There’s no doubt for visitors to Hanoi – especially the food-centric ones – notice the constant presence of edible stuff on their strolls around the Old Quarter and further afield. Street-side meat, bicycles laden with fruit and vegetables, simmering pots of stock on doorsteps, boiling kettles, tipping teapots, sacks overflowing with rice – the streets are where the food action is at, not hidden indoors in gigantic supermarket halls nor protected behind glass windows or cabinetry. One can reach out and touch food up and down the length of any Hanoi street.
But where there is food there are people. Hanoi is definitely not a western supermarket aisle, where even shouting blue murder is unlikely to bring customer service assistance. Butchers here constantly cast a tending eye over their cuts of meat, keeping up their appeal, shooing the odd fly, ready and poised with a sharp blade at hand. Fruit vendors spend their days pushing bikes and re-arranging their specimens into perfectly conical formation, meticulously examining longan or litchi for flaws. The watermelon vendor, with baskets bending from her shoulder-poles, is weightlifting – all day!
The bun cha fanner needs recognition, too. In 80%+ humidity on a 350C day, she is sweating before she waves the fan once in anger. Crouched before a tin tray white hot with coals, one hand turns a fat-spitting wire griller filled with pork while the other is keeping the wind up to the fire. A kind of gym session in a smoky furnace – there is a reason why she looks on the verge of tears. It’s bloody hard and hot work, obviously unhealthy
20 delicious street foods with low cost less than 10000 VND
1. Fried steamed wheat flour cake : fried stream flour
Fried steamed wheat flour cake price is about 4000 – 6000 VND, this food is often in the meal in the afternoon. Enjoy with sour sweet sauce or chili sauce
2. Grilled meat by stick: grilled meat
Grilled meat by stick has many lovers especial kids. One price is about 6000 – 10000 VND, you could pay more 2000 VND to have a bread with grilled meat stick. Walking on the streets of Hanoi in the afternoon, you can see grilled shops near the side walk with great smell!
3. Banana cake, yam cake:
Only with 5000 for one cake, The main ingredients are banana, yam and flour then fry in cooking oil. They are fat food so you could only 1 – 2 cake for once.
4. Gio cake:
Gio like the name of famous food of Vietnam – Gio Cha but have no Gio in it. This food is made by rice powder and core: chopped black mushroom and meat. The cost is only 7000 – 10000 VND.
5. Pillow cake:
You are right its name like its shape like a pillow. The core inside is meat and quail egg, cost from 7000 – 9000 VND. Pillow cake is often sale in the winter, and people like it. Enjoy with sour sweet sauce and salad.
6. Quay:
Cheap price is 2000 – 3000 VND/per, Quay is often eaten with salad and sauce as pillow cake. Many people like to put this food in HOT porridge or Pho.
7. Fried food with stick:
You can find these food in front of schools for the pupil with cheap price about 5000 – 7000 VND. It’s really a small party for pupil after the school time with full of smile and sharing, there are many kind of stick such as: Hot dog, fried Nem Chua, fish and shrimp…
8. Fried cake: fried cake shop
There are two type of Fried cake depend on their core: the sweet one with sugar and salty one with meat, black mushroom. The main ingredients are rice, peanut powder and honey or sugar. The price is only 2000 – 3000 VND, the salty one price is 4000 VND and enjoy with sauce.
9. Trung Vit Lon: duck egg
Have the babe duck in the eggs, a nutritious food but many foreigners and visitors don’t like this food 😀 . you can find them in Hang Rong shop on every streets of Hanoi for breakfast or super. The price is about 6000 – 8000 VND, enjoy with salt, ginger.
10. Trung cut lon: quail egg
The same with Trung Vit Lon but Quai’s eggs not Duck’s eggs. I love this food and often buy them from local market to cook. The price in local market only about 10000VND/10 eggs and in the street shop is about 10000VND/5 eggs coz the sauce and they boil them for you. The sauce is made of lemon juice, salt, ginger and pepper.
11. Sugar cane juice: sugar cane juice on street
The price only from 8000 – 10000 VND, this is the great drink for HOT summer and nutritious drink. You can find them everywhere at the drink shop with a sugar cane juice machine, sit down, call for a glass of sugar cane juice and wait for 5 10 minutes. You also walk on streets with a nilon bag of sugar cane juice if you don’t like to sit at the shop.
12. Banh Nhung: Nhung shop
5000 VND for a stack of Banh Nhung, it’s not common food of street food Hanoi. The kids often like them coz the crack.
13. Bo bia: My favorite street foods, I don’t know why name is Bo Bia but it’s really delicious. The ingredients are coconut fibers, sesame and the special is piece of sugar and the “bark” of foods. This food is rolled as spring rolls, the price is only 5000VND, fantastic! What’s a pity, there is now many Bo Bia shop in Hanoi now.
14. Trang Tien ice cream:
Trang Tien is the name of street and also the name of famous brand ice cream in Hanoi, everybody in Hanoi know about it. The old brand name for 50 years. It’s not only cheap with price 7000 – 8000 VND and also special by its taste. As its name, you can buy Trang Tien ice cream on Trang Tien street near the Restored Sword Lake. Don’t like any ice cream shop in Hanoi, you can buy ice cream, sit on your bike and enjoy, there is many couple and full of smile – a dating place, or hold your ice cream on hand and walk around the sword lake.
15 . Every kind of Bong: corn bong
Favorite street food for girls and kids, less fat and can eat in a long time. The price is only 6000 – 8000 /pack. They are often made of flour or cassava flour then fry.
16. Yogurt: sua chua nep cam
Food for ladies’s skin , the different from Hanoi with other region that they often add more ingredients in yogurt to create taste such as: fruit or Nep Cam. The price only about 5000 VND.
17. Potato storm: fried potato
Cool name huh ! this new foods for kids, the price is about 10000 VND. The tase like many kind of fried potato.
18. Qua chua dam: fruits
The main ingredients are sour and green fruits such as: mango, plum, guava fruit… slice and mix with sugar, pepper powder become attractive foods. The price is about 8000 – 10000VNd/100 gram – depend on the fruit price.
19. Caramen: Hang Than caramen
An old food and maybe from the foreigners, the famous place to eat this food is Hang Than street.
20. Tao pho:
This is a unique food of Northern of Vietnam for Hot summer, the ingredient as tofu but near the last step to make tofu. The seller will slice Tao Pho to bowl, then pour flower sugar and ice to make a bowl of cool Tao pho. The price is about 5000- 7000VND/ bowl. You can find them on Hang Rong on streets of Hanoi with unique sound “Tao Pho de”.
Street food Hanoi Shops located at many narrow street of old quarter Hanoi