9 Tricks About Best Food In Hanoi You Wish You Knew Before

(Don't venture into the rear area unless you need to visit the rest rooms, as it's soulless.) The restaurant describes itself as Old Quarter Vietnamese cuisine, and that's what you'll get. The courtyard's a prettier and more interesting place to sit and is also fan-cooled—you'll be tempted to extend your visit with coffee and a caramel dessert. The main benefit of the front area is that it's cool: air-con and fans work hard to keep the temperature down.

Inside is split into three sections: an inside area at the front, a courtyard and a rear area by the kitchens. Although located on non-touristy Nguyen Sieu, Com Pho Co is still central for Old Quarter. Air-con Com Pho Co is worth seeking out for its great range of standard Vietnamese dishes, such as light and crispy nem Hue, crunchy papaya salad and aubergine and pork claypot.

It's the perfect place to dip a gastronomic toe in the water on your first day in town (as is sister restaurant, Quan an Ngon, in Hanoi), where the Ha Noi beer comes loaded with crushed ice. Ten years later, the 400-seater is packed out at lunch and dinner as large groups, workers and tourists cover the tables with the local ''333'' beer and bun bo (cold noodles with beef), nem nuong (grilled pork balls) and fresh prawn spring rolls. In 2001, Vietnamese entrepreneur Hoia Tan Duong convinced 20 of the city's best street cooks to relocate to a leafy courtyard surrounding a gorgeous colonial-style villa.

Improvised living room eateries offer everything from crispy deep fried nem (pork spring rolls) wrapped in herbs and dipped in fish sauce, to the city's most famous export, pho (beef noodle soup). But great food in the capital isn't just five-star luxury or stuffy fine dining, it's about local specialities served fresh and simple and - more often than not - on the streets. Hanoi is a city with a big heart and an even bigger appetite and its burgeoning dining scene is growing to rival that of its sophisticated southern brother, Ho Chi Minh.

Also, we all know what they say about hotel food in a street-food culture like Vietnam, I console myself. I'm not a girl to be put off by the first bowl of soup she meets. The broth is bland and I am starving.

The herbs and condiments are served on the side. My pho is wheeled on a linen-covered trolley and the silver dome whipped out; I smile like the Cheshire cat. I know locals eat pho and rice Attraction for tourist in Hanoi breakfast so at this point I feel very pleased with my choice.

I can't decide what I need more, food or sleep, so I choose an option that affords me both. I have my first taste of pho that very morning, ordering room service from our lovely hotel. My mouth waters in anticipation, even as I get off the flight, past the rigours of Customs and into the cab waiting for us. I go as far as mentally researching an article, I romantically title Chasing Pho: one girl's mission to find the perfect broth".