Hoi An Day Time Scene - Hoi An, Vietnam

After a simple breakfast at the hotel, we went out for a walk in Old Town. We walked towards the Thu Bon River. There was a smaller bridge just for motor bike, bicycles and pedestrians crossings. The other side of the Thu Bon River is Old Town. Not too busy yet as it was only around 9 am. 

We walked around town, stopping by to take pictures here and there. People watching as they posed for special occasion photo shoots. Surprisingly quite a few of them. Then we reached the local morning market. The locals come to this market on motor bikes and they conduct their transactions from their motorbikes too. 😁

We bought some fresh fruits here as the hotel only provided watermelon. There were also some souvenirs for sale. Next to the local morning market (Cho Hoi An) is the Central Market Food Hall. You can find food and plenty of souvenirs here. The typical souvenirs from Hoi An were fabric lanterns, medicated balm, ceramic coasters, wind chimes and conical bamboo hats (nón lá). 

Lunch at Cao lầu Không Gian Xanh

Before our arrival in Hoi An I read restaurant reviews which mentioned cao lau here and cao there. I was not familiar with that term even though I considered myself quite well versed in Vietnamese cuisine. Ehem. 😇 I guess NOT.

Cao lau turned out to be a local dish of Hoi An along with white rose. I came across this restaurant that serves both and we decided to go there for lunch. 

This restaurant is located at a small alley tucked in the center of Old Town. The amount of reviews showed that the location and the reviews attracted other patrons. We were one of them. The restaurant was not very big but luckily it was not lunch time yet. The menu was pretty simple. Cao lau and white rose among the items offered including a handful of other items. We ordered cao lau, white rose and bun thit nuong.

Cao lau as I learnt is a dry noodle with toppings like pork skin, slices of roast pork and some herbs like cilantro and greens. Cao lau is served dry unlike pho noodle soup. The noodle used in cao lau is a thicker type of noodle almost as thick as udon style type of noodle. Though later on we tried cao lau that used thinner style noodle. 

Another local specialty was white rose dumpling or banh bao banh vac. It's like a wonton type of dumpling but with the skin made of rice paper. These dumplings are served with a dipping sauce of fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. The filling supposed to be a mix of mushroom, shrimp, bean sprout and spring onions. But I felt that the dumplings we tried was pretty bland. Maybe there are better version out there.

Bun thit nuong is a dry noodle salad with thin vermicelli style noodle. The toppings are barbecued pork with greens, pickled radish and carrot and thinly julienned cucumber. The dressing is a mixture of fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. 

Cao lầu Không Gian Xanh

687 Hai Bà Trưng, Phường Minh An, 

Hội An, Quảng Nam, Vietnam

Phone: +84 905 721 219