Street Food Tour in Hanoi

Taking a street food tour in Hanoi was something I had looked forward to for years, after jealously drooling over a friend’s foodporn from Vietnam. Well, I finally made it and was ready to eat!

Our hotel in Hanoi, The Essence Hotel, arranged this tour for us. We opted for the lunchtime tour. The guide met us at 11:00 am and we set out on foot to walk and eat our way around the ancient quarter.

Read More: Things to Do in Hanoi

Banh Cuon Thanh Van

Banh Cuon is one of the most popular traditional dishes in Vietnam and supposedly the most delicious ones are in Hanoi. It is a very thin rice flour pancake made from fragrant rice soaked overnight before being ground into a paste. Women make these pancakes street side.

The paste is spread onto a boiler pot covered with cheese cloth and steamed. It is scooped off with giant bamboo sticks and rolled with minced pork or chicken, fried onions, mushrooms and cut into pieces. These are garnished with shrimp powder and cilantro then dipped into a sweet and sour fish sauce and Oh. My. God.

This recipe has been in the proprietor’s family for generations. Very cool.

Bun Bo

Bun Bo is a dish of rice noodles served with stir fried beef, bean sprouts, lettuce, crispy onion, green papaya and you can spice it up at the table with hot sauce (yes!), vinegar, limes, etc.  Another unique and delicious dish that was unlike anything I have ever eaten.

I should note that just about every restaurant we went to was all locals who eat at tiny tables with little plastic stools that are literally inches from the ground. I loved the authentic no fuss experience.

 Banh Xeo

This is a fried rice pancake with various things inside including bean sprouts, herbs and sometimes pork or shrimp. 

Mien Luon Nuoc or Eel Broth Soup

Our next stop was a place that served crunchy eel in eel broth with vermicelli and herbs such as basil and cilantro.

These are called Calamansi and are found throughout SE Asia. They are a cross between a lime an a mandarin. They are orange on the inside. The guide called them lemons.

Banana Fritters

We had this little snack from a street vendor….rice batter dipped deep fried banana.

Now we were supposed to have the main dish. Is he kidding…we had already eaten so much.

Xoi Vo or  Sticky Rice with Mung Bean

This was rice cooked with mung bean which has a surprisingly delicious flavor. Served with free range chicken and spicy pickled cucumbers.  This was one of those times when your stomach is about to burst yet you cannot stop shoveling the deliciousness into your mouth.

I couldn’t wait to get back to hotel and enjoy a food coma nap but the guide mentioned dessert…

Vietnamese Egg Coffee or Cà Phê Trứng

We had seen egg coffee on menus and thought…huh? Well…this was dessert and it was astoundingly tasty. A farmer invented it by mixing an egg yolk with the condensed milk he put in his coffee. This cafe was owned by the inventor’s family. It tasted like custard mixed in your coffee.

Finally, I was permitted to enjoy well earned food coma! I hope you have a chance to take a street food tour in Hanoi? Have you ever done a food tour? Where are your favorites?  I’d love to hear about them!

Pin it!