Delight your taste buds with a Hanoi “Street Food” Tour

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I felt like I was back in primary school perched on a tiny plastic chair, except back then my butt was a lot smaller!  Here though there was no classroom or teachers, just the noise of a busy street and passing motorbikes, the company of my four companions and the delicious aroma of the marinated chicken piece I was about to chomp into.  We were in Hanoi’s old quarter and we had signed up to an evening street food tour and it’s one of the best experiences we did in Vietnam.

We had arrived in Hanoi just before Tet and booked ourselves into the Hanoi B&B Hostel.  As we wondered the tight little bustling streets of the old quarter we were immediately captivated by the tantalising aromas coming from street food carts, little cafes and the crowds huddling together on  little plastic chairs and tables tucking into their tasty morsels.

The only dish we knew was Pho, a noodle soup consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs and either beef or chicken and there was one street just dedicated to that dish!  Our lunch that day was deep fried pork and veg spring rolls and beef Pho washed down with local alcoholic beverages, the meal and drinks were cheap, we loved Vietnam already! Until now, the only Vietnamese food we had tried was back in our home city of Melbourne and like most western countries is made more for western tastes.   What we witnessed here was something quite different. We decided that we wanted to be part of this street food scene and learn so much more and taste the abundance of dishes on offer so with the help of  our cheery hostel host Tony , we  booked an evening tour with Mr Ha.

The tour was US$25 each and we were met at our hostel by Mr Ha at 6pm. There was only 4 of us on the tour which was great as it made it seemed like a private tour, the other couple were also from Australia.

Our first stall was something that didn’t look too appetising, pig intestines, something we dare not try! We like meat but we draw the line at offal,  so I was content with taking a photo.

Our next stop was definitely more appetising as we tucked into a Bánh mì pate which was simply a baguette filled with a tasty liver pate, carrot, salad and fried egg. Back home I really enjoyed the Bánh mì roll with pork, so delicious.  While at the stall Mr Ha demonstrated the use of a Thuoc Lao which is simply a large pipe made with bamboo and filled with tobacco.

As we moved from stall to stall we saw spotted eggs, snails of varying kinds and BBQ ducks hanging up in a window

Our first sit down meal we tried was Nom Vit, a tasty duck salad mixed in with cabbage, carrot pickle, onion, shallots, chilli, mint, coriander and peanuts drizzled with a very tasty sweet and tangy sauce.  I loved it; if only I could make this back home!

Our next food delight was Bang Xeo, a crispy rice flour pancake which you pack with marinated crispy pork, bean sprouts, salad leaves, mint and coriander accompanied by a tangy dressing for dipping, it was another hit for sure and quickly became a favourite throughout Vietnam.

Mt Ha continued to guide us through the laneways where he pointed out some very unappetising shellfish and fish of different varieties and tasty BBQ’s of different meats, including frog.  He asked if we wanted to try the frog and I would have tried it except the last one being cooked had just been sold so maybe it was my saving grace! The evening tour was definitely the best as you could enjoy the different alcoholic beverages like Saigon and Tiger beer on offer as well as the food.

The BBQ meats were our next taster, we had a mix of chicken with lemon leaf, pork and beef mixed in with capsicum and onion and along with a couple of tasty dips it was a very mouth watering experience. Certainly one of the favourites for the night.

Even though our tummy’s were getting full there was still room for more.  Our next stop was at Cafe Chon to try some  locally brewed weasel coffee. The story behind this type of coffee is that the beans have been digested by a weasel and pooped out!  Except this is rumoured to be a myth probably so the sellers can justify the price hike.  Being a tea drinker and not a lover of coffee I chose to give it a miss. Vaughan however tried it and said it was quite strong, one cup was enough.  Our next stop was a local that made and sold his home brew, a draught beer called Bia Hoi served from a steel keg. Vaughan being a lover of beer and a home brewer himself was very impressed by the quality , he was enjoying his oversized  pint glass for only a $1 and even pushed himself for a second round!

There were still a couple of places Mr Ha wanted to show us, normally the tour finishes at 9pm but with such a small group, Mr Ha was quite happy to continue on showing us the delights of his food culture. He had a good sense of humour too and made the night very enjoyable.  He suggested a place where we could try some coconut rice wine and have some green papaya salad for desert.  The stuff was potent and after a couple my head was spinning!

When Mr Ha suggested finishing the tour with one of Hanoi’s speciality’s – egg coffee or hot chocolate we thought that would certainly end the night nicely and maybe soak up some of the rice wine.  The cafe Truong where we had the egg coffee was very popular, we managed to find a table with 4 of the little plastic chairs. The egg  coffee/hot chocolate is a very popular beverage all over Hanoi and is made by beating egg yolks with sugar and coffee or hot chocolate, then extracting the coffee into half the cup followed by a similar amount of egg cream. Surprisingly as gross as it sounds it was incredibly delicious, although quite sweet.

The evening was very enjoyable and our goal of learning more about and tasting delicious Vietnamese street food had been successful.  Anyone coming to Hanoi should certainly consider putting this on their “to-do” list as street food is very much part of Vietnamese culture and Hanoi is one of the best places to do it.

We booked the tour through our hostel but it can be booked directly or with travel agents. I can certainly recommend Mr Ha he was very knowledgeable, very friendly and had great sense of humour which enhanced our overall experience. The evening tour is just one of the tour options on offer, there are lunchtime tours and even food tours by motorbike, details can be found on their website: Hanoi Food Tasting Tours

Like the photos?  The full gallery can be viewed here

 

Have you ever done a food tour in Vietnam? if so please tell us about it in the comments below..