Buzz
There's something that many people still whisper about: when in Hanoi, if you want to eat well, be prepared to dive into the alleys or visit street food stalls. Eating at these places is the epitome of 'delicious, nutritious, and affordable' snacking.
You could spend an entire day wandering the streets, indulging in street food from early morning until late at night, feeling satisfied without emptying your wallet.
1. Grilled Fermented Pork Roll at 10 Au Trieu
The grilled fermented pork roll stall at 10 Au Trieu opens from 2 PM until midnight. Despite being called a stall, this place is very simple. The dining tables here are actually just trays placed on continuous green chairs and located on one side of the alley to not obstruct the traffic.
Unlike fried fermented pork rolls, which are dry and have a golden color, grilled fermented pork rolls still retain the fresh pink color of the meat along with a sticky coating on the outside. Dip a little chili from the small bowl, the aroma along with the grilled pork roll blends together and melts as it enters your mouth. In addition to grilled fermented pork rolls, you can also choose other side dishes such as golden crispy fish, beef, or grilled squid...
The price for one grilled fermented pork roll here is 4,500 Vietnamese dong, iced tea 3,000 dong per glass, lemon tea 7,000 dong per glass, and fruit plate about 15,000 dong.
2. Skewered Fermented Pork Sausage on Phan Huy Ich Street
The sausage is made from raw pork, shaped into round pieces, then skewered on bamboo sticks and grilled over charcoal, sometimes flattened and wrapped around lemongrass stalks for grilling. This dish is served with soybean paste mixed with ground liver, cooked with a hint of sugar, and a slightly spicy dipping sauce, topped with roasted peanuts.
3. Fried Fermented Pork Sausage at Tam Thuong Alley
The fermented pork sausage is made from pork, pork skin, and toasted rice powder, thanks to the fermentation process which lasts for 2-3 days, giving the sausage a sour and flavorful taste. When fried, it emits a delightful aroma. Fried fermented pork sausage is best enjoyed hot, dipped in chili sauce to balance the richness, accompanied by the refreshing taste of cucumber slices, making it delicious. Fried fermented pork sausage can be served with various fruits, but the most common are jicama, cucumber, mango... If you only indulge in fermented pork sausage with a few side dishes, about 80,000 dong is enough for two people.
4. Duck Vermicelli and Grilled Duck Sausage on the Sidewalk of Hang Bong Street (near Phu Doan Intersection, Hanoi)
Situated on the sidewalk of Hang Bong Street, near the Phu Doan intersection (Hanoi), Hiền duck restaurant nestles discreetly amidst fashion shops, so not everyone knows about this place. But once you've dined here, you won't forget the rich flavor of the duck sausage, the restaurant's specialty, along with the fragrant and sweet bamboo shoot soup.
The duck meat is marinated with spices, then grilled over charcoal. After grilling, the pieces of sausage still retain the sweet aroma of duck meat. The sausage is served with chili garlic fish sauce, a special sauce concocted by the owner unlike any other duck sausage place.
You can enjoy the duck sausage with vermicelli, and it's recommended to order a bowl of bamboo shoot soup as a side to prevent feeling not fully satisfied. The bamboo shoot soup at Hiền restaurant has a sweet and rich flavor from the duck bones, remember to ask for a clear broth if you don't want to consume too much fat.
Hiền duck restaurant starts serving in the late afternoon and sells until late at night.
5. Nguyen Truong To Mango Sweet Soup
Many Hanoi residents have tried mango sweet soup, while some are unfamiliar with this dish. But if you've tasted and enjoyed the refreshing sweetness of this unique dessert, diners all head to the beginning of Nguyen Truong To street, where the busiest sweet soup stall in Hanoi is located.
Located at 2 Nguyen Truong To Street, at the intersection with Hang Than Street, Hong Kong dessert stall is always bustling with customers. The stall offers dozens of dessert and jelly options, but most people usually try the mango sweet soup first before choosing other types.
Mango is sliced into pieces, cooked with agar agar, then poured into small bowls. Next, a layer of milk mixed with cream is added on top. Therefore, when eating, diners will feel the creamy richness of the milk combined with the refreshing taste of mango. Each bowl of mango sweet soup costs 8,000 VND.
6. Fried Pho at 206 Kham Thien
From a large, soft and white piece of pho cake initially, the chef will cut it into square pieces about half the size of a palm. Then, the cake is lightly fried until evenly golden, and when ordered, it will be fried until crispy and slightly burnt on the edges, giving off a fragrant aroma.
When served, the fried pho will resemble small pizza slices, with the aroma of the cake, crispy on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside. Pho will be served with hot beef sauce. The sauce is thick, consisting of beef, onions, carrots, and offal, and bean sprouts (if you order the full set). You can add a little vinegar, pickles, pickled radish, and raw vegetables to the sauce bowl to enhance your preferred taste.
7. Grilled Offal at Gầm Cầu Street
Together with Ma May Street, Gầm Cầu Street (Hanoi) is a familiar rendezvous for young people whenever they crave grilled dishes. Here, there is a fairly diverse range of ingredients such as intestines, stomach, tripe, cow's udder, beef, tendon... To add a bit of difference, the restaurants often marinate with honey before grilling, making the taste unique.
The grilled offal is dipped in diluted chili sauce. The pieces of offal, stomach, crispy and crunchy, with a hint of spiciness, are delicious.
8. Hoang Anh Durian Yogurt at 22 Ba Trieu
Located at 22 Ba Trieu Street, near the intersection of Hang Khay - Trang Thi, the tiny Hoang Anh durian yogurt stall is right on the sidewalk. With just a simple glass cabinet, the stall is always crowded with about 20 chairs for customers.
Here, there is a variety of dishes mainly made from yogurt such as yogurt dessert, fruit yogurt, yogurt with tapioca pearls and jelly, yogurt with sticky rice, especially durian yogurt.
9. Thanh Van Steamed Rice Rolls at Hang Ga Street, Gia An at Thai Phien Street
One of the most famous in Hanoi, Thanh Van steamed rice rolls started its business decades ago. It's a familiar address for Hanoians and a 'must-visit' place for tourists.
The main attraction of the restaurant is the quality of the rice rolls, thin, soft, and delicious fillings. The restaurant offers chicken-filled rice rolls for 30,000 VND per plate, with finely chopped chicken mixed with wood ear mushrooms. Their homemade dried shallots are crispy, not dry, or stale like the mass-produced ones found everywhere. The shrimp paste is finely ground and tastes quite good.
10. Baguette with wine sauce at 252 Hang Bong
The beef used to make the wine sauce is ribeye and a bit of beef tendon. After marinating with spices, the meat is simmered with a bit of wine to make it tender and fragrant.
The sauce is poured into the simmering meat along with other spices, along with a bit of cornstarch to create the necessary thickness. When the sauce is thick enough, the chef adds Lang basil, coriander, and finely chopped shallots to enhance the aroma.
The baguette served alongside must be hot and crispy, placed next to the beef with wine sauce to make it delicious and visually appealing.
11. Binh Tay Wonton Noodles on Hang Chieu Street
A bowl of wonton noodles consists of noodles and wontons. The noodles are made from flour and eggs, rolled thinly to be both chewy and crispy, while maintaining an eye-catching golden color. The wontons are filled with minced fresh shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, and meat, wrapped in a thin layer of dough.
In addition, the chef adds char siu pork, shiitake mushrooms, a boiled egg, fish balls, vegetables, chives, and peeled fresh shrimp. The broth is simmered from chicken bones, pork bones, dried fish bladders, some Chinese herbs, and shrimp shells. The broth is not poured over the main noodles and is seasoned with appropriate salt to avoid overpowering the existing flavors in the broth pot.
12. Fried cake at Alley 135 Phuong Mai
The filling of the cake consists of pork shoulder meat, vermicelli, wood ear mushrooms, all finely chopped, mixed evenly with spices and pepper to enhance the aroma. But the specialty of the shop lies in the cake crust. In addition to glutinous rice flour and wheat flour mixed with a bit of salt, mashed purple sweet potatoes are added, helping the cake to be crispy without being too dry.
Sometimes the shop owner also uses purple sweet potatoes, giving the cake a different color and a much more delicious flavor. The dipping sauce at the shop is very palatable, accompanied by green papaya to prevent greasiness. The shop is open from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., priced at 3,000 VND per cake.
13. Hot rice cake on Le Ngoc Han Street
The rice cake shop on this Hanoi street has been famous for about a decade, being a favorite snack spot for students. The rice cake is soft, chewy, and warm with a hint of sweetness from the minced meat and broth, along with some crunchy fried beans and fresh herbs like cilantro, which are essential ingredients.
You will experience the harmony of the cake, meat, and broth along with accompanying spices like roasted chili and garlic vinegar. Each bowl of hot rice cake is priced at 13,000 VND.
14. Grilled carp sticky rice at Alley 107 Nguyen Chi Thanh
The most time-consuming part of preparing this dish is the fish. The carp is scaled, boiled, allowed to cool, and then the meat is separated. Then, the fish is marinated with fish sauce and a bit of pepper for fragrance. After the fish absorbs the seasoning, it is fried until golden. Glutinous white rice is served with the fish along with some fried shallots. A serving of sticky rice for one person is 25,000 VND, accompanied by a bowl of fresh green vegetable soup, which helps prevent dryness and fatigue.
15. Nghia Tan tofu pudding
Located opposite Nghia Tan Secondary School in Cau Giay, Hanoi, this tofu pudding spot is a gathering place for many students, as well as office workers in the area. The tofu pudding here is smooth, velvety, and has a natural ivory color rather than the white hue of gypsum or other food additives. Putting a piece of tofu pudding in your mouth, the sweet taste of sugar syrup, the smooth and elegant texture of tofu pudding, and the fragrance of jasmine quickly quench your thirst.
Each homemade tapioca pearl is soft, translucent, and fragrant with coconut filling. Adding a bit of black jelly, the flavor of the tofu pudding bowl lingers on the tongue endlessly. At that moment, people's spirits also become lighter and more refreshed. You can also request extra coconut milk if you want your tofu pudding bowl to be more rich and enticing.
Each bowl of tofu pudding costs only 5,000 Vietnamese dong. The shop usually opens from around 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
16. Ô Quan Chưởng's Fried Dumplings
Located near Ô Quan Chưởng in Hanoi, the mung bean-filled fried dumpling store sells its products without pause. The dumplings are made from flour and green beans, with a hint of sesame for aroma. The special feature of the dumplings here is their tiny size, so one piece is eaten quickly. Each dumpling costs 1,000 Vietnamese dong.
17. Fried Wormwood Fish Cakes Near Ô Quan Chưởng
The early days of October in the lunar calendar are when earthworms appear in muddy areas. During this time, people from various provinces go to catch earthworms to make earthworm cakes, earthworm spring rolls, dried earthworms, earthworm fermented sauce, etc.
Earthworm cakes consist of mashed earthworms, eggs, minced pork mixed with onions, dill, and citrus peel... all blended together and fried. The finely sliced citrus peel makes the cake fragrant, but it's important not to overdo it to avoid bitterness in the cake.
Earthworm cakes are best enjoyed hot, accompanied by fresh vegetables, dipped in spicy and sour fish sauce, with a side of shredded papaya.
18. Shake Shake Donuts at Gia Trinh store, alley 17A Ly Nam De
These donuts are not only delicious but also unique because the bean filling is separated from the dough. The ingredients for shake shake donuts are simple, just sweet potatoes, glutinous rice flour, sugar, and white sesame seeds. The filling includes green beans, sugar, flour...
When frying, to ensure the donuts are evenly round, the fire intensity and frying time must be carefully controlled. Each donut costs 2,000 Vietnamese dong.
19. Sister Huệ's Tofu Vermicelli on the Sidewalk of Lý Thường Kiệt
Similar to other rustic dishes of Hanoi, tofu vermicelli is sold both on main streets and in small alleys. There are large restaurants as well as street vendors selling this dish. Although the ingredients are simple, they must be carefully selected, especially the vermicelli, which should be fresh and thin. The best choice is Phu Do vermicelli. The shrimp paste should be bought from trusted vendors in Thanh Hoa or at Hang Be Market, and seasoned skillfully with a bit of fried tofu oil. Mơ tofu is the best, but it's important to fry it fresh when customers order, otherwise it may become hollow and lose its taste.
20. Fried Sticky Rice at the Intersection of Bát Đàn and Hàng Điếu
When customers arrive, the owner fries the sticky rice to make it hot and crispy. The white sticky rice is wrapped in plastic, tightly compressed to ensure the grains stick together, then flattened and fried until golden on both sides. On the outside, the rice is crispy and golden, while inside, the grains remain soft and fragrant. Fried sticky rice can be served with braised eggs, grilled pork ribs, braised meat, sausage, pate, etc.
For takeaway orders, the seller cleverly wraps the sticky rice in fresh banana leaves, carefully packaging it to keep it warm. The price for a package of sticky rice with toppings starts from 20,000 Vietnamese dong.
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Source: Travel Guide by Mytour – According to Pose
MytourJune 23, 2014
