Top 10 Famous Specialties of Ha Long City, Quang Ninh

Shrimp paste is a species related to octopus but only as small as an adult's thumb. These creatures live in the mud, usually near mangrove swamps, and are timid, often hiding at the entrance of their burrows, which is why they are also known as 'burrow shrimp'. When talking about Ha Long's coastal cuisine, people immediately think of familiar fresh seafood like Sá Sùng, squid cakes, crabs, or blood clams. However, not everyone knows about 'long-legged shrimp' or 'burrow shrimp'.

Shrimp paste is cleaned with salt to remove slime, then typically boiled with guava leaves, mulberry leaves, or purple leaf myrtle. It is served with shrimp paste mixed with lime, sugar, chili, garlic, and eaten with sour starfruit, bitter banana, and betel leaves for an extraordinary taste! Many coastal restaurants around the city offer this dish, priced at 120,000 VND per plate. If you want to buy live shrimp paste as a gift, you can visit the seafood section of Ha Long Market, where it costs 280,000 VND per kilogram.
The shrimp paste season lasts from July to October in the lunar calendar. During this time, the shrimp paste is white and has the best taste of the year. Around September and October, the shrimp paste spawns. Locals refer to this as 'sticky rice shrimp paste', which has a rich and creamy flavor, quite different from the usual. Compared to other places, the water in Quang Ninh's sea is less salty, so the shrimp paste here tastes better. If you visit during their breeding season, you can enjoy sticky rice shrimp paste (the shrimp paste eggs), which is very rich and creamy.

Ha Long Bay is not only famous for its stunning and vast landscapes, a world natural wonder, but also well-known for its wide variety of fresh seafood prepared into many delicious dishes such as grilled squid, squid cakes, grilled giant clams, and more. One of the must-try seafood items is the Blood Clam, also known as 'Rice Clam'. These clams are typically found in sandy or muddy areas of the sea.

Blood Clams have tough shells and bright red, nutritious meat. The best-tasting clams are found in brackish waters, where they grow faster, making their meat sweeter, more flavorful, and fattier than clams from other waters. If you dine at restaurants in the Bai Chay Tourist Area, such as Kinh Do Cuisine, Hai Dang, Thu Huong, or Hai Ninh, don't miss out on this delicacy. Blood clams are served in many ways: stir-fried with lemongrass and chili, stir-fried with coconut, grilled, steamed, and more.

However, to fully enjoy the natural sweetness of the clam, you should try the 'blanched clam' dish. The proper way to prepare blanched blood clams is to add a few stalks of lemongrass into boiling water, then add the cleaned clams and cook for about 1 minute until the clams open. The result is tender, slightly cooked clams that retain their original sweetness and aroma. The price for live blood clams at seafood restaurants or at Ha Long Market ranges from 120,000 to 150,000 VND per kilogram.

Ha Long is a coastal tourist city, not only famous for its vast and magnificent natural beauty but also for its unique local specialties that leave a lasting impression on visitors. Once you try these dishes, their flavors are unforgettable. Ha Long's specialties include Ha Long squid cakes, dried squid, Sá Sùng, giant clams, and of course, dishes made from sea sam (a type of sea creature).

Sea sam is a species that can only be found in nature and cannot be farmed. It only survives for three days after being caught. Once dead, its meat decomposes quickly, so rest assured, you will be enjoying fresh, delicious sea sam dishes here. Sea sam usually lives in pairs, so when eating, you get to taste both male and female sea sams. The dishes made from sea sam have a very unique flavor that can't be found elsewhere: stir-fried sea sam with lemongrass and chili, five-spice sea sam legs, stir-fried sea sam with glass noodles, and stir-fried sea sam eggs with betel leaves. The meat of sea sam is sweet and fragrant, requiring a meticulous preparation process, which is why very few restaurants in Ha Long offer this dish.

If you're planning a trip to Ha Long, make sure to try dishes made from sea sam—delicious and highly beneficial to your health. And don't forget to explore other Ha Long specialties, some of which you can even take home as gifts for family and friends.

When visiting Ha Long, you must try the sea clams, a dish that's far from as overwhelming as its name suggests. Sea clams resemble the common clam but are larger, with rough black shells. Currently, they cannot be farmed like other seafood due to their unique characteristics. While these creatures are found in many coastal regions, it's only in Quang Ninh where they are sweetest and most nutritious.

Sea clams are a rare delicacy in Quang Ninh, and to enjoy them, you’ll need to visit between March and October. When you’re in Ha Long, don’t miss out on the various dishes made with sea clams—they are unforgettable. The fresh meat of the sea clam carries the distinctive flavor of the sea, a true gift from nature that has inspired the local cuisine to be even more creative and diverse.

Due to the difficulty of harvesting sea clams, they tend to be quite expensive. Typically, sea clams are sold at a rate of 8-10 clams per kilogram, ranging from 450,000 to 500,000 VND, with prices varying depending on the size of the clams.

Ha Long is a popular tourist destination, not only for its stunning landscapes and exciting attractions but also for its unique local specialties that visitors cannot miss. One such dish is the famous bebe shrimp noodle soup, a simple yet beloved meal that has captured the hearts of many.

Bebe shrimp are crustaceans with a thick shell and sharp edges on both sides. The bebe shrimp in Ha Long are especially known for their sweet, fragrant taste and rich, tender meat. The variety of dishes made with bebe shrimp is diverse and highly nutritious. While bebe shrimp noodle soup is familiar in coastal regions, the version in Ha Long is considered the best. To ensure a delicious bowl of noodle soup, only the freshest, plumpest, and most aromatic shrimp should be used.

The broth for bebe shrimp noodle soup in Ha Long is made by simmering crab, shrimp, and bones for hours to extract a rich, natural sweetness. The noodles are served with fried tofu, fresh herbs, and just the right amount of seasoning. You can enjoy this dish at local spots like Huy Chiên, Loan Thúy, Khánh Tuyền, Đông Bắc, and Làng Chài Culinary with prices ranging from 30,000 to 100,000 VND per bowl.

When visiting Ha Long, no one should miss the unique specialty of Tiên Yên Hill Chicken. Also known as Tiên Yên chicken or 'rooster with a beard', this breed is native to Tiên Yên district in Quảng Ninh Province. The chicken's meat is celebrated for its rich, flavorful taste, and has earned a spot in the top 50 most famous Vietnamese specialties as recognized by the Vietnam Book of Records.

The key to its delicious taste lies in the traditional, natural way of raising the chickens. Locals allow the chickens to roam freely, where they forage for food such as ants, termites, crickets, and other insects. These natural foods result in clean, pure chicken meat that is not only tasty but also healthy. As a result, Tiên Yên chicken has a distinct, sweet flavor with minimal fat.

There are many exceptional dishes made with Tiên Yên chicken, including boiled chicken, bánh gật gù (a type of cake) served with chicken fat dipping sauce, salted steamed chicken, grilled chicken, and chicken cooked with ginger wine. To truly savor Tiên Yên chicken, the best place to go is Tiên Yên itself, where this culinary treasure originates.

Ha Long is a tourist destination renowned for its delicious specialties like Ha Long Sam, squid rolls, and shrimp noodle soup. Beyond these seafood delights, the region also offers a variety of unique cakes, and one of the must-try treats is the Gật Gù Cake. The name itself piques curiosity due to the cake's quirky characteristic – once it's made, the cake is so long that it can't stand upright and instead wobbles from side to side, hence the name 'Gật Gù' (nodding cake).

The process of making this cake is entirely manual, requiring skilled hands to craft it into a delicious treat that has become famous in the region. The cake is similar to rice noodles, with a chewy, elastic texture that is distinctively satisfying. In some eateries, it is served with 'khâu nhục', a slow-braised pork belly, or paired with Ha Long squid cakes, adding a new and exciting flavor combination to the experience.

Ha Long Squid Cake is a beloved dish famous throughout Vietnam, known for its rich, oceanic flavor. The chewy, crispy texture and fragrant taste of the pure squid make it a favorite among many food lovers. The cake is made from fresh squid, carefully selected right after being caught from the sea. The best squid are the large, tender cuttlefish with shiny skin and tightly held tentacles, ensuring the highest quality for making the cakes.

The unique flavor of Ha Long Squid Cake comes from the traditional hand-mashing technique, which gives the cakes their chewy, aromatic texture. After being seasoned, the round cakes are fried in hot oil until golden and crispy, releasing a mouthwatering fragrance. As a result, Ha Long Squid Cakes have a perfect balance of crispiness and natural richness. Prices for squid cake range from 250,000 to 450,000 VND per kilogram, and the shops selling them are always busy with eager customers.

If you're visiting Ha Long, be sure to stop by Ha Long Market I or visit popular shops like Ba Kien Squid Cake, Thoan Squid Cake, or Hien Nhung Squid Cake to buy the freshest and most delicious squid cakes for yourself and your loved ones!

Sandworm is considered a highly nutritious marine species, rich in amino acids, glycine, and various minerals. Because of its health benefits, sandworm is not only used to enhance the flavor of soups but also holds a place in traditional Chinese medicine as a valuable herb, believed to reduce cold symptoms, boost energy, and cool the body.

Known as a specialty of Ha Long, sandworm can be enjoyed on-site or bought as a unique souvenir. They resemble earthworms and are also known by other names such as 'earth ginseng' or 'sea worms.' In Ha Long restaurants, fresh sandworms are typically stir-fried with garlic, pineapple, or a mix of vegetables to bring out their full ocean flavor.

The price for 1 kg of fresh sandworm ranges from 280,000 to 500,000 VND. However, if you're looking to take some home, dried sandworm is an excellent option. It pairs beautifully with beer or white wine. The price for 1 kg of dried sandworm varies between 1 to 3 million VND, depending on the quality. Dried sandworms are available at Ha Long II Market, Ha Long I Market, or Hai San Ong Ba, all offering a wide selection for you to choose from.

Snails in Ha Long come in a wide variety, including hương snails, spiny snails, jumping snails, cone snails, rock snails, and more. They can be prepared in different ways such as stir-fried, steamed with lime leaves, grilled, or salted with chili. Bui Thi Xuan Street in Hong Hai Ward, Ha Long City, is famously known as the "snail street" due to the special process of breeding, storing, and preparing snails.

When served, snails are often accompanied by a thick, tangy dipping sauce made with ingredients like lemongrass, chili, ginger, and lime leaves, creating a distinct and unforgettable flavor. This dish is commonly enjoyed with a drink, especially at Giếng Đồn, near Bai Chay tourist area. You can try various types of snails such as plate snails, grilled spiny snails, rock snails, and the particularly unique steamed snails, which are the most affordable, costing around 30,000 - 100,000 VND per plate. For the steamed snails, you simply suck the meat out with your mouth, no need to use your hands.

If you're interested in taking some snails home to cook yourself, you can visit the live seafood section at Ha Long Market. Prices vary depending on the type of snail: hương snails at 300,000 VND/kg, spiny snails at 80,000 VND/kg, rock snails at 60,000 VND/kg, and dạ snails at 30,000 VND/kg.