Three minutes late
It was cold that evening. I had done the street food route once myself, with our club manager, before being allowed to lead it. I arrived three minutes late and called her in a panic; she told me, not gently, that a guide is not late by even one second. Then I spotted two women standing outside the hotel, and they turned out to be exactly my guests.
Starting at Dong Xuan Market
They had asked for the market rather than the food street, so that is where we began. On the way I explained the small things that never make it into guidebooks: eating candied fruit and chung cake at Lunar New Year, what the name Hanoi actually means, why the shops on one street all sell the same thing.
At the market they stopped dead at the star apple — vu sua — which neither had seen before. They ate one, then bought another for the next day. Behind the market, in the vegetable section, they asked more questions than I had answers for, which is how you find out where the gaps in your training are.
What we ate
- Banh khuc and gio — steamed rice cake with mung bean and pork, and Vietnamese sausage.
- Banh goi, the pillow-shaped fried pastry, and banh tom, shrimp fried in sweet potato batter.
- Grilled bread on Hang Khoai Street, our last stop and their favourite.
- Local beer, at a price that surprised them more than any of the food.
They photographed everything, which made sense once they explained they write for a food website and have published a book. Having your street food walk reviewed professionally while it happens is a particular kind of pressure.
Walking back
We walked back full and slow. They were flying to Da Nang the next morning, so we said goodbye at the same spot we had started, three minutes late and several hours better off.