Hanoi has a great selection of eating options, including plenty of food suitable for western tourists. Here are some of the cheaper places in the main tourist area of the old quarter that you might like to try out.
Budget Restaurants
Le Pub: the food is very good here. There are various western breakfast options. The largest breakfast comes with three eggs, 3 small hash browns, bacon, sausage, baked beans, mushrooms, toast and butter and costs 115,000 VND. Between 8am and 11am you can get one free tea or coffee with the breakfast. There is a lunch deal where if you buy one for 85,000 VND you can get one free. There are daily specials on drinks. There is a nice area at the front that is undercover, but open to the outside. Upstairs there is a pool table and dartboard. Service is very friendly and helpful. Le pub is located at 25 Hang Be in the old quarter.
Lucky: on the same street as Le Pub, there are six different lunch deals for 65,000VND and one for 55,000VND.
Irish Wolf Hound: between 6 and 8pm, there are daily specials of either battered fish and potato wedges or burger for 75,000VND. Both come with a free coke.
Avoid the Shepherd’s Pie. The portion is ridiculously tiny and has hardly any meat. Some other items on the menu are also way overpriced for what you get.
This place has Vietnamese black coffee for 15,000VND (18,000VND with milk).
The pub is located at 4 Luong Ngoc Quyen.
If buying food items from street sellers, you will be expected to bargain. It is best to find out from a local that you trust what the market price should be before buying as the initial asking price will be whatever they think you will pay, which could potentially be five times the local price. Here are some typical items that you might be offered or see traders selling:
Pineapples: local Vietnamese pay 10,000VND for three pineapples, but tourists aren’t always able to get this price. They should always accept 10,000VND for 2 pineapples if you are firm on not paying more than that. They might start off by asking for up to 50,000VND for 2 pineapples if they think you don’t know the prices!
Litchis: you might be able to get these for about 20,000VND per kilo if you are good at bargaining- if not, aim for no more than 30,000VND.
Baguettes: the quality of these would not impress a French person. Nevertheless, they provide cheap sustenance. They may ask for 5,000VND each, but locals will get two for this price. Pay a maximum of 6,000VND for two if you really want them and they won’t budge on price.
Bananas: depending on the size and colour (i.e. green, yellow, or brown) expect to pay between 1,000VND and 2,000VND per banana – roughly 10,000VND to 15,000VND per kilo. Of course they will try to ask for much more than this if they can get away with it.
Other Items
Ice creams: there are a couple of kiosks by the lake where you can pay local prices of between 5,000VND for a basic lolly, up to 12,000VND for a cornetto.
Drinking water: most people recommend LaVie brand - the bigger the bottle the cheaper the price per litre. If you are going to be in Hanoi for a while buy the 5l bottle for 20,000VND. If not, the 1.5l bottle is usually 10,000VND and the 500ml bottle 5,000VND.
Exchange Rate
At the time of writing US$1 is approximately equal to 21,000 Vietnamese Dong (VND).
Richard Milnes - Richard was born in London, England, but has since spent much of his life travelling the world and has visited nearly 50 ...
