Ha Long specialties: 26+ unique delicious dishes rich in ocean flavors

Ha Long is not only famous for its magnificent natural scenery but also a convergence of many attractive dishes that captivate visitors from all directions. Each Ha Long specialty carries strong cultural imprints, reflecting the richness and talent of local people, creating an unforgettable culinary experience.

Ha Long delicious dishes to enjoy

1. Rice paper rolls with squid paste

Rice paper rolls with squid paste (Bánh cuốn chả mực) is a specialty dish rich in ocean flavors, combining rice paper made from fine, thin, and chewy rice flour, rolled with squid paste filling made from fresh squid, seasonings, scallions, and characteristic ingredients. This dish is usually eaten with sweet and sour fish sauce, fresh vegetables, and a bit of crispy fried shallots, creating an extremely attractive and delicious dish.

Reference price: 25,000 - 40,000 VND/portion

Squid paste has sweet, crispy chewy flavor, creating perfect combination with rice paper rolls (Source: Internet)

2. Ruoc lo (baby octopus)

Ruoc lo (Ruốc lỗ) is a small mollusk in the octopus family, with round body, size only as big as a young guava. There are many ways to prepare it such as boiling with guava leaves, cooking with sour water, or grilling with satay, each method brings its own flavor. However, the most delicious is still eating ruoc dipped with shrimp paste mixed with lemon, sugar, and crushed chili, beaten until foamy. The chewy sweet taste of ruoc combined with rich shrimp paste, mild spiciness, and gentle sourness creates irresistibly attractive flavors that you can eat endlessly without getting bored.

Reference price: 80,000 - 120,000 VND/kg

Cold sour spicy ruoc dish with eye-catching colors, refreshing sweet and sour flavor (Source: Internet)

3. White sticky rice with squid paste

White sticky rice with squid paste Ha Long (Xôi trắng chả mực) is one of the characteristic breakfast dishes of Quang Ninh coastal region, combining fragrant white sticky rice and hand-pounded squid paste that's crispy, chewy, and naturally sweet. This dish is usually eaten with pure fish sauce mixed with pepper and fresh vegetables, bringing rich, attractive flavors.

Reference price: 30,000 - 40,000 VND/portion

Squid paste is one of the very famous specialties in Ha Long, often eaten with white sticky rice (Source: Internet)

4. Vermicelli with mantis shrimp

Vermicelli with mantis shrimp (Bún bề bề) is a famous breakfast dish of Ha Long, attracting diners with natural sweetness from fresh mantis shrimp, combined with rich broth simmered from pork bones, crab, and sea crab. This dish is usually served with crispy fried tofu, fresh vegetables, and seasonings like lemon, chili, satay, bringing characteristic ocean flavors.

Reference price: 30,000 - 50,000 VND/bowl

This is an ideal dish for seafood lovers (Source: Internet)

5. Milk oyster porridge

Milk oyster porridge (Cháo hàu sữa) is prepared from delicious fresh milk oysters, regular rice and glutinous rice, creating a fragrant, fatty, nutritious bowl of porridge. This dish not only attracts tourists but is also loved by local people, especially during cold season.

Reference price: 30,000 to 50,000 VND/bowl

This dish is not only delicious but also good for health (Source: Internet)

6. Ha porridge

Ha porridge (Cháo hà) has main ingredient of ha meat -- a type of small crustacean living in coastal rock crevices, with rough outer shell and naturally sweet, fatty meat. Unlike oysters, ha cannot be artificially farmed but must be naturally caught, making the porridge precious and rare.

Reference price: 30,000 to 50,000 VND/bowl

A dish that's both nutritious and refreshing (Source: Internet)

7. Gat gu cake

The ingredients making Gat gu cake (Bánh gật gù) are well-soaked regular rice flour, finely ground, spread thin on hot pan, sweet filling from mung beans or coconut, eaten with dipping sauce made from rich meat. The cake has transparent white color, soft and slightly chewy, when held usually has curvature, resembling "nodding" motion hence this special name.

Reference price: 25,000 - 40,000 VND/serving

This cake is famous in Ha Long and very popular (Source: Internet)

8. Tien Yen ca say

Tien Yen ca say (Cà sáy Tiên Yên) is a hybrid poultry between duck and goose, naturally free-ranged, bringing firm, sweet meat without fishy smell. Ca say is prepared into many attractive dishes like boiled, grilled with salt and chili, stir-fried, etc.

Reference price: 120,000 to 140,000 VND/kg

Fragrant, crispy ca meat, attractive to all diners (Source: Internet)

9. Loi Am grilled chicken

Loi Am grilled chicken (Gà Lôi Âm Nướng) is prepared from free-range hill chicken breed in Loi Am mountain area. The chicken meat is firm, naturally sweet, marinated with lemongrass, chili, honey, and forest herbs, then grilled over charcoal. Diners will be delighted when enjoying chicken with golden shiny skin, crispy, emitting attractive fragrance.

Reference price: 300,000 to 350,000 VND/kg

Chicken after grilling has fragrant aroma (Source: Internet)

10. Tien Yen hill chicken

Tien Yen hill chicken (Gà đồi Tiên Yên) is one of the famous specialties of Quang Ninh Province, dubbed "Vietnam's number one hill chicken." This chicken breed is naturally free-ranged on hillsides with cool climate and abundant food sources from corn, potatoes, cassava, vegetables, grass, and insects. Thanks to this, the chicken meat is firm, when prepared into boiled, steamed, grilled dishes or ginger wine soup, all maintain natural sweetness and crispy skin, not fatty but still rich.

Reference price: 120,000 -- 200,000 VND/kg

Dish carrying strong countryside flavors (Source: Internet)

11. Floating rice balls

Floating rice balls (Bánh trôi tàu) is a famous snack of Ha Long, especially popular in winter. A complete serving includes floating rice ball pieces with mung bean or black sesame filling, cooked in hot ginger sugar water, eaten with coconut milk and grated coconut. With sweet, mildly spicy, and rich flavors, floating rice balls are ideal choice to dispel cold weather.

Reference price: 10,000 -- 20,000 VND/portion

Delicious snack, especially warming in winter (Source: Internet)

12. Quang Dong fried rice

Quang Dong fried rice (Cơm rang Quảng Đông) is prepared from fragrant rice, field shrimp, coconut, dried shrimp, salted duck eggs, and green peas. This dish stands out with rich flavors, eye-catching colors, and affordable prices.

Reference price: 20,000 - 30,000 VND/bowl

Simple preparation dish but fragrant and delicious (Source: Internet)

13. Blood stew with mugwort leaves

The ingredients making this dish are fresh pork blood and young mugwort leaves. After pork blood is boiled, it will be stewed with mugwort leaves and ginger for about 2-3 hours to blend flavors, creating a nutritious dish. This dish has natural sweetness of pork blood, combined with mild bitterness of mugwort and intense spicy fragrance of ginger, very suitable for cold days.

Reference price: 20,000 - 30,000 VND/portion

This dish helps warm stomach and nourish health (Source: Internet)

14. Sea crab

Sea crab (Sam biển) has crab-like shape but smaller with characteristic colors. Sea crab meat is very sweet, tender, and can be prepared in many different ways like boiling, grilling, stir-frying with lemongrass and chili, or making salad. Dishes from sea crab are usually loved for their delicious, nutritious flavors rich in protein and minerals.

Reference price: 200,000 - 300,000 VND/kg

Sea crab is characteristic seafood of Ha Long waters, with sweet, fatty meat and very nutritious (Source: Internet)

Besides, don't forget to spend time enjoying other equally attractive Ha Long specialties such as:

• Sa sung (sea worms)
• Ngan (clams)
• Cu ky (horseshoe crab)
• Stir-fried vermicelli with clams
• Jellyfish salad
• Ha Long pearl milk tea

Ha Long specialties to buy as gifts

15. Quang Yen fermented pork roll

Fermented pork roll (Nem chua) has ingredients including lean pork, pork skin, thinh (roasted ground rice), and seasonings like salt, pepper. After pork is cleaned of tendons and fat, it's mixed with finely chopped pork skin, thinh and seasonings, then wrapped in banana leaves and guava leaves. Natural fermentation process helps nem have mild sour taste, sweet freshness of meat, nuttiness of thinh, and crispy texture of pork skin.

Reference price: 40,000 - 50,000 VND/dozen

This dish has characteristic sour, spicy taste, very suitable to eat with rice or use as drinking snacks (Source: Internet)

16. Dried shrimp floss

Ha Long dried shrimp floss (Ruốc tôm khô) is made from delicious fresh dried shrimp, after preliminary processing will be ground smooth, mixed with seasonings and stir-fried on low heat to maintain rich flavors. The dish has attractive colors, characteristic aroma and can be used as seasoning for other dishes or eaten with rice.

Reference price: 200,000 - 400,000 VND/kg

Dried shrimp floss is seasoning dish from shrimp, with salty, fragrant and nutty taste. This dish is usually used to eat with rice or as seasoning for dishes (Source: Internet)

17. Dried squid

Dried squid (Mực khô) is a famous specialty dish not to be missed when visiting Ha Long bay area. Fresh squid after cleaning is dried or dehydrated for long-term preservation. You can use for grilling, frying, or shredding to make salad to fully enjoy the characteristic chewy, sweet flavors of this dish.

Reference price: 250,000 - 600,000 VND/kg

Ha Long dried squid is naturally sun-dried, carrying rich ocean flavors, suitable for grilling or preparing other dishes (Source: Internet)

18. Yen Tu plum wine

Yen Tu plum wine (Rượu mơ Yên Tử) is prepared from ripe plums growing naturally in Yen Tu forest, combined with traditional rice wine. The production process follows international standards ISO 22000:2018 and ISO 9001:2015, ensuring consumer health safety. The wine has natural amber color, gentle fragrance and sweet taste, bringing refined tasting experience. Especially, the product has achieved OCOP 4-star certification and is in TOP 100 Vietnam Specialty Gifts.

Reference price: 150,000 - 250,000 VND/500ml bottle

Yen Tu plum wine is prepared from fresh plums, bringing sweet and sour flavor, easy to drink (Source: Internet)

19. Hoanh Bo glutinous rice wine

Hoanh Bo glutinous rice wine (Rượu nếp ngâm Hoành Bồ) uses yellow flower glutinous rice cooked, naturally fermented then soaked with Hoanh Bo forest leaf yeast. This process creates wine with sweet and sour taste, easy to drink and doesn't cause headaches after being drunk, also has effects of stimulating digestion, quenching thirst, especially suitable when enjoying with seafood or in family meals.

Reference price: 80,000 - 150,000 VND/500ml bottle

Hoanh Bo glutinous rice wine famous for sweet, fragrant flavor, made from yellow flower glutinous rice and traditional wine (Source: Internet)

20. Ba kich wine

Ba kich wine (Rượu ba kích) is a famous medicinal wine in Vietnamese traditional medicine, prepared from ba kich root (Morinda officinalis), especially purple ba kich. This wine stands out with characteristic purple color and is favored for effects like kidney nourishment, yang strengthening, vitality enhancement and supporting treatment of some bone and joint issues.

Reference price: 200,000 - 500,000 VND/liter

Ba kich wine is famous wine with nourishing effects, prepared from purple ba kich soaked with glutinous rice wine (Source: Internet)

Reputable markets and stores to buy Ha Long specialties

To find and buy Ha Long specialties, you can refer to these addresses:

• Ha Long Market 1: Bach Dang Street (Đường Bạch Đằng), Ha Long
• Ha Long Market 2: 433 Le Loi, Tran Hung Dao (Trần Hưng Đạo), Ha Long
• Ha Long early fish market: Hon Gai Port (Bến cảng Hòn Gai), Tuan Chau (Tuần Châu), Ha Long
• Quang Ninh specialty store: Go Ha Long Supermarket, 600 Nguyen Van Cu, Hong Ha (Hồng Hà), Ha Long

Exploring Ha Long specialties is not simply just enjoying delicious dishes but also a journey to better understand the rich culinary culture of this land. Each dish contains historical values, traditions, and emotions of local people, promising to bring tourists impressive and unforgettable experiences.

If you're planning to explore Ha Long specialties, let Vietnam Airlines accompany you!