Bun ca Van, Quan Thanh
Mrs. Van's fish noodle soup restaurant on Quan Thanh Street, Ba Dinh Ward, was once featured by CNN as one of the five must-try dishes when visiting Hanoi (besides pho). The restaurant has been open since 2009 and remains consistently crowded with customers.
The broth is simmered from fish bones for 3-4 hours, but the heads are not used to avoid a fishy or muddy taste. Essential ingredients in the broth include rice wine lees and a small amount of sea worms to give it a light and sweet flavor. The fish here is divided into two types: one is deep-fried until golden brown, crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside, and the other is sliced raw and dipped directly into the hot broth until cooked through. The tilapia is carefully prepared and its fishy smell is removed with rice wine lees.
Besides the fish, the restaurant also offers side dishes such as shrimp, fish cakes, and seasonal vegetables like mustard greens, celery, and water spinach.
Bun ca Luyen, Hong Phuc
Located on Hong Phuc Street in Ba Dinh Ward, Mrs. Luyen's fish head noodle shop, opened in 2001, is a familiar spot for diners who enjoy fish heads, especially carp. Initially, the owner sold noodles with fish meat, offal, and roe like many other places, but later, the shop became popular thanks to the fish heads, which are usually discarded.
The fish heads are meticulously prepared and then split in half. They are skillfully fried in hot oil until golden brown and crispy on the outside, and tender on the inside (including the bones), then drained in a bowl. The fish heads, meat, offal, and roe are all marinated according to a special recipe. Customers commented that the fish dishes at the restaurant are not at all fishy, the offal is crunchy, the roe is flavorful and not too dry. The fish heads still have a good amount of meat, the bones are crispy, and they offer a unique taste.
The broth is simmered from fish bones and pork bones. According to Ms. Luyen, to give the broth a light, naturally sweet and sour flavor, she adds a mixture of apple, pineapple, tomato juice, and fried onions.
Tuyet Bun Cha 34, Hang Than Street
This bun cha restaurant has been on Michelin's Bib Gourmand list (good, affordable restaurants) for four consecutive years.
A complete bowl of bun cha includes minced pork patties and sliced pork patties, marinated with rich spices and grilled until slightly charred over charcoal. The patties at this restaurant are wrapped in Piper sarmentosum leaves, with a perfect balance of lean and fat, and don't dry out when grilled over the fire.
A generous bowl of grilled meat is topped with a special dipping sauce that perfectly balances sour, spicy, salty, and sweet flavors, garnished with a few pieces of green papaya and carrots to balance the richness. The restaurant is simply decorated with plastic tables and chairs, and diners eat on the sidewalk amidst the atmosphere of the old town. According to some international tourists on TripAdvisor , the restaurant is easily overlooked if you're just passing by. The restaurant has a rating of 4.3/5 stars.
"Princess" Beef Noodle Soup, Kim Ma Thuong
This beef noodle soup restaurant once welcomed Princess Victoria Ingrid Alice Desiree of Sweden during her visit in 2019. Because of this, the restaurant became known as "Princess Beef Noodle Soup."
The restaurant offers three main dishes: chicken pho, bun thang, and Southern-style beef noodle soup. Of these, beef noodle soup is the most popular. The dish combines stir-fried beef with rice noodles and various vegetables such as mint and lettuce. The beef must be marinated thoroughly according to a special recipe before cooking. The accompanying fish sauce is flavored with fried onions to enhance the aroma.
Bun rieu Ba Thiep, Hong Phuc
This is also a long-standing eatery, familiar to many Hanoi diners. The restaurant serves generous bowls of vermicelli, suitable for those who like to eat a lot and want to enjoy a variety of toppings such as crab paste, tofu, pork sausage, and snails. The broth is clear, made from freshwater crabs, vinegar, and tomatoes, with a refreshing sourness and a sweet aftertaste.
The snails are carefully selected, plump, and fresh, resulting in a distinctive crunchy texture and aroma. After initial cleaning, the snails are soaked in salt water to remove any fishy odor before cooking. The tofu is deep-fried until puffed up, with a golden, crispy outer layer while the inside remains soft and creamy.
Bun oc Co Hue, Dang Dung
The restaurant's space is quite modest but always bustling with customers. The snails are cleaned and boiled until just cooked to retain their crispness, freshness, and natural sweetness. The broth is made from the snail boiling water, with added tomatoes, fermented vinegar, and seasoned just right, creating a refreshing sourness and a hint of sweetness. Depending on their taste, diners can add shrimp paste, a little chili paste, and fresh vegetables to enhance the flavor of the noodle dish.
The noodle soup here is made in the traditional way, without adding many toppings, mainly consisting of large or small snails, clear broth, tomatoes, and scallions. Later, the owner added snail patties as a new variation, both to provide more options for diners and to suit the tastes of younger customers.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/6-quan-bun-noi-tieng-bac-nhat-phuong-ba-dinh-co-quan-len-truyen-hinh-my-2560259.html
