Guides
19 guides on eating in Hanoi — refined over a decade of breakfast queues. New posts go up roughly weekly.
Xôi: the best two-dollar breakfast in Hanoi
Sticky rice from a basket on the pavement, with mung bean crumble and fried shallots. Xôi is the cheapest genuinely great breakfast in the city, and it is gone by nine.
Miến lươn: eel three ways
Hanoi does more with freshwater eel than anywhere else in Vietnam — in broth, dry and tossed, or in porridge. Here is how the three versions differ and which to order first.
Bún thang: leftovers turned into the city's fussiest soup
A dozen components, each prepared separately, arranged in a bowl of crystal-clear broth. Bún thang was invented to use up New Year scraps and became the most technically demanding dish in Hanoi.
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.
Bún riêu cua: the tomato-and-crab bowl to order after phở
Sour tomato broth, rafts of pounded paddy-crab curd, fried tofu and pork sausage. Bún riêu is what to eat on day three, when another bowl of phở feels like a chore.
Bún đậu mắm tôm: an honest guide to the shrimp paste
A tray of cold noodles, hot fried tofu and fermented shrimp paste. Bún đậu is the Hanoi dish visitors are most likely to bounce off — here is how to give it a fair try.
Chả cá: the one Hanoi dish that is a restaurant
Turmeric fish finished at your table in a pan of dill and spring onion. Chả cá is priced per head, has no menu to speak of, and is the only Hanoi dish you should sit down properly for.
Bánh cuốn: the twenty-second rice sheet
Bánh cuốn is made in front of you — a ladle of batter spread over stretched cloth, lidded, lifted, filled and rolled in under half a minute. Here is how to order it and where in Hanoi to look.
Phở gà: why Hanoi's chicken bowl beats the beef one
Phở gà is lighter, cleaner and far easier to eat at six in the morning than phở bò — and the stalls that sell only chicken are usually the best phở stalls on the street.
Phở cuốn: Hanoi rolls its phở, and Ngũ Xã is where you eat it
Phở cuốn is phở noodle unrolled into a sheet and wrapped around grilled beef — cold, cheap, eaten with your hands. Here is what to order on Ngũ Xã, what it costs, and why it is the best cheap date in Hanoi.
Hanoi night markets and late-night food: where to eat after 9pm
Hanoi gets a second wind after 9pm. Night markets, charcoal grills, late-shift phở stalls — here is where to eat when most of the city has gone to bed.
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: 20 dishes (and where to try them)
A no-fluff list of the 20 dishes that define a stay in Hanoi, in the rough order you should try them, with one recommended stall for each.
Best bún chả in Hanoi: where locals queue at lunchtime
Bún chả is Hanoi's lunchtime ritual — charcoal-grilled pork patties, rice noodles, herbs, and a sweet-tart fish-sauce broth. Here are the 6 stalls worth queueing for.
Is Hanoi street food safe? An honest rundown
After a decade of eating from Hanoi street stalls, here is what actually causes traveller stomach trouble — and how to avoid it without skipping the good food.
Where to eat egg coffee — and why Giảng still wins
Cà phê trứng — egg coffee — was invented in Hanoi in 1946 when milk was scarce. Here are the four cafés that get it right, plus how to drink it without grimacing.
A self-guided food walk through the Old Quarter
A 2-hour DIY food walk with 9 stops, a printable map, and timing tips. Skip the $40 group tours; this is the route locals would actually take you on.
Best phở in Hanoi: a street-by-street guide
Where Hanoians actually eat phở — clear-broth phở bò, the chicken-only stalls, and the late-night bowls that locals defend with surprising passion.
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.