Vietnam is a country which hits all the reasons why I choose to visit anywhere. That is “destinations with outstanding food, history and culture experiences”. Vietnam (and Hoi An in particular) definitely ticks all three for me.

Links to my previous Vietnam posts are included at the end of this newsletter so readers can catch all of my current Vietnam recommendations in the one post. Enjoy!

Hoi An food experiences

If you haven’t heard of Hoi An it is a relatively small town situated on the Tue Bon River in the centre of Vietnam. It’s accessible from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (and a welcome respite for these big cities). Anyone I know who is planning a Vietnam trip I recommend adding Hoi An to their itinerary.

The town is wonderful to explore on foot, especially through Old Town Hoi An and along the river. Hoi An is famed for its restaurants, central market, cooking schools, tailors and the beautiful lantern shops which cast a rainbow coloured glow each night.

Secret Garden Restaurant

Secret Garden is a restaurant I have had opportunities to eat at a few times on different visits. As the name suggests the restaurant is hidden away in a garden setting. So hidden in fact it is down a narrow laneway away from the town centre. The restaurant is complete with water features and fountains, beautiful plants and dining tables that are a mix of indoor and outdoor. 

Attentive staff will happily lead you to house specialities like white lotus dumplings, beef in betel leaf, grilled crab, whole fish with peanut sauce and many other local specialities. There’s a nice mix of wine, beer and cocktails offered too. 

Do make a booking if you are keen to eat at at Secret Garden. It offers quality, contemporary Vietnamese food in a beautiful setting. Visit Secret Garden restaurant here.

Fishing Trip and Rice Paddies tour

Hoi An is set on the Tue Bon River which flows into the sea just 5 kms away. The local area offers lots of river and farm based experiences.

I can highly recommend booking a fishing trip with a good local operator. Local fisherman will demonstrate their skills in casting huge nets and navigating the river in round basket boats. Journey through the coconut forest in the basket boats and enjoy this interesting eco-tourist feature.

My particular tour combined the fishing trip with an opportunity to meet a local rice farmer and learn about the process involved to cultivate and grow this essential ingredient. Amazing to see the buffalo who assist with ploughing the rice paddies. Really interesting experience for those who love food (like myself) and are keen to understand the farming process behind the product. I travelled with Jack Tran Tours for this experience.

Tour the Hoi An Central Market

Vietnamese food markets are an absolute feast for the senses, as well as busy and bustling places to visit. They can definitely be overwhelming with butchering occuring, live seafood being prepared, crabs tied for cooking, noodles being made and the multitude of fresh herbs, greens, fruits and vegetables.

The Hoi An Central Market definitely fits this description with so much going on. If this is your first Vietnamese food market I’d recommend doing a tour with a knowledgeable and well connected guide. This will mean introductions to stall owners, explanations of the many foods and tastings along the way. I toured Hoi An Central Market with the team from Morning Glory Cooking School and it really added to the experience. Highly recommended!

So there you have it folks, three more reasons to add Vietnam to your must-visit destinations list.

Hello readers. I’ve been lucky enough to have visited Vietnam a number of times, and as many of you will know, I have dedicated a number of newsletters to promoting this country. The reasons I set myself for visiting any place is a destination with outstanding food, history and culture experiences. And Vietnam definitely ticks all three for me. Especially the food!

I recently rediscovered a folder of photographs which showcase Vietnamese food beautifully. They include well known dishes like banh mi, rice paper rolls and ban xao (naturally) but also go further with photos showcasing dishes made with fertilised egg, snails and pork in banana leaf.

So I thought I’d bring them to readers of my food + travel newsletter and blog. I hope when you next visit Vietnam you will get to try these and many more unique foods. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this more photography oriented newsletter, as opposed to my usual wordy releases.

Previous Vietnam posts

~ Allan Campion

Hoi An is hands down one of my favourite places in Vietnam. There are so many reasons for this including the old town centre, amazing food choices, outstanding cooking schools and streets lined with multi coloured lantern shops at night. 

Anyone who I speak with who is planning on travelling to Vietnam with be told that Hoi An should definitely be included on their itinerary. It is a relatively small town situated on the Tue Bon river pretty much in the centre of Vietnam. It’s very easily accessible from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The town centre, known as Old Town Hội An, is the the city's historic district and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 due to its long history as a trading port. Many museums showcase that history today and old town is car free which creates a calm where exploring on foot. A nice respite from the other very busy cities and towns of Vietnam.

Some of my must-do’s in Hoi An include

Visiting the central market

A real highlight of this beautiful town is the Hoi An Central Market. It’s here you get an up close look at amazingly fresh local produce, seafood and meats plus experts making so many ingredients before your eyes.

Noodles for example are created as you watch, it’s something special to see these traditional skills first hand. The seafood is exceptional as you might expect from a town so close to the sea. A number of stalls feature crab experts skilfully preparing these crustaceans for home cooks.

Crab is a very popular ingredient in Vietnamese cooking and comes in all sizes from tiny freshwater creatures sourced in rice paddies to medium and larger ones from the extensive coastal areas of Vietnam. Expert butchers work at well worn benches as they chop and slice beef into all manner of cuts. It really is incredible to see the butchering skills honed over generations.

There are salt stalls, the most colourful fresh tropical fruits, sugarcane drink stands, and the freshest aromatic herbs such as coriander, mint, lemongrass and basil. It is a wonderland for food-lovers.

Morning Glory Cooking School

Any visitor to Hoi An will come across the name Miss V’ys across numerous restaurants and the famous Morning Glory Cooking School. Cooking experiences here include visiting the central market to shop for the freshest ingredients to cook back at the school.

There are options for demonstration style classes with tastings of the dishes presented. There are also hands-on classes which are the perfect way to become familiar with making White Rose (steamed dumplings with pork and prawn mousse), rice paper wrappers and Banh Xeo (crispy pancake). A must for food-lovers visiting Hoi An.

These are just a couple of the reasons why I love Hoi An and hopefully I have inspired you to add this town to your next Vietnam itinerary. I’ll have future posts covering more things to do in and nearby this beautiful place.

~ Allan Campion

Bánh xèo

Bánh xèo is a must-eat dish for me every time I visit Vietnam. Upon landing I’m straight away on the hunt for a great one. And it’s not so hard to find in restaurants and numerous street food stalls.

This crispy pancake is made in a wok (hence the size) with rice flour, coconut and turmeric in the batter. The filling is typically seafood such as prawn with vegetables and mung bean sprouts. These fillings change slightly if you travel to other regions of Vietnam.

Served piping you break pieces of pancake with filling, wrap in lettuce and dip into dipping sauce is called Nuoc Cham sauce.

In a word…. Delicious. And addictive. I recommend adding Bánh xèo to your Vietnam must-eat list. You can thank me later!

Bún Riêu

Christmas morning in Hanoi is pretty much like any other morning in Vietnam with busy city streets and locals getting on with their day. 

On a visit a few years back I’d decided to skip the free Christmas breakfast at my hotel and get out exploring the city streets for breakfast Hanoi style. The city streets were dotted with stalls offering bahn me (filled crispy rolls), which are so tempting as I love these. But I decided to save bahn me for lunch and keep searching for another breakfast option. 

Eventually I settled on a busy roadside pho (noodle soup) stall where the owner was skilfully combing fresh herbs, vegetables and noodles from a collection of woven baskets with various sauces and hot broth to serve up bowl after bowl of amazing looking pho. 

I ordered as best I could with a request for not-too-much-chilli and settled onto a low plastic stool. Scooter riders came through in a steady stream for take aways packaged to-go. Those who’d scored a stool ahead of me were received bowls of delicious looking, steaming soup to eat-in, well eating-in outdoors style.

Finally a bowl was delivered my way and it smelled totally amazing. A heady combination of crab flavoured broth with onion, herbs, tomato and fried tofu. 

What I’d ordered, as I later learned, was the famous bun rieu of North Vietnam. And I was so glad I did as it was just the tonic I needed after a long flight. 

A rich crab flavoured soup with gentle hints of chilli, shrimp paste and fish sauce with plenty of tomato, cubes of fried tofu and a sprinkle of crispy shallots. Plus lots of vermicelli noodles of course. 

I slowly made my way through every morsel as best I could with my limited chopstick skills. Followed by slurping the soup. With each mouthful I knew this was a food moment that would stay etched in my memory. 

I took my time to really enjoy the moment, watching the cook diligently creating each and every portion to perfection. Customers came and went, stools never empty for long. While the takeaway pho was whisked away to other hungry customers. 

Finally I too was done, my bowl completely empty. I paid, gave my thanks to the cook and left my low stool for the next waiting customer. 

I’ve had many Christmas breakfasts across a variety of countries since this one street-side in Hanoi, but I’ve never forgotten it. It was definitely a Christmas breakfast to remember. And one I’d happily repeat anytime. 

~ Allan Campion