HANOI · DONG XUAN MARKET ROUTE

Dong Xuan Market Route

At the north end of the Old Quarter, around Dong Xuan, Hanoi's largest wholesale market, the morning's food swirls. Crab-sour bun rieu, snail bun oc, chicken pho, mung-bean sticky rice, colorful che. On a stall's low stool, one bowl at a time with the market's din at your back. A road walked through the common stomach, out to the foot of Long Bien Bridge.

🚶 The north end of the Old Quarter, ~15 min on foot from Hoan Kiem, by Long Bien Bridge🚶 ~95 min on foot🍽 6 dishes

The stomach of the market

Dong Xuan Market, Hanoi's largest covered market built in the French period, still moves wholesale and retail goods from morning. Around it gather stalls that fill the stomachs of workers and shoppers. The food here is less for sightseeing than a breakfast for the day's labor. So it is cheap, ample, and quick. Crab-pounded bun rieu, bun oc with lake snails, chicken pho, xoi xeo gripped one-handed. Each bowl settles the belly so you can return to the market's flow. Stalls set low stools in the road, and sharing a table is normal. Amid the calls of carried loads and the sound of scales, you face a steaming bowl. Here is the ground of everyday food, unadorned.

A morning of sour and ferment

Common to the market's breakfasts is sourness and a fermented aroma. Bun rieu raises its sour with tomato and fermented vinegar and pairs it with the savor of pounded crab. Bun oc likewise sinks springy snails into a sour broth. Into these the guest drops a little shrimp paste (mam tom) or fermented shrimp, deepening the scent. These fermented seasonings feel strong at first, but wound into the noodles with the sourness they turn to a deep savor. Sweet che and sticky rice close such a sour morning. Until you are used to it, taste the broth alone first and add seasoning from small amounts. Press in bean sprouts and herbs yourself and enjoy the contrast of hot broth and cool herbs. Hanoi's morning lies in this sour and this scent.

How to walk this route

Pass north out of the Old Quarter and set off with Dong Xuan Market as your mark. It is a road where morning takes the lead, so move before noon if you can. Start with a bowl of bun rieu at the market's edge, waking the stomach with crab-sour. Follow with a light bun oc, changing texture with springy snails. At the market gate, grip a xoi xeo and taste mung-bean sweetness one-handed on the walk. If chicken pho is at hand, reset the palate with its clear broth. Inside the market, take a cup of che's cold sweetness of beans and jelly. Close by buying gio cha at a shop on Hang Bo, cut for you by weight. About an hour and a half in all. Past noon the stalls begin to close, so cover the key stops early. The market is crowded and carts pass, so mind your valuables and move with the flow.

Route map

Dong Xuan Market → Hang Chieu → Hang Bo → Long Bien　·　numbers match the dishes below

The dishes on this route (6)

Tap through to each shop and dish

食1soupDong Xuan Bun Rieu Stall×Bun Rieu (Crab Noodle Soup)Bún Riêu Chợ Đồng Xuân × Bún Riêu CuaPaddy crab is pounded and strained, then simmered into a broth made sour with tomato and fermented vinegar, with rice vermicelli sunk in. Softly set curds of crab float on top, and fried tofu, snails, or set blood may join as toppings. The color turns reddish, and the scent weds crab's toastiness to sourness. Press in bean sprouts, water spinach, and herbs yourself, and a drop of shrimp paste tightens the taste. At the edge of the market's din, it is a bowl slurped from a stall's low stool.Nearest Dong Xuan Market / N Old QuarterPrice 35,000–50,000₫ 魚2SeafoodBun Oc Stall×Bun Oc (Snail Noodle Soup)Bún Ốc Chợ Đồng Xuân × Bún ỐcSnails picked from their shells meet a broth soured with tomato and vinegar, ladled over rice vermicelli. The snails are small and springy to the bite, their muddiness tamed by ginger and fermented vinegar. Red oil floats on the surface, set off by fried tofu, banana flower, and a perilla-like herb. In the sour, sharp broth the snails' texture bounces and the noodles catch it. The contrast of hot soup and cool herbs suits the muggy air of the market.Nearest Around Dong Xuan MarketPrice 40,000–55,000₫ 食3soupPho Ga Stall×Pho Ga (Chicken Pho)Phở Gà Hàng Điếu × Phở GàA clear broth from a whole boiled chicken is lighter than beef pho, its fat floating golden. Shredded free-range chicken is laid over flat rice noodles, strewn with scallion and fine-cut lime leaf. The meat is firm with bite, and many favor the springy snap of the skin. Take the broth first to find the chicken's sweetness, then finish with lime and chili. Light for breakfast or a late meal, it is gentle on the stomach. It suits the quiet hour before the market stirs.Nearest Hang Dieu St / W of marketPrice 40,000–55,000₫ 飯4RiceXoi Stall×Xoi Xeo (Turmeric Sticky Rice)Xôi Xéo Chợ Đồng Xuân × Xôi XéoGlutinous rice dyed gold with turmeric is steamed, then topped with mung-bean paste shaved thin from a set block with a knife. A finish of fried shallots and a spoon of melted chicken fat. The rice is dense and chewy, the mung bean crumbles softly, and the toastiness of the shallots ties it together. Wrapped in banana leaf or paper, it is eaten one-handed on the move. Lightly salted, it keeps the plain sweetness of bean and rice. In the morning, one sits in the hand of everyone heading to market.Nearest Dong Xuan Market gatePrice 15,000–30,000₫ 甘5SweetsChe Stall×Che (Sweet Bean Dessert)Chè Chợ Đồng Xuân × ChèIn a glass, boiled mung and red beans, jellies of many colors, lotus seeds, and tapioca are layered, then doused with crushed ice and coconut milk. Spoon from the bottom and the softness of beans, the slip of jelly, and coconut's sweet fat all enter the mouth at once. It is sweet, but the cold softens it, cooling the body on a muggy market afternoon. The fillings change by day and can often be chosen by pointing. Less an after-meal course than a cup you stop for, tired from walking.Nearest Inside Dong Xuan MarketPrice 15,000–25,000₫ 肉6MeatGio Cha Shop×Gio Cha (Pork Sausage)Giò Chả Hàng Bồ × Giò ChảPork pounded smooth is wrapped in banana leaf into a cylinder and steamed for gio, or seared on the surface for cha. Cut, it is pale pink with tiny bubbles across the face. It is springy and firm, returning the bite, with the salt of fish sauce and the scent of pepper held in check. Sliced, it serves as a nibble or as a topping for pho and banh mi. At the shop front, leaf-wrapped cylinders stack up and are cut by weight. Indispensable at celebrations and offerings, it is a fixture of the daily kitchen.Nearest Hang Bo St / Old QuarterPrice 30,000–60,000₫

Go to this area's page →

Language:日本語中文 EN