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Food & Drink
Eating
Hoi An's main contribution to Vietnamese cuisine is “cao lau”, doughy flat noodles corn-bined with croutons, bean sprouts and greens and topped off with pork slices. It is mixed with crumbled, crispy rice paper immediately before eating. Other Hoi An specialties are fried won ton, “bank xeo” (crispy savoury pancakes rolled with herbs in fresh rice pepper) and the delicate 'white rose’ (shrimp encased in rice paper and steamed). The beauty of Hoi An is that you can find a spectacular cheap meal at the Central Market and in local restaurants in secluded residential laneways - or you can chose an up market eatery, lavish even by Western standards, serving excellent fusion cuisine. There are heaps of such restaurants on Nguyen Thai Hoc Str.,, Tran Phu Str., and on the waterfront. A newer stretch of eateries and bars is worth exploring, facing the Old Town on the An Hoi riverbank. While a pricy town for Vietnam, it remains a bargain for most visitors.
VIETNAMESE – TRADITIONAL
Green Moss (Tell: 3863 728; 155 Nguyen Duy Hieu Str.,) Housed in a lovely French-colonial house. Green Moss serves a tasty mix of Vietnamese and Thai dishes with plenty of vegetarian options. Try for the two-person tables under the shade of the trees on the colonnaded balcony.
Restaurant Café 96 (Tell: 3910 441; 96 Bach Dang Str.,) With paint peeling to expose the brick beneath and a woven flax ceiling, this riverside restaurant has the perfectly decrepit look Western interior designers would spend a fortune creating. The food is sublime - traditional Vietnamese with all of the Hoi An specialties- Try the set menu or at the very least the grilled fish wrapped in banana Ieaf.
Cafe 43 (43 Tran Cao Van Str.,) Stuck away in a quiet laneway, this humble restaurant occupies the doorstep of a delight ful family's home. At night it's lit with red silk lanterns. The food's excellent (try the “banh xeo”) and incredibly cheap, and the ice-cold beer's even cheaper.
Dac San Hoi An (Tell: 3861 535; 89 Tran Phu Str., Time: lunch & dinner) True to its name (translating as Hoi An specialties), this place does great “banh xeo”, “cao lau” and white rose The upstairs balcony affords a great view of one of Hoi An's nicest streets.
Mermaid Restaurant (Tell: 3861 527; 2 Tran Phu Str.,; Time: lunch & dinner) One of the original Hoi An eateries, this is still a favorite for its fried spring rolls with noodles and herbs, and its excellent 'white rose'.
Hoai River Restaurant (Tell: 3910 809; 44 Nguyen Thai Hoc Str.,) A cheap and friendly traditional family restaurant. Food is bought to order from the nearby market - so expect super-fresh but slow.
Quan Loan (98 Le loi Str.,) This humble noodle nook serves excellent pho and “cao lau”.
Miss Ly Cafeteria 22 (Tell: 3861 603; 22 Nguyen Hue Str.,) A local institution for local specialties
VIETNAMESE - UPMARKET
Café des Amis (Tell: 3861 616; 52 Bach Dang Str.; Time dinner) this little riverside eatery has earned a loyal following over the past decade. There's no menu; the set dinner is whatever the chef, Mr. Kim, feels like cooking that day. It’s always delicious and there's always a vegetarian option.
Mango Rooms (Tell: 3910 839; 111 Nguyen Thai Hoc Str.,) This restaurant's well justified reputation for interesting modern Vietnamese cuisine has spread far and wide-with even Mick Jagger seeking culinary satisfaction here. Tropical fruits and fresh herbs feature prominently in the food, as well as in the inventive cocktails. Stylishly decorated in bright primary colours, you can choose between the formal dining room at the front or low tables with cushions on the river side, The kitchen in the centre proudly demonstrates that it's got nothing to hide from fussy hygiene-sensitive tourists.
Brothers Cafe (Tell: 3914 150; 27-29 Phan Boi Chau Str.; Time: lunch, dinner) 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 tor a drink in the gorgeous riverside garden.
INTERNATIONAL
Hai Scout Café (Tell: 386 210; 98 Nguyen Thai Hoc Str.; Time: breakfast, lunch& dinner) Another interesting Old Town building, it stretches into a large garden courtyard which breaks into a bar by night. It serves sandwiches. Western-style breakfasts, Vietnamese and European mains, and real espresso. There's a display on WWF projects in central Vietnam out back, and some traditional minority tribal crafts for sale.
Cafe Can (Tell: 3861 525; 74 Bach Dang Str.,) Housed in a grand old French building, this cafe has a wide sundeck out front for a breezy bite to eat. Choose from Vietnamese and international dishes or just dabble with the drinks.
The Cargo Club (Tell: 3910 489; 107 Nguyen Thai Hoc Str.; Time breakfast, lunch & dinner) If you're chasing an omelet for breakfast or a baguette for lunch, this is your place. It has mouth-watering pastries downstairs and distinguished dining upstairs, plus a balcony terrace overlooking the river. The menu's an eclectic mix of French, Italian, Vietnamese and Thai. After dark it morphs into a groovy bar.
Omar Khayyam's Indian Restaurant (Tell: 3864 538 24 Tran Hung Dao Str.,) The place for curry connoisseurs, with plenty of vegetarian options.
Hoi An Hai San (Tell: 3861 652; 64 Bach Dang Str.;Time: breakfast, lunch & dinner) This seafood restaurant serves innovative Vietnamese concoctions and some Swedish dishes to keep the chef-owner in touch with his roots.
Good Morning Vietnam (Tell: 3910 227; 34 Le Loi Str.,) the real deal with Italian owners and chefs, it serves the best pizzas and pastas in town.
Drinking
For a little place, Hoi An has quite the selection of interesting bars - most offering two for one local cocktails in happy hours that stretch dangerously long. Many of them are open into the early hours, which is quite unusual in itself. If you last the distance, you may have the uniquely Vietnamese experience of stepping over sleeping hotel staff catching their precious few hours of rest on the reception floor.
Avoid “xe om” drivers at night offering to take you to out-of-the-way venues. We've heard reports of extortionate prices for the return trip being demanded, occasionally accompanied by physical threats. Luckily all the best bars are smack in the centre of the Old Town.
Before & Now (Tell: 3910 599; 51 Le Loi Str.,) this swanky bar wouldn't be out of place in London, particularly given the Brit-pop playlist. The walls are plastered in pop-art portraits of everyone from Marx, Lenin, Mao and Che to Marilyn, Gandhi and Bono-as-Superman.
Tam Tam Cafe (Tell: 3862 212; 110 Nguyen Thai Hoc Str.,) Tam Tam has its home in a lovingly restored tea warehouse. There are tables on (he street, but the heart and soul of this place remains upstairs, where there is a large lounge and dining area as well as a popular pool table. European and Vietnamese food is on offer here, and there's a fine wine list and bar snacks for those just wanting something to partner a Jug of beer.
Lounge Bar (Tell: 3910 480; 102 Nguyen Thai Hoc Str.,) Just along the road from Tam Tam, this is a stylish conversion of an ancient house with a huge drinks menu. Out back are cushions and a chill-out area.
Treat’s Café (Tell: 3861 125; 158 Tran Phu Str.,) the back-packer bar of old Hoi An, this place is regularly full to bursting. It is a sprawling place with a restaurant-cafe upstairs. The oh-so-happy happy hours between 4pm and 9pm include two-for-one spirits and bargain beer.
Re-Treat Café (Tell: 3970 527; 69 Tran Hung Dao Str.,) Re creates Treat's recipe in the newer part of town, 'same same but better'. Not quite, but saves a walk if you're staying here.
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