I'm back! In this post, I'll be sharing some of the representative foods of Vietnam, and particularly in Hanoi. So hold your horses, get saddled, and let's go!
I first tasted Vietnamese cuisine when I was in Hong Kong. Right in front of my office building is a Vietnamese restaurant, and this is where I first encountered Vietnamese food. Every time I had the opportunity and I find a friend to eat with, we'd always run to the Vietnamese restaurant and enjoy their delicious Pho and spring rolls. :-)
So, when we decided to go to Hanoi, I started looking up their various food offerings. We were only there for four full days, so of course we were not able to sample all their foods, but we ate quite a variety.
My younger niece is a very picky eater, and I often tell her that she needs to learn to eat all kinds of food so that she can enjoy traveling- otherwise she won't truly enjoy going to other places. Plus, the essence of traveling is not just sightseeing- it is delving into their culture, eating their foods, sampling their delicacies, that way you can truly say that you travel. And that is just my opinion by the way.
So, on our very first day, we went to Ba Dinh Square, and after exploring the tourist attractions in the area, we felt hunger pangs, and we looked for a place to eat. Since all of us were traveling to Hanoi for the first time, we were unfamiliar with the place. We kept walking around until we came to a market, and we saw some street stalls where they sell various kinds of food. Since we were not sure what to eat, we walked until we saw what we thought we could eat.
Let me warn you though, when they say street food, it literally means street food, as stalls occupy the sidewalks during daytime and even the streets at night. Small tables and very low stools are set up almost everywhere, and you just look at the food, try to ask the price through sign language, and eat your way. Sounds complicated? Nah- it's what makes traveling fun and adventurous. :-)
This is how a typical Hanoi street looks like. This picture was taken at night, and like I said, stools and tables are set on the streets and side walks, they take your order, or you point at whatever you want to eat, and wait for your food to be served. Locals and tourists alike eat in these places. So you have to be brave and just choose something to eat, unless you want to starve, ha ha. Having said that, there are also of course other places that have normal chairs and tables, and we did eat in some of those places too.
So, our first meal in Hanoi was a dish called bún chá. This dish is said to have originated in Hanoi itself, and it is a rice noodle soup dish served with grilled pork belly and minced pork, 2 kinds. With the meat comes a mountain of cold rice noodles, another mountain or plateful of various herbs, and on the side, some chopped garlic and chilies. In the bowl with meat are sliced green papayas and carrots. Soup is added on the meat, and you just mix the noodles and eat away.
The taste? Let me try to describe it. As with most Vietnamese dishes, it has a somewhat sweet taste, although not very sweet, like barbecue here in the Philippines. My picky niece did not have her food with soup, so she just ate the noodles and the meat as is, and she actually liked the barbecue! My sister was complaining that the soup was cold, but the dish is actually supposed to be eaten cold which I did not know at the time! My other niece knew better than to complain, so we ate. As for me, since I already am somewhat familiar with Vietnamese cuisine, I had no problem eating it.
After lunch, we went to Hanoi Citadel, and after that we went back to the hotel, swam at the pool, and after we took a shower, we walked around the area near the hotel in search of dinner. We found a Japanese restaurant and we just had dinner there. I am not going to share a picture of that, because it is not Vietnamese food, ha ha.
Perhaps this is the most famous dish in Hanoi, pho and bun cha will come in second. Pho is also a noodles soup dish, topped with either chicken or beef. If it is chicken, then it is called pho ga, if it is beef, then it is called pho bo. This is a hot noodle soup, unlike the bún chá, which is cold. It is also topped with a lot of veggies and herbs, mostly spring onion and some greens. Most broths in Vietnam has that somewhat sweet taste, and this dish has been made famous by Vietnamese refugees after the Vietnam War. Now pho is world famous, and as a testament there are quite a lot of Vietnamese restaurants in greater Manila serving it and other Vietnamese cuisine.
This is the chicken variation. There's not a lot of difference in taste, just the meat that is on top is different. It's basically the same somewhat sweet broth. The reason Hanoi serves a lot of dishes in soup is its proximity to China. The weather tends to be colder than the rest of the country, as evidenced by their having four seasons as I shared in my first article about Hanoi.
For my younger niece, who is a very picky eater, we often bought her these and we would just order fried rice for her so that she could eat something and she ate without difficulty. Of course, as she eats, I constantly remind her that she has to learn to eat other things, ha ha ha! There are various kinds of barbecues, so even the pickiest eater like my niece won't starve.
This is a plate of spring rolls. We had this during our first lunch. It was nice, but it would have been better if it had a better dipping sauce. The dipping sauce was somewhat lacking to me, or maybe I did not know how to mix it properly. :-)
We did not eat this, but these are quail, which, I believe, were either roasted or fried. Not a fan though, so I just took a picture, just so I could share it.
We also did not eat these. It was just interesting to take a picture as a lot of people were eating them. If you see the legs on the side, that's the lady cooking them on the sidewalk and selling them right on the spot. Talk about a mobile kitchen! ha ha ha!
Can anyone guess what this could be? The vendor said its ice cream, but its soaked in water and it did not look very clean so we did not dare try buying it, let alone eating it.
Speaking of ice cream. This is the kind of ice cream we tried. This is rolled ice cream, and it is made by putting the ingredients in a flat frozen metal and it is mixed and scraped until it becomes ice cream. It would then be flattened on the surface, cut into several portions, and each portion would then be rolled up and put into a cup, hence, the name rolled ice cream. We ordered the coconut flavored one, and if I remember correctly, I think it cost 30,000VND.
This is another kind of noodle dish that we did not try- and the meat on top is the roasted pigeon and I don't know what else. They love their noodles indeed.
This is green papaya salad. The sauce again, has that sweet taste, but it was also sour as it had vinegar. I loved it, but since we ordered so much food that night, we were unable to finish everything. What a shame. I think I was the only one who liked this dish.
This is a vegetarian dish- made of tofu, mushroom, broccolli, which was also very delicious. But then again, we did not know that we ordered so much food, so when the food arrived, our jaws dropped. And we were laughing because we were trying to order simply, but we ended up ordering a feast that we were unable to finish. Lesson learned. This was when we came back from the Halong Bay tour.
I did not try this at all- we just wasted a lot of food that night as we ordered by mistake, ha ha ha! My sister was forcing herself to eat more, as I was also trying to do, but how big can our stomachs be? :-)
Yes, we also had a bowl of corn soup each, there were spring rolls- what on earth were we thinking? I guess our brains were no longer working at that time as we were already very tired.
When we went to Halong, we had a stopover in the middle each way. On the way to Halong, we bought sausages and vegetable skewers. On our way back to Hanoi, we bought bánh mi, which is a sandwich on a baguette. The Vietnamese were once colonized by the French, hence the baguette. There are different kinds of bánh mi, we just had ours at a rest stop so it was not topnotch, ha ha. Usually there is meat, ours was beef, and onions were added, some slices of cucumber although they could have added more, and some tomatoes. In other stores, they add a lot more vegetables and herbs. I added a lot of ketchup and chili sauce on mine, this was my niece's and she added mayonnaise and ketchup. Ugh!
Out of all the foods that we ate in Hanoi, my companions would agree that this was the best food they for the duration of the stay. First of all, it has rice, and second of all, we had it in a proper restaurant, with proper chairs and tables, ha ha! We found this restaurant along the West Lake, where our hotel was located. They loved it so much we went to eat twice- me and my sister had beef which is pictured above, my nieces had pork and chicken respectively. This restaurant caters to a lot of foreigners as evidenced by the people eating while we were there. It was a bit pricey, but totally worth it.
When we went to the weekend night market in the Old Quarter, we saw all kinds of street food. We only tried some, because of course, we could not possibly try all of them without bursting our stomachs.
This is another kind of spring roll wrapped in rice paper. We didn't get to try it though, so we just took pictures.
There was an area where they sold street foods like the ones you see in Myeongdong in Seoul but of course they didn't taste like the food in Seoul. We tried eating the deokbokki and it was nothing like the ones I've tasted in Seoul. Sorry, no comparison.
There was also this curious fruit arrangement. We would have bought some but they sprinkle something red/brownish thing, not sure if its sugar, but I just found it weird. My sister bought freshly squeezed sugar cane juice but it was not pure juice, it was more sugar than the real thing, ha ha.
So tell me, why would I want to buy fruit if I see something weird on it? Perhaps its how the locals like it. Or perhaps its how they keep the fruit fresh. Nevertheless, I just took pictures and that's it.
Just when we thought we were done eating the night we ordered so much food came this plate of fruit. So we had to dig in again and ate most of it. Dragon fruit, watermelon and the yellow one was mango.
We also happened to pass by a local market during our first day and saw a lot of fresh fruit. we bought quite a lot when we came home, longans so sweet and fresh, guavas, persimmons, pears, we bought them.
Everything looked so fresh and yummy. We find those fruits in the Philippines as well, but I just took pictures anyhow.
The persimmons and longans were super sweet. I was so glad we bought several kilos of longan. :-) Since the ones we get here in the Philippines are imported, they are no longer as fresh, so I really feasted on these fruits while we were there.
More bbq. We also tried their famous coffee but we did not take a picture of it. It was way too strong for me, all I took was one sip and that's it. I am not a coffee drinker, so I can't appreciate strong coffee. I just love the smell, but drinking it gives me heart palpitations.
Anyway, here you have the various foods that we encountered. There were lots more, but this is enough to share.
I will be sharing one more article to cover the rest of the places we went to, and then on to other places. Stay tuned!
You can read more travel articles here.
I first tasted Vietnamese cuisine when I was in Hong Kong. Right in front of my office building is a Vietnamese restaurant, and this is where I first encountered Vietnamese food. Every time I had the opportunity and I find a friend to eat with, we'd always run to the Vietnamese restaurant and enjoy their delicious Pho and spring rolls. :-)
So, when we decided to go to Hanoi, I started looking up their various food offerings. We were only there for four full days, so of course we were not able to sample all their foods, but we ate quite a variety.
My younger niece is a very picky eater, and I often tell her that she needs to learn to eat all kinds of food so that she can enjoy traveling- otherwise she won't truly enjoy going to other places. Plus, the essence of traveling is not just sightseeing- it is delving into their culture, eating their foods, sampling their delicacies, that way you can truly say that you travel. And that is just my opinion by the way.
So, on our very first day, we went to Ba Dinh Square, and after exploring the tourist attractions in the area, we felt hunger pangs, and we looked for a place to eat. Since all of us were traveling to Hanoi for the first time, we were unfamiliar with the place. We kept walking around until we came to a market, and we saw some street stalls where they sell various kinds of food. Since we were not sure what to eat, we walked until we saw what we thought we could eat.
Let me warn you though, when they say street food, it literally means street food, as stalls occupy the sidewalks during daytime and even the streets at night. Small tables and very low stools are set up almost everywhere, and you just look at the food, try to ask the price through sign language, and eat your way. Sounds complicated? Nah- it's what makes traveling fun and adventurous. :-)
This is how a typical Hanoi street looks like. This picture was taken at night, and like I said, stools and tables are set on the streets and side walks, they take your order, or you point at whatever you want to eat, and wait for your food to be served. Locals and tourists alike eat in these places. So you have to be brave and just choose something to eat, unless you want to starve, ha ha. Having said that, there are also of course other places that have normal chairs and tables, and we did eat in some of those places too.
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| Bun Cha |
So, our first meal in Hanoi was a dish called bún chá. This dish is said to have originated in Hanoi itself, and it is a rice noodle soup dish served with grilled pork belly and minced pork, 2 kinds. With the meat comes a mountain of cold rice noodles, another mountain or plateful of various herbs, and on the side, some chopped garlic and chilies. In the bowl with meat are sliced green papayas and carrots. Soup is added on the meat, and you just mix the noodles and eat away.
The taste? Let me try to describe it. As with most Vietnamese dishes, it has a somewhat sweet taste, although not very sweet, like barbecue here in the Philippines. My picky niece did not have her food with soup, so she just ate the noodles and the meat as is, and she actually liked the barbecue! My sister was complaining that the soup was cold, but the dish is actually supposed to be eaten cold which I did not know at the time! My other niece knew better than to complain, so we ate. As for me, since I already am somewhat familiar with Vietnamese cuisine, I had no problem eating it.
After lunch, we went to Hanoi Citadel, and after that we went back to the hotel, swam at the pool, and after we took a shower, we walked around the area near the hotel in search of dinner. We found a Japanese restaurant and we just had dinner there. I am not going to share a picture of that, because it is not Vietnamese food, ha ha.
 |
| Beef Pho |
This is the chicken variation. There's not a lot of difference in taste, just the meat that is on top is different. It's basically the same somewhat sweet broth. The reason Hanoi serves a lot of dishes in soup is its proximity to China. The weather tends to be colder than the rest of the country, as evidenced by their having four seasons as I shared in my first article about Hanoi.
For my younger niece, who is a very picky eater, we often bought her these and we would just order fried rice for her so that she could eat something and she ate without difficulty. Of course, as she eats, I constantly remind her that she has to learn to eat other things, ha ha ha! There are various kinds of barbecues, so even the pickiest eater like my niece won't starve.
This is a plate of spring rolls. We had this during our first lunch. It was nice, but it would have been better if it had a better dipping sauce. The dipping sauce was somewhat lacking to me, or maybe I did not know how to mix it properly. :-)
We did not eat this, but these are quail, which, I believe, were either roasted or fried. Not a fan though, so I just took a picture, just so I could share it.
We also did not eat these. It was just interesting to take a picture as a lot of people were eating them. If you see the legs on the side, that's the lady cooking them on the sidewalk and selling them right on the spot. Talk about a mobile kitchen! ha ha ha!
Can anyone guess what this could be? The vendor said its ice cream, but its soaked in water and it did not look very clean so we did not dare try buying it, let alone eating it.
Speaking of ice cream. This is the kind of ice cream we tried. This is rolled ice cream, and it is made by putting the ingredients in a flat frozen metal and it is mixed and scraped until it becomes ice cream. It would then be flattened on the surface, cut into several portions, and each portion would then be rolled up and put into a cup, hence, the name rolled ice cream. We ordered the coconut flavored one, and if I remember correctly, I think it cost 30,000VND.
This is another kind of noodle dish that we did not try- and the meat on top is the roasted pigeon and I don't know what else. They love their noodles indeed.
This is green papaya salad. The sauce again, has that sweet taste, but it was also sour as it had vinegar. I loved it, but since we ordered so much food that night, we were unable to finish everything. What a shame. I think I was the only one who liked this dish.
This is a vegetarian dish- made of tofu, mushroom, broccolli, which was also very delicious. But then again, we did not know that we ordered so much food, so when the food arrived, our jaws dropped. And we were laughing because we were trying to order simply, but we ended up ordering a feast that we were unable to finish. Lesson learned. This was when we came back from the Halong Bay tour.
I did not try this at all- we just wasted a lot of food that night as we ordered by mistake, ha ha ha! My sister was forcing herself to eat more, as I was also trying to do, but how big can our stomachs be? :-)
Yes, we also had a bowl of corn soup each, there were spring rolls- what on earth were we thinking? I guess our brains were no longer working at that time as we were already very tired.
When we went to Halong, we had a stopover in the middle each way. On the way to Halong, we bought sausages and vegetable skewers. On our way back to Hanoi, we bought bánh mi, which is a sandwich on a baguette. The Vietnamese were once colonized by the French, hence the baguette. There are different kinds of bánh mi, we just had ours at a rest stop so it was not topnotch, ha ha. Usually there is meat, ours was beef, and onions were added, some slices of cucumber although they could have added more, and some tomatoes. In other stores, they add a lot more vegetables and herbs. I added a lot of ketchup and chili sauce on mine, this was my niece's and she added mayonnaise and ketchup. Ugh!
Out of all the foods that we ate in Hanoi, my companions would agree that this was the best food they for the duration of the stay. First of all, it has rice, and second of all, we had it in a proper restaurant, with proper chairs and tables, ha ha! We found this restaurant along the West Lake, where our hotel was located. They loved it so much we went to eat twice- me and my sister had beef which is pictured above, my nieces had pork and chicken respectively. This restaurant caters to a lot of foreigners as evidenced by the people eating while we were there. It was a bit pricey, but totally worth it.
When we went to the weekend night market in the Old Quarter, we saw all kinds of street food. We only tried some, because of course, we could not possibly try all of them without bursting our stomachs.
This is another kind of spring roll wrapped in rice paper. We didn't get to try it though, so we just took pictures.
There was an area where they sold street foods like the ones you see in Myeongdong in Seoul but of course they didn't taste like the food in Seoul. We tried eating the deokbokki and it was nothing like the ones I've tasted in Seoul. Sorry, no comparison.
There was also this curious fruit arrangement. We would have bought some but they sprinkle something red/brownish thing, not sure if its sugar, but I just found it weird. My sister bought freshly squeezed sugar cane juice but it was not pure juice, it was more sugar than the real thing, ha ha.
So tell me, why would I want to buy fruit if I see something weird on it? Perhaps its how the locals like it. Or perhaps its how they keep the fruit fresh. Nevertheless, I just took pictures and that's it.
Just when we thought we were done eating the night we ordered so much food came this plate of fruit. So we had to dig in again and ate most of it. Dragon fruit, watermelon and the yellow one was mango.
We also happened to pass by a local market during our first day and saw a lot of fresh fruit. we bought quite a lot when we came home, longans so sweet and fresh, guavas, persimmons, pears, we bought them.
Everything looked so fresh and yummy. We find those fruits in the Philippines as well, but I just took pictures anyhow.
The persimmons and longans were super sweet. I was so glad we bought several kilos of longan. :-) Since the ones we get here in the Philippines are imported, they are no longer as fresh, so I really feasted on these fruits while we were there.
More bbq. We also tried their famous coffee but we did not take a picture of it. It was way too strong for me, all I took was one sip and that's it. I am not a coffee drinker, so I can't appreciate strong coffee. I just love the smell, but drinking it gives me heart palpitations.
Anyway, here you have the various foods that we encountered. There were lots more, but this is enough to share.
I will be sharing one more article to cover the rest of the places we went to, and then on to other places. Stay tuned!
You can read more travel articles here.
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