Food Tours · Tour

Five People, Nine Stops: Hanoi Street Food from Nom to Che

Five people is the cap, and it changes what the tour can do: the guide can take a group that size into places that would not seat twelve, and there is room to ask questions between mouthfuls. Nine stops, and unusually the operator names the addresses rather than keeping them vague. It opens on nom bo kho, green papaya salad with dried beef, peanuts and herbs, which is sharp and crunchy and sets up everything after it. Then bun cha at a family eatery: grilled pork patties, vermicelli, herbs and a dipping sauce, the dish Hanoi is most protective of. Nem ran, fried spring rolls with pork, glass noodles and vegetables. Egg coffee at a hidden café, sweet and thick with whipped egg over the top. Then banh cuon, steamed rice pancakes rolled round minced pork and mushrooms, which is the most delicate thing on the list. Pho cuon, the noodle sheet rolled round beef and herbs instead of served in soup. Banh mi, in a baguette the French left behind. It finishes sweet, on banh ran ngot, a chewy rice doughnut, and che, the dessert of beans, jelly, fruit and coconut milk. Ta Hien Street closes the evening, which is where Hanoi drinks. Three hours, up to six people, in English, with water, coffee and beer included. Pickup from Old Quarter hotels; from outside, meet at the shop on Luong Van Can. Lunch sittings run 11.30 to 14.30, dinner 18.00 to 21.00.