Must-see restaurants in Hanoi

Sit at tables downstairs or grab a more traditional spot on the floor upstairs and discover excellent Vietnamese food, with some dishes inspired by the…

Best bun cha in Vietnam? Many say 34 is up there. No presidents have eaten at the plastic tables, but you get perfectly moist chargrilled pork, zesty…

This stylish bistro is set in a restored, whitewashed French villa arrayed around a breezy central courtyard. French cuisine underpins the menu – La…

On three levels with retro furniture, the Hanoi Social Club is an artist hub and the city's most cosmopolitan cafe. Dishes include potato fritters with…

With dark-wood furniture, concrete walls and lanterns, staff dressed in white and a limited menu of artfully presented dishes, Grandma's is worth…

Blue Butterfly floats above its weight with the lamp-lit dark-wood stylings of a heritage house and a good-value menu of Vietnamese classics, from bun cha…

Just the ticket for a good-looking detox in a neat and wholesome wood-furnished space with an outside terrace and parasols. Choose your rice base, fish …

This sophisticated eating spot in a restored French-colonial villa has a pleasant casual courtyard outside and starched white tablecloths inside. Once…

Bring along your DIY cooking skills and grill your own succulent cha ca fish dish in a pan with a little shrimp paste and plenty of veggies, herbs and…

Do yourself a favour and reserve a window table at the Hanoi branch of this legendary Hong Kong dim sum chain, high above the city on the 36th floor of…

Sumptuous, healthy and organic (when possible) wholefoods are presented with aplomb in one of Hanoi's loveliest settings, an expansive, airy villa…

This branch of a number of small same-named kitchens turns out street-food specialities from across Vietnam. Try to visit just outside the busy lunch and…

Get to this incredibly popular spot early, as its sole dish of bun rieu cua (noodle soup with beef in a spicy crab broth) is only served for a couple of…

Nestled under a banyan tree near St Joseph Cathedral, this humble stall turns out banh goi, moreish deep-fried pastries crammed with pork, vermicelli and…

Blink and you’ll miss the slim alleyway opening leading to this excellent upstairs restaurant, with diners attended to by hearing- and speech-impaired…

Ranging over four floors with a terrace and bar, this superb modernist cafe-bar-restaurant overlooking the Temple of Literature features neat interior…

Bun Cha Huong Lien was launched into stardom thanks to Barack Obama, who dined here with celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain in May 2016. Customers fill the…

With a cinnabar interior, this buzzing spot delivers a measure of elegance on top of its warm and welcoming service. The North Indian menu is a…

This slender, crammed hole-in-the-wall place directly east of Hoan Kien Lake has narrow tables and stools where it's all elbows and chatter. The place has…

This no-fuss restaurant’s name refers to the ‘fat’ (beo) owner Hai who serves delicious hot bowls of bun rieu (crab noodle soup). Choose your protein –…