Cao Bang food guide
Cao Bang eats a sour pho and rice rolls in bone broth in town, then a highland table on the roads out: Trùng Khánh chestnut in autumn, roast duck with mắc mật, black-olive sticky rice, and corn wine.
Compare a room, or search a tour.
Check stays Klook tours
Photo: Buileducanh · CC BY-SA 3.0
Start in town before the road. Phở chua is the sour bowl, bánh cuốn comes hot in pork-bone broth, and phở vịt is the warmer duck bowl beside them. On the eastern road toward the falls, autumn means Trùng Khánh chestnut, and lunch is roast duck, olive sticky rice, and smoked sausage.
Give the meal its own hour in the city, or eat at a table on the road you already took for the falls. In the afternoon the town center fries bánh áp chao and serves hot bánh đúc.
Cao Bang specialties
The town bowls, then the chestnut, the duck, and the corn wine.
- Sour pho
- Steamed rice rolls
- Duck pho
- Five-colour sticky rice
- Fragrant sticky rice
- Trung Khanh chestnut
- Chestnut green rice
- Chestnut wine
- Banh khao
- Roast duck
- Dew-dried grass duck
- Smoked sausage
- Black-olive sticky rice
- Canna glass noodles
- Bamboo-tube rice
- Corn wine
- Ash-soaked rice cake
- Black chung cake
- Ap chao
- Hot banh duc
- Khau nhuc
- Ant-egg cake
- Black jelly
- Thang Hen shrimp
- Fresh-corn porridge
- Village chicken
- Kitchen-hung meat
- Crisp pork belly
- Banh giay
Sour pho Phở chua
Phở chua is Cao Bang’s sour noodle bowl, not a hot beef pho: rice noodles under roast duck, crisp pork belly, and smoked sausage, dressed in a vinegar sauce thickened with canna starch and seasoned with sugar, garlic, and chili. The sauce is mildly sour and lightly sweet, and fried sweet-potato threads, crushed roasted peanut, cucumber, and herbs go on last.
Steamed rice rolls Bánh cuốn
Cao Bang bánh cuốn is a hot, soft, white rice sheet filled with pork fried with dried shallot, served in a clear pork-bone broth with giò, chả, and egg. Ask for the egg roll and an egg is cracked into the sheet while it steams.
Duck pho Phở vịt
Phở vịt is the hot bowl beside phở chua: soft noodles and firm, fragrant roast duck in a rich broth that smells of spice.
Five-colour sticky rice Xôi ngũ sắc
Five-colour sticky rice is Pì Pất or Ong glutinous rice coloured with plants, purple, green, and yellow among them. The grain is soft and smells of upland sticky rice.
Fragrant sticky rice Xôi nếp hương
Xôi nếp hương is a morning packet of fragrant glutinous rice, soft, aromatic, and nutty.
Trung Khanh chestnut Hạt dẻ Trùng Khánh
Trùng Khánh chestnut is an even, nearly round autumn nut with a dark glossy shell and a yellow kernel. Roasted, it is nutty, sweet, and aromatic.
Chestnut green rice Cốm hạt dẻ
Cốm hạt dẻ is young Pì Pất rice cut while still milky, boiled, dried, and pounded to a translucent green, then rubbed with pounded chestnut. The taste is the nuttiness of both.
Chestnut wine Rượu hạt dẻ
Rượu hạt dẻ is a wine made from Trùng Khánh chestnut, one of the things the eastern road makes from its autumn nut.
Banh khao Bánh khảo
Bánh khảo is a soft, sweet, fragrant cake of fine glutinous flour and honey, made in the same family as bánh pẻng phạ.
Roast duck Vịt quay
Vịt quay is the roast duck of the eastern road, rubbed with mắc mật leaf. On that road it shares the table with olive sticky rice and smoked sausage.
Dew-dried grass duck Vịt cỏ phơi sương om mắc mật
Vịt cỏ phơi sương om mắc mật is a grass duck dried in the dew, then stewed with mắc mật leaf, a different plate from the roast duck.
Smoked sausage Lạp sườn
Lạp sườn is Cao Bang’s smoked sausage, made on the western road from local black pork.
Xôi trám is sticky rice worked with black olives, an autumn specialty on both geopark roads.
Canna glass noodles Miến dong
Miến dong is a clear, thin, chewy noodle made from canna root.
Bamboo-tube rice Cơm lam
Cơm lam is glutinous rice packed into a bamboo tube and roasted until done.
Rượu ngô is the northern kitchen’s best-known drink: steamed corn mixed with a yeast cake of more than 20 forest leaves, rested about a month, then distilled.
Ash-soaked rice cake Bánh gio
Bánh gio is upland glutinous rice soaked in kitchen-ash water and wrapped in lá chít leaves.
Black chung cake Bánh chưng đen
Bánh chưng đen is the black chưng cake, its glutinous rice soaked with tro hoa muối ash.
Ap chao Bánh áp chao
Bánh áp chao is a savory afternoon fried cake: soft batter around marinated meat or duck, fried golden so it is crisp outside and soft and chewy inside.
Hot banh duc Bánh đúc nóng
Bánh đúc nóng is a hot bowl of soft, sticky, dense bánh đúc topped with minced pork stir-fried with wood ear, fried shallot, and herbs.
Khau nhuc Khau nhục
Khau nhục is pork belly steamed a long time until soft, the fat balanced by its seasoning.
Ant-egg cake Bánh trứng kiến
Bánh trứng kiến is a glutinous-rice cake wrapped around a fatty filling of ant eggs, with lá vả leaf.
Black jelly Thạch đen
Thạch đen is black jelly made from the thạch plant grown in Cao Bang, mild in taste, soft, and smooth.
Thang Hen shrimp Tép hồ Thang Hen
Tép hồ Thang Hen are small shrimp from Thang Hen lake, wrapped in green mustard leaf and lá lốt.
Fresh-corn porridge Cháo bẹ
Cháo bẹ is a porridge of fresh young corn flour from the northern route.
Village chicken Gà bản
Gà bản is village chicken, firm, fragrant, and naturally sweet, boiled, steamed, grilled, or cooked with mountain vegetables.
Kitchen-hung meat Thịt treo gác bếp
Thịt treo gác bếp is meat hung over the kitchen fire: local black pork on the western road, and beef and black pork on the northern road.
Crisp pork belly Ba chỉ quay
Ba chỉ quay is golden, crisp roast belly from local black pork, a western-road plate.
Banh giay Bánh giày
Bánh giày is a glutinous rice cake made from the same Pì Pất or Ong rice as the five-colour sticky rice.
Cao Bang specialties
These are the plates and drinks of the town and the three geopark roads, from the breakfast bowls to the northern corn wine.
Other local names to listen for: tương đen Méc Cảng, cá trầm xanh, ong xào măng, thạch trắng, mác cà tắm, canh đỗ trắng nấu hoa chuối rừng, lê Đông Khê, kẹo ngà hoóc, bánh pẻng khua, bánh nướng, chè Tiên, pear, yellow sugarcane, red persimmon, bỏng thóc théc, mèn mén, khẩu sli, bánh ngô, thịt chua Bảo Lạc, mận máu Bảo Lạc, thịt xông khói, thạch mác púp, bánh cuốn ngô, cá suối kho mắc mật, lẩu thắng cố, nộm thịt bò một nắng, vịt cỏ tiềm, bánh chè lam, tàu trúc, chè thập cẩm, bánh bò, bánh gai, bánh rợm, stuffed bamboo shoot, boiled bí hương, canh rau âu, peanut candy, and forest honey.
Cao Bang city
Phở chua is Cao Bang’s sour noodle bowl, not a hot beef pho: rice noodles under roast duck, crisp pork belly, and smoked sausage, dressed in a vinegar sauce thickened with canna starch and seasoned with sugar, garlic, and chili. The sauce is mildly sour and lightly sweet, and fried sweet-potato threads, crushed roasted peanut, cucumber, and herbs go on last.
Steamed rice rolls Bánh cuốn
Cao Bang city
Cao Bang bánh cuốn is a hot, soft, white rice sheet filled with pork fried with dried shallot, served in a clear pork-bone broth with giò, chả, and egg. Ask for the egg roll and an egg is cracked into the sheet while it steams.
Cao Bang city
Phở vịt is the hot bowl beside phở chua: soft noodles and firm, fragrant roast duck in a rich broth that smells of spice.
Five-colour sticky rice Xôi ngũ sắc
Cao Bang city and the highland roads
Five-colour sticky rice is Pì Pất or Ong glutinous rice coloured with plants, purple, green, and yellow among them. The grain is soft and smells of upland sticky rice.
Cao Bang city
Xôi nếp hương is a morning packet of fragrant glutinous rice, soft, aromatic, and nutty.
Trung Khanh, eastern road
Trùng Khánh chestnut is an even, nearly round autumn nut with a dark glossy shell and a yellow kernel. Roasted, it is nutty, sweet, and aromatic.
Trung Khanh, eastern road
Cốm hạt dẻ is young Pì Pất rice cut while still milky, boiled, dried, and pounded to a translucent green, then rubbed with pounded chestnut. The taste is the nuttiness of both.
Eastern road
Chân giò hầm hạt dẻ is ham hock stewed with Trùng Khánh chestnut, the soft, fatty hock against the nutty, sweet nut.
Trung Khanh, eastern road
Rượu hạt dẻ is a wine made from Trùng Khánh chestnut, one of the things the eastern road makes from its autumn nut.
Eastern road
Bánh khảo is a soft, sweet, fragrant cake of fine glutinous flour and honey, made in the same family as bánh pẻng phạ.
Eastern road
Vịt quay is the roast duck of the eastern road, rubbed with mắc mật leaf. On that road it shares the table with olive sticky rice and smoked sausage.
Eastern road
Vịt cỏ phơi sương om mắc mật is a grass duck dried in the dew, then stewed with mắc mật leaf, a different plate from the roast duck.
Eastern road, western road, and town
Lạp sườn is Cao Bang’s smoked sausage, made on the western road from local black pork.
Eastern and western roads
Xôi trám is sticky rice worked with black olives, an autumn specialty on both geopark roads.
Western road
Trám xào thịt ba chỉ is black olive stir-fried with pork belly, a western-road plate.
Canna glass noodles Miến dong
Western road
Miến dong is a clear, thin, chewy noodle made from canna root.
Bamboo-tube rice Cơm lam
Northern route
Cơm lam is glutinous rice packed into a bamboo tube and roasted until done.
Northern route
Rượu ngô is the northern kitchen’s best-known drink: steamed corn mixed with a yeast cake of more than 20 forest leaves, rested about a month, then distilled.
Northern route
Bánh gio is upland glutinous rice soaked in kitchen-ash water and wrapped in lá chít leaves.
Northern route
Bánh chưng đen is the black chưng cake, its glutinous rice soaked with tro hoa muối ash.
Cao Bang city center
Bánh áp chao is a savory afternoon fried cake: soft batter around marinated meat or duck, fried golden so it is crisp outside and soft and chewy inside.
Hot banh duc Bánh đúc nóng
Cao Bang city
Bánh đúc nóng is a hot bowl of soft, sticky, dense bánh đúc topped with minced pork stir-fried with wood ear, fried shallot, and herbs.
Cao Bang city
Khau nhục is pork belly steamed a long time until soft, the fat balanced by its seasoning.
Cao Bang city
Lợn quay is roast pig seasoned with mắc mật leaf: crackling first, then soft, sweet, fatty meat.
Cao Bang city
Bánh trứng kiến is a glutinous-rice cake wrapped around a fatty filling of ant eggs, with lá vả leaf.
Cao Bang city
Thạch đen is black jelly made from the thạch plant grown in Cao Bang, mild in taste, soft, and smooth.
Thang Hen, eastern road
Tép hồ Thang Hen are small shrimp from Thang Hen lake, wrapped in green mustard leaf and lá lốt.
Northern route
Cháo bẹ is a porridge of fresh young corn flour from the northern route.
Northern route
Thịt lợn ủ chua với bột ngô is pork soured with corn flour, from the limestone villages of the northern route.
Cao Bang city
Gà bản is village chicken, firm, fragrant, and naturally sweet, boiled, steamed, grilled, or cooked with mountain vegetables.
Kitchen-hung meat Thịt treo gác bếp
Western and northern roads
Thịt treo gác bếp is meat hung over the kitchen fire: local black pork on the western road, and beef and black pork on the northern road.
Western road
Ba chỉ quay is golden, crisp roast belly from local black pork, a western-road plate.
Eastern road
Bánh giày is a glutinous rice cake made from the same Pì Pất or Ong rice as the five-colour sticky rice.
Casual dining
Kim Đồng is the walking street in Thục Phán ward.
Phường Thục Phán
For the 2026 National Day holiday, 19 produce stalls lined the walking street with chestnut, bánh khảo, glass noodles, peanut candy, black jelly, and forest honey.
Breakfast
Morning in town is phở chua, bánh cuốn, phở vịt, five-colour sticky rice, and a fragrant sticky-rice packet. Bánh cuốn stalls open from 4 to 5 in the morning.