Things to do in Central Vietnam
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Hoi An Old Town
Now a Unesco World Heritage site, Hoi An Old Town is governed by preservation laws that are well up to speed. Several buildings of historical and cultural significance are open for public viewing, a number of streets in the centre of town are off-limits to cars, and building alterations and height restrictions are well enforced. If only Hanoi would follow suit in its historic Old Quarter.
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Cargo Club
If you’re craving a hearty Western meal, come here for a full spread of international cuisine. The freshly baked patisserie and boulangerie selections are ‘to die for’, in the words of a Hoi An expat. It’s a great place for people-watching at any time of the day, and from the upstairs balcony there are lovely views of the river. After dark the place morphs into a groovy bar.
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Lotus Jewellery
If you’re interested in jewellery beyond the bits and bobs sold in souvenir shops, try Lotus Jewellery, which has very affordable and attractive pieces from all over Asia.
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Mermaid Restaurant
One of the original Hoi An eateries (since 1991), this place is still going strong with its menu of Hoi An specialities and family recipes. Try the fried spring rolls and the excellent ‘white rose’.
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Red Bridge Cooking School
Red Bridge Cooking School offers the most full-blown experience – going to class involves a relaxing 4km cruise down the river. There are half-day (US$23) and full-day (US$39) courses, both of which include market visits. The half-day class focuses on local specialities, with rice paper–making and food decoration tips thrown in for good measure. The full-day class takes on a more ambitious menu, including making pho (rice-noodle soup). Students are given recipe print-outs to take home and, as an added sweetener, there is a 20m swimming pool for their use.
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Before & Now
An energetic bar that’s good for its pop-rock-funk playlist, Milan-trained chef and buzzing crowd. If you run out of conversation topics, contemplate the ramifications of Bono-as-Superman, as depicted on one of local artist Tran Trung Linh’s pop-art portraits on the walls (the eclectic mix includes Lenin, Mao, Che, Marilyn and Gandhi).
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Café 43
Tucked away in a residential lane, this casual eatery continues to get rave reviews for good food at good prices. The fact that it’s run by a very friendly family doesn’t hurt.
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Cham Island Diving Center
You can book dives at Cu Lao Cham Marine Park with Cham Island Diving Center. It has also opened Dive Bar and Restaurant at the same address as its office.
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Mandarin Café
A magnet for travellers, the cheerful owner, Mr Cu, speaks English and French and serves big dollops of travel advice along with pho, BLTs, salads and pancakes.
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Shree Ganesh Indian Restaurant
Formerly known as Omar Khayyam’s, this is the place for authentic Indian food. Fill up on your masala dishes and curries, with lots of vegetarian choices too.
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Hoi An Cloth Market
Pop into the Hoi An Cloth Market for a selection of local fabrics.
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Le Bambino
Hidden away in a small residential lane, this delightful French oasis is run by a couple (French husband, Vietnamese wife) who turned their home into a restaurant and boutique hotel. The menu (available in Japanese) features hearty French fare, pizza and pasta. Upstairs, three enormous and extremely well-appointed rooms go for US$30 per night.
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Citadel
Most of Hué's sights and a sizeable chunk of its population reside within the 2m-thick, 10km-long walls of its Citadel on the north bank of the river. Begun in 1804 on a site chosen by Emperor Gia Long's geomancers, it was originally made of earth and later strengthened with brick.
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Reaching Out
Reaching Out is a very worthwhile fair-trade gift shop started by a Vietnamese couple, one of whom is disabled. The shop employs disabled artisans, and proceeds are ploughed back into the business to train and employ the disabled all over Vietnam.
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Christie’s Cool Spot
The bar downstairs is where US war veterans hold forth about ongoing American politics vis-à-vis the American War in Vietnam. These days they’re joined by Western expats in search of an ice-cold beer or the comfort food available in the restaurant upstairs.
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Vietnamese Home
Located just off the northern tip of the riverfront promenade (the entrance is on Ð Ly Tu Trong), this restaurant is popular with locals and has an extensive seafood menu. The live seafood tanks are merrily decorated with blinking fairy lights.
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Brothers Café
Looking like a film set, in one of the finest French-colonial buildings in town, the attention to designer detail is perfect. It is properly pricey by Hoi An standards, so many just drop by for a drink in the gorgeous riverside garden.
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Good Morning Vietnam
Yes, it’s a chain, but a good one. With Italian owners and chefs running the show, this place serves everything you’d expect of a good trattoria: tip-top pizzas and pastas, and good coffee and wine to round off the meal.
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Bamboo 2 Bar
This is the kind of comfortable hole-in-the-wall joint where the walls are covered in customers’ drunken scribbles. There’s a busy pool table in the back and a Western food menu.
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Ngo Co Nhan
Raised up on stilts in a quiet Citadel street, this open-sided dining platform serves excellent grilled seafood and crates of beer to its mainly Vietnamese clientele.
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DMZ Bar & Cafe
Long the leading late-night spot, the beer flows into the night, the tunes match the mood and there is a popular pool table in the middle of things.
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Treat’s Café
The backpacker bar of old Hoi An, this place is regularly full to bursting, particularly during its generous 4pm to 9pm happy hour.
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Café on Thu Wheels
Immensely popular cycling and motorbiking tours around Hué with a large dose of laughs.
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Minh & Coco Mini Restaurant
Run by two lively sisters, this humble joint is a fun place to get an inexpensive feed.
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