5 Hoi An Dishes You May Fall In Love

Each city and region has its own special culinary features and so does Hoi An cuisine. Hoi An dishes are considered one of the factors attracting tourists from all over the world because of its diversity and uniqueness with various sources of ingredients from the plains, mountains and the sea. Hoi An used to be a busy international trading port, a place for exchanges and meetings of Western, Japanese and Chinese merchant ships, that is the reason why in addition to traditional dishes, travelers still often encounter delicious Hoi An dishes with the flavors of these countries. If people only have 24 hours to visit this ancient city, which specialty will they choose. 

1. Com ga Hoi An (Hoi An Chicken Rice)

Chicken rice has been around since about 1950. Therefore, with creativity and skillful hands, Hoi An people took advantage of fresh chicken from Tam Ky and fragrant sticky rice grown on the Thu Bon river to make the famous delicious chicken rice dish. This Hoi An dish is a specialty food with shredded poached chicken served with seasoned pilaf rice, shredded green papaya and carrot, fresh herbs, and a bowl of chicken broth that may or may not contain offal and cubes of congealed blood. It is one of those deceptive dishes that look tasteless but is absolutely packed with flavor.

*Recommended places to eat in Hoi An:

• Com ga Ba Buoi
  Address: No. 22 Phan Chu Trinh Street, Minh An District, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 11:00 – 19:00
  Price: VND 35,000 – VND 50,000 (approx. $1.51 - $2.15)
  
  
• Com ga Ba Thuan
  Address: No.17, Alley 04, Hai Ba Trung Street, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 7:00 – 22:00
  Price: VND 25,000 – VND 100,000 (approx. $1.08 - $4.30)
  
  
• Com ga xi Hoi An
  Address: No.47, Alley 02, Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 9:00 – 21:00
  Price: VND 20,000 – VND 50,000 (approx. $0.86 - $2.15)

2. Banh Mi Hoi An

Hoi An banh mi is considered “the best banh mi in the world”, it is a street food that most tourists want to enjoy when traveling to Vietnam. Banh mi Hoi An both shows the rustic and simple, while also pointing out the delicate flavor of Vietnamese cuisine. Shops of this one of the best foods in Hoi An fill their crispy baguettes with a range of ingredients including liver pate, cold cuts, pickled vegetables, cucumber slices, and cilantro.

*Recommended places to eat in Hoi An:

• Banh mi Phuong
  Address: No.2B Phan Chu Chinh Street, Cam Chau Ward, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 7:00 – 20:00
  Price: VND 20,000 – VND 30,000 (approx. $0.86 - $1.29)
  
  
• Madam Khanh (The Banh My Queen)
  Address: No.115 Tran Cao Van Street, Minh An Ward, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 6:30 – 19:30
  Price: VND 25,000 – VND 30,000 (approx. $1.08 - $1.29)
  
  
• Banh mi co Lanh
  Address: No.430 Cua Dai Street, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 6:00 – 10:00
  Price: VND 10,000 – VND 25,000 (approx. $0.43 - $1.08) 

3. Cao Lau

Cao Lau comprises of the signature Cao Lau noodles (local fresh rice), slices of barbecue pork, pork crackling, bean sprouts, lettuce and herbs, it is then finished with a spoonful of stock. The meat used to prepare the Cao Lau must be pork loin or trotter. The pork is fried in a marinade and then roasted for 1 hour. Next, fish sauce, soy sauce, garlic, sugar, salt & pepper, thin crispy croutons, vegetables, bean sprouts and spices are thrown in, and after adding the noodles and herbs the dish is done. The dry pancakes used must be thick and have a lot of sesame. Crunchy deep-fried squares of Cao Lau dough are sprinkled on top, while the noodles will be crispy bean sprouts secreted beneath the noodles. When eating, the fat of this Hoi An dish will melt in the mouth along with the sudden feeling of noodles, full of sour, spicy, bitter, acrid and sweet flavors of raw vegetables mixed with the flavor of fish sauce, aromatic powder and soy sauce.

*Recommended places to eat in Hoi An:

• Quan cao lau Khong Gian Xanh
  Address: No. 687 Hai Ba Trung Street, Minh An Ward, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 9:30 – 21:00
  Price: VND 30,000 – VND 50,000 (approx. $1.29 - $2.15)
  
  
• Quan cao lau ba Thanh
  Address: No. 26 Thai Phien Street, Minh An Ward, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 7:00 – 19:00
  Price: VND 30,000 – VND 45,000 (approx. $1.29 - $1.94)
  
  
• Quan cao lau Hoi An Trung Bac
  Address: No. 87 Tran Phu Street, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 7:30 – 22:00
  Price: VND 40,000 – VND 60,000 (approx. $1.72 - $2.58)

4. Hoanh Thanh (Wonton)

Besides Cao Lau and chicken rice, Hoi An cuisine is also famous for its unique and attractive wonton dish. Although originating from China, over time, the wonton of this city has been modified to better suit the taste of Vietnamese people. This specialty dish has 2 parts including the shell and the meat inside, which are processed in many different ways from dry to water, served with noodles for visitors to choose from. The combination of the ethereal, sweet broth from the meat with the rich filling makes it hard to avoid falling in love with this Hoi An dish.

*Recommended places to eat in Hoi An:

• Hoanh thanh Anh Dung Hoi An 
  Address: No. 14 Ba Trieu Street, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 7:00 – 11:30
  Price: VND 20,000 – VND 50,000 (approx. $0.86 - $2.15)
  
  
• Hoanh thanh Nguyen Loi
  Address: No. 78 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 6:30 – 20:30
  Price: VND 30,000 – VND 70,000 (approx. $1.29 - $3.01)

5. Mi Quang (Quang-style Noodles)

Similar to one of the best famous local foods in Da Nang, Quang-style noodles always bring curiosity and excitement to visitors every time they come here. This Hoi An dish has diverse versions such as crab noodles, shrimp noodles, beef noodles, fish noodles, chicken noodles, jellyfish noodles, duck noodles, etc. The attraction of this noodle dish originating from this rural countryside comes from the soft and chewy ivory white noodles with the sweet taste of the broth, and the rich taste of the topping. The bowl of Quang noodles representing Hoi An cuisine will be more flavorful if seasoned with a little chili garlic fish sauce.

*Recommended places to eat in Hoi An:

• Mi Quang ong Hai 
  Address: No. 6A Truong Minh Luong Street, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 6:00 – 22:00
  Price: VND 15,000 – VND 40,000 (approx. $0.65 - $1.72)
  
  
• Mi Quang co Sinh
  Address: No. 170, Alley 5 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 6:00 – 13:00
  Price: VND 20,000 – VND 25,000 (approx. $0.86 - $1.08)
  
  
• Mi Quang Di Hat
  Address: No. 81 Phan Chau Trinh Street, Hoi An City.
  Opening hours: 17:00 – 22:00
  Price: VND 15,000 – VND 25,000 (approx. $0.65 - $1.08)

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