Halong Food

Halong Snacks

Halong is 160 km or 100 miles from Hanoi, around 3 to 3.5 hours by car. There are shuttle buses (around $15/person) that go from door to door, or private transportation, ranging from $69 (private car for 4) to $160 (small bus for 16).

Our private bus picks us up from our Hanoi Hotel to the Saigon Halong Hotel, and on the way, we made a stop to stock up on snacks. There is such variety of cookies and sweets that are not available elsewhere in Vietnam…

Saigon Halong Hotel

We finally get to our hotel in the afternoon. As this is .the beginning of Covid-19, the security is quite strict. Before entering the lobby, a hotel staff is checking our temperature and sanitizes our hands. The check-in staff also checks our passports to see where we have been prior to arriving in Vietnam and requests us to fill out health forms.

The rooms are spacious with a nice vista of the harbor. There are many new office and retail buildings that seem unoccupied… Apparently, there has been a real estate over-development in Halong. Unfortunately, the number of tourists has not met with expectations and many projects have been left abandoned.

Eating Out in Ha Long

Our hotel is within walking distance of the main restaurants street so we decide to explore. Due to the pandemic, it seems like a ghost town, and most restaurants and stores are closed, and the streets are deserted. There is only a handful of eateries still operating but with limited menu offerings. One of the restaurants has even mentioned that they can prepare couple of dishes but have run out of rice! The atmosphere seems sad and so unreal.

Finally, we find a restaurant specialized in Cha Ca Thang Long (Seared Fish with Dill, a specialty of Thang Long), and we enjoy a good meal as the only guests there. Check out my recipe for Cha Ca Thang Long here.

Halong Breakfast

The next day, we enjoy the breakfast buffet at the hotel before our Halong Bay Cruise. The restaurant is practically empty aside from our group… There’s a nice variety of food including make-to-order egg station and Pho (noodles soup) station, as well as various Vietnamese specialties such as Cha Gio (fried spring rolls), Banh Cuon (steamed raviolis) as well as Western dishes, cold cuts, fruits and cereals.

Note: at the time of our visit, the regulatory face masks have not yet been implemented…

Don’t we look like a cute family with our matching navy stripes outfit?

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