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Where to Eat in Sapa. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved. Where to Eat in Sapa – Best Street Food, Markets and Restaurants in Sapa.

Where to Eat in Sapa – Best Sapa Restaurants, Local Eateries and Noodle Shops

Where to eat in Sapa, from the best Sapa restaurants, local eateries and noodle shops to the tastiest Sapa street food and market eats, from Vietnamese cuisine to the food of the ethnic minorities such as the Hmong and Red Dao peoples, from French to Italian, this is our guide to where to eat in Northern Vietnam’s favourite mountain town.

Our first meal in Sapa on our first trip to Northern Vietnam six years ago was as memorable as meals get. It was breakfast and we slurped steaming bowls of Sapa-style phở gà – Vietnam’s famous chicken noodle soup – from Phở Khuyên noodle house, which you can see in the photos above.

It was unforgettable for the soup itself – the full sweet flavour of the meat from Sapa’s local ‘trekking chickens’ (free-range chickens) and the fragrance and clarity of the herb-filled broth – as much as for the secret location (tucked down a laneway off old Sapa market), the rustic interior with its floor strewn with paper serviettes (a good sign that indicated they’d been busy), the lively atmosphere (it was packed with chatty locals catching up on news and gossip over breakfast), and the fact that we’d had to fight with our guide to get there.

We’d only arrived in Sapa an hour or so earlier after a breathtaking albeit occasionally hair-raising bus ride from Lao Cai railway station, where we’d left the overnight sleeper train from Hanoi to Sapa. We’d checked into our Alpine-like hotel, The Victoria Sapa Resort, where a fireplace blazed in the toasty lobby, freshened up, and skipped the hotel buffet breakfast in favour of eating local – only to learn that our guide intended taking us to a French café.

It took some persuasion to convince the guide that not only did we not want croissants and café lattes for breakfast in Sapa, but that we were not only able to eat a local breakfast, we infinitely preferred eating local to European. Of course we’d forgotten at the time that Sapa had once been a French hill station, so a pastry was sort of ‘local’. But that’s how we found ourselves at Pho Khuyen.

Sadly, Sapa doesn’t have many old-school noodle shops left in the style of Pho Khuyen these days. It’s much easier to find croissants, scrambled eggs or a full American or English style breakfast. When it comes to where to eat in Sapa – now a massively popular tourist destination – most restaurants and cafés are now firmly focused on foreign visitors and the options aren’t as varied as you’d imagine.

You’ll find some good Northern Vietnamese cuisine, including local takes on classic Vietnamese dishes such as phở, along with opportunities to sample the specialities of the region’s various ethnic minority groups, particularly the Hmong and Red Dao. You’ll also see a lot of Chinese food featured on menus due to Sapa’s proximity to the Chinese border and an increasing number of Chinese tourists, as well as a lot of so-called ‘Western’ food – everything from burgers with fries to pasta and pizza.

Here’s where to eat in Sapa, with suggestions for every meal and budget..

Where to Eat in Sapa – Best Sapa Restaurants, Local Eateries and Noodle Shops

Where to eat in Sapa for breakfast, lunch and dinner…

Phở Khuyên

Your best bet for breakfast in Sapa is Phở Khuyên, a true ‘hidden gem’ – a term I rarely use, as they rarely are. Firstly, Pho Khuyen really is secreted away – it’s located in a traditional Northern Vietnam-style wooden house, tucked down an alleyway off the concrete stairs that run beside the new police station, on the site of what was once Sapa’s atmospheric old market. Secondly, Pho Khuyen remains treasured by locals. A favourite of Sapa’s old-timers, this breakfast-only noodle shop opens from just 6am-10am daily and during those four short hours it’s jam-packed with long-time regulars. Many of the most frequent customers are friends or former colleagues of the owner, a retired local government cultural administrator who achieved some renown as a climber before he became a legendary noodle soup seller. Mr Ha Van Khuyen was a member of the first group of 50 climbers, including 17 Eastern Europe, to make a 3-day trek in 1984 to the summit of 3,143-metre Mount Fansipan, the highest mountain in the region. But that’s not why you’re here. You’re here for soup. Phở Khuyên serves just one dish: full bowls of fragrant Sapa-style phở, filled to the brim with chewy flavourful meat from local ‘trekking chickens’, swimming in an intensely-flavoured clear stock, fragrant with fresh coriander and spring onions. Having trouble finding it? Head for the police station then listen for the loud music that broadcasts its location between 6am-10am. Off Tue Tinh Street, Sapa.  

The Hill Station Deli and Boutique

The Hill Station Deli and Boutique is where to eat in Sapa for lunch if you fancy local produce but not necessarily local cuisine. Started back in 2011 by Soeren Pindstrup and Tommy Eggen, a couple of Danish guys who fell in love with Sapa, and Vietnam in general, The Hill Station Deli was the first outlet of an enterprise that now includes a boutique hotel and signature restaurant in Sapa, and restaurants and delis in Hanoi and Hoi An. Their inspiration for the Hill Station Deli was Sapa’s early incarnation as a French colonial hill station (holiday resort town), which is why you’ll find wonderful locally-made buffalo cheeses, charcuterie such as air-dried beef, hams and terrines, and smoked salmon and trout on the menu – we highly recommend ordering the tapas-style sharing plates – along with an excellent selection of imported wines (as well as Vietnamese wine from Dalat), Vietnamese craft beers, and different flavoured rice wines and corn wines produced locally. There’s also a glass counter crammed with homemade cakes and pastries, and they do great coffee. You’re able to buy much of this to take away if you have a nice balcony with views, and there are also postcards, art and crafts for sale – hence the ‘boutique’ bit. It’s a very pleasant place to while away an hour or two over lunch. 7 Muong Hoa Street, Sapa.

Thang Co A Quynh

This is where to eat in Sapa if you’re serious about sampling local specialties. Once upon a time, this big rustic eatery with a brick fireplace and furnished with wooden tables and stools, specialised in two Hmong favourites – thắng cổ, a rich horse meat soup comprised of the meat, fat, offal, blood, and bones of the horse, that simmers for hours with a dozen different herbs and spices, including star anise, cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger, and a fiery corn wine, which you wash it down with. (Note that if you get to Bac Ha market, this is mainly what you’ll see groups of locals lunching on there.) As Sapa’s tourist numbers have increased over the years, so have the number of items on the menu. You’ll now see a wider variety of choices, especially hot pot options – the fresh locally-farmed salmon is incredibly popular – as well as stir-fried dishes, such as pork with chilli with lemongrass, and a very popular smoked buffalo meat with myriad spices. Hot pots come with a big serve of fresh green salad, which provides a nice contrast to the rich dishes. The restaurant is open all day, from morning until night, but this hearty sort of food is best suited for a winter’s evening meal. It can get very busy with big groups of friends during holidays so have your hotel book you a table. 15 Thach Son Street, Sapa.

The Hill Station Signature Restaurant

Located within The Hill Station Boutique Hotel, the closest that Sapa has to a boutique hotel in the true sense of the term, the Hill Station’s Signature Restaurant is easily the best restaurant in Sapa, definitely the most interesting, and should be your first choice for dinner in Sapa. This is where to eat in Sapa if you’re keen to try authentic food of the ethnic minorities from the region, served in a casual fine dining setting. Diners have the choice between sitting at low tables and seats, as is the local custom, or at European chairs and tables, so be clear what you want when you book. Expect to sample everything from the fresh local salmon and rainbow trout to the traditional nose-to-tail dining that results from a whole animal being slaughtered, which is customary during seasonal holidays, such as harvest festivals, and celebrations, such as weddings. One dish that is a must-try is the multi-coloured sticky rices that is a specialty of the Nung Din ethnic minority group. They are known for dying their glutinous rice in seven natural colours, all extracted from different leaves, flowers, and tubers. Rumour has it that the restaurant will soon close, so if you’re in Sapa don’t hesitate to book a table while it’s still open. You’re in for a very special experience.
37 Fansipan Street, Sapa

Chic Restaurant

Oui, it’s called Chic, which perhaps shouldn’t be surprising for a restaurant located in the fashionable Sofitel M Gallery Hotel de la Coupole, designed by American hotel designer Bill Bensley, a long-term Asian-based expat considered to be something of a ‘starchitect’ in the region. This is where to eat in Sapa if the restaurant surroundings are as important as what’s on the plate. I’d argue that it’s worth booking a table just to enjoy the jaw-dropping decor, although fortunately the food is also very good. The menu includes French classics made with local produce, such as the free-range confit duck leg with black garlic, croutons, crispy bacon, and a Caesar-style dressing, as well as local specialties with a European touch, such as the Sapa forest mushroom soup, made from a variety of foraged mushrooms with cream, truffle oil, and crispy almonds. The 65ºC Black Chicken Salad comes with apple, onion, celery, carrot, banana blossom, and shrimp crackers, while the Hmong-style air dried beef and green mango salad is very traditional, with celery, carrot, coriander, crispy shallot, Vietnamese herbs, and sweet chilli sauce, but plated in a modern style. Make time to have a pre- or post-dinner drink on the terrace of the cocktail bar, Absinthe. 1 Hoang Lien Street, Sapa.

I included Sapa as an extension on the first Vietnam Food Tour I hosted a couple of years ago and again on the Vietnam Cuisine and Culture Tour I hosted in July 2019, and I’ll also include it on my mid-2020 Vietnam tour. Details coming soon!

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Have you been to Sapa? What are your picks when it comes to where to eat in Sapa? Please feel free to share your tips in the comments below.

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About Lara Dunston

A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

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