Hanoi - Post Report Question and Answers
What typical restaurants, food delivery services, and/or takeout options are popular among expatriates?
We live near Tay Ho / Truc Bach ward and many things are available here. Indian, Thai food is decent, but not exceptional. Plenty of pizza and pub food places are around. Use Grab and you can find English menu's and easy delivery ordering options. If you call the restaurant and check their website, and if they speak English or you speak Vietnamese, then it's cheaper for them to deliver food to you directly and you might have a larger menu available to you. - Aug 2021
VietnamMM is the food delivery service of choice: a huge range of options and generally reliable (sometimes a bit slow). This is a great place for food. Local food abounds and is usually cheap and delicious, though you can splurge too. There are a few good pizza/Italian choices (Pizza Belga, Mediterreano, Luna d'Autumno, Pizza 4Ps), lots of Korean places, not so much Thai (Tasty Thai is excellent), a mixed bag of Indian places, and a few more eclectic choices, including a West African place and an Egyptian restaurant with pretty passable koshary. Mexican is not bad - Non La is a bizarre (but good) Viet-Mex fusion concept, while Anita's Cantina is more authentic. There are also a host of craft breweries that have opened up of late - Furbrew, Turtle Lake, Pasteur Street, Hanoi Cider - which are generally excellent. - Dec 2019
Everything is available by delivery: groceries, take out, wine! There is a variety of restaurants available, from street food to formal dining, BBQ, pizza, burgers to pho, bun cha and more. New microbreweries are popping up around town, too. - Jul 2019
Eating out is cheap. Ordering in is cheap (and so convenient). You can get local food for under $2/serving. Fine dining restaurants are well-priced as well (compared to the US). - Apr 2018
Hanoi has incredible food options and great delivery services (including via smartphone apps). Vietnamese food (both hole-in-the-wall and fancy) is plentiful and tasty. There are large Korean and Japanese communities in town so there's excellent food from both cuisines near their expat enclaves. French food is plentiful and tasty, as is Thai and Chinese food (if you know where to look). There's a few decent pizza places, and if you want American fast food there there's Popeye's, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and a few independent burger/BBQ places. A cheap local meal will be less than $5, and a nice French dinner for two with wine can be had for less than $50-60. There are lots of nice hotels around town that do fancy buffets and dining options if you're willing to pay more, and there's a nice bar scene too. The food scene is one of the best things about living in Hanoi. - Dec 2017
Unfortunately, US fast food chains have found their way to Hanoi... - May 2016
Burger King, Dominoes, Dunkin' Donuts, Popeyes, Starbucks all recently opened. But really, why waste you time on this junk when there are lots of other delicious options? - Aug 2015
Good mix of Japanese, Italian, Indian, French, Thai available and cheap. Americans are more used to Vietnamese food from the south, but it's good and you'll easily impress visitors here. Burger King, KFC, Popeyes, Dunkin Donuts recently setup shop here. Street food is good for the adventurous. I rarely hear of people getting sick, though generally not located in the most hygienic surroundings. - Mar 2015
Hanoi is slow to embrace foreign franchises. Starbucks recently opened. Otherwise it's KFC, BK, Pizza Hut, a couple Filipino places and that's it. That said, you can order lots of food online and have it delivered quickly for a pittance. - Aug 2014
KFC is here. There are two local brands: Highlander’s Café and Nguyen’s. Bia Hoi is the main gig for low cost beer and cheap food. There are thousands of small eateries everywhere, right there on your sidewalk, for a buck or two (beware of food safety). A lot of western and international restaurants from reasonable to extremely expensive (Thai, Japanese, French, Italian, Indian, Korean, German.) There is a newcomers guide available that gives you an idea of to start looking. The CLO provides it. The New Hanoian website is also a great resource. - Dec 2011
No fast food except KFC and Pizza Hut, though I heard Subway was coming. - Aug 2011
Local standard Vietnamese food is very cheap but not that yummy. Western foods are ok, not quite up to U.S. standards, yet they cost a bit more than in the U.S. - May 2010
Food is very good and reasonably priced. - Dec 2009
Hanoi has many, many good restaurants, most of them offer home delivery, and all are affordable. You will eat well. - Feb 2009
Very limited fast food options. KFC just arrived a few months after we came here and now has about a dozen outlets. Lotteria, a Korean chain, is also making inroads. Save these two there are no other major fast food franchises in Hanoi. Outside French food Vietnam also has very few other international specialities available. Finding a good hamburger, steak, sandwich or salad, is difficult as well as restaurants with good Italian, German, or even Chinese. However, this is not a problem as Vietnam cuisine is terrific and generally cheap. There also is no Starbucks but Vietnam has developed their own version called Highlands coffee which serves Vietnamese coffee and in some ways ise superior to Starbucks in terms of decor, location, coffee, and price. - Sep 2008
Pizza Hut just opened a couple months ago here in Hanoi, no other American fast food is available. Ho Chi Minh city offers others if you're willing to fly 1200+ miles to fulfill your fast food craving. There are also some decent restaurants, cost and quality vary greatly. - May 2008
