Best Food in Hoi An Vietnam: Guide to What & Where to Eat

Welcome to Hoi An in central Vietnam. We're going to show you the best food in Hoi An featuring the local specialties that we think you must try. Over our many visits, we've enjoyed hundreds of meals around this town. There is so much good food here so if you're wondering what to eat in Hoi An and where, we'll narrow it down for you. For more info on the places we recommend, check out the links to our Hoi An guides in the video description. So let's dive in. As you may know, historically the food culture in Vietnam is very regional. So for Hoi An, let's start with dishes that originated in central Vietnam or are very popular here. Our friend Phu will help us with the Vietnamese pronunciations starting with Mì Quang. Mì Quang is a rice noodle dish with a bit of broth. It often comes with shrimp, pork, roasted peanuts, quail eggs, and sesame rice crackers with fresh herbs to add on the side. Next is Cao Lau. Cao Lau is a quintessentially Hoi An dish because the fat yellow noodles are historically made with water from local wells. It's served with a sweet pork broth, slices of pork and bean sprouts on top, and a couple fried noodles for crunch. Both Mì Quang and Cao Lau are widely available in Hoi An, including at homestays that serve breakfast. So it doesn't matter too much where you try them. We personally like Mì Quang 92 and the Cao Lau at Kham Luong. As with many dishes here, you can add spiciness with condiments if you want, but we don't. To see how the ingredients of these dishes are produced locally, we highly recommend the Hidden Gems Food Tours with Angie's Adventures, which we'll link to in the description. White Rose is a delicate rice paper dumpling with shrimp and pork inside. They're historically sourced from the one producer in Hoi An, so you won't find it anywhere else. It's made in the shape of a rose served with crispy fried shallots on top and a dipping sauce. It's served at many local restaurants and is a good one to order as an appetizer. The next must-try food in Central Vietnam is Banh Xeo. It is a savory rice flour pancake with turmeric for the yellow color. It usually has pork and shrimp and then bean sprouts folded inside. You can wrap it up with rice paper and greens and then dip the roll into a sauce. Some places do a peanut sauce and others have a fish sauce base. Next, Bun Thit Nong. Bun Thit Nong is similar to the vermicelli noodle salads I love to order in the States. It's topped with barbecued pork, fresh veggies, peanuts, etc. and the sweet savory sauce they serve it with at Verdant Space in Ancient Town is our absolute favorite. Banh Mi sandwiches are not specifically a regional dish, but our all-time favorite is in Hoi An and we have tried a lot. Sandwich ingredients vary, but it starts with a crispy baguette and usually includes mayo, cilantro, cucumber, and pickled carrots and daikon. We get the mixed sandwich at Madame Khin's Banh Mi Queen. Some other foods worth trying in Hoi An are Morning Glory, which is a leafy green that's usually stir-fried with garlic. Banh Dap, which is a soft sheet of rice paper between two crispy sheets of rice paper cracker that you dip in sauce. The texture is just lovely. A lemongrass pork barbecue skewer, fresh seafood at the beach, and of course, all the tropical fruits that you can find in the markets or on smoothie menus. If you're looking for a good value, sort of an entry-level place, the restaurant we recommend to first-time visitors is Kham Linh. It's centrally located, the staff speak English, and they have an extensive menu that includes all the regional specialties, so you can try pretty much everything I've mentioned so far. For something a little different, we recommend a cute Vietnamese fusion restaurant called Seashell by New Eatery. Their menu is sort of a tapas style and it changes, but the turmeric fish tacos have thankfully endured. The fish are perfectly fried and served with creamy dill, cucumber, crushed peanut, and even a little vermicelli noodles. It's probably my favorite fish taco in the world. In case Hoi An is your only stop in Vietnam, you can also find specialties from the north and south. Our favorites are Bun Cha Hanoi, Soy Seau, and Egg Coffee. You'll also find global cuisines of all kinds in Hoi An. One of our favorites is the pita sandwiches at Greek Souvlaki. Be sure to check out the links in the description for more detailed resources on Hoi An, like our curated maps of our favorite places and awesome motorbike tours from Hoi An with our friend Phu, who you saw in this video. Happy travels! Nervous! Oh, it came out good! It came out good!