Tripadvisor's Hanoi eating recommendations - things you should know

Travellers to Hanoi expecting TripAdvisor to be a source of interesting and insightful local eating suggestions might end up a tad disappointed.

According to TA, most of Hanoi’s best culinary experiences are to be had inside the city’s hotels. Of the top 13 restaurant suggestions, 9 are in hotels (August 2017).

2 are in the JW Marriott, a hotel almost 10 kilometres from the city’s tourist centre.

A whopping 5 out of the top 13 are part of one hotel and hospitality group. Two more are owned by another major hospitality group.

Photo: Mark Bowyer Hard to beat Hanoi's streets for atmospheric eateries.

We only noted two restaurants in the top 13 that look to be small independent players - usually the lifeblood of any city's culinary scene.

Here’s the list:

1. JW Cafe - JW Marriott Hotel
2. Red Bean Trendy Restaurant - Hotel La Siesta Hanoi
3. Home Restaurant - Paradise Hospitality Group
4. Red Bean Restaurant - Hotel La Siesta Hotel
5. French Grill - JW Marriott Hotel
6. Ngon Villa - Paradise Hospitality Group
7. Duong’s Restaurant - Independent
8. The Gourmet Corner - Hotel La Siesta Diamond Hotel
9. Hanoi Food Culture - Independent
10. Marvel Restaurant - Hanoi Marvellous Hotel
11. Thang Long Deli - O’Gallery Premier Hotel
12. Grill 63 - Lotte Hotel
13. Gia Ngu - Essence Palace Hotel

If getting among the locals and local life is your idea of what travel is all about, this may not be your best reference.

Hanoi has a fantastic range of dining options from street food to swanky spaces. But TripAdvisor’s algorithm has different priorities.



We shot this video eating our way down one of Hanoi’s Old Quarter streets a few months ago. It was a magical night out. It gives you an idea of some of what you’ll be missing if you end up spending your Hanoi holiday following TripAdvisor's suggestions.

Here are our handpicked independent Hanoi eating recommendations.

Here's a previous post from us on TripAdvisor in Hanoi from 2015.

And TripAdvisor's response back then.

Disclosure
Rusty Compass is an independent travel guide. We make our restaurant selections based on our view of what’s best for our readers. We reckon TripAdvisor does Hanoi’s great restaurants, cafes, local eateries and travellers a disservice.