5 best local restaurants in Hanoi

Xôi Yến - Hanoi’s best sticky rice restaurant

Xôi Yên in Nguyen Huu Huan Str., Hanoi.

In Xôi Yến Restaurants, they serves Xôi Xéo, which is a sweet or savoury sticky rice that’s topped with a variety of different meats, shallots, and shaved bean curd. Located in Old Quarter, the restaurant occupies a three-storey corner lot along Nguyen Huu Huan Str., with very low stools and tables. Xôi Yến gets very packed at night, but service is quick as most locals usually opt for takeaways instead.
Xôi is a traditional Vietnamese dish made from rice and corn and topped with the meat of your choice, including roasted pork, chicken, sausage, and pate. To complete the dish, there’s also crispy fried onions and shaved mung beans on the side.  Your order also comes with a small bowl of  fresh cucumber salad.
Chả Cá Thăng Long

Chả Cá Thang Long, Hanoi.

Chả Cá is definitely the most unique among best known dishes of the capital city. Chả Cá Thang Long in the Old Quarter is one of the best places to enjoy cha ca, which is a distinctive Hanoi delicacy. The dish comprises a white fish fillet seasoned with garlic, ginger, turmeric, and dill. After placing your order, the staff will help assemble and cook the ingredients using a sizzling pan at the table.
You also get a bowl of rice noodles, peanuts, chopped spring onions, parsley, nuoc cham sauce, and red chili slices, all of which are meant to be mixed together with the bold, turmeric-tasting fish.
Bún Thang Ba Duc

Bún Thang Bà Đức.

Set within Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem District, don’t be fooled by Bun Thang Ba Duc’s roadside location and dilapidated condition. It’s well-regarded amongst locals as the best place in the city for bun thang.
Another traditional dish in Hanoi, a bowl of bun thang at Bun Thang Ba Duc, where you’ll get generous amounts of noodles, chicken, eggs, pork slices, and a dollop of shrimp paste that are carefully arranged to resemble a flower. As with most local restaurants in Hanoi, Bun Thang Ba Duc is furnished with low stools and tables that spill out onto the roadside.
Đông Thịnh Nhà hàng Miến Lươn

Miến Lươn, Hanoi.

The main ingredients of Miến Lươn are miến (cellophane noodles), lươn (eels), fried shallots, bean sprouts and cilantro. The eels are usually deep fried to eliminate their fishy smell and to add a tasty, crunchy touch to the dish.
Located along Hàng Điếu Str., Thinh Nha Hang Mien Luon specializes in eel-based dishes, particularly mien xao luon. Despite its simple setting of barely-decorated walls, fans, and plastic stools, Thinh Nha Hang Mien Luon attracts plenty of locals and expats looking to enjoy an affordable yet filling dinner.
Dishes with fresh herbs, shaved banana blossoms, and bean sprouts served on the side. Its signature dish comprises stir-fried glass noodles in an eel-based broth with generous toppings of crunchy eels, bean sprouts, egg, cucumber slices, fried shallots, and purple perilla.
Bún Chả

Bún Chả Đắc Kim.

Bún Chả has long become a familiar dish not only for the people of Hanoi, this is a simple dish, easy to eat and suitable for everyone. Want to enjoy the delicious taste of Bún Chá dish, “gourmets” often come to Dac Kim restaurant at No 1 Hàng Mành, Hanoi. It is so famous and considered a delicious dish of Hanoi that brings special flavor of Trang An.
Bun Cha Nem Cua Be Dac Kim serves arguably the best nem chua be (crabmeat rolls) and bun cha (grilled pork with noodles) in the city. You get two pieces of its signature crabmeat rolls and a bowl of bun cha that’s big enough to share between two people.
Eat like the locals do by pairing it with fresh herbs and lettuce, before dipping it in nuoc cham sauce. Do note that there are two restaurants with the same name set next to each other –the correct Bun Cha Nem Cua Be Dac Kim is the one with the yellow signage.