Foods Archives - Phong Nha Farmstay

https://phong-nha-cave.com/category/foods/ Tailored Adventure Tourism in Real Vietnam! Mon, 10 Feb 2020 11:43:24 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 Best Restaurants in Phong Nha https://phong-nha-cave.com/best-restaurants-in-phong-nha/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=best-restaurants-in-phong-nha Tue, 04 Feb 2020 05:15:58 +0000 https://phong-nha-cave.com/?p=4194 The post Best Restaurants in Phong Nha appeared first on Phong Nha Farmstay.

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Vietnamese food is known and loved by most around the world, let alone in Phong Nha. You probably won’t find any major city globally where you can’t find some form of Vietnamese cuisine available. So what about Phong Nha? It’s working for its own place as a top destination in Vietnam and for food lovers of all sorts to mark it as not only a cave destination…but for food experiences as well!

What started with no restaurants a mere 10 years ago in this majestic Northern Central Vietnamese gem of a town, is starting to come to life these past few years!

Whether you’re after a glass of good imported red wine and a fresh brick-oven pizza, fish or vegan cuisine. The best restaurants in Phong Nha cater to your needs and continue to push the boundaries of what’s available in this region.

Food in Phong Nha

Unlike eating in Hanoi, eating in Phong Nha will let you try the dishes you’ve never had anywhere else before. It’s not always what it is you’re necessarily eating. It’s who you are eating with, where you’re eating at, and the atmosphere you’ve engulfed yourself in. Whether it’s the lighting, music, temperature, sitting next to the river, or on the top of the mountain, just the slightest adjustment can 100% affect the experience of everything you’re eating.

This is what makes Phong Nha such a unique place for food lovers. This town delivers something for everyone! You won’t find such a peaceful destination in Southeast Asia with such good food quite like this one.

Finding The Best Restaurants In Phong Nha

Traveling for many people is the main reason they go to places and sightseeing is the thing you do in between meals! Therefore guaranteeing we make the right recommendations is crucial to us as we want you to leave with the best possible vision Phong Nha can give you. That’s why we’ve gone through and tried all the restaurants here in town to compile this list of the best of them in Phong Nha.

Fine Dining

Best Restaurants in Phong Nha, Food in Phong Nha, Phong Nha Farmstay — The Villas Restaurant night time

Best Fine Dining Restaurant in Phong Nha:

The Villas Restaurant

Located on the main street of the town, yet in its quieter part on the water, the Villas Restaurant offers the best Western cuisine in town. The restaurant has Western standards of service: French manager, welcoming and professional staff and skilled chefs that clearly know what they’re doing.

Besides the food, the Villas Restaurant has the best ambience – imagine relaxing in exclusive setting along the Son River, surrounded by karst mountains.

The Food at The Villas Restaurant

The Villas Restaurant offers a small Western menu with a choice of international dishes influenced by Vietnamese fusion. The food is just extraordinary with a very high standard and great value. It’s like eating in a top restaurant in Madrid for a fraction of the price!

How amazing does confit duck leg, beef tenderloin or salmon sound for a main dish? For starters, they have a variety of prawn, squid and fish dishes along with smoked duck salad and spring rolls. Of course, they offer vegetarian options, our favorite being vegetarian pizza!

If you are down for a coffee and cake, the Villas has some of the best deserts in town such as a classic chocolate cake, real ice-cream and a more unusual recipe – Kahlua pannacotta.

Must-try: Eggs Benedict with salmon or special Victory Roads breakfast!

Modern Vietnamese Food

Some of the Phong Nha’s best food is, of course, Vietnamese. With recipes passed down through generations and dishes being tweaked over the years.

**Classic Vietnamese dishes such as Pho (the famed noodle soup), Bun Cha (grilled pork with noodles, fresh vegetables and noodles) and Banh Xeo (savoury crispy rice pancakes) are all must-tries. However, more contemporary Vietnamese food has never been better. Modern Vietnamese food is pushing the boundaries of the cuisine, creating exciting new dishes.**

Phong Nha is a perfect example! Here, both traditional and contemporary Vietnamese foods maintain a stellar reputation. And it’s only growing.

Best Modern Vietnamese Food In Phong Nha:

Chao Vietnam

Chao is one such restaurant challenging the standard and traditional Vietnamese dishes with its creative kitchen methods. Located on the main road in the center of Phong Nha, this often full restaurant cooks top-notch meals.

Being situated in the middle of it all, Chao brings a fun and modern atmosphere to an area known for its traditional ways. The food that’s prepared here, however, brings a much needed and necessary spark to the downtown area. Simple yet fresh, the decor inside brings us a comfortable space to dine in while taking nothing away from the food. Outside you can enjoy a view of the by-passers walking the streets and searching the area for bars, accommodation, or more restaurants.

Suggested Dishes: Fried Squid, Pork Belly, Local Fish w/ Steamed Rice

Specialty Food in Phong Nha

Vietnam, for the most part, is praised for its food amongst other things. Like many places in Southeast Asia, you’ll find certain villages and towns where it may be the only place in the world you can try that dish. Phong Nha is no different than the rest!

Best Authentic Restaurant in Phong Nha: Moi Moi

Address: Hung Trach, Bo Trach, Quang Binh

Hours: 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Located just a 15-20 minute motorbike ride away from the center of Phong Nha, situated in the middle of the farming area by the Bung River. This signature restaurant offers an authentic 1 of a kind experience, and also a lake close by if you so choose to go for a swim. At the restaurant, they do not speak English, but the menu has been easily translated for you as it’s only several items long.

Like they say they’ve got two houses on the land here. They’re related. Moi Moi means Termites and they have plenty of them. They refer to them as the “Communist Carpenters”!

The Food at Moi Moi

Unlike any other place you’ll try in all of Phong Nha, Moi Moi delivers an irreplicable “bamboo pork” slow-cooked for 30 minutes! If going here, you must try this dish as the savoury taste it packs with the carrots and onions is out of this world! If chicken is your thing, you can watch the young kids catch it, dad prepare it, and mom go through the garden to gather the veggies to accompany the meal with freshly steamed rice.

If you’re looking for the most down to earth family to serve you the “true farm to table” this is for you!
They also have vegetarian options such as friend spring rolls and amazing peanut dumplings.

Restaurants in Phong Nha, Food in Phong Nha, Phong Nha Farmstay — Bamboo pork at Moi Moi Restaurant

Vegetarian Food

While it’s not necessarily a hard task of finding vegetarian food in Vietnam, it can be very difficult at times knowing how to ask. In Phong Nha luckily for all the visitors mostly every place you visit will have a vegetarian or even a vegan option!
We found that the Veggie Box on the main road to be one that’ll satisfy just about any taste buds.

Best Vegetarian Restaurant in Phong Nha:

The Veggie Box

Hours: Mon – Sun 7:00am – 10:00pm.

This vegan restaurant offers a big variety of dishes. Their large vegetarian and vegan menu includes seaweed salad, hotpot, skewers, tofu dishes, tropical fruit, and a large assortment of vegetables.

They also prepare fresh daily: Juices, Smoothie Bowls, and desserts.

Seafood

While they may not necessarily be close to the ocean, the fresh fish and prawns that are brought in are absolutely remarkable.

Best Seafood in Phong Nha:

Phong Nha Farmstay

They offer grilled fish cooked in a way that dates back to the early 1900’s style from the Doan family in Hanoi. The dish at the farmstay is named after the statue at the gate of the house “La Vong- Khuon Tu Nha”, a Chinese poet and revolutionist. This now-famous dish was so popular that the street was named “Cha Ca” in Hanoi. The dish in question features: Grilled fish, dill leaves and spring onion in a hot pan, served with fresh rice vermicelli, lettuce, local herbs, which you then wrap in rice paper and eat with a traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce. Amazing dish with a great story!

Also Try: Green Mango Salad w/ salad or Fresh Spring Rolls w/ Shrimp

Pizza

Merely a few years ago you could only find one place in town that had pizza at all, now you’ve got 5 places that serve pizza and 3 of them serving pizza from Capture Cafe. Paradise Pizza which is your basic pizza parlour with just a few chairs and minimal menu, and Lake House Pizza which boasts the best crust in Phong Nha.

Overall though, we’d have to say Capture’s Pizza is incredible in all aspects.

Best Pizza Place in Phong Nha: Capture Cafe

They are a small cafe offering many options for food and products. They have a daily breakfast and lunch, and early dinner. The menu consists of Pizza, Pasta, Enchiladas, Burgers and Salads, sounds amazing, right?!
As they are situated in a small area with tourists but not too much infrastructure, they offer many store products as well. They offer toiletries that are hard to find (tampons, condoms, conditioner), postcards, books, bakery items, snacks, and much more!

The Menu at Capture Cafe

One simply cannot go to Capture without ordering one of the best pizzas in Vietnam! They offered a variety of pizzas ranging from Margherita to Hawaiian to veggie and even a Vegan pizza! The one that you must try while here is the “One Upper” complete with: bacon, caramelized onions, spinach, and feta cheese!

Vegan Option: Pizza with mushroom, tofu, and ratatouille sauce (onion, garlic, tomato, zucchini, eggplant, thyme, and bell pepper in a tomato sauce.

International Cuisine

Best International Cuisine in Phong Nha:

Omars Namaste

The only Indian food you’ll find within an hour away definitely does not disappoint whatsoever! While this may be one of the 6 locations in Vietnam they truly do keep the menu as close to Grandmother’s recipe as possible!

Must-Try: Prawn Vindaloo, and Fish Pakodas

Cafes in Phong Nha

While it was very difficult to find any coffee a few years ago, it is now a new question at hand…where to find “the best” coffee. You can get a nice western style coffee at Capture Cafe, good Vietnamese iced coffee at Easthill Coffee, peanut butter coffee at Phong Nha Underground, but for an all-around coffee destination, you won’t find any others quite like The Coffee Station.

Best Cafe in Phong Nha:

The Coffee Station

The only place in town where you’ll get fresh coffee beans from Dalat prepared in such different ways. They offer a variety of brewing methods available such as a pour-over, aero press, syphon, and also make a fantastic coconut egg coffee. If that wasn’t enough for you, they make a cold brew unlike any other we’ve had in Vietnam thus far and also have one interesting cold brew with lime and simple syrup if you’re feeling adventurous!

Must-Try: Phin Demonstration

Uncategorized Mentions

Pub with Cold Beer

Starting out as a poor farmer’s house that supplied workers with cold beverages on their way home, the Pub With Cold Beer has grown substantially since tourism has been increasing rapidly in town. Visitors are now seeking this restaurant every day while en route to duck stop and Bong Lai Nature Farm’s giant swing, usually just after a visit to one of the many caves in Phong Nha.

The Pub With Cold Beer is famous amongst the tourists for its farm-to-table methods. Everything on the menu is grown on their property or raised on-site! The draw, it’s a place whereas an option you can choose to kill your own chicken or allow the family to do it for you!

East Hill Coffee

On the outskirts of town, you’ll find this lovely coffee shop and eatery perched up overlooking the surrounding rice fields and karst mountains in the distance. If you’re feeling a bit hungry they offer a delicious grilled whole chicken to die for.

Must-Try: Hot ginger tea and grilled whole chicken

Phong Nha Underground

The menu is a fusion of Italian and Vietnamese cuisine but also features burgers, chicken, smoked pork, and shrimp scampi. If you’re in a rush, grab a coffee for takeaway or one of the delicious desserts they offer.

Must-Try: Peanut Butter Coffee

While you’re traveling through Phong Nha and Vietnam, you really should try to eat as much Vietnamese food as possible. Whether it’s the Banh Mi cart in Halong Bay, fine Dining in Hanoi or just a grungy little noodle stand on the side of the highway. Take advantage of the fact that you’re in one of the most unique places in the world for food – with its depth of flavor, texture, and taste you’ll find something that works for you in Vietnamese cuisine.

Written by Jim and Inna from the Executive Thrillseekers who spent 1 month in Phong Nha! They run a travel blog and have been on the road for 3 years so far. These guys provide great tips for many destinations including Vietnam since it is the country they first met in!

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]]> Sustainable tourism in the Bong Lai Valley https://phong-nha-cave.com/sustainable-tourism-in-the-bong-lai-valley/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sustainable-tourism-in-the-bong-lai-valley Mon, 28 Oct 2019 00:44:54 +0000 https://phong-nha-cave.com/?p=3695 The post Sustainable tourism in the Bong Lai Valley appeared first on Phong Nha Farmstay.

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Bong Lai Valley is a fantastic rural valley interspersed with farms and small villages.

There are now a number of attractions in the Valley, making it a great relaxing day or half day out in the countryside. Places to visit include the Pub with cold beer, the Duckstop, Moi Moi Restaurant, Pepperhouse Homestay, Bong Lai Swing, Bong Lai Rattan House to name a few. Exploring the valley is an authentic Vietnamese countryside adventure.

The Bong Lai Valley is best seen on a bicycle or motorbike, or it is a 12km round-trip walking. Going Easy-rider style on the back of a bike with a licensed driver for a stress free adventure is also a great option at 200,000vnd per person.

Bong Lai Valley Map, Phong Nha, Vietnam — Bong Lai Valley Map

There are no entrance fees to any places in Bong Lai Valley, but some activities have a fee. It is best seen during the day so that you can return before it gets dark.

Pub with Cold Beer

This is the original watering spot in the valley for thirsty tourists. They opened in unison with the Farmstay in 2010 and were named for the fact that at the time, cold beer was pretty much nonexistent between the original DMZ Bar in Pham Ngu Lao St Hue and Bars of the old 1/4 in Ha Noi. Yes, a long ride between drinks it was. Well cold ones, anyway. As advertised, its cold beer, and most of what you eat there is grown in the village. A very “Farm to Table Affair.”

Chicken is the specialty of this lively establishment, with chicken so fresh that when you arrive it will still be scratching around the veggie patch! While you wait for your lunch to cook you can rent a tube off them and float down the river, just lie in a hammock with a cold beer or you can get as involved as you like with the preparation of your chicken, even catching and slaughtering the poultry yourself.

The “Pub with Cold Beer” has been praised by foodie writers in publications including the “Huffington Post”, London’s “The Guardian” Newspaper and the “New York Times” travel sections.

Bong Lai Swing

If you want to get further off the beaten track, head a few more adventurous kilometres down the dirt track of Bong Lai valley from the “Pub with Cold Beer” to the Bong Lai Swing. Formerly known as the Wild boar eco farm, this spot boasts the best views in the valley and a cricket farm. If you make it up here you will be rewarded with amazing views from hammocks precariously placed on the edge of the valley cliff.

In the same spirit of the pub with cold beer, they serve cold beer and delicious freshly cooked pork and other options, but in a more rural setting with views over the river. Be brave and try his fried crickets, they go great with a beer! This is a great spot to swim or hang out. For the thrill seekers out there, this spot also has a swing that goes off the edge of the cliff. You’ll have the opportunity to get some great photos. Past this location lies endless wilderness. It’s the end of the road.

Bong Lai Swing valley, Phong Nha, Vietnam — Bong Lai Swing

Moi Moi Restaurant

This friendly, family run, farm to table restaurant offers the best food options in the Bong Lai Valley. It is located at a rubber plantation, on a small farm that grows pepper, watermelons, cassava, corn and other crops. The food you have here is prepared fresh, so ask one of our friendly staff to order ahead for you, or relax in the hammocks as you wait.

Moi Moi is a unique local business that has a different family member receiving the takings each week of the month. The speciality of this restaurant is the indigenous dish, “Porked slow cooked in bamboo” this dish is as advertised, slow cooked in a bamboo tube, with local herbs, carrot, onion. It takes around an hour to prepare but is well worth the wait. The vegetarian Peanut dumplings “Ban Loc” are also a crowd favourite, so be sure to try a few dishes at Moi Moi restaurant!

Duck Stop

Proudly at the top end of Tripadvisors “things to do in the area,” yes, even above the world’s biggest cave, stop here at the start of your journey before heading on to the Pub with cold beer.

One of the keys to the duck stops success is its family friendly activities that revolve around a flock of ducks and a buffalo named Donald Trump. The staff here are interesting and engaging and can take some great photos of you whilst you become a duck leader. We won’t delve too much into what happens at the duckstop, you should go see it for yourself!

Pepperhouse Homestay

Call in for a late afternoon beer and a cooling dip in the pool at the Pepperhouse homestay. Meet Diem (Yim in English) the owner and have a chat over drinks. Growing up locally and speaking great english, she can tell you all about life in this unique valley.

The Pepper House is the last drinks stop / rest stop in the valley on your way out, so if its been a long day cycling through the valley, be sure to take a rest!

PepperHouse Homestay, Phong Nha, Vietnam — PepperHouse Homestay

Free Bicycle Trips

Easy Tiger Hostel is running free bicycle trips for guests to explore the Bong Lai Valley @ 10:30 AM daily. Our guests can join these tours free of charge and outside guests can join for 60,000VND. The trip completes the Bong Lai loop and ends at the Farmstay to enjoy sunset and happy hour.

Phong Nha Farmstay: Free Cycling Bong Lai Valley — Free Cycling Bong Lai Valley

Enjoy your time exploring the Bong Lai valley, all whilst supporting local families and sustainable tourism. When you stay at the Farmstay, or Phong Nha for that matter, the adventure is always at your doorstep!

Phong Nha Farmstay Team!

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]]> Farmstay Menu Spotlight – Cha Ca La Vong https://phong-nha-cave.com/farmstay-menu-spotlight-cha-ca-la-vong/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=farmstay-menu-spotlight-cha-ca-la-vong Thu, 17 Oct 2019 12:49:19 +0000 https://phong-nha-cave.com/?p=3681 The post Farmstay Menu Spotlight – Cha Ca La Vong appeared first on Phong Nha Farmstay.

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The origin of this dish dates back to the early 1900s, when the Doan family at 14 Hang Son Street, Hanoi, often hosted clandestine meetings for the resistance movement to french colonization. The dish, a favourite of the nation, is named after the statue at the gate of the house. The statue of La Vong – Khuong Tu Nha, a chinese poet and revolutionist. This now famous dish was so popular that the street was named “Cha Ca”.

Cha ca la vong at Phong Nha, Vietnam — Doan family at 14 Hang Son Street, Hanoi

Usually made with snakehead, a freshwater fish found across Vietnam, cha ca is considered one of Hanoi’s signature dishes. The marinade — a mix of turmeric, garlic, shallots, galangal (similar to ginger root), salt, sugar and fish sauce — is the most important step. After marinating the fish for at least an hour, it’s usually grilled in advance, then fried in oil when it’s ready to consume.

Cha ca La Vong at Phong Nha Farmstay — Cha Ca La Vong at Phong Nha Farmstay

The fish is grilled with dill leaves and spring onion in a hot pan, served with fresh rice vermicelli, lettuce, local herbs, and is then to be wrapped in rice paper and dipped in a traditional Vietnamese fish sauce. Although all our dishes are special, this one has become a crowd favourite at the Farmstay. A small cooker is setup at your table and the fish comes out on a hot plate and is sauteed. A staff member then explains the wrapping process for you, using all of the ingredients that come out with the dish, and wraps you your first Cha Ca roll. This tasty dish is a hands on experience and perfect for sharing.

Come into the Farmstay and try one of Vietnam’s favourite dishes today!

Phong Nha Farmstay

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]]> Pub With Cold Beer https://phong-nha-cave.com/pub-with-cold-beer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pub-with-cold-beer Thu, 29 Nov 2018 06:55:08 +0000 https://dev.phong-nha-cave.com/?p=1743 The post Pub With Cold Beer appeared first on Phong Nha Farmstay.

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If killing your own chicken for lunch and washing it down with ice-cold beer in the middle of nowhere is your thing, look no further than family-run watering hole the Pub With Cold Beer in central Vietnam

Phong Nha Farmstay articles, Phong Nha Ke Bang

The Pub With Cold Beer, in the middle of nowhere near Phong Nha in central Vietnam, is a local legend. “Discovered” by Ben, the Antipodean owner of nearby Phong Nha Farmstay who has helped place it on the tourist map, it’s a family concern where you can live out your Ray Mears dream – and kill your own chicken for lunch.

The “pub” grows all its own food – from the vegetables to the peanuts to the chickens running around – and the beer is, indeed, cold. Killing your lunch is optional; you can let the family do it and order by the kilo (chicken’s the only thing on the menu).

But there is an argument that if you are going to eat meat, you should be prepared to kill it yourself – and this place is the antidote to the clinically sealed, slimy, supermarket chicken breasts that distance us from the realities of where meat comes from.

I chose my bird from the brood of hens scratching around in the garden. With guidance from an elderly woman who had been doing it for years, I swiftly sliced its throat. It was prepared immediately, marinated in chilli, garlic and herbs; ready for the grill.

After 45 minutes and another cold beer, my chicken emerged from the kitchen accompanied by a delicious peanut sauce, rice and home-grown veg. You can order roasted peanuts straight from the oven, too. Demolished in moments, it was one of the most satisfying meals I’ve ever eaten.

The Pub With Cold Beer is best reached by bicycle or motorcycle – it’s signposted from Phong Nha. You can get a hand-drawn map from Phong Nha Farmstay or Pepperhouse Homestay for extra guidance but it’s just as much fun getting lost en route.

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By Sarah Dean

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2015/jul/19/pub-with-cold-beer-vietnam

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