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 best food in Hanoi is northern Vietnamese: clear broths, sharp herbs, fermented shrimp paste, and almost nothing sweet. If you have one week, the twenty dishes below are the ones worth your meals, in the order to eat them — gateway dishes first, the demanding ones once your palate has caught up.
For each: what it is, where to try it, and what to watch out for. Prices are 2026 and in Vietnamese đồng; most dishes here cost between one and three US dollars.
In a hurry? Phở bò for breakfast, bún chả for lunch, bún đậu mắm tôm once you are brave, and cà phê trứng in the afternoon. That is Hanoi in four meals.
Day 1 — gateway dishes
1. Phở bò (beef phở)
Where: Phở Gia Truyền · 49 Bát Đàn The dish you’ve heard of. Clear-broth Hanoi style, no garnish plate, no Sriracha. Order tái nạm (rare beef + brisket).
2. Bánh mì
Where: Bánh Mì 25 · 25 Hàng Cá French baguette, Vietnamese fillings. The combo is the safe order. ~30,000 VND.
3. Cà phê trứng (egg coffee)
Where: Cà phê Đinh · 13 Đinh Tiên Hoàng Whipped egg yolk + condensed milk on strong black coffee. Hot, in a small cup. Stir gently before drinking.
4. Bia hơi
Where: Tạ Hiện street, after 7pm Fresh-brewed draught beer, plastic cup, ~10,000 VND. Sit on a stool, watch the street.
Day 2 — going deeper
5. Bún chả
Where: Bún chả Đắc Kim · 1 Hàng Mành Charcoal-grilled pork patties + cold rice noodles + warm sweet-tart broth. Lunch only.
6. Bánh cuốn
Where: Bánh cuốn Bà Hoành · 66 Tô Hiến Thành Steamed paper-thin rice paper, rolled around minced pork. Dip in fish-sauce broth.
7. Phở gà (chicken phở)
Where: Phở Gà Nguyệt · 5B Phủ Doãn Lighter than beef phở. Lemongrass-ginger broth, shredded chicken, crispy skin on the side.
Day 3 — Hanoi specialties
8. Chả cá
Where: Chả Cá Lã Vọng · 14 Chả Cá Turmeric-marinated white fish, grilled at your table over a charcoal brazier with dill, served with rice noodles. A Hanoi classic.
9. Bún ốc
Where: Bún ốc Bà Lương · 35 Cầu Gỗ Freshwater snails in a tomato-vinegar broth with rice noodles. Sweet, sour, slightly funky. Local-favourite, tourist-rare.
10. Nem rán
Where: Quán Ăn Ngon · 18 Phan Bội Châu Crispy pork-and-glass-noodle spring rolls. Universal Vietnamese; everywhere good has them.
Day 4 — coffee + dessert detour
11. Cà phê sữa đá
Where: Cà phê Lâm · 60 Nguyễn Hữu Huân Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk. Strong, sweet, served in a glass of ice.
12. Sinh tố bơ (avocado smoothie)
Where: Hoa Quả Dầm Tô Tịch · Tô Tịch street Avocado, condensed milk, crushed ice. Yes, avocado as a sweet drink — works.
13. Chè
Where: Chè Bốn Mùa · 4 Hàng Cân Vietnamese sweet soup. Beans, jelly, coconut milk, ice. Try chè ba màu (three-colour) for the photogenic version.
Day 5 — the more demanding dishes
14. Bún bò Huế
Where: Bún Bò Nam Bộ Bách Phương · 67 Hàng Điếu Spicy beef noodle soup from central Vietnam. Lemongrass, chili oil, thicker noodles than phở.
15. Bún riêu
Where: Bún Riêu Hàng Bài · 4 Hàng Bài Tomato-based crab broth with rice noodles, tofu, and a tomato-fermented kick. Sweet-sour-savoury.
16. Phở cuốn
Where: Ngũ Xã street, west side of Trúc Bạch Lake Same rice noodle as phở, unfolded into sheets and rolled around grilled beef. A different dish, same DNA.
Day 6 — local-only territory
17. Bún đậu mắm tôm
Where: Bún đậu Cây Đa · 19 Hàng Khay Rice noodles + fried tofu + herbs + fermented shrimp paste. The shrimp paste is the wall most travellers hit; if you cross it, you’ve graduated.
18. Xôi
Where: Xôi Yến · 35B Nguyễn Hữu Huân Sticky rice with toppings — yellow mung bean, shredded chicken, fried onion. Breakfast staple.
19. Bánh đa cua
Where: Bánh Đa Cua Hàng Bột · 67 Hàng Bột Crab noodle soup originally from Hải Phòng but well-represented in Hanoi. Thicker, redder noodles than phở.
Day 7 — finish strong
20. Phở chua
Where: Phở Chua Lạng Sơn · 21 Trần Vũ Northern mountain-style phở with pickled vegetables, peanuts, and a sweet-sour dressing. Looks like nothing else on this list.
Bonus: how to order a phở like a Hanoian
- Walk in. Sit. Don’t wait to be seated.
- The owner shouts something. You shout back the cut you want: tái (rare), chín (well-done), nạm (brisket), gầu (fatty), gân (tendon).
- Pay first. Cash, exact change preferred.
- Eat. 10 minutes max.
- Don’t tip. It’s not the culture.
What to skip
- “Pho 24” / “Pho 10” airport-style chains — fine for an emergency, never the real thing.
- Anything with a 10-page laminated photo menu.
- Restaurants with a doorman.
- “Vietnamese fusion” anything in District 1 of Saigon and District 1 equivalents in Hanoi.
Every dish guide on this site
We have a full guide for each of these. Neighbourhoods rather than street numbers, because Hanoi stalls move.
The noodle soups
- Phở bò — best phở in Hanoi, street by street
- Phở gà — why the chicken bowl beats the beef one
- Bún thang — the city’s fussiest soup
- Bún riêu cua — the tomato-and-crab bowl
- Bún ốc — Hanoi’s most underrated bowl
- Miến lươn — eel three ways
- Duck and goose — bún măng vịt and bún ngan
- Five quiet bowls visitors walk past
Grilled, fried and rolled
- Bún chả — best in Hanoi
- Bánh mì — the 8 best in Hanoi
- Bánh cuốn — the twenty-second rice sheet
- Chả cá — the one Hanoi dish that is a restaurant
- Nem rán, not chả giò
- Bánh gối and the Old Quarter fryer corner
- Bánh rán — sesame balls, sweet and savoury
- Phở cuốn — Hanoi rolls its phở
- Bánh tôm Hồ Tây — shrimp fritters on the causeway
The demanding ones
- Bún đậu mắm tôm — an honest guide to the shrimp paste
- Ốc nóng — how to order snails
- Chả rươi — the six-week sandworm season
Rice, lunch and snacks
- Xôi — the best two-dollar breakfast
- Cơm bình dân — lunch like an office worker
- The Chinese-Vietnamese kitchen — mì vằn thắn and bánh bao
- Dishes Hanoi borrowed — bún bò Huế and bánh xèo
- Northern mountain food — phở chua and thắng cố
Drinks and sweets
- Cà phê trứng — egg coffee, and why Giảng still wins
- What Hanoi drinks — trà chanh, nâu đá and the plastic stool
- Bia hơi — finding a corner that isn’t for tourists
- Chè — how to read the twenty-cup glass case
- Hanoi’s sweet counter
By time of day, season and neighbourhood