Published:  16:43 Thursday - January 12, 2017

Hanoi snail noodle in Dong Xuan market, thai sweet soup in Nam Dong market, pillow-shaped cakes, and steamed meat rice cakes in Nghia Tan market are well-known dishes of each residential area.

1. Nam Dong market

Nam Dong market is famous for delicious che (sweet soup), such as Thai sweet soup, grapefruit sweet soup, taro sweet soup, etc. 

The market also has other special dishes such as nem thính (a mix of meat and rice powder rolling with fig leaves), nom bo kho (a mix of dried beef and vegetables with fish sauce), and spring rolls. 

The price for one bowl of che is approximately from VND15,000 to VND25,000 and about VMD30,000 for a plate of fried spring rolls. 

2. Nghia Tan market

Considered a “heaven” of cheap snacks in Cau Giay District, Nghia Tan market has a lot of stalls selling various dishes from afternoon to midnight. 

The most interesting street foods of Nghia Tan market are the pillow- shaped cake at the price of VND8,000 for one, steamed meat rice cake VND10,000/cake, and balut with wormwood – VND8,000 for one, etc. 

From late afternoon, there are many customers going for snails, fried spring rolls, fried meat, fish noodle, etc.

3. Dong Xuan market

This market are popular with foreigners not only because of its diverse food, but also because of the spread of Hanoi food on tourism blogs. 

The famous dishes there are Hanoi snail noodle (VND30,000 – VND40,000 a bowl), bun cha que tre (noodle with meat fried on bamboo stick - VND30,000 each serving), fried salty rice cake (VND3,000), various delicious kinds of sweet soup (VND10,000 – VND15,000/bowl). 

The market is located in Hoan Kiem District, inside the Old Street area.

4. Thanh Cong market

Apart from famous mussel soup, Thanh Cong market (Dong Da district) has other kinds of street food ready to be served for students from nearby schools such as Mien cua (grab noodle), mien tron (noodle mixed with meat, vegetable, peanut, etc (VND25,000 a bowl). 

There are sweet soup stalls inside the market with price from VND8,000 to VND15,000 a bowl. Other dishes are boiled corns (VND8,000) and grilled sweet potatoes with cheap price but very delicious.

5. Ngo Sy Lien market

In Ba Dinh district, there are not many areas allowed to sell on the pavement like other districts. Therefore, Ngo Sy Lien market is an interesting place to find and enjoy delicious dishes. 

It is also well-known for bun chui (a noodle shop where the owner usually insults customers). 

In early morning, stalls of beef rice noodle, bun thang (noodle), mien trộn, kebab rice noodle, etc. (VND20,000 – VND35,000) are very busy. 

From the afternoon, stalls of banh gio (mixed filling with sticky crust, wrapped by banana leaves), banh troi tau (stuffed sticky rice balls), stir-fried sour sweet noodle, and quail balut. 

The price of street food in Ngo Sy Lien market are reasonable, but the space inside the stalls is limited.