Tay Ho
The lake district north of the centre. Expat-friendly cafés, lakeside restaurants, and morning markets along Quảng An.
9 guides cover Tay Ho
What Hanoi drinks: trà chanh, nâu đá and the plastic stool
Iced lemon tea by the cathedral, robusta over condensed milk, and free green tea on every pavement. Hanoi drinking culture is cheap, caffeinated, and mostly about sitting down.
Hanoi's sweet counter: tào phớ, sữa chua nếp cẩm and Kem Tràng Tiền
Three sweet things Hanoi does better than anywhere: silken tofu scooped in curls, yoghurt over fermented black rice, and stick ice cream eaten standing on the pavement since 1958.
Ốc nóng: how to order snails without embarrassing yourself
Snails steamed with lemongrass and lime leaf, eaten with a pin and a fierce ginger dipping sauce. The most social food in Hanoi, and the hardest for a visitor to walk into alone.
Bánh tôm Hồ Tây: shrimp fritters on the causeway
Whole freshwater shrimp and sweet potato fried into a lacy slab, eaten on the strip of road between West Lake and Trúc Bạch. A dish that is half about where you eat it.
Bún ốc: Hanoi's most underrated bowl
Freshwater snails in a sharp tomato-and-vinegar broth, served hot or — rarer and better — cold. Bún ốc is the Hanoi speciality visitors almost never find.
Hanoi restaurants open after midnight: late-night food and night markets
Where to eat in Hanoi after midnight — 24-hour phở, charcoal grill streets, herbal chicken stew and the weekend night market. What is actually still open, by the hour.
Hanoi 3-day food itinerary: the route I'd send my mum on
Three days, three meals a day, nine neighborhoods. A pace-it-properly Hanoi food trip with morning, lunch and dinner stops, plus what to do between meals.
What to eat in Hanoi: the complete food guide (2026)
The best food in Hanoi, dish by dish — 20 must-try dishes in the order to eat them, what each costs, when it is sold, and a full index of every dish guide on this site.
The 8 best bánh mì in Hanoi (2026)
A working list of where Hanoi locals queue for bánh mì — pâté-only purists, fusion newcomers, and the one stall that runs out by 8am.