HANOI · WEST LAKE / TRUC BACH ROUTE

West Lake / Truc Bach Route

Pass north out of the Old Quarter's clamor and the broad waters of West Lake and Truc Bach open up. The lakeside specialty banh tom, pho cuon born in Ngu Xa, West Lake snails, evening boiled snails, and ice cream and lake-view coffee. Beside water and wind, the food of a slower time lines up. This is another face of Hanoi.

🚶 Northwest of the Old Quarter, north along Thanh Nien between West Lake and Truc Bach🚶 ~120 min on foot🍽 6 dishes

Food by the water

West Lake is Hanoi's largest, and to its south the long, narrow Truc Bach is divided off by the single dyke of Thanh Nien. Unlike the dense lanes of the Old Quarter, this area has the openness of passing water and wind. So the food, too, is somehow unhurried. West Lake once yielded small river shrimp, and the banh tom fried from them became a lakeside specialty. In Ngu Xa on Truc Bach, not soup pho but pho cuon, beef wrapped in uncut rice sheets, was born. Noodles and steamed dishes using lake snails are also products of this waterside. Many dishes are eaten seated with a view, a different flow of time from the Old Quarter's standing bites. Here is food that holds the lake's light and wind.

Two times, day and night

The food of this waterside changes face by day and night. In daytime, eat banh tom fresh-fried at a lake-view seat and pick at a few pho cuon in Ngu Xa. West Lake's snail noodles, in summer, come as a cold dip, eaten cool to the lake breeze. As the sun tilts, another time begins to flow on the shore. People gather at the low-stool boiled-snail stalls, pulling meat with a pick and sitting long over drinks. Families and young people walk the lakeside with ice cream in hand; others wait at a lake-view cafe for the ice to melt in their coffee. Unhurried, passing time by the water, is this area's way. Walk lightly by day and settle slowly at night. Visiting in these two times shows the place at its best.

How to walk this route

From the Old Quarter, head north on Thanh Nien and walk the dyke road between West Lake and Truc Bach. Begin the day with lakeside banh tom, fresh-fried shrimp and sweet potato dipped in sweet-sour fish sauce. Cross the dyke to the Truc Bach side and take a few pho cuon in the Ngu Xa lanes, tasting the gap between cool wrapper and warm beef. If West Lake's snail noodles are at hand, reset the palate with the cold dip in summer. In the afternoon, walk the lakeside slowly, and if it is hot, carry a bar of kem and watch the water. As the sun tilts, settle at a lakeside boiled-snail stall, pulling meat with a pick over drinks for long. Close at a lake-view cafe with a ca phe nau da and its condensed milk. Shut the day to the pace of the melting ice. About two and a half to three hours in all. The distance is real, so do not push in the heat, and rest in the shade by the water.

Route map

Thanh Nien → Tran Quoc → Ngu Xa → West Lake shore　·　numbers match the dishes below

The dishes on this route (6)

Tap through to each shop and dish

串1SnacksBanh Tom Ho Tay×Banh Tom (West Lake Shrimp Fritters)Bánh Tôm Hồ Tây × Bánh TômSmall river shrimp from West Lake are mixed into a batter of shredded sweet potato and rice flour and fried crisp. The shrimp go in whole, heads and tails on, curling red in the batter. Bite and the crust shatters, the faint sweetness of sweet potato rising with the shrimp's toastiness. Float shredded green papaya and carrot in sweet-sour fish sauce and dip the fresh-fried pieces. At a lake-view seat you wait, listening to the oil. It was once known as a lakeside specialty.Nearest Thanh Nien St / West LakePrice 40,000–70,000₫ 麺2NoodlesPho Cuon Huong Mai×Pho Cuon (Rolled Rice Sheets)Phở Cuốn Hương Mai × Phở CuốnFresh-steamed rice sheets are used uncut, whole, wrapped around stir-fried beef, lettuce, and herbs. Not put in soup, the smooth sheets are picked up by hand and dipped in sweet-sour fish sauce. The wrapper is soft, the beef within hot, the coolness of herbs cutting the fat. Pho usually means a noodle soup, but in this area a rolled form was born and took root. The gap between cool wrapper and warm filling is pleasant, and several go down lightly. In the Ngu Xa lanes near West Lake, it grows busy from evening.Nearest Ngu Xa St / Truc BachPrice 50,000–70,000₫ 食3soupBun Oc Tay Ho×Bun Oc Tay HoBún Ốc Tây Hồ × Bún Ốc NguộiAround West Lake, shops serving snail noodles are old, and here a cold form is known. Boiled rice vermicelli goes in a bowl, shelled snails in a separate dish, with a clear red dip of fermented vinegar alongside. Dip the noodles, add a snail, and take it bite by bite. The dip is cold and cleanly sour, the snails springy. In the height of summer, you eat it as if to lower your temperature. A warm soupy version can be chosen too, but a cold bowl in the lake breeze is particular to this place.Nearest West Lake shore / Tay HoPrice 40,000–55,000₫ 魚4SeafoodOc Luoc Stall×Oc Luoc (Boiled Snails)Ốc Luộc Hồ Tây × Ốc LuộcSnails boiled with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, and ginger arrive heaped in their shells. With a thin bamboo pick or a safety pin you twist the meat out and dip it in a sweet-hot fish sauce sharp with ginger, chili, and lemongrass. The snails are springy, and the coolness of the herbs erases any muddiness. A few sit on low stools, stacking shells, eating a little at a time for long. On a Hanoi night, in the cool after rain, it is a favorite lakeside nibble.Nearest West Lake shore / Tay HoPrice 50,000–100,000₫ 甘5SweetsKem Ho Tay×Kem (Vietnamese Ice Cream)Kem Hồ Tây × KemBuy a bar of ice cream and walk it along the lake. Vietnamese ingredients like mung bean, glutinous rice, coconut, and lotus seed are worked in; the fat is light, the melt close to a sorbet. The mung-bean bar keeps a faint bean scent, the coconut is sweet, and in the heat you must eat fast before it drips. In the evening, families and young people gather on the shore, each with a bar in hand. Nothing flashy, but it tastes of this city's summer rest itself.Nearest West Lake shore / Tay HoPrice 10,000–25,000₫ 酒6DrinkLakeside Cafe×Ca Phe Nau Da (Iced Milk Coffee)Cà Phê Hồ Tây × Cà Phê Nâu ĐáA metal filter sits on each glass, and you wait at your seat as thick drops fall slowly onto condensed milk. When it finishes, stir and pour over a glass full of ice. Bitter, strong coffee and the sweetness of condensed milk become one in the cold. A cafe facing West Lake sits a little apart from the Old Quarter's clamor, open to the lake's breeze and light. On a tired afternoon, you pass the time to the pace of the melting ice. Nau means brown, the local word for the milk version.Nearest West Lake shore / Tay HoPrice 30,000–50,000₫

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