«FOOD ON FOOT» - Street food in Hanoi

Walking the streets of Hanoi, tasting and learning about Vietnamese food culture is an amazing experience. A guided tour that took us to local restaurants, food stalls and portable kitchens along busy streets on a 3 hour tour.

After several visits to Hanoi, doing the usual sightseeing stuff, this was a different experience. We had never tried street food before. But we learned that it is possible to dine along the streets in Old Quarter for less than a couple of US dollars per day. The best thing: it is so tasty!

Every noodle restaurant is specialized and makes soup with only one type of meat. This means you do not go and ask for the menu, thinking you can choose. The first thing to do, is to decide if you want beef, chicken, pork, snails, etc. Then you simply go to the noodle restaurant selling the meat of your choice that day.

After a delicious noodle soup with chicken, we crossed the street for desert. Deep fried bananas, made on the street in a portable little fast food kitchen.

We continued walking through the narrow streets. Luckily we had a guide. If not, we would not have known what to eat or where to eat. Strange food like worms and goose eggs with fetuses, among others, were too strange and unusual to us!

Cooking is done in the street. You eat standing, or while you are walking. The dishes are done in the street with cold water from a water hose. Maybe this was the reason we have not tried street food before....

The tour was great fun and full of surprises. Great flavors. Cheap and tasty food. Next time in Hanoi, I definitely know where to eat and how to eat.

Before leaving Vietnam we had the most expensive dinner on the whole trip on Phu Quoc island in South Vietnam. Back at the hotel that night we got diaries that lasted for 10 days! And when I tell you our flight from Vietnam went from Phu Quoc to HCMC - Singapore - Dubai to Mauritius... I will leave that to your imagination!

U.J

Kristiansand, Norway

All the photoes are mine, Ulla Jensen