Seafood and Street Food in Quy Nhon
Part of the Quy Nhon travel guide — see every topic in All Quy Nhon Guides.
Quy Nhon is a fishing city, and food here is fresh, simple and good value. The boats come in every morning, and the catch goes straight to markets and restaurants. The city also has its own local dishes that are hard to find in other parts of Vietnam. This guide covers the dishes to try, where people eat, and how to order seafood without surprises.
Banh xeo tom nhay
Banh xeo tom nhay is the best known local dish. The name means "pancake with jumping shrimp", because the small shrimp are so fresh. The pancake is made with rice flour and turmeric, so it is yellow and crispy. It is cooked in a small round pan with shrimp, onion and bean sprouts. In Quy Nhon it is usually served open, not folded, and it looks like a small pizza. You wrap pieces in rice paper with fresh herbs and green banana, then dip them in sauce. It is often eaten in the late afternoon and evening at small local shops.
Breakfast: banh hoi and fish noodles
Breakfast is a big part of Quy Nhon food. Banh hoi is a sheet of very thin rice noodles. A popular local breakfast is banh hoi chao long: the noodles come with pork offal, herbs and a bowl of rice porridge. Another favourite is bun cha ca, a noodle soup with fish cakes made from the local catch. Bun ram is a noodle soup with a rich crab broth. Most breakfast shops open very early and close by mid-morning, when the food runs out. Look for busy shops full of local people on small plastic stools.
Seafood streets and markets
The seafront road Xuan Dieu is known for its seafood restaurants. Many have tanks of live fish, crab, clams, squid and shellfish at the front. The area near the central city square also has a food street with many stalls. For smaller and cheaper places, local people often go to the side streets in the centre, such as Ngo Van So street, which is known for street food. Fishing villages on the peninsula, like Nhon Ly and Nhon Hai, also have simple seafood places near the beach. Here the seafood is often caught the same morning.
How to order seafood
In most seafood restaurants you choose the live seafood yourself. Many items are sold by weight, so always ask the price per kilo before they cook it. Ask them to weigh it in front of you. Then choose how to cook it: grilled, steamed, with garlic, with tamarind or with lemongrass. Grilled squid, clams with lemongrass and grilled scallops with spring onion oil are common choices. Prices change with the season and the size of the catch. If there is no menu with prices, agree on the total before cooking starts. This simple step avoids most surprises.
Other local snacks
Quy Nhon has many small snacks worth trying. Banh beo are tiny steamed rice cakes with dried shrimp and spring onion, eaten in one bite. Banh bot loc are clear, chewy dumplings with shrimp inside. Nem nuong are grilled pork skewers that you wrap in rice paper with herbs. Nem chua is a sour fermented pork roll that people also buy as a gift. Many of these snacks cost very little and are sold from small carts in the evening. Drink bottled water and choose busy stalls where the food is cooked fresh.
Seafood and Street Food at a glance
| Getting there | Seafood restaurants along Xuan Dieu on the seafront; street food in the centre |
|---|---|
| Hours | Breakfast shops from very early to mid-morning; seafood places busy in the evening |
| Cost | Street food is cheap; seafood is sold by weight, so ask the price first |
| Best time | Early morning for breakfast; evening for seafood by the sea |
| Must try | Banh xeo tom nhay, banh hoi chao long, bun cha ca |