Hanoi food guide
Hanoi cooks a lighter, less sweet street food than the south. Eat bun cha at lunch, pho in the morning, and egg coffee when you want to sit down.
The Old Quarter will feed you, and it will also sell you a worse bowl at a higher price if you never leave the first corner. Walk until you see a single-dish shop.
Dishes to plan: pho, bun cha, bun dau with fried tofu and shrimp paste, cha ca if you want a sit-down grilled-fish meal, and ca phe trung.
Specialties
Pho Phở Pho is a beef or chicken noodle soup in a clear broth. Northern bowls are plainer. Southern bowls come with a sweeter broth and a pile of herbs and lime. Eat it at breakfast or lunch. Taste the broth before you add anything. Bun cha Bún chả Bun cha is Hanoi’s grilled pork with rice noodles, herbs, and a sweet-sour dipping broth. It is a lunch dish. The pork arrives in the broth. Noodles and herbs arrive beside it. Banh mi Bánh mì Banh mi is a light baguette with pâté, mayonnaise, pickles, herbs, and usually a protein. The bread should crackle. The filling should not be only meat. Eat it the morning it is baked. Point at the fillings if the stall has several. Vietnamese coffee Cà phê Vietnamese coffee is usually robusta, brewed in a small metal phin filter. Ca phe sua da is iced coffee with condensed milk. Egg coffee, ca phe trung, is a Hanoi whipped-egg cup. Wait for the phin to finish dripping. Stir the condensed milk up from the bottom.