What to eat and where to find delicious street food in Hanoi, Vietnam?
I’ve visited Hanoi several times and totally love their food culture.
There are plenty of dishes to try in Hanoi, and in this article, I’ll share 15 must-eat street food dishes in Hanoi and my favorite places to try them.
Let’s explore Hanoi cuisine!
Bun Cha
Bun Cha is a rustic Hanoi delicacy, and you can find Bun cha restaurants in many places.
What is bun cha?
Bun Cha combines rice vermicelli, grilled meat, and fish sauce with carrots, salted kohlrabi. You can also order spring rolls as a side dish.
The meatballs are grilled to a beautiful golden brown, slightly charred color. It may look a bit dry outside, but the meat inside is still soft and juicy.
A serving of bun cha costs 35,000 VND ($1.5) or more. If you’re still hungry, don’t hesitate to order more vermicelli. Most shops don’t charge extra.
How to eat Bun cha
First, you dip grilled meat into the bowl of sweet and sour sauce. Then slightly dip the vermicelli in the sauce, and eat them. Don’t forget to eat the vegetables as well.
Delicious bun cha restaurants in Hanoi
- 34 Hang Than, Ba Dinh District.
- 1 Hang Manh, Hoan Kiem District.
- 74 Hang Fan Street, Hoan Kiem District
- 24 Le Van Huu, Hoan Kiem.
Travel tips
- Guide: Check out the best things to do in Hanoi and plan your trip. Also, here is my 2-days itinerary in Hanoi for your reference.
- Accommodation: I recommend booking your hotel in Hanoi in advance. I stayed at Little charm Hanoi hostel and totally loved the experience.
- Tour: Joining a food tour is an excellent way to explore the Hanoi food scene. Learn more about the Hanoi food tour here.
- Transport: Book your ticket
Egg coffee
In my opinion, the most worth-trying dish in Hanoi is egg coffee.
With the rich taste of the thick creamy golden egg layer and the bitter taste of quality coffee, you will fall in love from the first try.
The sweetness of the egg mix is almost like meringue and balances the sharpness of the black coffee perfectly.
Note: If you don’t like coffee, you can ask for egg chocolate. They are both delicious!Where to try egg coffee in Hanoi
My favorite spot is Ca phe Giang, a hidden gem down a small alley. Address: 39 Nguyen Huu Huan, Hoan Kiem.
Jelly yogurt
Sữa Chua dẻo is a delicious summer snack. Looking at the ingredients, it is no different from regular yogurt. Jelly yogurt is cut into large squares, creamier and softer, often topped with green tea or cocoa powder and fresh fruits.
Where to try jelly yogurt
- Cay Da coffee: 3 Duong Thanh, Hoan Kiem
- Sam Cafe: 39 Duong Thanh, Hoan Kiem
Bun dau mam tom
Bun dau mam tom is a simple but delicious dish to try on your trip.
A combination of pork, fried tofu, fried sausage, fried fish ball, and vermicelli, served with shrimp sauce and vegetables, creates an unforgettable attractive flavor.
To enjoy the dish, you need to squeeze the kumquats into the bowl of shrimp paste and stir to foam up. If the shrimp sauce is too much for you, you can ask the staff to give you fish sauce.
We usually add a bit of kumquat, sugar, a few slices of chili, and garlic to our fish sauce.
Where to eat Bun dau mam tom in Hanoi?
- Ngo Tram shop: 1B Ngo Tram, Hoan Kiem District
- Trung Huong: 49 Phat Loc lane, Hang Bac
- Cay Bang – Dai La: 129 Dai La, Hai Ba Trung District
Nem Chua Ran
Nem Chua Rán is my favorite street food in Hanoi. The hot, fatty, fried roll with a spicy chili sauce totally captured my attention when I first tried it.
Nem Chua Ran is made from ground pork and pork skin, tossed in bread crumbs and fried until golden brown. You can dip them in chili sauce and eat them with cucumbers and mango slices.
Where to eat
Tam Thuong alley is the most famous area for this dish. This tiny alley is hidden on the busy Hang Bong street. The alley is only about 10 meters long, but there are more than five adjacent Nem Chua Ran stores to choose from.
Snail noodles
Bún ốc is a delicate blend of sourness from star fruit and lemon combined with the sweetness of snails and broth.
The famous Hanoi snail noodle dish is made from simple and rustic ingredients, including snails or stuffed snails, vermicelli, tomatoes, herbs, and spice. The dish is usually served with chili fish sauce and vegetables.
The sweetness of noodle broth with crispy and chewy snails is the perfect combination.
Where to eat delicious snail noodles
- Giang snail noodles: 36 Luong Ngoc Quyen, Hoan Kiem
- 57 Hai Ba Trung, Hoan Kiem
Pho
Pho Hanoi is a traditional dish with its special Northern flavor.
The most noticeable difference between Pho Hanoi and Pho in the South is that the pho noddle is flatter and bigger, and some places will eat pho with fried dough.
There are many choices of Pho, from chicken noodle soup, beef noodle soup to duck noodle soup. However, a bowl of beef Pho is still the best. If you’d like to eat beef a bit rare, order “Phở tái.”
I usually ask to have an egg dropped into my bowl right after the boiling broth. Almost every pho shop has poached eggs available to serve, and you can ask for “trứng chần” if you’d like one.
Best Pho restaurants in Hanoi
For 50,000 VND/person ($2.5), you can try some delicious pho at these restaurants. If you order extra items such as fried dough or poached eggs, expect to pay an additional 10,000 or 20,000 VND (0.5 ~ $1).
- 49 Bat Dan, Hoan Kiem District
- 13 Lo Duc, Hai Ba Trung District
Pho rolls
Pho roll is an interesting street food dish to try in Hanoi.
Instead of rice paper, people roll the Pho layer with stir-fried minced beef with spices, vegetables such as coriander, lettuce, herbs, onions, and bean sprouts.
This outer layer of Pho tastes the same as Pho noodles, just that it’s much larger.
The dipping sauce is made of fish sauce, seasoned with spices, and served with kohlrabi, papaya, and sliced carrots.
The rich taste of meat, vegetables, and dipping sauce makes it a delicious snack.
Best Pho rolls restaurants in Hanoi
- Pho roll Huong Mai: 25 Ngu Xa, Ba Dinh District
- Hung Ben noodle soup: 35 Nguyen Khac Hieu, Ba Dinh District
Banh Cuon
A hot plate of Banh cuon (rolled rice cake) served with sausage, spring rolls, fish sauce, and vegetables is an excellent choice for foodies.
Banh cuon looks quite similar to Pho rolls, except the outer layer is richer and has different toppings.
Bun Rieu Cua
Crab noodle soup is a delicious delicacy of the Northern provinces. A Hanoi crab noodle soup bowl includes fresh minced crab, tomatoes, fried tofu, fried onions, and green onions.
The soup broth has a natural sweetness from the crab, unlike other noodle soups, which use bones. Combining with some other ingredients such as tomatoes creates a broth that is both sweet and mildly sour.
Delicious Hanoi crab noodle shop
- 2F Quang Trung, Hoan Kiem
- 32 Nguyen Sieu, Hoan Kiem
Bun Thang
Bun thang can be called “the most sophisticated” because it takes up to 20 ingredients to make a delicious bowl.
The main ingredients include thinly sliced fried egg, shredded chicken, thinly sliced pork, shrimp, squid, laksa leaves, etc.
Best Bun Thang restaurants in Hanoi
- 48 Cau Go, Hoan Kiem District
- 29 Hang Hanh, Hoan Kiem
Bun Moc
Moc noodle soup is an interesting dish to try when traveling to Hanoi. The ingredient of this dish is quite simple, with vermicelli, Moc (minced meat with wood ear, mushrooms, and spices), and bone broth.
- Bun Moc Hang Luoc: 57-59 Hang Luoc, Hoan Kiem District
Sticky rice
Sticky rice is another delicious choice for your food adventure.
Traditional types of sticky rice include corn, peanut, and green bean sticky rice. Some stores also offer toppings such as fried eggs, fried spring rolls, shredded chicken, mushroom chicken, and braised meat.
In addition to steamed sticky rice, crispy sticky rice is also a great choice. Hang Dieu fried sticky rice is recommended for diners. The outer shell is crispy, but the inside still retains its juiciness.
On average, the price of sticky rice in Hanoi is from 10,000 to 50,000 VND, depending on the toppings.
Where to try sticky rice in Hanoi
Here are some sticky rice shops:
- 44 Hang Hom, Hoan Kiem
- 35b Nguyen Huu Huan street, Hang Bac, Hoan Kiem
- Hang Dieu fried sticky rice: 18 Nguyen Van To, Hoan Kiem
Fried sticky rice with pork and egg.
Pork ribs porridge
What to eat in Hanoi in cold weather? Rib porridge is the top choice!
Porridge is both easy to eat and keeps your stomach when enjoying in the cold season.
The porridge includes simmered ribs or mussel meat, herbs, green onions, and fried dough.
Eating a hot bowl of porridge in the cold weather is a pleasant experience.
Best places to try rib porridge
It’s not difficult to find mussels and ribs porridge around Hanoi.
You can visit Dong Xuan market, Ngo Huyen alley, to enjoy a bowl of hot porridge. The price for each bowl is about 20,000 to 35,000 VND.
- Dong Xuan market rib porridge: 14 Dong Xuan, Hoan Kiem District.
- Ngo Huyen Rib Porridge: Ngo Huyen alley, Hoan Kiem District.
Banh mi
If you’re craving Banh mi, you can try it too in Hanoi.
The filling of Banh mi varies depending on the sellers.
The traditional choice includes pate, sausages, eggs, and sauce. This option costs about $0.7 to $1. Meanwhile, Banh mi with more variations such as chicken, cheese, or grilled beef costs about $2 ~ $2.5.
Banh mi store in Hanoi
Some bread suggestions for diners are Dung Hanh bread (specializing in sausages), Thai Thinh bread, or Bao Quyen bread.