Bia Hoi Corner (Ta Hien Street)
Ta Hien Street, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
Bia Hoi Corner is the epicentre of Hanoi's street drinking culture — the intersection of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen streets in the Old Quarter where tiny plastic stools, tiny plastic tables, and the world's cheapest fresh beer (bia hoi, brewed daily without preservatives and sold for about 5,000 VND / /bin/zsh.
Bún Chả Hương Liên (Obama Restaurant)
24 Le Van Huu, Pham Dinh Ho, Hanoi, Vietnam
Bún Chả Hương Liên became the most famous restaurant in Hanoi on May 23, 2016, when President Barack Obama and chef Anthony Bourdain sat on plastic stools, drank Hanoi beer, and ate bún chả for a total bill of $6 — an episode of Bourdain's 'Parts Unknown' that generated more tourism interest in Hanoi than any government campaign.
Đồng Xuân Market
Đồng Xuân, Hoàn Kiếm, Hanoi
Đồng Xuân Market is the largest covered market in Hanoi — a four-storey concrete building at the northern edge of the Old Quarter that has been the wholesale and retail centre of the city since the French built the original market halls in 1889.
Egg Coffee at Café Giảng
39 Nguyen Huu Huan, Ly Thai To, Hanoi, Vietnam
Café Giảng is where egg coffee was invented — a tiny, unassuming café on Nguyễn Hữu Huân street in the Old Quarter where Nguyễn Văn Giảng created cà phê trứng in 1946 by whipping egg yolk with condensed milk and Vietnamese coffee when fresh milk was scarce during the First Indochina War.
Hanoi Old Quarter Night Market
Hàng Đào, Hoàn Kiếm, Hanoi
The Old Quarter Night Market transforms the streets around Hàng Đào, Hàng Ngang, and Hàng Buồm into a pedestrian zone every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evening from about 6pm to midnight — closing the streets to motorbikes and opening them to foot traffic, food vendors, musicians, and the general atmosphere of a city that comes alive after dark.
Old Quarter (36 Streets)
Ho Hoan Kiem, Hang Bac, Hanoi, Vietnam
Hanoi's Old Quarter is one of the most chaotic, beautiful, and sensory-overwhelming urban experiences in Asia — a dense grid of narrow streets north of Hoàn Kiếm Lake that has been a commercial district for over 1,000 years, with each street traditionally specialising in a single trade.
Phở & Street Food Culture
Doi Can, Doi Can, Hanoi, Vietnam
Hanoi is the birthplace of phở — the beef noodle soup that has become Vietnam's most famous culinary export and one of the defining dishes of 21st-century food culture.
Explore food in Hanoi
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