisingly full of locals!
Even tho it was a buffet, many of the foods like pho, grills, bun cha were at a "station" with people cooking/serving up the food.

Thanks Junkgalore and Katie for your informative responses. Will try the Lotus restaurant and Intercontinental hotel.

Bon appetit scheps, and I hope you have a fabulous time in Vietnam! When you return it would be great if you could report back on your culinary and other experiences. As a lover of chillies and strong flavours I find Vietnamese food a little bland. However, while I occasionally eat seafood I don't eat meat and it might well be that the meat dishes are much more flavoursome.

Thanks JG. My friends live in the Old Quarter and it is indeed quite a haul out to Au Co Road, but as the traffic in the evening is far less chaotic it shouldn't take overly long to get there. It sounds as though Sen is fun so it will be worth the journey.