The plates that define Hanoi: what they are, and where to eat the canonical version.
The plates that define Hanoi. what they are, where they came from, and where to eat the canonical version.
Hanoi pho bo is the canonical Northern beef noodle soup: clear bone broth, anise-led, ladled over thin rice noodles with rare or well-done beef.
Where: Phở Gia Truyền Bát Đàn, Phở 10 Lý Quốc Sư, Phở Bò Lâm, Phở Tiến, Phở Thìn Lò Đúc
Price: 60,000-100,000 VND
Bun cha is Hanoi's famous lunch: charcoal-grilled pork patties and pork belly served in a bowl of warm sweet-sharp nuoc cham, with cold rice vermicelli and a herb plate of lettuce, perilla and Thai basil on the side.
Where: Bún Chả Hương Liên, Bún Chả Đắc Kim, Tuyết Bún Chả 34
Price: 60,000-130,000 VND
Cha ca is Hanoi's single-dish kitchen tradition: turmeric-marinated freshwater fish finished tableside in a pan with dill, spring onions and shrimp paste.
Where: Chả Cá Lã Vọng, Chả Cá Thăng Long
Price: 200,000-300,000 VND
Banh mi is Vietnam's national sandwich on a French-colonial baguette. The Hanoi version is restrained: rich pork pate, cold cuts, butter and coriander, with less mayonnaise than the Saigon style.
Where: Banh Mi 25, Banh Mi Hang Gai, Bami Bread
Price: 30,000-50,000 VND
Ca phe trung is Hanoi's egg coffee: thick, custard-like cream of whisked egg yolk and condensed milk floated on hot Vietnamese coffee, drunk like a tiramisu in a cup at Cafe Giang's alley counter.
Where: Café Giảng, Cafe Đinh, Cafe Phố Cổ, Loading T café
Price: 30,000-50,000 VND
Banh cuon is Hanoi's breakfast steamed rice roll: silky sheets steamed over a cloth-stretched cauldron, stuffed with seasoned pork and wood-ear mushroom, then dipped in nuoc cham.
Where: Bánh Cuốn Gia Truyền, Bánh Cuốn Bà Hoành
Price: 40,000-60,000 VND
Bun bo Nam Bo is Hanoi's Southern-style noodle salad: rice vermicelli topped with stir-fried beef, fresh herbs, crispy shallots, roasted peanuts and bean sprouts, all dressed in warm nuoc cham fish sauce.
Where: Bún Bò Nam Bộ Bách Phương
Price: 50,000-70,000 VND
Xoi xeo is Hanoi's breakfast turmeric sticky rice: golden glutinous rice topped with mashed mung bean, fried shallots and a choice of caramel pork.
Where: Xôi Yến
Price: 20,000-50,000 VND
Bia hoi is Hanoi's fresh draft beer: low-alcohol, unpasteurised, brewed and drunk the same day, served from kegs on plastic stools at pavement corners for around 10,000-15,000 VND a glass.
Where: Bia Hơi Corner Ta Hien
Price: 10,000-15,000 VND per glass
Mien luon is Hanoi's eel glass-noodle dish: chewy mung-bean noodles topped with crispy-fried river eel, served wet in a clear broth or dry with fried.
Where: Miến Lươn Chân Cầm
Price: 60,000-90,000 VND
Bun thang is Hanoi's ceremonial noodle soup: a clear chicken-and-shrimp broth ladled over rice vermicelli with shredded chicken, omelette, Vietnamese ham.
Where: Hà Thành Mansion
Price: 60,000-90,000 VND
Pho cuon is Hanoi's rolled-pho specialty from the Truc Bach lake area: fresh rice-noodle sheets wrapped around stir-fried beef and herbs, dipped in nuoc cham instead of being ladled into soup.
Where: Phở Cuốn Hương Mai, Phở Cuốn Chính Thắng
Price: 60,000-100,000 VND
Bun dau mam tom is Hanoi's most divisive dish: cubed fried tofu and rice noodles served with boiled pork, fried pork roll and a small pink dip of mam tom.
Where: Bún Đậu Mắm Tôm Cô Tuyến
Price: 60,000-90,000 VND
Hanoi pho bo is the canonical Northern beef noodle soup: clear bone broth, anise-led, ladled over thin rice noodles with rare or well-done beef.
History: Pho was born in the early 20th century in Nam Dinh and Hanoi, drawing on Chinese noodle and French boeuf bouilli stock traditions. The dish spread north as workers commuted to French-built Hanoi. Pho Gia Truyen Bat Dan, Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su and Pho Bo Lam all hold Michelin Bib Gourmand status for the classic clear-broth Northern style. The 1979 Pho Thin Lo Duc invention of the stir-fried beef pho bo tai lan broke from the lighter Hanoi tradition with a richer garlic-and-onion broth.
Where to try it: Phở Gia Truyền Bát Đàn, Phở 10 Lý Quốc Sư, Phở Bò Lâm, Phở Tiến, Phở Thìn Lò Đúc
Watch out for: Gluten (in quay), Soy
Bun cha is Hanoi's famous lunch: charcoal-grilled pork patties and pork belly served in a bowl of warm sweet-sharp nuoc cham, with cold rice vermicelli and a herb plate of lettuce, perilla and Thai basil on the side.
History: Bun cha emerged in Hanoi in the early 20th century around the Old Quarter, where Bun Cha Dac Kim opened on Hang Manh in 1966 and gave the street its bun cha reputation. Obama and Bourdain shared a bun cha at Bun Cha Huong Lien in 2016, sealing the dish's global identity. Tuyet Bun Cha 34 holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand for the lanceleaf-blumea pork patty variation; Bun Cha Dac Kim is Michelin Selected.
Where to try it: Bún Chả Hương Liên, Bún Chả Đắc Kim, Tuyết Bún Chả 34
Watch out for: Fish (in nuoc cham), Soy
Cha ca is Hanoi's single-dish kitchen tradition: turmeric-marinated freshwater fish finished tableside in a pan with dill, spring onions and shrimp paste.
History: Cha ca was created at 14 Cha Ca street in 1871, where the Doan family began grilling marinated fish for Vietnamese resistance fighters using their home as a meeting place. The family named the restaurant Cha Ca La Vong after a statue inside the shop. The street was renamed Pho Cha Ca in recognition of the dish. Cha Ca Thang Long on Duong Thanh now holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand for the same dish, with multiple branches on one street.
Where to try it: Chả Cá Lã Vọng, Chả Cá Thăng Long
Watch out for: Fish, Shrimp (mam tom), Peanut
Banh mi is Vietnam's national sandwich on a French-colonial baguette. The Hanoi version is restrained: rich pork pate, cold cuts, butter and coriander, with less mayonnaise than the Saigon style.
History: Banh mi emerged in the French colonial era (1873-1954) when local bakeries adapted the baguette using rice flour for lower humidity tolerance. The pate-and-pork filling appeared in the 1950s and the dish became fully Vietnamese after 1954. Banh Mi 25 has run the Old Quarter's most-photographed stall on Hang Ca since 2014; the Hang Gai stall has run since 1979 from a single family.
Where to try it: Banh Mi 25, Banh Mi Hang Gai, Bami Bread
Watch out for: Gluten, Soy, Sesame (some sandwiches)
Ca phe trung is Hanoi's egg coffee: thick, custard-like cream of whisked egg yolk and condensed milk floated on hot Vietnamese coffee, drunk like a tiramisu in a cup at Cafe Giang's alley counter.
History: Egg coffee was invented at Cafe Giang in 1946 by Nguyen Van Giang, who worked as a bartender at the Metropole Hotel. Milk was scarce during the war years, so he whipped egg yolk with sugar as a substitute. After Mr Giang passed away in 1987, his children took over Cafe Giang at 39 Nguyen Huu Huan. His daughter Mrs Bich opened Cafe Dinh on Dinh Tien Hoang in 1987 with the same recipe.
Where to try it: Café Giảng, Cafe Đinh, Cafe Phố Cổ, Loading T café
Watch out for: Egg, Dairy
Banh cuon is Hanoi's breakfast steamed rice roll: silky sheets steamed over a cloth-stretched cauldron, stuffed with seasoned pork and wood-ear mushroom, then dipped in nuoc cham.
History: Banh cuon is a long-established North Vietnamese dish, made by steaming a fermented rice-flour batter over fabric stretched across a pot of boiling water. Banh Cuon Gia Truyen at 14 Hang Ga has steamed the rolls since 1973. The dish is traditionally a breakfast in Hanoi but is now served all day. Banh Cuon Ba Hoanh on Tho Xuong is in the Michelin Guide for the same technique.
Where to try it: Bánh Cuốn Gia Truyền, Bánh Cuốn Bà Hoành
Watch out for: Gluten (in soy), Soy, Pork
Bun bo Nam Bo is Hanoi's Southern-style noodle salad: rice vermicelli topped with stir-fried beef, fresh herbs, crispy shallots, roasted peanuts and bean sprouts, all dressed in warm nuoc cham fish sauce.
History: Bun bo Nam Bo means 'Southern Vietnamese beef noodles', brought north after 1975 reunification. Bach Phuong restaurant on Hang Dieu has plated the dish since 1986, serving only this one dish from communal metal tables. The dish is now a Hanoi staple despite its Southern roots, dressed in nuoc cham fish sauce with peanuts, crispy shallots, herbs and bean sprouts.
Where to try it: Bún Bò Nam Bộ Bách Phương
Watch out for: Peanut, Fish (nuoc cham), Soy
Xoi xeo is Hanoi's breakfast turmeric sticky rice: golden glutinous rice topped with mashed mung bean, fried shallots and a choice of caramel pork.
History: Xoi xeo and other sticky-rice dishes are an ancient Northern Vietnamese tradition, eaten as breakfast or as a between-meal snack from street stalls. The dish layers turmeric-stained glutinous rice with mashed mung bean and crispy fried shallots. Xoi Yen on Nguyen Huu Huan has anchored the Old Quarter's xoi tradition for decades, with a counter open from 05:00 to 01:00 the next morning.
Where to try it: Xôi Yến
Watch out for: Pork, Soy
Bia hoi is Hanoi's fresh draft beer: low-alcohol, unpasteurised, brewed and drunk the same day, served from kegs on plastic stools at pavement corners for around 10,000-15,000 VND a glass.
History: Bia hoi emerged in the Doi Moi reform era from 1986 onwards, when private brewing took off in Hanoi. Daily-brewed beer with no preservatives or pasteurisation could not be exported or stored, so it became the city's pavement drink. The Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen corner cluster grew through the 1990s and is now the bia hoi crossroads.
Where to try it: Bia Hơi Corner Ta Hien
Watch out for: Gluten
Mien luon is Hanoi's eel glass-noodle dish: chewy mung-bean noodles topped with crispy-fried river eel, served wet in a clear broth or dry with fried.
History: River eels were a Red-River-delta staple long before Hanoi's modern food culture; Mien Luon Chan Cam on Chan Cam street has plated the dish at a kerbside counter for decades and now holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand. The dry version (mien luon kho) with crispy eel and fried shallots is the Hanoi specialty.
Where to try it: Miến Lươn Chân Cầm
Watch out for: Fish (eel), Soy
Bun thang is Hanoi's ceremonial noodle soup: a clear chicken-and-shrimp broth ladled over rice vermicelli with shredded chicken, omelette, Vietnamese ham.
History: Bun thang originated as a Tet leftover dish in 19th-century Hanoi: a way to use cured pork, chicken stock and any garnish in the larder after the New Year feast. The dish became an everyday lunch in the 20th century. Ha Thanh Mansion plates it in a Bib Gourmand setting; Old Quarter family kitchens like the Quan Thuy chain still serve the traditional version.
Where to try it: Hà Thành Mansion
Watch out for: Egg, Shrimp, Fish sauce
Pho cuon is Hanoi's rolled-pho specialty from the Truc Bach lake area: fresh rice-noodle sheets wrapped around stir-fried beef and herbs, dipped in nuoc cham instead of being ladled into soup.
History: Pho cuon was invented on Ngu Xa street near Truc Bach Lake in the 1990s when local cooks repurposed unused fresh pho sheets as wrappers. The sheets are rolled around stir-fried beef, lettuce and herbs, then dipped in nuoc cham. Pho Cuon Huong Mai is the canonical Ngu Xa counter; Pho Cuon Chinh Thang holds a Michelin Selected listing for the same dish.
Where to try it: Phở Cuốn Hương Mai, Phở Cuốn Chính Thắng
Watch out for: Fish (nuoc cham), Soy
Bun dau mam tom is Hanoi's most divisive dish: cubed fried tofu and rice noodles served with boiled pork, fried pork roll and a small pink dip of mam tom.
History: Bun dau mam tom is an old Hanoi street dish, traditionally a lunchtime worker's meal of cheap protein and pungent dip. Fermented shrimp paste (mam tom) is the defining flavour and the dividing one: Hanoians love it, outsiders often need a few attempts. Counters like Bun Dau Co Tuyen on Hang Khay serve the dish to Old Quarter regulars from morning to past midnight.
Where to try it: Bún Đậu Mắm Tôm Cô Tuyến
Watch out for: Shrimp, Soy, Pork
Hanoi's signature dishes include Phở Bò, Bún Chả, Chả Cá, Bánh Mì, Cà Phê Trứng. See our signature dishes chapter for where to eat each.