Nha Trang does not have only beaches, bays and islands but also flavorful foods. Nha Trang foods offer a variety of delicacies for travelers worldwide so that no trip to this beautiful coastal town is complete without tasting its exotic dishes. Eateries are everywhere on the beach, at five-star restaurants, vibrant street food markets, food stores, street food stalls and carts on the streets. Fresh fishes, prawns, squid, crab, lots of shellfish, jellyfish and other seafood are the best ingredients to make delicious foods in the city. What to Eat in Nha Trang may be a common question of any tourists coming to the city. Can Cake, Rice Noodle Soups, Wet Cake, Vietnamese Pan Cake… are top dishes to eat in Nha Trang city.
Table of Contents
1. Can Cake (Bánh căn)
Photo by Scooter Saigon Tour
The simple Can Cake is one of the most famous traditional cakes in Nha Trang. The cake is as small as a dipping plate and is enough for one or two bites. A tourist could eat even more than 20 Can Cake for its flavorful taste. The cake’s batter is made from old rice harvested last year and a little steamed rice. Fillings can be quail egg, squid, shrimp, pork or all of them. The cook must use clay cookware especially made for frying Can Cake on charcoal and put the batter into each hole, then put fillings and close the lids. The Can Cake cookwares which have been said to be made by Cham people in the past are the best to cook the tastiest Can Cake which is tender inside, crispy outside and very smelling. But that’s not all about the recipe, Can Cake must be topped with chopped green onion and eaten with sweet and sour fish sauce dip and herbs, salad.
2. Soup Cake (Bánh canh)
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Soup Cake is popular around Vietnam with lots of recipes and in Nha Trang it is one the most delicious, healthiest and comfortable to eat. The Banh Canh noodle is similar to Bun noodle which is made from rice and has cylinder shape but it’s thicker and shorter in comparison to Bun noodle. The broth is cooked from many kinds of fish so that it’s clean and smelling. Toppings are fishes, chewy fried and steamed fish pie and chopped green onion. Dinners can eat fish pie with fish sauce, dipping macerated shrimp paste or a red glutinous dip made from fish sauce, sugar, lemon juice and chili.
3. Bun dishes or Rice Noodle Soups
Photo by Scooter Saigon Tour
Photo by Scooter Saigon Tour
You can enjoy Rice Noodle Soups anywhere on your trip to Vietnam. However, Rice Noodle Soups in Nha Trang is considered to be the perfect mix of traditional and coastal taste. There are some specialties you shouldn’t miss such as Rice Noodle Soup with Fish and Fish Pie, Hue Noodle Soup in Nha Trang style with lots of beef, pork leg and pig blood curd. Rice Noodle Soup with Jellyfish is better to eat in the summer because it’s the season of jellyfish.
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4. Grilled Pork Patties (Nem nướng)
Photo by Scooter Saigon Tour
Grilled Pork Patties couldn’t be missed in any list of top foods in Nha Trang. Grilled Pork Patties are made from ground pork, shredded pigskin. After being grilled on charcoal, this food is eaten hot with rice paper, vegetables and a special dip made from shrimp, soy bean paste, shallots, steamed sticky rice. Just use rice paper to wrap grilled pork patty with herbs, pineapple and dip into the sauce, dinners will feel an amazing taste ever.
5. Cau Dua Duck (Vịt Cầu Dứa)
Photo by Scooter Saigon Tour
Duck from Cau Dua is considered as the king’s food, just after bird nest in Nha Trang. This kind of duck is fed rice and grown in natural lake for 80 days. The duck meat is chewier and less fatty than other kinds of duck. In addition, after being cooked, Cau Dua Duck becomes tender and has no smell of duck. There are various dishes from Cau Dua Duck but I would like to recommend grilled duck and boiled duck which retains the original taste and flavor of duck meat.
6. Dien Khanh Wet Cake (Bánh ướt Diên Khánh)
Wet Cake is a thin crepe made from rice powder and topped with chopped green onion oil, ground shrimp or mung bean paste. This food is served hot with fresh herbs, chewy Vietnamese pork roll and delicious fish sauce dip. Wet Cake can also be eaten with grilled pork, spring roll, Vietnamese beef roll, deep-fried pork fat. In fact, you can enjoy Wet Cake in other cities and provinces in Vietnam, but Wet Cake sold on Dien Khanh Street, Nha Trang is steamed in the traditional way by using clay stove, cast iron pan and a thin cloth.
7. Vietnamese Pancake with Squid in Nha Trang Style (Bánh xèo mực)
Photo by Scooter Saigon Tour
Vietnamese Pancake or Banh Xeo is a traditional crepe which has won the heart of many tourists coming to Vietnam. In South Vietnam, fried in a big pan, Vietnamese Pancake is thin and crispy. In Nha Trang, Banh Xeo is a crispy round crepe which is as small as human hand. Ingredients to make the crepe is rice powder, the filling is made from beansprout, shrimp and squid. Similar to Banh Can, this kind of food is fried on a special pan which you can see on the photo below. Banh Xeo Muc in Nha Trang is served hot with vegetables and dipping fish sauce. It’s worth a try.
8. Seafood (Hải sản)
There’s no tourist destination city in Vietnam where you can enjoy better seafood than in Nha Trang. Shrimp, crab, jellyfish, a wide range of fishes, shells, squids, snails.. are everywhere in the city. Some specialties of the city are echini, unicorn leatherjacket filefish, white jade snail, salad with white sardine. You can also come to fishing villages to enjoy seafood and learn more about local life.
