Local delicacies in Da Nang, Vietnam

I can't seem to find the right words to describe Da Nang, Vietnam.

It was not too crowded (Hanoi was really getting on my nerves); people weren't too rude; development work was still within control i.e noise and dust population ain't much of an issue; and it wasn't too touristy (but plenty of Koreans). It's a town that can be both fast and/or slow pace, completely up to you. If you want to experience the hustle and bustle of Da Nang, visit the Han Market. If you want to just chill, you have either the river view or the ocean view.

Everything was... just nice.

Anyways, as per usual, I spent a day just eating and here's the list of places I went! Shared not in any particular order. They are all pretty hyped-up by the netizens so here's my honest review for each of it.

Definitely achievable in a day, you'll just get a food baby by the end of it. #truestory. My belly was so big I could do a belly bump with my cousin.

(1) Bánh bèo Bà Bé

Address: 100 Đường Hoàng Văn Thụ, Phước Ninh, Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000
My rating: 5 out of 5

If anything, this was my favourite place during my entire food adventure. It was clean and the lady boss was really friendly but I must say it's all relative.

Made out of rice and tapioca flour, bánh bèo is a popular street food commonly found in Vietnam. Some places served it in a bowl whilst some scooped it out prior to serving it. Garnishing seemed to differ from store to store but mainly comprising dried shrimp, minced pork and fish sauce.

Bánh bèo. You're supposed to drown this with fish sauce.

Bánh nậm & Bánh bột lọc still in it's "wrapper"

We also tried bánh nậm. Similar raw ingredients as bánh bèo, using rice and tapioca flour. The key difference was that bánh nậm was wrapped in banana leaf. It's hard to describe the taste but some resemblance to chee cheong fun 猪肠粉.

Bánh nậm

Last but not least, we tried bánh bột lọc. Clear looking, chewy tapioca dumplings filled with shrimps. This dish reminded me of prawn dumplings 虾饺 but just chewier. Shrimps had its shells on, so it came with a slight crunch.

Bánh bột lọc

(2) Mi Quang Ba Vi

Address: 166 Lê Đình Dương, Hải Châu 2, Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam
My rating: 2 out of 5

So apparently Mi Quang is like a signature dish in Da Nang. It uses rice noodles, thicker and chewier  than the ones you're probably accustomed to when having a pho. It's not your typical noodle soup because it's served with prominently less liquid. Meat toppings included shrimps, choice of chicken/beef/pork, hard-boiled eggs and the one I've ordered, even had jelly fish!

The broth was damn good but it was served lukewarm (reason why I've only rated it a 3, apart from store hygiene). Felt like they didn't even bother to heat up the soup, unless it's meant to be as such? The meat was well marinated; shrimp was well seasoned but that jelly fish was a bit too salty. To a certain extent, I'm not even sure if it was really jelly fish. Spring roll or rather... spring "oil" as per what the menu referred it as was just okay.

Only wished they'd heat up their food before serving it to us. I would be able to look past the fact that the store was quite filthy, used tissues were thrown all over the store floor.

Would I go back? Maybe if they cleaned the place up a little bit. Though, I didn't get any stomachache lah.

(3) Bánh Xèo Bà Dưỡng

Address: 23 Hoàng Diệu, Phước Ninh, Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam
My rating: 4 out of 5

Located at the end of some dodgy-looking alley, I swear if I didn't sourced this place beforehand, there's no way I'd stumbled upon it. The restaurant was extremely spacious, I can only imagine how crowded it can get. For reference, we were there around 3.30pm. Odd hours are the best time to beat crowd.

Absolutely loved it! Banh xeo is a crispy rice crepe filled with bean sprouts, meat and shrimps. Anything crispy never goes wrong. That's my mantra.

The way to eat it is to place one of those nicely halved crispy pancake in rice paper with plenty of greens (lettuce, parsley, cucumber, pickled papaya & mint). Jam one of those nem lui ie meat skewers, give it a little squeeze and tug it out. Gently wrapped it up and dip it into their special sauce.

Look at that beauty! Crispy, salty and refreshing, all in one bite.

However, ordering process was a bit confusing. Technically speaking, I didn't even place my order. They simply placed the dishes on our table. Well granted that's basically what everyone would order.

Banh xeo was 60,000₫ per dish and it came with a generous serving of 4 pancakes. Whereas the meat skewer was 7,000₫ per stick. They will only charge you for the sticks that you've consumed.

A part of me felt a bit of "oh dear..." when I realise that'd meant for the skewers not consumed, it was taken back to the kitchen, ready to be served for the next customers.

(4) Bánh Mì̀ Bà Lan

Address: 62 Trưng Nữ Vương, Bình Hiên, Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam
My rating: 3 out of 5

Bánh mì̀ is a Vietnamese sandwich. It's basically toasted baguette, halved and stuffed with meat, pate,  along with accompaniments like chilli, chilli paste, cucumber and spring onions. 

I noticed plenty of Grab drivers just lounging in front of the stall. So I did a quick search on Grab Food and indeed, it was one of the listed "restaurants". For those lazy bums out there, here's your option!

So what did I think of it? Like all banh mi, it cut the roof of my mouth, pretty standard protocol there. They were generous with their meat and sauce was subtle but yums. I wouldn't say it blew my mind but it was good nonetheless.

(5) Vietbamboo Bistro

Address: 84 Đường Hoàng Văn Thụ, Phước Ninh, Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000
Yen's rating: 2 out of 5

Stumbled upon this place because aunt was quite concerned about street food and this establishment looked decent enough.

Ordered Grilled Chicken with sticky rice and mango. Okay maybe this isn't quite Da Nang local delicacies but surprisingly, chicken was quite yums. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. Sticky rice had a subtle hint of bamboo, suspect they probably steamed it in a bamboo itself.

However, it was quite difficult to communicate with the staff. I asked for a beer whilst pointing at the menu and she told me "no" but it was right there, in the fridge. It was easier for me to just walk over and helped myself. Menu had price discrepancies as well. For example, the English menu depicted the dish to be 195.000₫ but the other menu showed 165.000₫ (the staff assured it was the same).

(6) Chợ Đêm Sơn Trà Đà Nẵng - Danang Night Market

Address: Mai Hắc Đế, An Hải Trung, Sơn Trà, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

My rating: 5 out of 5

The place was so vibrant. You could find stalls selling clothes, random souvenirs and food. However, my piece of advice, just stick to the snacks. If you want clothes/bags, it's better off visiting Han Market. Prices are cheaper there before you even start haggling. 

There were quite a few stalls selling BBQ seafood. Prices seemed okay but we didn't dare to try. For one, they weren't live so was a bit skeptical how long it has been out. Looked good though.

We did try some other random snacks and this crepe/pizza thing was my favourite! It's similar to viet pancakes but completely different toppings. This had corns, fried shallots, onions and quail eggs drizzled in mayo and chilli sauce. Not sure what else was in it but it was amazing. 

Also had this fried shrimp cake. Dip it in fish sauce, devoured in one bite. A plate of 5 was barely enough to go around. If we didn't have dinner beforehand, I wouldn't be surprised if we ordered another plate. It was a bit expensive as a snack though, 35.000₫ per dish. 

Gỏi cuốn ie fresh spring rolls here weren't quite fantastic. Looked big but it was pretty airy inside, it was just puffed up by the lettuce.

Fried rice cake was pretty interesting. Initially thought it would taste something like fried radish cake 菜头粿 but I was so wrong. It had rice cake, egg and bucatini (wtf?!). Sauce was salty akin to soy sauce. It was weird but it managed to grow on us after a few bites.

Everything so far was good. Not the next one I'm about to reveal. Toasted bread with meat floss and spring onion; drizzled in mayo and chilli sauce. What even... don't even bother guys. 

Are you full yet

6 places to go with more than 10 dishes to attempt (I lost count really). Can you do it in a day?