After spending 16 hours on a train getting to this coastal gem I had huge hopes what the street food Da Nang scene oiled be like. And now after A few nights hitting the beaches, markets and hawkers I have to say I was not disappointed.
For myself this was actually my first time to this city, the 5th largest in Vietnam and one consisted so important it nearly hosted the Trump – Kim summit. North Korean politics aside Da Nang is famous for being a popular beach town with both locals and tourists alike.
Prior to reunification, Da Nang being south of the DMZ was an integral part of South Vietnam, with its food considered odd the Central Vietnamese variety. I personally got here via the 16 hour Reunification Express from Saigon.
Must try street food Da Nang
According to my Vietnamese friends what sets Da Nang and Da Nang cuisine apart is that rather than have set street food districts, the city is more famous for its dishes. In this respects people will go looking for the best place for a certain dish, rather than a generic area that specializes in nothing.
In this respects we were and can recommend the following street food dishes in Da Nang;
- Banh trang cuon thit heo – sliced pork in rice paper roles
- Banh Xeo – Banh Xeo is a crispy rice stuffed pancake that comes with all manor ion fillings
- Nem Tre – a fermented pork roll akin to a spring roll that you will find in most street food locales
- Grilled squid – Won’t bother translating this as it pretty much does what it says on the tin. These huge squid are unbeatable value perhaps anywhere in rage world.
- Sugarcane- Durian Juice – What can I say, but this is sugarcane and durian mixed together and you will either love it, or hate it.
Best Street food in Da Nang at Son Tra Night Market
When I first did a google search for Street Food Da Nang or the best Da Nang street food I was shocked at how little information that there was, particularly when compared to Nha Trang.
Another factor that made this different to Nha Trang was that Da Nang has less of a central food scene. This though did not stop me finding Son Tra Night market, seemingly along with every other tourist is the city.
This place os largellyt split into food and other stiff, while the food bit also has some specific genres. At the start is the drinks and ice-cream bit. Durian is seemingly a thing here, so I ended up trying both a sugar cane and durian mix, as well as a durian shake, I have to say that the Da Nang sugar cane/durian hybrid was perhaps one of the best drinks I have ever had and at $1.20 was so epic that I had two.
The best section is BBQ, both meats and fish, with some of the squid being of the biggest that I have ever seen. Good overall, but not only no Da Lat, but annoyingly the servers were far too handsy and pressure some. Perhaps this works with the Chinese guests, but I ounce dit tiresome.
And lastly you have the Vietnamese classics like Banh Xeo, fried noodles, pho and the like.
Overall ye sit os touristy, but if you want good Da Nang street food near me and now, then head to Son Tra Night Market. And how does Son Tra Night Market compare with Helio Night Market? I had two problems with Helio Night Market, number one it looked like Disney and number two it was not even open at 8.45 pm, not ideal for a night market.
Street Food Da Nang
So, while the street Street Food in Da Nang is well represented in the markets, you can get just as good a stuff, cheaper and with less hassle by simply going to explore. Here you will find every street has its down vibe, back alleys offer great pho and banh xeo, while the river fronts are also heavy with hawkers.
Opposite our amazing, but weirdly named Ibiza Hotel this was epitomized by people drinking on the chairs, watching the river and snacking on Vietnamese savory rice cakes.
And for drinks? If you look hard enough you can find Vietnamese paiawara/firewater this is tiring enough to burn your mouth out. The shot I had two of was, at least as translated by Google “Wild Pineapple” and was some of the best hooch I have had since Papua New Guinea. It was though how t was drunk that made it fun, and that was with laughs, with Vietnamese and away from the tourist hordes….
The Da Nang street food scene might not be as profound, or indeed organised as other places, but with Viatenamese street food being as epic as it is, you really will not go wanting in Danang.