Traditional Vietnamese Food: 15 Dishes to Try in Vietnam

There are so many things to be excited about when traveling to Vietnam, but one of the things we were really looking forward to was trying Vietnamese cuisine.  We were traveling with Viking River Cruises on their Magnificent Mekong river cruise trip, so we weren’t sure how many opportunities we would have to eat traditional Vietnamese food.  We actually had a number of occasions to try Vietnamese dishes, but one of the best decisions we made was to spend some time taking two street food tours in Hanoi with Duc Ivan, owner of Hanoi Street Food Tours. 

An Athens Food Tour on Three Wheels

Greece has an abundance of food and dishes unique to the country and it can be overwhelming for a traveler to Greece who doesn’t have knowledge of Greek food beyond Greek salad and baklava.  A great introduction to traditional Greek food is with an Athens food tour.  Even better is an Athens food tour that also provides an overview of the layout and sites of Athens, all while riding around on three wheels.  Scooterise provides such a food tour of Athens.

Tasting Kauai’s Tropical Fruits and Island Cuisine on a Hawaiian Food Tour

Some familiar and some exotic fruits tasted on the Tasting Kauai food tour. 

I love food tours.  So far I've joined a Baja food tour, Beijing food tour, and Shanghai food tour.  But what would a Hawaiian food tour involve?  Loco moco, plate lunch, pineapples, spam?  I stumbled across Tasting Kauai on Twitter while researching our last minute trip to Kauai and was intrigued.  When I learned the Taste of Kilohana tour included riding a train, touring the Kilohana Plantation, snacking on exotic fruit, drinking a mai tai, and devouring a three-course island lunch, I was sold.  I sent Rome golfing at the Kauai Lagoons (he’s allergic to pineapple after all) and joined Tasting Kauai’s food tour.

Street Eats Breakfast Food Tour with UnTour Shanghai

While traveling to China we wanted to try every kind of food possible.  So I was really excited when I stumbled across an article on TimeOut Shanghai about alternative Shanghai tours, which included a write up on culinary tours with UnTour Shanghai.  Looking back I am very thankful we planned food tours in both Beijing and Shanghai, because they introduced us to so many different foods and experiences I don’t think we would have had otherwise. 

UnTour Shanghai offers a variety of Shanghai food tours, including Oodles of Noodles, Street Eats Breakfast, Dumpling Delights, Street Eats Night Markets, Vegetarian Voyage, and Hands-On Dumpling Delights.  The first task was figuring out which of these tours we wanted to try.  We opted for Street Eats Breakfast.  It meant waking up early, but I just knew it was going to be worth it, and it was.

Beijing Food Tour with Intrepid Travel

As you can probably already tell, I am a huge fan of food and therefore food tours.  Trying the local food is a very important part of our travel experience.  While the local food can easily be experienced on one’s own, a food tour allows for learning more about the traditional foods and culture and can help you know what to look for when exploring on your own.  During our travels to China we were excited to be the guests of Intrepid Travel and join their new Beijing food tour, Real Beijing Gourmet.

We met our local guide Dennis a little early and had a chance to talk with him a bit before our tour began.  He may have been the happiest person we met in China, smiling and laughing so much you just couldn’t help but join his good mood.  We were joined by one other couple from London, Richard and Somerset, who were on their honeymoon, and the five of us set out to begin our Beijing food tour.

We visited Beijing’s Xicheng District and walked along Huguosi Dajie, a street filled with snacks.  Dennis took us to Huguosi Xiachidian, which he said served the most authentic snacks, some of which have been enjoyed by Beijingers for hundreds of years.  Huguosi Xiachidian is a huge snack restaurant with two levels.  We grabbed a table upstairs while Dennis selected a number of Beijing snacks for us to sample.

Huguosi Xiachidian Beijing snack bar.