Banh Beo - Hoi An

We were intrigued by this street vendor and couldn't wait to try the dish that she was serving. Crouched down on a tiny chair, this lady was surrounded by tins full of home-made sauces, herbs and pickles. She took a ceramic bowl filled with what looked like a rice jelly, white and slightly wobbly, and covered it with a spoonful of goodies from each of her tins.

Com ga Ba Nga - chicken Rice -Hoi An

Another of Tu's recommendations was a local spot serving chicken rice. This was very different from the touristy spots in the main part of the town, and we were interested to see what the food would be like.

Banh mi - Hoi An

Our lovely food tour guide Tu had sent us some suggestions for food in Hoi An and yet again we were delighted with his recommendations. Our favourite meal without a doubt, was banh mi, a dish that we had become familiar with in London.

Xoi Yen and coffee creme caramel

For tonight's dinner, we decided to try xoi yen, sticky rice topped with all sorts of goodies. We followed the lonely planet's recommendation and saw two restaurants with the same name next to each other. We went for the busy one, where we had to climb two floors to find a table. We squeezed onto tiny plastic stools and looked through a rather faded menu to choose what we wanted. I went for Chinese sausage and BBQ pork belly and Anthony tried his with Chinese sausage and a fried egg. Both were delicious!

Secret coffee and Bun Cha

After a very leisurely start to the day, we decided that we needed to get up and go in search of coffee and lunch. We decided to look for a secret cafe, through a silk shop and up many flights of winding stairs. We found it easily and were delighted with both the view of the lake and the amazing coffee. I really like Vietnamese coffee and this sweet hot black coffee was delicious! Anthony was more adventurous and went for the egg milk coffee, a sweet frothy coffee with a rather custardy flavour.

Bun Bo Nam Bo

With recommendations from Sean and Emma, Tu and the Lonely Planet, we decided to try this amazing dish on our second night in Hanoi. A short walk away from our hotel was a crowded restaurant full of locals with a smattering of tourists holding on to their lonely planet guides. We squeezed in behind a long table and ordered two dishes and two beers.

Pots 'n Pans cooking course

Our cooking courses have often been the highlight of our travels and our cooking course in Hanoi was another fantastic experience.

Cooking courses are a new venture at Pots 'n Pans, a fusion restaurant run by graduates of the KOTO training program, which works with street and disadvantaged youth. We were the first people to try the cookery course and we really enjoyed it. After a short visit to the local market to buy some pandan leaves, we quickly got to work.

Food tour - Hanoi

What better way to start our foodie holiday in Vietnam than with a street food tour of Hanoi! We met our guide Tu at our hotel and set off on a three hour culinary adventure. Our first stop was a tiny family run restaurant down a dark alley where we sampled delicious spicy beef noodles, crabcakes and fishcakes and eel noodles, all washed down with a cold Hanoi beer. It was really nice to sit down with Tu and to ask him our many questions about Vietnamese food, culture and traditions.