Top 12 Local Da Nang Foods To Try and Where To Find Them!

Try the best local food in Da Nang, Vietnam! From iconic Mi Quang noodles and fish cake soup to crispy banh xeo, pork skewers and refreshing coconut jelly, this guide covers must-try local dishes and hidden foodie gems and where to eat them.

About the Food of Da Nang

Da Nang is a coastal city in Central Vietnam so seafood is abundant in Da Nang. As the largest and most populated city in Central Vietnam, it draws influences from all over Central Vietnam. The most iconic dish in Da Nang is Mi Quang noodles but visiting there allows you to try fantastic local dishes beyond Pho and Banh Mi!

Tip: Start your food tour at Han Market, the heartbeat of the tourist area of Da Nang. Across the road from Han Market is the Visitors Centre. Grab yourself one of a little foodie booklets that show you what the key dishes of Da Nang are. It's very useful and also recommends some restaurants to eat them at (our recommendations below were also recommended by a local foodie Han Bui).

1 - Fish Cake Noodle Soup or Bún Chả Cá

Bun Cha Ca is a delicious fish cake noodle soup in Da Nang. There are many places to try this and we went to Bun Cha Ca Ba Phien which is a local's favourite. Service can be a bit brusque but not unkind - they put the fan on as soon as we sit down. They have a range of Bún chả cá and we go for the Noodle Fish Cake with crab paste for 35,000VND/$2AUD/$1.33USD. There are also soups made with tuna and mackerel.

The soup arrives quickly and it has a slice of pumpkin, cabbage, two types of fish cakes and seasoned crab mince with round rice noodles and a delicious broth. This soup doesn't have that punchy fermented flavour that makes some of the soups polarising. Instead it's just comforting deliciousness.

Note: These first three places are within a 5 minute walk radius so make yourself a roaming meal!

2 & 3 - Pork Skewers Rice Paper Rolls and Banh Xeo

Nem Lụi Bò Lá Lốt Được Chợ Hàn on 47 Phan Chai Trinh sells three things: banh xeo pancakes, perilla leaf wrapped beef skewers or pork mince skewers. You pay per skewer (the price is 8000VND/50cAUD/30cUSD per skewer) and they simply count up the number of skewers by the end of the meal. The skewers come out with rice paper, a bowl full of mixed salad and herbs and a delicious peanut and pork dipping sauce to which you can add some of the chilli.

The banh xeo here is Central Vietnamese style that is smaller and crispier with less topping (the larger Southern Vietnamese version is the one usually seen in Australian restaurants).The idea is to place half of the banh xeo pancake on a sheet of rice paper, open it up, add herbs and salad, then add the skewer and then roll it up tightly with one hand and hold the skewer with the other and pull out. Dip it into the sauce and those 15 skewers disappear quickly. This was one of the most delicious things I ate during this trip and the whole meal was a very reasonable 144,000VND/$8AUD/$5USD.

4 - Nam O Raw Fish Salad

Nam O Raw Fish Salad At Quán Cô Hồng is on Le Hong Phong street a few minutes walk away. Here you can try a few Da Nang specialties and all of these come in small, medium  and large sizes.

The Nam O Raw fish salad is a raw herring salad covered with crunchy roasted peanuts with a strong sweet chilli sauce. It's a little on the hot side for Mr NQN but it's fresh, crunchy and tasty. It's similar to the herring salad we had in Phu Quoc but there are a lot more roasted peanuts with this salad.

Tip: the lemon chia drink is very refreshing and delicious!

5 - Braised Pork Rice Paper Rolls or Banh Trang Cuon Thit

There are two other Da Nang specialties also available here at Quán Cô Hồng. The pork belly is braised with herbs and sliced thinly and served with rice paper and a bowl full of fresh salad and herbs as well as a turmeric, crispy shallot oil. It also came with an anchovy fish sauce. I thought this was interesting but I didn't love it as much as the Nem pork skewers above.

6 - Scad Rolls or Banh Trang Cuon Ca Nuc

Likewise I am glad that I tried the scad fish at Quán Cô Hồng that you debone at the table yourself but I don't know if I would order this again. This is for people that don't mind bones and prefer a very strong fish flavour (I like mackerel but this is much fishier). It has large bones so it's relatively easy to remove. The dipping sauce is made of warm fish juices with chilli. 

7 - Chicken Rice or Cơm Gà

Cơm Gà is also known as chicken rice and is a dish served in Da Nang and Hoi An. Its precursor is Hainanese Chicken Rice (Hainan in China is relatively closeby). We visited a place that specialises in chicken rice called Cơm Gà Gia Vinh that has 6 branches all over Da Nang so you may be able to find one within walking distance of where you are.

There is no English menu at the branch we visited and we don't speak Vietnamese but the staff are so delightful and friendly that we sorted out our order in no time. They bring us out bowls of chicken soup and we help ourselves to the sauces and cutlery on the table.

The number 1 item is their roasted chicken thigh with crispy rice that is comes with a chicken wing, drumstick and rib on top of turmeric coloured rice. The chicken is crispy and tender and we get a bit of white and dark meat with this cut. The revelation is the crispy rice where in every bite you get a little crispy crunch in each bite. I especially love it with the hot chilli paste that tastes like it has a bit of a fermented bean flavour to it. We upgraded to a combo meal that comes with a delicious passion fruit drink.

Not to be missed is the crispy pork belly version with a lovely crunchy crackling on the edge of the slices of pork belly. This comes with a warming, tasty seaweed soup. We also like the gingery pickles on the plate too.

8 - Quang Noodles or Mì Quảng

Quang noodles are flat rice noodles that come in a turmeric broth with chicken, shrimp or pork on top. These noodles have a moderate amount of broth (compared to a soupy noodle like Pho). We ate these at the Radisson Red Da Nang hotel buffet breakfast.

9 - Banh Beo

These little steamed rice cakes are actually a specialty of nearby Hue and absolutely delicious and come in two varieties: wet or dry. Dry banh beo has a fish floss on top while wet ones have a sauce of pork, prawns and chives in a gravy. These are served with a thick wooden skewer that you use to cut into four pieces and then pick up. We tried these at the Radisson Red Da Nang**'s multi course Vietnamese dinner that can be pre-booked. We also ate these at Con Market**.

10 - Vietnamese Coffee (With Varieties)

Coffee is one of Vietnam's best exports and it is taken to an absolute art here in Da Nang. This coffee stand at Han Market offer six types of coffee. Cafe Sua Da is iced coffee with condensed milk. Salted coffee comes from nearby Hue and is made with strong (and I mean STRONG) black coffee topped with a salted whipped cream. I'm very much a salt lover so this is my favourite kind of coffee as the salt balances the sweetness from the sweet whipped cream.

There is also avocado coffee made with an avocado puree. At the Radisson Red Da Nang's coffee lounge they also sell orange coffee which is a mix of orange juice and black coffee that really hits!

11 - Durian Sweet Soup or Chè Sầu

Da Nang is known for its Che Sau or durian sweet soup. This is where fresh durian is paired with coconut, strips of jelly and jackfruit. We found this at Chè Liên on 189 Hoang Dieu (there are two locations in Da Nang). The shop is simple and is a local's favourite.

These Chè or sweet soups come with an extra bowl of ice to add to your bowl to cool off. We try the Che Khuc Bach which is made with cubes of tofu, chocolate custard, longans and lychees and toasted almonds in a sweet lychee syrup. This one doesn't have durian in it and it is delicious.

The Che Thai Sau is made with fresh durian pulp, jelly noodles, jackfruit and coconut milk and is pungent with the durian. Admittedly I'm not a big durian lover but Mr NQN is and he devours this.

Tip: if you don't like durian they also do a non durian version of Che Thai Sau for 20,000VND/$1.15AUD/75cUS. s

12 Coconut Jelly or Rau Câu Trái Dừa

After dinner take a stroll along the Han River to partake in one of Vietnam's favourite past-times - people watching. Dừa Bến Tre 196 Bạch Đằng is located right along the river and sells a range of jellies and ice cream. All of the tables and tiny stools face the river and the passing traffic humming past.

Rau câu trái dừa is their most popular item and is served inside a coconut. It consists of coconut water set with agar powder to create a sweet but refreshing jelly. On top is a thick layer of creamy coconut. It's perfect on a hot night!

So tell me Dear Reader, have you tried any of these dishes? Which one do you like the sound of the most?

All food was independently paid for, except for the Radisson Red Da Nang Vietnamese dinner.