The city with 10 million people and 7 million motorcycles

When my husband and I visited Hanoi for the first time the only way to describe our feelings was with the word “overwhelmed”. There were SO many people, so much traffic, and of course so many smells of food! Hanoi is a place where you can stumble onto street food in every corner and nook of the city – the food is cheap and it is delicious. But being vegetarian can really complicate things because most of the street vendors don’t speak English so it’s hard to ask them and confirm what foods are vegetarian vs. which ones have a dash of fish sauce or beef broth. But my husband and I were determined to have tons of pho, ban mi, and bun cha and we weren’t leaving until we did 🙂

Street Food Tour

Because of our obsession with trying out the street food, we decided a vegetarian street food tour was the best way to get started – for both learning about the food and also learning how to spot vegetarian food! I highly recommend Hanoi Street Food Tours – we did a group tour and we had such a fun group of people. My husband and I were the only vegetarians in the group but it was no problem because the tour guide was always able to cater to us. The food tour was $17 a person (usually $20 but we went during off season so we got a discount) and included stops at all the following places:

1. Rice Noodles with Tofu Spring Roll – Bún Nem @ Bun Cha Ta
2. Egg Coffee @ Hanoi Egg Coffee
3. Green Papaya Salad – Nom du du @ Nom Bo Kho Long Vi Dung
4. Steamed Rice Pancake @ Banh Cuon Nong
5. Vietnamese Fried Cakes (Fried Dumpling, Sweet Donut)- Đồ rán @ Banh Ghoi
6. Stirred glass noodles – Miến xào @ Apron Up Restaurant
7. Fried rice and Spring roll – Cơm rang & Nem rán @ Viet Spring Rolls
8. Sticky rice with coconut ice-cream – Kem xôi dừa @ Che 95 Hang Bac

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Restaurants

I’m definitely the foodie in our relationship – my husband lives by the motto “eat to live” and me of course…I live by “live to eat”. Luckily for me, he’s not very picky so I get to decide where to go and what I want to eat 🙂

During our explorations of Hanoi we found some amazing vegetarian/vegan restaurants and many with delicious vegetarian/vegan options. Here’s a list of our favorite must tries:

Veggie Castle – Buffet style all vegetarian restaurant with TONS of options. 79k per person for some traditional Vietnamese food – lots of veggies and we got to try some papaya salad here too! Personally I enjoyed the options but didn’t go back because we ended up finding even more delicious food elsewhere. It was a great spot to go to right after getting into the city from a long flight.

Minh Chay Vegan Restaurant – Quaint dinner spot – in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city but the restaurant itself has a calm ambiance. When we were there we saw a few monks eating there as well! I had the vegan pho and my husband the ban mi – its a good option if you’re looking for a vegan restaurant. Honestly thought my pho could have used a little more flavor though – I’ll give you my favorite pho recommendation below! This restaurant is also on the pricier end compared to the others on this list.

The Hanoi Social Club – A trendy and beautiful cafe. It almost felt like a safe zone for backpackers to hide out from the heat and busyness of the streets. I had some delicious quinoa porridge with fresh mangoes, dried fruit, and cream. My husband ordered the toast with a side of smashed avocados. The food was so good, but keep in mind that the food is a little pricier because it is a healthy food cafe. You can always get cheaper food on the street.

Smoothies & Juices – Fantastic fresh fruit smoothies and juices for around 40k! I highly recommend going here for a break from the heat. We had the mango smoothies but they have a wide variety of options that looked just as colorful and yummy 🙂 OH! If you want some fresh juice, I would also recommend getting coconuts on the street! They’re always very fresh, and you can scoop out the inside after you’re done drinking the water. We noticed that they go from 20k-30k (you can haggle of course if you want!) I ended up getting one – two every day haha!

Lifted Coffee – Such a fun brunch spot with healthy protein smoothies – this is exactly what we needed after having so many carbs every day 🤦‍♀️. The scrambled eggs and toast were 55k and the smoothies were a bit pricier at around 90k. It’s also a great option if you want a more western breakfast. We went there twice and the second day I had the vegetarian shakshuka – super filling and protein heavy. Here’s the menu if you want to take a look at all their options!

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Railway Cafe – Train street was a common tourist attraction in Hanoi, but recently the government has closed off the street for safety reasons. What lots of people don’t know is that if you go around 6:30pm when the guards are out at dinner, you can just walk in and go straight to the Railway Cafe where the owner will welcome you with open arms 🙂 We waited for the 7pm train there and had an hour long conversation with the owner. He’s such a fun person and I recommend going here just for the conversations and stories he has to share! We got some delicious mango smoothies (of course because my husband has a mango obsession haha) while we waited for the train to pass just feet in front of our outdoor seating! I recommend going here just for the experience. We heard that the restaurant has really great food options as well (even vegetarian options) but we didn’t get to eat there that night unfortunately.

Banh Mi 25 – Our favorite spot in Hanoi! We went here 4 times (2 times for breakfast and 2 times for dinner 😅). They have a crazy number of vegetarian sandwich options (I really liked the tofu one but here’s the menu) and of course or favorite – smoothie options!! The sandwiches are 20k-30k and the smoothies around 40k. Such a quick, casual food spot with so many options for seating – they have outdoor seating as well as extra seating in a nearby building with a fun and funky vibe. We highly recommend this spot especially if you need a quick breakfast or dinner before or after a long day of touring!

Cugini – Ah, just the break we needed after a week in Hanoi! Right across the street from Ban Mi 25 this was a quaint spot with some yummy Italian eats. We had the bruschetta and ordered pasta rigatoni with tomato sauce (which is made in house and super creamy!)

Mango Life – Remember I told you about my husband’s mango obsession? We found this pretty new cafe (opened 2 months ago) that literally made all his dreams come true. MANGOES GALORE! I recommend having the mango sago – a refreshing, tasty, light snack for the evening after a long day of walking. We had one to share, and of course my husband couldn’t resist just slurping it up within a few minutes!

Green Farm Restaurant – My favorite place for vegetarian pho! I highly recommend this restaurant. Honestly, my husband and I really tried finding street pho but unfortunately we could never get anyone to confirm what the ingredients in the broth were. Green Farm Restaurant is a cooking class that also serves a wide variety of food with lots of good veggie options. We didn’t try the cooking classes but I’m sure they’re great as well. The pho was amazingly flavorful and we asked for fresh chilies and spicy sauce to add a little more heat. Sadly we went here on our last night in Hanoi, otherwise I would have definitely gone back for more!

Bun Cha Ta – We ate at this restaurant during our street food tour and decided to go back for some traditional Vietnamese bun cha! The restaurant has fun seating upstairs and has a good vegetarian option on the menu (option 6). When you order the bun cha, you get some spring rolls, rice noodles, and a basket of greens, and a bowl of broth. Put some leaves in the broth as well as some noodles. Add the garlic and chili toppings and enjoy your bun cha!

Tour Packages with Vegetarian Options

When we started looking into tour packages in Hanoi, we were a little hesitant because we didn’t know what the food situation would be and if we would find anything vegetarian. Luckily our tours were very inclusive and catered toward different dietary needs! Our favorite tour agency was Vietnam Beauty Travel. We had spent a day or so talking to about 8-9 tour agencies in the city and Vietnam Beauty Travels has great ratings and is actually the cheapest price we found! When you go there, you’ll see Hang who is the owner. We booked our Sapa 2 days/1 night tour with her as well as our Ha Long Bay day trip. She made sure the tour details were taken care of to the last detail, and promised us tons of vegetarian options – which she definitely delivered on 🙂

Sapa Tour

Sapa Eden Meals – We really lucked out with the hotel that Vietnam Beauty Travel partners with – Sapa Eden. We had lunch and dinner at Sapa Eden where a full fresh vegetarian food was prepared for us for each meal – soup, spring rolls, rice, veggies, egg cutlets, fruit, french fries, noodles, and tofu. The service was impeccable and we felt so well taken care of.

Trekking meal in the village – With the trek that Vietnam Beauty Travel planned for us we had another full vegetarian meal just for us – even though we were part of a big tour group. We had fresh and hot spring rolls, veggies, tofu, cabbage, and rice brought to our table – it was the prefect meal after a long day of trekking.

Ha Long Bay Tour

Lunch on the boat – During our Ha Long Bay day trip we were served a yummy meal on the boat. This time we shared a table with 6 people – some of them who were non-vegetarian. Our tour guide still made sure that my husband and I had a full vegetarian meal served to our table and ensured we had enough to eat for lunch!

Overall we enjoyed every bit of Hanoi! Food there can be a little difficult to find so I hope you enjoy exploring and discovering fun meals and chat with lots of interesting people! And I know this has nothing to do with food, but after all the walking and eating you find yourself needing massage, we really recommend Omamari Spa. They have a early bird special in one of their locations (they have multiple locations so make sure you call and confirm before hand) for a 1 hour massage for 190k only M-F. We also went here a lot 🙂 Amazing massages at a great price!