Egg Coffee at Cafe Pho Co on 3 pm
A decent Vietnamese milk coffee, or ca phe sua, can be found on every street corner, at every airport and train station, and at your hotel. You will be drinking it your entire trip. For a taste of caffeinated Hanoi, try the egg coffee, a specialty of the city, at Cafe Pho Co, a favorite of visitors and locals offering a rooftop view of the Hoan Kiem lake.
To reach your destination, you’ll have to pass through a clothing store on Hang Gai (Silk Street), into a courtyard filled with antiques and birdcages, and up a few sets of stairs. The drink tops Vietnam’s traditional dark-roast brew with a vigorously whipped mix of egg yolk and condensed milk for a sip reminiscent of liquid coffee cake.
Noodles at Bun Bo Nam Bo or Bun Cha 34 on 3:30 pm
The Old Quarter is all about street-style bun, or rice vermicelli noodle, dishes. Two standouts here are Bun Cha 34, hawking the Hanoi-born fatty pork and pork belly broth noodles, and Bun Bo Nam Bo, dishing up the namesake southern beef noodle salad that northerners have come to love.
Happy Hour at Bia Hoi U Phao on 5 pm
Hanoi is home to the world’s most essential happy hour: the bia hoi. Come 5 p.m., folks, mostly men, flock to their nearby plastic-table joint for dirt-cheap barrel-tapped brews and equally affordable bites. Sitting on the southeast corner of Ho Tay, or the West Lake, this outdoor pub caters to crowd of almost exclusively locals.
Swim (and Stay) at Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake on 6:30 pm
On the other side of West Lake sits the sprawling, luxurious Intercontinental Hanoi. Guests can catch views of sunrise and sunset on the storied body of water, where locals can be spotted doing tai chi or yoga as well as fishing at all hours. The hotel has seven restaurant and bars—including the lauded French brasserie Cafe Du Lac—but one of the main draws here is relaxing, cocktail-in-hand, by the pool, an essential for withstanding Hanoi’s windless 100-degree days.
Craft Beers at Red River Tea Room on 7:30 pm
Tucked in an alleyway next to the hotel is this expat-beloved wine and craft beer pub offering some of Vietnam’s newest and most exciting bottles. Standouts include Saigon-based Lac Brewing Company’s IPA, and American staples like High West whiskey.
Dinner at Porte D’Annam on 8:30 pm
Many of Hanoi’s best meals are found on the sidewalk, but full-service indoor restaurants are increasingly common. Among the pioneers of Hanoi’s upmarket dining scene is French chef Didier Corlou, whose restaurants are as much architectural attractions as they are culinary destinations.
Housed in a colonial-era villa near the famed St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Porte D’Annam serves Corlou’s known brand of Franco-Vietnamese fare—think a quartet of spring rolls themed after the four seasons of the year, a sesame-laced seabass carpaccio, and sweet and saucy pork ribs—that’s also earned him acclaim at his nearby Madame Hien and La Verticale.
Cocktails at DOT on 9:30 pm
Hanoi has no shortage of cocktail bars, from the time-honored journalist hangout Press Club to the juniper-obsessed speakeasy the Mad Botanist. DOT takes craft cocktails to the street, with a tiny booth window doling out excellent drinks to a few lakeside sidewalk tables. On the menu are classics like negronis and sours, and even originals if you stay and chat with the bartender.
Egg coffee.
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To reach your destination, you’ll have to pass through a clothing store on Hang Gai (Silk Street), into a courtyard filled with antiques and birdcages, and up a few sets of stairs. The drink tops Vietnam’s traditional dark-roast brew with a vigorously whipped mix of egg yolk and condensed milk for a sip reminiscent of liquid coffee cake.
Noodles at Bun Bo Nam Bo or Bun Cha 34 on 3:30 pm
Bun Cha.
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Happy Hour at Bia Hoi U Phao on 5 pm
Bia Hoi.
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Swim (and Stay) at Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake on 6:30 pm
Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake.
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Craft Beers at Red River Tea Room on 7:30 pm
Craft Beers at Red River Tea Room.
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Dinner at Porte D’Annam on 8:30 pm
Dinner at Porte D’Annam.
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Housed in a colonial-era villa near the famed St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Porte D’Annam serves Corlou’s known brand of Franco-Vietnamese fare—think a quartet of spring rolls themed after the four seasons of the year, a sesame-laced seabass carpaccio, and sweet and saucy pork ribs—that’s also earned him acclaim at his nearby Madame Hien and La Verticale.
Cocktails at DOT on 9:30 pm
Cocktails at DOT.
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