Hai Bà Trưng
The southern district, less touristy. Where many Hanoi office workers live and eat — including some of the best lunch-only stalls in the city.
6 guides cover Hai Bà Trưng
Xôi: the best two-dollar breakfast in Hanoi
Sticky rice from a basket on the pavement, with mung bean crumble and fried shallots. Xôi is the cheapest genuinely great breakfast in the city, and it is gone by nine.
Miến lươn: eel three ways
Hanoi does more with freshwater eel than anywhere else in Vietnam — in broth, dry and tossed, or in porridge. Here is how the three versions differ and which to order first.
Bún riêu cua: the tomato-and-crab bowl to order after phở
Sour tomato broth, rafts of pounded paddy-crab curd, fried tofu and pork sausage. Bún riêu is what to eat on day three, when another bowl of phở feels like a chore.
Bún đậu mắm tôm: an honest guide to the shrimp paste
A tray of cold noodles, hot fried tofu and fermented shrimp paste. Bún đậu is the Hanoi dish visitors are most likely to bounce off — here is how to give it a fair try.
Bánh cuốn: the twenty-second rice sheet
Bánh cuốn is made in front of you — a ladle of batter spread over stretched cloth, lidded, lifted, filled and rolled in under half a minute. Here is how to order it and where in Hanoi to look.
Best bún chả in Hanoi: where locals queue at lunchtime
Bún chả is Hanoi's lunchtime ritual — charcoal-grilled pork patties, rice noodles, herbs, and a sweet-tart fish-sauce broth. Here are the 6 stalls worth queueing for.