Seven Ways To Keep Your Best Food In Hanoi Growing Without Burning The Midnight Oil

At this particular drive-in, moped drivers paused only to swap cash with one hand for a bagged baguette taken in the other.

Fast food in Vietnam comes in the form of banh mi, a baguette filled with pate, cucumber, herbs, crispy onion and chilli. The textures in the first spoonful contrasted beautifully, the silkiness of the noodles against the crunch of nuts and shallots. There's an etiquette to eating in the home, we were told, but, when on the street, as long as you're getting it in your mouth, it's ok".

This little vegan restaurant is hidden down an alley in the Old Quarter, but they are supposed to be opening a branch right on touristy Hang Gai, so soon it will be hard to miss. The certificates are not awarded to very many places though, so they can be hard to find. The certificate means that the vendor is recognized as a safe (and delicious) place to eat.

Look for a small, nondescript certificate on the vendor's wall. Miss Moon took me to a stall where she says the fruit is always fresh and cool, making it popular with locals and tourists alike. Oh no, trust the Vietnamese to elevate even the humble fruit salad to a thing of decadence.

But it's not just a pile of fruit served in a bowl. That problem has been solved by my new favourite Vietnamese food, Hoa Qua Dam, or mixed fruit salad. As a traveller in Asia, I often find that I don't get nearly enough fresh fruits and veggies.

Try the popular Banh Mi 25 on Hang Ca, or just look for the word trung" (which means egg) and be sure to specify không thịt" when you order. However, if you want vegetarian banh mi in Hanoi, with fried or scrambled eggs, they are available at many of the banh mi stalls dotted around town. In the north, banh mi is a more modest snack-sized affair, with less sauce and fewer ingredients.

In the south, she said, banh mi is a meal-sized dish, stuffed generously with slices of pork, lots of pickled veggies and great slatherings of sauce. But, she did educate me about the varying styles of banh mi Attraction in Hanoi Vietnam. I begged Miss Moon to let me skip the banh mi and she obliged, not wanting to witness an explosion of my food baby.

No food tour in Vietnam would be complete without a sampling of Banh Mi, but dammit, by this time, I was far too full to even think about eating something that substantial. It's a great choice if you want to get off the hot noisy streets of Hanoi for a while. Bun Cha Ta is not really street food since it's an air-conditioned sit-down restaurant.

Thinly sliced kohlrabi is added for a bit of crunchy freshness and the de rigeur basket of herbs adds the final touch. Banh Cuon is paired with a sauce of rice vinegar, water, and (yup, you guessed it) fish sauce.