Hey connoisseurs! Have you tried all of the Vietnamese food? This will be your chance. The following content will give you the most specific details about over 30 famous street food in Vietnam.
To make it easy to keep track, the food is divided into 3 main regions in Vietnam. Every dish has its own way to make and enjoy. So take your time and bon appetite! Here are the best Vietnamese food in Northern Vietnam.

1. Fried Vietnamese Vermicelli with meat crab and egg (Miến xào cua)

Despite simple ingredients and recipe, fried vermicelli with meat crab and egg is still a favorite Vietnamese food of many people. The dish is the most popular in Hanoi and you should try it at least once when visiting the city because it is very hard to forget its taste after you have tried it. The fresh flavor of crab combining with vermicelli is the best harmonization ever.
You can make the dish at home in various ways. Some ingredients that you will need are meat crab, eggs, vermicelli, carrots, onions, celeries, parsley, small spring onion, chili peppers, pepper, seasoning powder, and fish sauce. And when you get into work, just chop all the ingredients into small pieces and fry them. Meat crab is the first one to cook, and then move on to other elements.
The sweet smell of meat crab, the fresh color from eggs, and the wonderful flavors from fish sauce, peppers, and celeries are the main reasons for the excellent dish. The final one coming out often has a golden color and good odor from the crab. You can try the food to feel the taste before starting cooking it at home. While having the dish, squeezing some lemon juice onto it and stirring it well can promote the flavor even better.
There are many street restaurants having it so all you have to do is to buy one. Going to the restaurants or ordering the dish for delivering are both fine.
• Some famous restaurants serving the dish:
– 1 Hang Than Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi (The most recommended one due to average price and excellent quality) – 35,000 VND/dish (about $1.5)
– Seafood Nghia Dung Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi – 30,000 VND/dish (about $1.3)
– 9NKC Nguyen Khac Can Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi – 90,000 VND/dish (about $3.9)
– 18 Nguyen Sieu Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi – 40,000 VND/dish (about $1.7)

2. Sour Pho noodle (Phở chua)

This Vietnamese food is special due to a great number of ingredients, which create a strange taste but very pleasant. You may find potatoes, pork, pork organs, sausages, duck, and lots of veggies in one dish depending on each chef’s recipe. And every cook has his own secret to make his Sour Pho noodles unique. Therefore, just try enjoying the dish in any restaurant you go to and feel Vietnamese art of cooking.
It is original from Cao Bang province and a special food of Cao Bang. Should you visit there, it is a perfect chance for you to experience the outstanding flavor. If not, you can find some famous street restaurant in Hanoi serving the food. Making it at home is another option because it is not difficult at all. All ingredients include noodle, shrimps, roasted pork, peanuts, carrots, sugar, fish sauce, chili peppers, and especially vinegar.
The secret of the dish depends on its broth, which is either too sour or too sweet. And to have the best flavor for the broth, you need vinegar, sugar, fish sauce, and chili peppers in harmony. The last step is just cut all the ingredients into pieces and mix them with the broth. The end result needs to have many colors and unique sour taste. The dish seems better when you drink some coca cola while eating.
• Some famous restaurants serving the dish:
– Lane 18/1, Huynh Thuc Khang Street, Dong Da District, Hanoi – 30,000 VND/dish (about $1.3)
– 87 Nguyen Huu Huan Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi – 35,000 VND/dish (about $1.5)
– Number 3, Lane 4C, Dang Van Ngu Street, Dong Da District, Hanoi – 25,000 VND/dish (about $1.1)
– Number 72, Lane Thinh Hao 1, Dong Da District, Hanoi – 25,000 VND/dish (about $1.1)

3. Mixed Pho with chicken meat (Phở gà trộn)

If you visit Hanoi in summer (from May to July), mixed Pho with chicken meat is a fantastic Vietnamese food to start your journey. In contrast to traditional Pho with hot broth, mixed Pho with chicken meat has many elements combined to decrease your body temperature. And therefore, it can cool down the specifically hot summer in Hanoi.
Moreover, making it is the easiest among all other Vietnamese dishes. Different from sour Pho noodle, the most important ingredients of this dish are spices. Besides common ones, such as peppers and fish sauce, you often need soya sauce, seasoning powder, garlic and several veggies like shallots and cabbage. After preparing all of those, mixing them together is the last thing you have to do.
When trying the dish for the first time, you will see how delightful it is. The sour, sweet, and salty flavors are mixed extremely well in only one type of food. It is a wonderful taste that hardly any food can have. If you choose to enjoy it in restaurants, some of them will offer it with soup. And it is highly recommended to have soup along with the dish because they complete each other.
• Some famous restaurants serving the dish:
– Number 3, Lane 4C, Dang Van Ngu Street, Dong Da District, Hanoi – 25,000 VND/dish (about $1.1)
– 31 Hang Khoai Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi – 30,000 VND/dish (about $1.3)
– 5 Phu Doan Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi – 45,000 VND/dish (about $1.9)
– Number 72, Lane Thinh Hao 1, Dong Da District, Hanoi – 25,000 VND/dish (about $1.1)

4. Mixed brown vermicelli (Bánh đa trộn)

Another Vietnamese food that you cannot omit when visiting Northern Vietnam is mixed brown vermicelli. The dish is a traditional food from Hai Phong city; however, you can find it in many restaurants in Hanoi. So what is differences between this dish and mixed Pho with chicken meat?
The primary distinctions lie in their ingredients. Brown vermicelli is made from a secret type of honey and has to go through a strict process before being transferred to restaurants. Therefore, it has brown color instead of white and softer as well as tougher than Pho. Also, mixed brown vermicelli has a greater number of elements than other dishes.
Some common ones include field crabs, tofu, grilled fish, water morning-glory, bean sprouts, tomatoes, and roasted peanuts. And the way to make it is way more complicated than Pho. You need to broil tofu and grilled fish first. Grinding crabs and boiling water morning-glory are the next steps. And finally, the most exciting step is to mix everything together.
You can enjoy it with tomato soup and vegetable pickles if you want. The flavor can be more fascinating and you can be full without having to eat anything else. The dish is very appropriate for a hot summer day as well.
• Some famous restaurants serving the dish:
– 6 Phung Hung Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi – 30,000 VND/dish (about $1.3)
– Lane 13, Ba Trieu Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi – 30,000 VND/dish (about $1.3)
– Lane 3, Hoang Dao Thanh Street, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi – 25,000 VND/dish (about $1.1)
– Lane 36, Vu Ngoc Phan Street, Dong Da District, Hanoi – 20,000 VND/dish (about 88 cents)

5. Mixed casssa vermicelli (Miến trộn)

If you have been to Thailand or Korea, you will have an opportunity to try mixed casssa vermicelli. Nonetheless, it is a Vietnamese food that has totally different flavor. Therefore, when you already have mixed casssa vermicelli in other countries, open your mind one more time to try it in Vietnam because it will not disappoint you.
There are various recipes to make it but the most common one is composed of shallots, crab-roes, mustard greens, some pieces of fried fish, and bean sprouts. In some area in Hanoi, they even have mixed casssa vermicelli with eel as their special food. Whatever type it is, the food still carries a Vietnamese exclusive cuisine with the toughness of vermicelli, the faint aroma of shallots, and summer taste of vegetables.
Mixed casssa vermicelli is also very easy to cook at home. If you want to make one with unique flavor, it is best to look for vermicelli sold in Cu Da ancient village. Located in Thanh Oai District, Cu Da village is famous for golden traditional vermicelli made from turmeric. Therefore, your dish will have a distinct taste when you add that vermicelli to one of the main ingredients.
And after all of the elements are included, don’t forget to pour some soya-sauce into your bowl. It will make the whole dish much juicier.
• Some famous restaurants serving the dish:
– Lane 6, Vinh Phuc Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi – 25,000 VND/dish (about $1.1)
– Lane 104C1, Thai Thinh Street, Dong Da District, Hanoi – 30,000 VND/dish (about $1.3)
– Number 12, Lane 118, Nguyen Khanh Toan Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi – 25,000 VND/dish (about $1.1)
– Number 1, Lane Trung Yen, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi – 40,000 VND/dish (about $1.7)

6. Mixed green papaya (Nộm bò khô)

No one knows when mixed green papaya appeared or its origin. The only thing that Vietnamese knows is that it has been there for decades and become an integral part of people’s lives. Whenever you pass by a small lane or a school, hear the sound of scissors cutting, and the good smell from basils, mixed green papaya is there.
It has only several ingredients but tastes like heaven thanks to spices in harmony. Normally, you can find sliced papaya, some peanuts, sweet-and-sour fish sauce, air-dried beef, basils, parsley, marjoram, and so on. Combining with one another, they create a little spicy but still sweet flavor, which is enough to make numerous people’s mouth water.
One more special feature about mixed green papaya is that you can find it almost anywhere in Hanoi. It is a very popular Vietnamese food. Despite some differences among cooks’ cuisine, most dishes have a fantastic flavor that you will never forget. If you want to try the dish, it is best to look for long-standing cooks, who have worked on it for over 10 years.
And street restaurants having plastic stools are often more common choices than those having decent tables and chairs. Perhaps, it has become a habit as well as a cultural trait of the local and it seems hard to change.
• Some famous restaurants serving the dish:
– Mr. Hao mixed green papaya on Lo Su Street (you should ask the local when finding Mr. Hao because he drives around the Old Quarter to sell his dishes) – 30,000 VND/dish (about $1.3)
– 1 Nguyen Trung Truc Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi – 20,000 VND/dish (about 88 cents)
– 26 Hong Mai Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi – 50,000 VND/dish (about $2.2)
– Ham Long Lane, Ham Long Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi – 30,000 VND/dish (about $1.3)