hanoi eats
Jun 30th, 2015, 04:57 PM
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If you were staying at the Metropole on the Club floor you could eat in as we did on 2 nights of our stay there. Research Wild Lotus, Au Lac House and La Badiane. Others on this forum have enjoyed La Badiane and we enjoyed the first two as well (it was a while back). Current TA reviews are mixed, to say the least, but if I were to go there again, I would look at TA's top choices. This has worked well for us, time and again in recent years.
Jun 30th, 2015, 05:21 PM
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Pho Gia Truyen is a Hanoi institution and served the best pho we could find in the city, if not the world! You may have to queue but definitely worth the wait. The pho with the three different cuts of beef was sublime. Warning, the surroundings are basic!
If in the old quarter try an "Egg Coffee" Carolyn took a Vietnamese friend to this place who said it was the best in town.
http://accidentalnomads.com/2014/12/...oi-egg-coffee/
If in the old quarter try an "Egg Coffee" Carolyn took a Vietnamese friend to this place who said it was the best in town.
http://accidentalnomads.com/2014/12/...oi-egg-coffee/
Jun 30th, 2015, 09:32 PM
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Our former Japanese exchange student lived in Hanoi for a year, and he sent me to several restaurants during my visit (he had left the previous year). Here is my favorite:
Little Hanoi
9 Ta Hien, Hanoi, Vietnam
It's sort of a Vietnamese version of a coffee shop--they have spring rolls, sandwiches, eggplant dishes, and even smoothies. The service was great. I ended up going there twice, once for lunch, and once for dinner.
Little Hanoi
9 Ta Hien, Hanoi, Vietnam
It's sort of a Vietnamese version of a coffee shop--they have spring rolls, sandwiches, eggplant dishes, and even smoothies. The service was great. I ended up going there twice, once for lunch, and once for dinner.
Jul 1st, 2015, 07:08 AM
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Little India on Hang Tre St for great, authentic Indian food.
Moose and Roo for high quality western food
Avoid the ubiquitous BBQ restaurant all over the old quarter, tried a couple and really average food.
http://www.elgaucho.asia - guess what they serve!
Some great "street food" served around beer corner in the old quarter. More than a little hectic but go early to sample some unusual snacks. (Served from kitchens rather than stalls)
Minh Thuy at 20 Ngo Huyen was good. Apparently the chef owner is an ex contestant on Vietnam Masterchef.
Moose and Roo for high quality western food
Avoid the ubiquitous BBQ restaurant all over the old quarter, tried a couple and really average food.
http://www.elgaucho.asia - guess what they serve!
Some great "street food" served around beer corner in the old quarter. More than a little hectic but go early to sample some unusual snacks. (Served from kitchens rather than stalls)
Minh Thuy at 20 Ngo Huyen was good. Apparently the chef owner is an ex contestant on Vietnam Masterchef.
Jul 1st, 2015, 07:24 AM
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We had fabulous food in Hanoi. Unfortunately it was long enough ago that I'm not sure how helpful it will be... I have checked to be sure these currently exist and still get good reviews.
We went to the original Little Hanoi restaurant, 23 Hang Gai Street, a few short blocks from the lake, serving excellent VN food. The Little Hanoi sandwich shop (named above by California Lady) was a name copy from the original, but doesn't serve VN food.
Brothers Cafe was charming and an opportunity to try lots of different local foods in a buffet, with cooked to order items as well. It is located at 26 Nguyen Thai Hoc. At the time we were there, they did not take credit cards. They had good French wines at reasonable prices.
We loved Club Opera (basically across the street from Le Metropole) at 59 Ly Thai To. We liked this place so much we had dinner there twice.
Bobby Chinn's was excellent (though quite expensive for Hanoi). They have moved from their previous location, current address I find online is 77 Xuan Dieu Street.
We enjoyed lunch at Koto, across the street from the Temple of Literature, next door to CraftLink (this info for Karen and Linda - great, unique purses and wonderful craft items).
I've checked on several other places we liked, but they seem to be out of business.
Happy eating!
We went to the original Little Hanoi restaurant, 23 Hang Gai Street, a few short blocks from the lake, serving excellent VN food. The Little Hanoi sandwich shop (named above by California Lady) was a name copy from the original, but doesn't serve VN food.
Brothers Cafe was charming and an opportunity to try lots of different local foods in a buffet, with cooked to order items as well. It is located at 26 Nguyen Thai Hoc. At the time we were there, they did not take credit cards. They had good French wines at reasonable prices.
We loved Club Opera (basically across the street from Le Metropole) at 59 Ly Thai To. We liked this place so much we had dinner there twice.
Bobby Chinn's was excellent (though quite expensive for Hanoi). They have moved from their previous location, current address I find online is 77 Xuan Dieu Street.
We enjoyed lunch at Koto, across the street from the Temple of Literature, next door to CraftLink (this info for Karen and Linda - great, unique purses and wonderful craft items).
I've checked on several other places we liked, but they seem to be out of business.
Happy eating!
Jul 1st, 2015, 12:59 PM
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Oh, these are right on time!
I read somewhere--here or another forum--about a place where university students are trained, and serve meals. It wasn't Koto, mentioned by Kathie, although I think that place also trains kids to become chefs.
Sound familiar to anyone?
I read somewhere--here or another forum--about a place where university students are trained, and serve meals. It wasn't Koto, mentioned by Kathie, although I think that place also trains kids to become chefs.
Sound familiar to anyone?
Jul 1st, 2015, 12:59 PM
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Here's the food post from our trip report of a few years ago... note that we mostly ate downscale and in the Old Quarter:
Quan An Ngon – A huge and wonderful place, it’s comprised of a large central courtyard with individual stalls around the perimeter cooking local specialties, all surrounded by interconnected buildings. There is a huge seating area with tables in the courtyard, plus even more tables set up inside the buildings. Despite the high volume of seating, there are lines to get in the place during lunchtime and dinner… undoubtedly due to the vast menu, tasty offerings and dirt-cheap prices. We ate here twice, once for lunch with the Hanoi Kids and once for dinner on our own. And I’m fairly confident that you could order randomly from their Tolstoy-esque menu and be satisfied.
New Day – The only other place where we ate twice, this busy three-story restaurant sits directly across the street from the Hanoi Elegance Emerald hotel in the Old Quarter (about a 15-minute walk from our hotel). The service staff is friendly and not shy if you ask for a recommendation, the food is fresh and flavorful, the beer is cold and the price is right. The marinated barbeque pork and Shanghai-style sea bass were memorable dishes. Two appetizers, three mains, drinks & tax… about $15 total.
Bun Cha Dac Kim – This place is definitely nothing fancy, but what an experience! This is a very popular lunch spot, and it’s about 40 yards away from our hotel’s front door. They serve exactly two dishes, bun cha and fried springrolls (nem), and you don’t actually order… they point you to a table and just start bringing you food soon after you sit. You get a massive bowl of grilled pork in a tasty broth, an even more massive plate of fresh greens (including thai basil, cilantro, lettuce, etc.), fresh rice noodles (which they cut up with scissors for you), a bowl of zesty dipping sauce for the nem, a bowl of chopped red-hot chilies and garlic, and an empty bowl for each person to mix stuff up in. How you choose to eat it all depends on your chopstick skills. It’s all delicious, far more food than we could possibly eat, and cost less than $9 for the three of us (including drinks).
Bun Bo Nam Bo – Two or three short blocks away from our hotel was another notable lunch spot, which serves just bun bo… which is a big, savory bowl with thin rice noodles topped with marinated beef slices, cooked torn lettuce, basil, cilantro, lettuce and peanuts. Small pitchers of spicy peanut sauce are also provided (and recommended, btw). You just sit down at a communal table, tell them how many bowls and what drinks you want, and it appears a minute later. Mix it all up with your chopsticks, and dig in! It’s not quite as well known among tourists as the bun cha place mentioned above, but the value and deliciousness are pretty much equal.
Again, this was a few years ago. Caveat emptor.
Quan An Ngon – A huge and wonderful place, it’s comprised of a large central courtyard with individual stalls around the perimeter cooking local specialties, all surrounded by interconnected buildings. There is a huge seating area with tables in the courtyard, plus even more tables set up inside the buildings. Despite the high volume of seating, there are lines to get in the place during lunchtime and dinner… undoubtedly due to the vast menu, tasty offerings and dirt-cheap prices. We ate here twice, once for lunch with the Hanoi Kids and once for dinner on our own. And I’m fairly confident that you could order randomly from their Tolstoy-esque menu and be satisfied.
New Day – The only other place where we ate twice, this busy three-story restaurant sits directly across the street from the Hanoi Elegance Emerald hotel in the Old Quarter (about a 15-minute walk from our hotel). The service staff is friendly and not shy if you ask for a recommendation, the food is fresh and flavorful, the beer is cold and the price is right. The marinated barbeque pork and Shanghai-style sea bass were memorable dishes. Two appetizers, three mains, drinks & tax… about $15 total.
Bun Cha Dac Kim – This place is definitely nothing fancy, but what an experience! This is a very popular lunch spot, and it’s about 40 yards away from our hotel’s front door. They serve exactly two dishes, bun cha and fried springrolls (nem), and you don’t actually order… they point you to a table and just start bringing you food soon after you sit. You get a massive bowl of grilled pork in a tasty broth, an even more massive plate of fresh greens (including thai basil, cilantro, lettuce, etc.), fresh rice noodles (which they cut up with scissors for you), a bowl of zesty dipping sauce for the nem, a bowl of chopped red-hot chilies and garlic, and an empty bowl for each person to mix stuff up in. How you choose to eat it all depends on your chopstick skills. It’s all delicious, far more food than we could possibly eat, and cost less than $9 for the three of us (including drinks).
Bun Bo Nam Bo – Two or three short blocks away from our hotel was another notable lunch spot, which serves just bun bo… which is a big, savory bowl with thin rice noodles topped with marinated beef slices, cooked torn lettuce, basil, cilantro, lettuce and peanuts. Small pitchers of spicy peanut sauce are also provided (and recommended, btw). You just sit down at a communal table, tell them how many bowls and what drinks you want, and it appears a minute later. Mix it all up with your chopsticks, and dig in! It’s not quite as well known among tourists as the bun cha place mentioned above, but the value and deliciousness are pretty much equal.
Again, this was a few years ago. Caveat emptor.
Jul 1st, 2015, 01:10 PM
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A few more comments:
Koto is a teaching restaurant, one of the places where we had lunch with Hanoikids. It was fine and CraftLink is definitely worth a stop. Incidentally, there are a couple of locations with different inventory, so you should search out both locations. Also, I neglected to mention (and nobody else here has) Fanny's Ice Cream - definitely worth checking out.
Koto is a teaching restaurant, one of the places where we had lunch with Hanoikids. It was fine and CraftLink is definitely worth a stop. Incidentally, there are a couple of locations with different inventory, so you should search out both locations. Also, I neglected to mention (and nobody else here has) Fanny's Ice Cream - definitely worth checking out.
Jul 1st, 2015, 11:31 PM
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Our Japanese exchange student that lived in Hanoi recommended three other restaurants, in addition to my earlier post. I tried them all, and enjoyed them:
cha ca la vong
nha hang ngon
ashima (for hot clay pot dishes)
Kathie, please note that the Little Hanoi (9 Ta Hien) restaurant that I mentioned has truly authentic, French-influenced Vietnamese food. One of their best dishes is aubergine (eggplant) served in a hot clay pot. Also, the sandwiches are served on baguettes, which is very popular in Vietnam. We have a huge Vietnamese community here near Los Angeles, and I frequent the restaurants in that area. There is so much more to Vietnamese food than pho, which originates in the south, and is traditionally served for breakfast.
cha ca la vong
nha hang ngon
ashima (for hot clay pot dishes)
Kathie, please note that the Little Hanoi (9 Ta Hien) restaurant that I mentioned has truly authentic, French-influenced Vietnamese food. One of their best dishes is aubergine (eggplant) served in a hot clay pot. Also, the sandwiches are served on baguettes, which is very popular in Vietnam. We have a huge Vietnamese community here near Los Angeles, and I frequent the restaurants in that area. There is so much more to Vietnamese food than pho, which originates in the south, and is traditionally served for breakfast.
Jul 1st, 2015, 11:41 PM
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Bob - I dream of Bun Bo Nam Bo. I ate there three times. The first time we went by there, mike said he wouldn't eat there, but I insisted as I'd read reviews. They only serve one dish, but you wont be unhappy here if you like pho.
Jul 4th, 2015, 12:47 PM
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Bob Quan An Ngon was an absolute fave of mine ( and in HCMC) the chilli beef I dreamed of for weeks. I liked the Vietnamese sampler at green tangerine too! I think you went to the Pho cafe we recommended last time. We are in the minority ref Fanny's , didn't like it at all......
Did you go to the original cha ca la vong last time?
Did you go to the original cha ca la vong last time?
Jul 7th, 2015, 11:33 PM
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I know that Trip Advisor doesn't always go down well on this forum, but here's an excellent current thread on food in Hanoi...
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...ood-Hanoi.html
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...ood-Hanoi.html
