The starred trio
Hanoi's Michelin stars sit with Gia (Ngo Van So, one star), Hibana by Koki inside Capella Hanoi (one star), and Tam Vi (Xuan Dieu, one star). Gia is the standout: chef Sam Tran's tasting menu runs around $95 and reworks northern Vietnamese heritage dishes with wild greens from Sapa and river fish from the Red River. Hibana by Koki is a 14-seat teppanyaki counter, closer to $180 with wagyu. Tam Vi is the historian's pick — grandmother-recipe Hanoi cooking in a French villa, around $45 a head.
The Bib Gourmands worth your night
Below the stars, Michelin's Bib list is where locals actually eat. Rank them: 1) Pho Gia Truyen (Bat Dan) for beef pho, $2.50; 2) Bun Cha Huong Lien (Le Van Huu), the Obama spot, $4; 3) Cha Ca Thang Long for turmeric fish; 4) Bun Bo Nam Bo Bach Phuong; 5) Xoi Yen for sticky rice. All sit inside the Old Quarter's 36 guild streets, so you can historic-walk between them in an afternoon.
What's overrated
Skip the hotel fine-dining rooms that trade on views over food — the Metropole's Le Beaulieu is beautiful but coasts on colonial nostalgia at $110 a head. If you want French-colonial atmosphere with better cooking, book La Verticale in a 1930s villa on Ngo Van So instead, around $70. And ignore the TripAdvisor top-tens dominated by places with English menus and karaoke pricing.
Questions, answered
Hotels in Hanoi
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