Must Try Food In Hanoi: Top 10 Delicious Dishes & Where To Eat

Home » Vietnamese Food » Must Try Food In Hanoi: Top 10 Delicious Dishes & Where To Eat

You are interested in Vietnam must try food or Hanoi’s famous dishes and want to take the trip to Hanoi right away but don’t know where to go? Don’t worry, Ftrip will help you with top 12 must try food in Hanoi. Related Tours: Hanoi Tours (Daily Tour).

Choose FTrip’s tour now to have a great experience in Indochina:

Get to know must try food in Hanoi

Vietnam is an Asian land with a diverse cuisine. In each region, people will have a different way of eating and variations of dishes.

Located in the North of Vietnam, Hanoi inherits a special cuisine influenced by the Chinese. Moreover, the current famous cuisine of Hanoi is mostly from the local, often called street food. These special dishes can bring you many surprises.

Get to know must try food in Hanoi

Top 12 must-try food in Hanoi

Pho or Phở ( Noodle Soup)

Pho is a famous dish in Vietnam and Hanoi is the land that created this delicious food. The dish is a combination of meat broth, adding a little flavor of herbs, served with flat noodles.

The broth can be made from beef or chicken. You can try pho in both flavors. Of course, you will have more choices about the meat you want to eat than in beef noodles. You can choose the level of doneness of the beef. The most popular choice is Pho Tai with rare beef.

You can try adding Bò viên (meatball), Nạm (flanks), Gầu (tendon), and Gân (tripe). You will surely fall in love the first time you taste the taste of pho cooked in Hanoi style

Top 12 must try food in Hanoi - Pho

Address: Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su, Hang Trong, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi

Bun cha (Vermicelli Noodle with Grilled Pork)

President Obama once came to Vietnam and fell in love with Bun Cha on the first try. Since then, Bun Cha’s reputation has become more and more well-known, as famous as Pho

The dish is simple, though: only grilled pork is served with white rice noodles and a special dipping sauce along with herbs.

As soon as the food is brought out, you will hear the faintly smoky flavor and from the very first bite, your senses will be amazed at the full flavor of the dish. The first noodle shop is located on Gia Ngu Street, in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Therefore, there are many suggestions that you should take a tour of the old quarter before coming to enjoy Bun Cha in this area.

Address: Bun Cha Dac Kim, Hang Manh, Hang Gai, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi

Bun rieu cua (Crab Vermicelli Noodle)

Bun Rieu or you can call it Crab noodle soup. Its broth is cooked with tomatoes and crab meat. The natural sweetness of the broth comes from dried shrimp. In addition, the dish often has fried tofu, congealed blood, and Vietnamese sausage. 

The sauce that enhances the flavor of the dish is shrimp paste, you may not be familiar with the strong taste of the sauce, but try it and be surprised at the combination of flavors together. Bun Rieu is familiar to locals when served from street stalls to high-class restaurants.

Address: Hang Bac Bun Rieu Cua, 11 Hang Bac Street, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi

Cha ca Ha Noi (Turmeric Fish with Dill)

Cha ca is definitely one of the must try food in Hanoi. This food has been on the list of traditional dishes in Hanoi for 130 years. There’s even a street named after this famous food in Hanoi

The first traditional restaurant selling Cha Ca is still in business today, and their name – Cha Ca La Vong is famous to all locals. The first recipe making Cha Ca belonged to the Doan family, who had served this dish to the army during the French colonial

Address: Cha Ca Thang Long 6B Duong Thanh, Cua Dong, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi

Banh cuon (Steamed Rice Rolls)

Banh Cuon is made from rice flour. From there, the chef will form a mixture to cook them with steam. The cake’s filling usually have mushrooms and minced meat. The crust is fragrant and thin enough for you to see the filling inside.

This dish is usually eaten with sweet fish sauce. For locals, this is a must try food in Hanoi as they are very reasonably priced and are always made whenever you buy them.

Address: Banh Cuon Phuong 68 Hang Cot, Hang Ma, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi

Xoi xeo (Sweet Sticky Rice)

Xoi xeo or sweet sticky rice usually comes with staple toppings of green mung bean paste and soy sauce. It can be the main dish. Or there are many restaurants that serve Xoi Xeo as a dessert when eaten with shredded coconut, white sugar, and peanuts. This must try food in Hanoi can also be introduce into a savory dish when eaten with pate, chicken, pork, and eggs.

Address: Xoi Xeo Oanh Oanh 573 La Thanh Street, Thanh Cong, Ba Dinh, Hanoi

Banh mi ( Vietnamese sandwich)

In the list of must try food in Hanoi, Banh mi is an indispensable name. Recognized as “Vietnam baguette” of French origin. The Vietnamese have brought many variations in flavor so that the name Banh Mi is well-known to the whole world.

The bread crust is crispy. In the middle of the bread, people stuffed with meat, pate, ham. Combine with some vegetables such as cucumber, pickled radish. The recipe is as simple as a hamburger, but surely the taste will make you remember forever.

Top 12 must try food in Hanoi - Banh mi

Address: Co Long bread 29 Nguyen Chi Thanh street, Ngoc Khanh, Ba Dinh, Hanoi

Nem ran (Deep Fried Vietnamese Spring Rolls)

Another must try food in Hanoi is Nem ran. This dish is popular and appears in almost every restaurant from the north to the south of Vietnam. Nem ran is the name of the dish in the north. However, in the south, people will call them spring rolls ( Cha gio). Although the name is different, the basic dish still has the same processing and appearance.

The regions will differ in how Nem ran’s filling are created. The filling of spring rolls can be a combination of many different ingredients: pork, shrimp, crab, mushrooms, dried onions, eggs, and taro,etc. A famous variation of fried spring rolls with crab filling is often called Nem Cua ran

Address: Thuy Khue Nem ran Doc La Pho Street, Thuy Khue, Tay Ho, Hanoi

Goi cuon (Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls)

This must try food has a similar way of making spring rolls: they all wrap the filling in a thin piece of rice paper. However, Goi Cuon will be used directly after rolling, not frying. Usually, Goi Cuon will have vermicelli and shrimp, meat, and some vegetables inside.

The special thing about the dish is also the dipping sauce. In addition to sweet fish sauce, people also eat Goi Cuon with Mam nem.

Address: Cuon N Roll Giang Vo, Giang Vo, Ba Dinh, Hanoi

Pho cuon (Rice Noodle Roll)

The name Pho cuon, which means “Rice Noodle Roll,” makes sense given that each Pho cuon consists of a large rice noodle coiled around beef and green herbs like basil and cilantro

Pho cuon’s crust has made it a must try food in Hanoi. Different from the feeling of rice paper as commonly found in rolls in Vietnam, Pho cuon is a typical Hanoi dish that you can hardly find in other cities.

Address: Pho Cuon Huong Mai 25 Ward, Ngu Xa, Truc Bach, Ba Dinh, Hanoi

FAQs about must try food in Hanoi

What are Hanoi famous foods?

Top 10 must try food in Hanoi: Pho, Bun Cha, Bun rieu cua, Cha ca Hanoi, Banh cuon, Xoi xeo, Banh mi, Nem ran, Goi cuon, Pho cuon.

Where to eat in Hanoi?

You can get to Pho Ly Quoc Su, Bun cha Dac Kim in Hang Manh street, Cha ca Thang Long in 6B Duong Manh, Banh Cuon Phuong in 68 Hang Cot,  Xoi Xeo Oanh Oanh in 573 La Thanh Street,  Pho Cuon Huong Mai restaurant, Thuy Khue Nem ran restaurant.

You know about the top 10 must try food in Hanoi. Come to try the special flavors that have made many visitors look forward to coming back to Vietnam.

Reviewed by

Diep Van

Phone: +84901166884

Email: diep.van@ftripvietnam.com

Diep Van

Founder & Photography Guide

Specialties: Culture, landscape, portrait, hiking, active and adventurous tour

Besides my unlimited passion for traveling, a professional tour guide for over a decade, I have been taking photographs since sitting at Hanoi of the University of Culture in the early 2000s. Photography started as a hobby but it was seriously taken due to my work relations and my significant passion for the beauty of our world, especially in Southeast Asian parts such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

Within a few years of taking photographs, my works began to be recognized by many reliable international publications such as AFAR Travel, The Times, and The Daily Telegraph newspaper. In addition, I continuously add to my growing profile by winning numerous major awards: 3rd Position of The Independent Photographer 2018, 1st Position of Amateur Photographer of the year 2018, Grand Prize Winner of the AFAR Travel Photography 2019, and a Gold Award of San Francisco Bay International Photography 2020.

I photograph a wide variety of subjects, from travel to landscapes to street scenes. I enjoy documenting the East’s rich cultural heritage and its land soaked in glorious sunrise or sunset light in remote and secluded spots. And, I am very happy to share my knowledge and experience with you. You can visit Luminousvietnamtour to explore tour!


Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Ready to plan your trip

CONTACT US NOW

Customized Itinerary | 24/7 support | Local support