Bún đậu mắm tôm
Rice noodles, fried tofu, herbs, served with fermented shrimp paste. An acquired taste — try a small bite first.
- Where to find it
- Alley shops all over; the student districts do the cheapest and often the best trays.
- When it is sold
- Lunch, mostly. Some places run into the evening.
- What it costs
- 50,000–120,000 VND
How to order it
The mắm tôm needs work before it is edible: add lime and a little sugar, then whip it with chopsticks until it foams pale purple. Unwhipped, it is brutal.
We list neighbourhoods rather than street numbers: Hanoi stalls move, and a wrong address is worse than none. The guides below name specific places we stand behind.
2 guides mention Bún đậu mắm tôm
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.
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.