Any visitor to Hanoi faces a pleasant dilemma when planning a food tour due to the overwhelming number of choices.

Abundant choices

Tourists have the feeling of returning to the subsidy period on tram line No.6 at the Dao Ngoc-Ngu Xa food street (in Ba Dinh District).

Hanoi offers numerous culinary options. ‘Pho’ (noodle soup) alone features many famous brands like Pho Ly Quoc Su, Pho Thin, Pho Suong, Pho Au Trieu, and Pho Nguyet.

Beyond that is a long list of eateries serving ‘bun cha’ (grilled pork meatballs with vermicelli noodles), ‘bun rieu’ (crab noodle soup), ‘bun oc’ (snail noodle soup), ‘bun thang’ (noodle soup with shredded of chicken, pork and fried egg, mushrooms and dried turnip), and more.

While other localities might have only a few food streets, Hanoi has many. In particular, three professionally organised food streets include Tong Duy Tan (Hoan Kiem), Dao Ngoc-Ngu Xa (Ba Dinh), and Nguyen Van Tuyet (Dong Da).

Additionally, many streets and alleys have naturally evolved into food destinations, including Phat Loc, Dong Xuan, Trang Tien, Trung Yen, Hoe Nhai, and Ao Sen.

This rich culinary heritage stems from a millennium of culture and Hanoi's position as a cultural exchange centre of the region, the nation and the world. Hanoi's specialities like ‘pho’, ‘bun’, ‘nem’ (spring roll), and ‘com’ (young sticky rice) are well-known dishes.

More importantly, Hanoi's culinary appeal lies not just in the food itself but in its food culture—from preparation methods to the dining experience. Even simple ingredients are transformed by the skillful and delicate touch of Hanoians into "memorable delicacies".

Beyond the inner city, Hanoi's suburban cuisine is equally diverse. Tripadvisor has recognised Hanoi among the top 15 cities with the world's most appealing cuisines, on par with Naples, Athens, Barcelona, Paris, Bangkok, and Kyoto.

In 2024, the World Culinary Awards honoured Hanoi in two categories, including World's Leading Culinary Destination and Asia's Leading Culinary Destination. Dishes like ‘pho’, ‘nem ran’ (fried spring rolls), and lotus tea have long been considered Hanoi's "cultural business cards".

According to the Resolution on Cultural Industry Development through 2025, with a vision to 2030 and orientation to 1945), the Hanoi Municipal Party Committee added cuisine as the 13th category in the city's cultural industries. This represents a breakthrough in thinking about exploiting culinary resource values.

Former Director of Hanoi Municipal Department of Culture and Sports, Do Dinh Hong, stated: "Hanoi's cuisine has always been rich, diverse, and sophisticated with many specialities like West Lake and Hang Khoai snail noodle soup, ‘banh cuon Thanh Tri’ (Thanh Tri steamed rice rolls), and ‘cha ca La Vong’ (La Vong grilled fish).

The list of specialities in Hanoi is incredibly diverse. Some originate from the capital, while others come from different regions but acquire a unique flavour when prepared in Hanoi. This provides the foundation for Hanoi to promote culinary values in cultural industry development."

Affirming position, elevating the brand

The Hoan Kiem District People's Committee recently completed a project to renovate the Tong Duy Tan – Hang Bong Alley food street, with the highlight of the bronze statue featuring a ‘Pho’ seller in the early 20th century (by artist Tran Quoc Thinh).

The street is decorated with lanterns, and entrance gates inspired by ancient architecture. These enhancements add value to Tong Duy Tan food street, already famous as Hanoi's oldest food street with many renowned establishments.

Artist Nguyen The Son, the project's art curator, explained: "Hanoi’s Old Quarter represents long-standing cultural values. Therefore, when implementing the project, we tried to elevate the artistic content of the street.

For instance, the bronze statue on the ‘Pho’ seller is the first artwork in Hanoi in the middle of a street. This gives tourists additional cultural impressions of Hanoi beyond just enjoying the food."

Besides infrastructure improvements, Hoan Kiem District has launched the Hoan Kiem Culinary App on iOS and Android, helping diners search for dishes by category and order directly, while promoting commercial civilisation and ensuring food safety.

This is just one of many activities Hanoi has been carrying out to exploit and promote culinary resources. After initial "exploratory" steps, the city's three specialised food streets have created distinct identities as Tong Duy Tan-Hang Bong Alley bears the cultural imprint of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, Dao Ngoc-Ngu Xa evokes the subsidy period lifestyle with its tram line No. 6, and Nguyen Van Tuyet Street highlights cuisine in the era of integration.

Suburban cuisine is also making strong contributions to the development of the capital’s culinary culture, with products like Phu Nhi rice cakes and Thach Xa sticky rice flour cake.

At Duong Lam Ancient Village and Bat Trang Pottery Village, enjoying local specialities has become an essential experience for visitors.

Hanoi regularly organises events promoting cuisine such as the West Lake Lotus Festival, Hanoi Culinary Culture Festival, and Hanoi Tourism Gift Festival.

These events not only introduce Hanoi's culinary beauty but also showcase Hanoi's elegance and sophistication in food preparation and appreciation.

Beyond leveraging cuisine for tourism, exploiting culinary resources for cultural industry development has broken through new aspects such as tourism, fashion, and performing arts.

However, the combination of cuisine with artistic programmes by restaurants has not met expectations, requiring new approaches.

Many experts believe that to maximise culinary value, cuisine should be viewed through heritage and cultural lenses to add depth to the products.

Dr. Dang Phuong Anh (from the Faculty of Tourism Studies under the University of Social Sciences and Humanities-the Vietnam National University, Hanoi) suggests that when promoting Hanoi cuisine and linking it with tourism development, attention should be paid to cultural spaces and the interaction between diners and food creators.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Anh Quyen from the Hanoi University of Culture proposes that Hanoi develop a more specific strategy to promote culinary culture linked to cultural industry development for local implementation.

The city should also develop focused culinary tours and organise more international exchange events around food culture. Many experts also suggest that Hanoi consider exporting speciality dishes on a larger scale to affirm its position and elevate the brand of the capital.