As I didn’t have very long in Hanoi, I wanted to maximise my eating opportunities and decided it would be a great opportunity to book a food tour in with @stickyinhanoi & @Vietnamesegod who I have followed for ages on Instagram & Twitter.
Our guide, Tu, picked me up from my hotel and after a short diversion to collect the other person who would be joining us on our tour, we made our way into the heart of Hanois old quarter to start our food tour on foot.
Our first stop, probably my favourite dish of the tour, was at Nem Vuong (sorry for linking to Tripadvisor but it seems the easiest way!) a tiny streetside shop selling those delicious Nem Cua or crab spring rolls that I’d tried and failed to order at Bun Cha Huong Lien the previous night. Ground crab meat is mixed with jicama, carrots, wood mushrooms & bean sprouts before being wrapped in rice paper and being deep fried. They are then chopped up using scissors and eaten with vermicelli noodles and dipped in a sweetened fish sauce with papaya and kohlrabi. Absolutely delicious, perfect with a cold beer, and even though I knew it was the first stop of many, I couldn’t help but polish off the lot!
From here we walked a short distance to Phở tí bà Phương, a street-side stall that seemed to be very popular with local office staff and market stall holders, where we ordered Phở Tíu Char siu pork & Nộm đi đủ Papaya salad. The papaya salad was much more similar to the Myanmar version of papaya salad than the Thai version, being far sweeter and less spicy, but still a good match for the char siu and it was a lot of fun sitting in the middle of the market watching the comings and goings.
You can’t go to Hanoi and not try Bánh Mì, and WOW was the version we had at Bánh Mì Lãn Ông just incredible! A small family run Bánh Mì shop, (theres no need for a menu as they only sell Bánh Mì) famous for their homemade pâté, which is made fresh each morning by the 87 year old owner. Their crusty baguette is thickly spread with pâté, then topped with sliced ham, fried shallots, pork floss, cucumber, coriander, and chili sauce. I’ve tried quite a few versions of Bánh Mì and I think this was probably my favourite owing to how well the filling was proportioned and just how damn tasty it was!
We needed a bit of a break after this and so Tu explained a bit about the history of the area and traditional Vietnamese life as we walked to our next stop, aNước mía or sugar cane stall on Hang Diu . We waited as they made our fresh juice for us, watching as they put the sugar cane through the extractor, adding a little squeeze of kalamansi to cut through the sweetness. Whilst I dont drink sugar cane very often, it is without a doubt one of the most refreshing and restorative drinks you can have on a hot day & it was greatly enjoyed.
Our next stop at Miến Lươn Chân Cầm was probably the most unusual, we shared a portion of Miến xào lươn – Stir fried vermicelli with baby eels or elvers! The baby else are often served dry but Tu asked that the owner should use fresh ones for us instead which I really enjoyed. The vermicelli and eel were mixed with lots of fresh herbs and beansprouts which we garnished with pickled cucumber and chilli sauce to add some heat – a great dish that I would never have found on my own!
Our final stop was at Loading T,a cafe inside a pretty old colonial style building, that had belonged to a wealthy Vietnamese lawyer during colonial times. After the communist takeover, the house was seized by the government and split into living space for 17 families. The building remains a maze of different rooms, still divided amongst many of those original families to this day! I ordered Nâu đá (Cà phê sữa) a traditional Vietnamese style white iced coffee with condensed milk to enjoy here,. after an afternoon of eating, the caffeine hit was much needed and it was a great end to a fantastic tour. Tu doesn’t have set itineraries and can tailor tours to suit your individual preferences so don’t worry if some of the dishes we tried aren’t to your taste! I would whole heartedly recommend Street Food Tours Hanoi, and would definitely book another tour with them when I next visit Hanoi as it was a great, not to mention delicious afternoon!
A British Girl Abroad 
Sounds like a great tour! That last cafe is Loading T, not La Gente, which is pretty far south in Dong Da. Loading T is one of my favourites! I love the history of the building—and the loo situation makes me laugh. They do an excellent coconut coffee, too.
Ahhhh thanks!!! I was trying to google it but couldn’t figure it out – tiles were the same 😂 it was a great tour yes!
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