Đà Nẵng  is one of the major port cities in Vietnam and the biggest city on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. The city is situated on the coast of the Eastern Sea, at the opening end of the Hàn River.  The city is also a famous beach resort town with major high end resorts that were developed over the last decade.  Yet, the town still maintains a charm of a small coastal town as compared to Nha Trang. Đà Nẵng is also centrally located and within 100 km of several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Imperial City of Huế, the Old Town of Hội An, and the Mỹ Sơn ruins.  Recently, the New York Times ranked Đà Nẵng 43rd on its  list of 52 places to go in its 2015 list.  Needless to say, Đà Nẵng is becoming a global destination with its famous white sandy beaches and fresh seafood cuisine.

I know Đà Nẵng more intimately as I spent a few years there as a child and still have a majority of my relatives living in the city.  When I wanted to write up a Must Do’s list for this site, I contacted my cousin, Amy Dao of Designed by Amy Dao clothing brand in Vietnam.  She is a Đà Nẵng’s native with a successful young adult clothing line in Vietnam.  She graciously put a list of her favorite places in Đà Nẵng for our readers.

I will concentrate on the cuisine in Part 1.  Most of the restaurants specialize on one dish so they make it to perfection.  You will also notice that many of these type of shops will have an equivalent of Ms. [insert name] as the name of the store.  Just a friendly warning that this post will make you very hungry.

Must Eat:

MỸ HẠNH Seafood Restaurant

(18 Hoàng Sa str., Phước Mỹ,  Sơn Trà District, Đà Nẵng)

This is one of my favorite seafood restaurant in Đà Nẵng and it is very popular with the locals. You come in and pick the fresh seafood that you want to eat from a tank and the kitchen will cook it to how you specify.  The restaurant also has a large beach side veranda in the back as well.

These are some of the delectable dishes available at this restaurant.

TRẦN

(4 Lê Duẩn Str., Đà Nẵng)

This place is known for their pork spring rolls.

Mrs. THUYÊN

(K424/03 Lê Duẩn str., Danang)

This small restaurant is known for their rice noodles with roasted pork and pork sausages served with a special kind of fish sauce.

Mrs. MUA

(19 Trần Bình Trọng str., Danang)

This is a place where you go to get mỳ quảng, a chewy noodle dish with pork, shrimp and quail eggs that is a specialty of the region.  They have a few different variety at this restaurant.

We also have a recipe for mỳ quảng that was featured on our Eat Monday. Click here for recipe.

109 Nguyễn Chí Thanh str., Danang

As with many little restaurants in the city, there is no name.  You just know the address and you show up.   This little shop specialized in bún chả cá or rice vermicelli soup with grilled fish cake.

BÍCH NHƯ

(112 Kỳ Đồng Str., Danang)

This shop specializes in bánh canh cua which is a thick rice noodle (similar to udon) soup that has a crab based broth.

Mrs. DIỆU

(17 Trần Tống Str., Danang)

This shop makes bún bò or beef noodle soup.

Mrs. Hồng

(84 Lê Độ Str., Danang)

This shop serves rice noodles with grilled pork and is a perfect place for lunch.

TIẾN HƯNG

(190 Trần Phú Str., Danang)

This shop is known for a rice flour based stuffed pancake or bánh cuốn.

Mrs. DƯỠNG

(K280/23 Hoàng Diệu Str., Danang)

This is where you can go to get your savory rice crepes fix or otherwise known as bánh xèo.

TÂM

(291 Nguyễn Chí Thanh Str., Danang)

This is the place to go for bánh bèo or steamed rice cake topped with dried shrimp or shrimp paste. This is one of my favorite afternoon snack.  You will order this dish by the number of plates.  This shop has many other Hue specialty as seen below.

Mrs. LIÊN

(175 Hải Phòng Str., Danang)

This shop is Amy’s favorite since it has a refreshing coconut jelly and other desserts.  Agar is added to fresh coconut juice to create this simple and refreshing desert.

TÚ QUỲNH

(7 Hải Phòng Str., Danang)

This shop specialize in a noodle dish called cao lầu hội an which is a dish made up of thick noodles with pork and deep fried pork skin.  They also make a delicious chicken and rice dish as well.

A. Hải

(96 Phan Chu Trinh Str.,  Danang)

Another of Amy’s favorite for their simple and tasty roasted chicken with rice.

Mrs.Lan

(62 Trưng Nữ Vương, Danang)

This cart is where you go for the bánh mì or  crusty french bread filled with mayonnaise, various meats and pickled veggetables.  The best part is that it only cost $1!

Dì Hoa

(62/2A Núi Thành Str., Danang)

This place is frequented by students for its street food that only costs $1 a dish.  Their famous dish is grilled rice paper with egg, dried beef and pate.  They have a few different version of this dish.

HÙNG MY

(316 Nguyễn Hữu Thọ str., Danang)

This shop makes xôi gà or sticky rice with shredded chicken.

LAN HƯƠNG 

(110 Nguyễn Chí Thanh str., Danang)

This is a breakfast place that makes Vietnam’s version of steak and eggs called bò né.  If you can’t make it to Vietnam, we also have a recipe by clicking on this link: Bò né.

NHÀ ĐỎ

(176 Nguyễn Tri Phương str., Danang)

This place serves rice and traditional dishes of Vietnam. This place is ideal if you have family or friends as everything is served family style.

Mrs. PHÚC

(K464/11 Trưng Nữ Vương str., Danang)

This small shop makes shrimp cakes that you eat with vegetables.  It is ideal for snacking.

Now that we have explored the various dishes that Đà Nẵng has to offer, come back next week for Part 2 where we will highlight the places to see and hang out in this vibrant city.

For more articles, visit out TRAVEL page.

Author: Amy Dao and Chau Hoang

Featured photo:  Wendy Hill from Flick