Da Nang
Lunch or dinner
Excellent pizza in Hanoi. There are other locations around the county. Get the burrata and double down with the whey Stout beer made from the leftover whey from making the burrata.
Hanoi Hilton - would not recommend staying here
Very helpful, Brigg.
Happy that you managed! The one night I felt like pizza there was a line of 20 people in front of the door.
If visiting Hanoi, I’d never again stay in the old district — was simply too cramped for me.
You need reservations! For pizza… LOL
On Google reviews 4P has a 4.9 rating in 20K reviews. That’s the most I’ve ever seen.
Lots of good places have 5-9K reviews.
I’ll write up hotel stuff later. As you mention., location is critical in Hoi An and Ha Noi. And within a hotel a “quiet room” request is always wise.
Hanoi recommendations
Exceptional Thai
Excellent and your palate needs a change
Casual above average
Really good
Thanks, all.
XO Tours Saigon
This is a must for Saigon / HCM. I’m not really a food tour guy but this was incredibly fun. We rode around for 5 hours on the back of a motorbike. It’s expensive, relatively speaking at $80 per person, but strongly recommend it.
This girls come pick you up on their motorbikes, they call them all Hondas, and put a “rice cooker” on your head (helmet) and your on the back as she sails through the Saigon traffic. Your driver is your personal guide through the entire evening.
Strongly recommend not eating much lunch, there’s way more food than you can eat. Very charming.
Here’s an overview
Okay, sitting in the Hanoi airport with some down time so I’ll get started.
First, we need to define “street food” because it runs the gamut and starts with:
- An 80 year old lady on the sidewalk with a lump of coal burning under a pot of broth with noodles in a bucket and a bag of duck eggs. There might be a couple of red mini plastic chairs to sit on or you may have to the squat.
- Guy on a bike with a large pail strapped to the back and a takeaway container.
- Narrow storefront stall with 10 red chairs in front. Typically the owner lives in the back
- Restaurant with indoor/ outdoor street dining
- More “formal” restaurant with tables, regular chairs, waiter, etc.
They all sell the same thing so what is “street food” in Vietnam? It really depends on the type of experience you want. We did mostly 4 and 5.
So is street food safe? Well, it’s not killing the Vietnamese but there were a few places that we just could not do.
I think the important thing is to try the local specialities in each area like:
Saigon - bun thit nuong
Hoi An - Mi Quang, Cao Lau
Hue - Bun Bo Hue
Hanoi - egg coffee, Pho
We never actually ate Pho while in Vietnam for two weeks! Lots of places it goes by a different name.
How to cross the street in Vietnam
- Look around, constantly, everywhere
- Pick your spot and be committed
- Raising an arm will help
- Keep moving at a slow and steady pace
- Move in a group not single file
- Never back up, only go forward or you’ll get run over
- Best to cross at an intersection
- If traffic lights then follow them.
The not moving backwards is a big deal because to avoid you motorbikes drive behind you. That’s the protocol.
You need to look around constantly because motorbikes can pop out from anywhere and travel in any direction including the wrong way on the wrong side of the street. All normal.
Organized chaos as they say.
I would give a ringing endorsement to the Saigon XO Food Tours as well. Food was great and it was a fantastic way to see a whole bunch of the city and to get a chance to be right in the thick of the infamous Vietnam traffic.