On our food tours, guests often ask us about a dish called “bún ngan” that they see on streets of Hanoi. Also, we noticed the way locals translate their menu into English confuses many travelers. Here I’d like to introduce some of our my favorite places to eat ngan (muscovy duck) dishes

When speaking of food in Hanoi, street-side bowls of phở and sizzling bún chả often steal the spotlight. But hidden among the elegant French-colonial architectures, is a local restaurant that offers an entirely different dining experience: fresh oysters, crab, prawns, sushi, and decadent desserts.

“What are the most common Vietnamese proverbs on eating?” is the question I was sometimes asked on our walking food tours in Hanoi, and so in this blog post, I want to show a broader answer.

As a foodie guide taking Hanoi visitors on walking food tour twice a day, I’ve been eating bún chả on almost everyday basis. To get myself updated with all bún chả eateries in Hanoi, I visit and revisit them more often than my friends often think I would.

When searching for duck dishes in Hanoi, you’ll find results showing restaurants that serve many different dishes and duck is one of them. We don’t nornally take our guests to those with extensive offerings, instead we take them to “duck-dishes-only”.

Low stools are everywhere in Vietnam, they’re found on sidewalks, in deserted alleyways, spread around tables, and stacked in the corner of someone’s home. The prevalence of low chairs is so visible in Hanoi that our guests often ask: “Why do Vietnamese sit so low?”.