Not only famous for the ancient beauty of the old streets, the gentle Hoai River, the old cafe corners full of art, Hoi An is also a unique culinary paradise with a variety of local dishes from rustic to luxurious, attracting plenty of tourists.
And if you want to plan your upcoming journey to Hoi An, 8 famous local food and addresses in Hoi An below will make you have more chances to experience cuisine in this city.
1. Ba Buoi Chicken Rice (Cơm gà Bà Buội)
- Ba Buoi Chicken Rice (Cơm gà Bà Buội)
- Address: 22 Phan Chu Trinh Street, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam
- Opening hours: 10:30 am – 2:30 pm, and 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
- Phone: 0905 767 999
- Price: from 35,000 VND/dish
Cơm gà Bà Buội is famous for the cuisine in the ancient town of Hoi An, selling tasty chicken rice. The chicken rice at the restaurant is attractive by different flavors carefully processed.
Available from the 50s of the 20th century, Ba Buoi Chicken Rice has become a well-known name associated with the development of Hoi An. Unlike chicken rice dishes sold in many other places, the chicken rice of Ba Buoi restaurant uses the most free-range chickens, helping the chicken meat have a better aroma.
The chicken is delicious, not as soft as the industrial chicken, or too tough like the old chicken, but its meat is balanced enough for you to feel sweet and chew.
When coming to the restaurant, you can order boiled chicken rice, shredded chicken rice, and chicken liver, and young eggs. The restaurant is always crowded, so you want to enjoy this course, sometimes you have to wait up to 10 minutes to have an empty seat to sit.
2. Phuong Bread (Bánh Mì Phượng)
- Banh Mi Phuong Restaurant
- Address: 2B Phan Chau Trinh Street, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam
- Opening hours: 6:30 am – 9:30 pm
- Phone: 0905 743 773
- Price: 20,000 VND/load
Vietnamese bread becomes well-known in the world, and many guests voted it as the tastiest sandwich in the world.
And, Banh Mi Phuong Restaurant in Hoi An Ancient Town is an ideal place to taste this flavorful bread. The bread crust is thin, but very crispy because all pre-processed bread is kept warm in a wooden cabinet with an embers stove.
The ingredients make Phuong bread are processed at home, without using available industrial pre-made ingredients, making its flavor different from other types of bread.
When holding a load of Phuong bread, you feel it a little heavy because it is full of meat, pate, meat pie, homemade sauce, and fresh green vegetables. All these ingredients create a unique flavor for Phuong bread.
And if you once visit this old town, you need to taste a load of bread at Banh Mi Phuong Restaurant to know the tasty cuisine of Hoi An ancient town.
3. Dry noodle (Cao lầu Hội An)
- Cao Lau Ba Le Restaurant
- Address: 49/3 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam
- Opening hours: 11:00 am – 9:30 pm (Mon – Fri), and 6:30 am – 9:30 pm (Sat-Sun)
- Phone: 0937 691 891
- Price: 35,000 VND/bowl
Hoi An’s specialty is probably nothing to replace Cao Lau, the hundreds-year-old dish of this small old town.
Unlike Quang noodle, vermicelli, or fresh spring rolls, Cao Lau has the thicker noodle and yellow color, and it is often served with raw vegetables and a little broth from shrimp and pork.
Although there are some similarities with Quang noodle, the Cao Lau is processed more elaborately. For the dry noodles to be golden and delicious, the noodle maker must use the ash water (the water from the old Ba Le well) to soak the rice to produce crisp and chewy noodles.
Many places are to taste Cao Lau in Hoi An, but we like to introduce you to Cao Lau Ba Le Restaurant, which has tasty one with good quality.
4. White Rose Dumplings (Bánh Bông Hồng Trắng)
- Bánh Bao – Bánh Vạt Restaurant
- Address: 533 Hai Ba Trung Street, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam
- Opening hours: 7:00am – 8:30 pm
- Phone: 0235 3862 784
White Rose dumplings (Bánh Bông Hồng Trắng or Bánh Bao – Bánh Vạt in Vietnamese) have become a famous local food in Hoi An, which appears in the most menu of restaurants in this city.
The dumplings are made with the main ingredient of sticky rice flour. The owners filter the flour many times to get the high-quality one for the best dumplings.
The filling of White Rose includes minced shrimp, mushrooms, fish sauce, pepper, and onions. The chefs can use the fresh or cooked filling to be wrapped inside the flour, then steam them. Using fresh filling can create better dumplings.
The White Rose dumplings are usually served with a sweet-sour fish sauce with garlic and chili. This famous local food in Hoi An originates from a family restaurant on Hai Ba Trung Street, Hoi An City.
5. Wonton
- Miss Ly Restaurant
- Address: 22 Nguyen Hue Street, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam
- Opening hours: 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
- Phone: 0905 234 864
- Price: from 60,000 VND/ dish
Wonton attracts plenty of diners by its delicious and unique taste. Wonton is also considered an interesting combination of Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine. It is because this food originates from China, but the local chefs change the fillings and sauce to become a tasty local dish.
Wonton has different ways to prepare, but the most popular type of this Hoi An food is fried wonton. The crispy skin combines with the sweet taste of shrimp and hot sauce, making a great feeling when biting a piece of the fried wonton.
To reduce the fried feeling, on a dish of wonton often has a few salads and Vietnamese herb (coriander or mint).
6. Sweet Soup (Chè)
- The sweet soup at the gate of Hoi An Market
- Address: 19 Tran Phu Street, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam
- Opening hours: 7:00 am – 5:00 pm
- Price: from 10,000 VND/cup
The sweet soup dish is popular not only in Hoi An but also in many other cities in Vietnam. However, the flavor at each place is a little bit different. The sweet soup in Hoi An comes with a light taste and various types. Besides using glasses, the way to using a dish is also more common to taste this local food.
You can find most kinds, including the sweet soup of corn, mung bean, kidney bean, sticky rice ball, and mixed fruit. The ice often adds with the Chè to become a cold drink for the locals and tourists when walking around this old town.
Along the old streets in Hoi An, you can see many shops selling this course on the pavement. The good place to taste it is at the gate of Hoi An food market.
7. Hoi An Herbal Tea at Mot
- Mot Hoi An Store
- Address: 10 Tran Phu Street, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam
- Opening hours: 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
- Phone: 0396 037 257
- Price: 10,000 VND/ cup
Located on a small street in the center of Hoi An ancient town, Mot Hoi An is one of the special sidewalk drinks that many tourists love it.
The store attracts passersby by cute arrangement to herbs neatly placed among old decorations, such as kerosene lamps, bamboo trays, and porcelain bowls. All come together to create more attractive images.
Hoi An sells herbal juices, using the main ingredients such as lemongrass, cinnamon, lemon, aromatherapy, honeysuckle, and others. This drink is light and has a typical aroma that makes you feel better feeling after walking around the ancient town.
8. Grilled-meat spring rolls
- Ba Le Well Restaurant
- Address: 45/51 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam
- Opening hours: 9:30 am – 10:30 pm
- Phone: 0774 565 174
- Price: from 100,000VND/set
The grilled meat wrapping with fresh vegetable is one of the most flavorful food in Hoi An that attracts not only the local but also tourists.
The meat turns into golden color when grilled on the charcoal stove, and the smoke soaring makes your taste buds more stimulating.
The grilled meat rolls attract people because the meat is marinated with different herbs, and the sauce is also skillfully processed, making diners feel not salty, but feel rich when tasting.
The eaters put the grilled meat on the rice paper with fresh vegetables, roll them, and dip in the special sauce. All taste will come with great feelings of fresh, sweet, fragrant, and a little fat.
You can find many places selling grilled meat rolls along the streets in Hoi An Old Town. But, the best place to taste it is Ba Le Well Restaurant, as mentioned above. Besides grilled meat rolls, you can taste Hoi An pancake and fried spring rolls in this restaurant.
Vietnamdrive’s thoughts
Hoi An is one of the famous places with diversity in cuisine thanks to the cultural exchange of many different regions and countries, in which Chinese and Central Vietnamese cuisine is outstanding.
As a result, you will find a variety of local dishes with many different flavors. There can be a wide range of local dishes, but after we experience a lot of Hoi An cuisine, we only choose 8 typical food to introduce to you as above.
If you don’t have a lot of time and are a foreign visitor to Hoi An, we recommend you to try the three dishes: Banh Mi Phuong, the White Rose dumplings, and the wonton.
Vietnamdrive wishes you have a great time with culinary discovery in Hoi An City.