Ninh Binh's food comes straight off its limestone: goats grazed on the karst, snails from the rock crevices, and a crisp fried rice crust served under a thick sauce. Here is what to order, when it is in season, and how to avoid the coach-party restaurants.
The food in Ninh Binh comes directly off the landscape. Goats are grazed on the limestone hills, a particular kind of snail lives in the rock crevices, and the signature dish is the scorched crust from the bottom of a rice pot, dried and fried. Eating well here is not difficult, since restaurants line the roads to the piers, but eating well specifically means ordering the right things in the right month and not landing in a place that exists to feed coaches.
Goat, the dish you came for
Thit de nui means mountain goat, raised loose on the karst around Hoa Lu and browsing on wild leaves, which gives the meat a firm, lean texture and a faintly wild flavor. The most common preparation is de tai chanh: the meat is barely cooked, sliced thin, and tossed with lime, lemongrass, lime leaf and sesame, then wrapped in fig leaves and dipped in a ginger and fermented soybean sauce. There is also steamed goat with ginger and lemongrass, grilled goat, stir-fried goat and goat hotpot. If there are only two of you, do not order a full spread; one plate of de tai chanh tells you what the meat tastes like.
- De tai chanh: the easiest version for a first taste
- Steamed with ginger and lemongrass: the cleanest way to taste the meat itself
- Goat hotpot: better suited to a group and a cold evening
- Prices are usually per portion or by weight, so ask before you order to avoid a surprise bill
- As an estimate, a goat dish runs around 300,000-500,000d (roughly US$12-20) per portion
Com chay, which always arrives alongside it
Com chay is the crust of rice from the base of the pot, dried in the sun and deep-fried into big golden sheets. In a restaurant it comes out hot under a thick sauce cooked from goat, or from pork heart and kidney, finished with scallions and pepper. Eat it straight away; a few minutes of sitting and it goes soft. It is also the easiest thing here to take home, though the vacuum-packed souvenir version is drier and comes with pork floss rather than sauce. Expect roughly 30,000-80,000d (about US$1-3) for a plate, as an estimate.
Oc nui, the seasonal one
Rock snails live in the crevices of the limestone and feed on forest leaves, which gives them a chewy, springy texture and a faint herbal aroma quite unlike a water snail. They only come out in numbers during the wet, humid months from about April to August, and disappear in the cold season. Restaurants steam them with ginger and lemongrass or stir-fry them with tamarind, served with a salt, pepper and lime dip. Quantities are limited, so they come by the small plate. If you are here in season and see them on the board, order them.
Breakfast: eel noodles and Tong Truong perch
Not every meal has to be goat. In the mornings, around residential areas and in the old Ninh Binh city center, you will find mien luon, glass noodles with eel: a clear, sweet broth with crisp fried field eel on top, or served dry-tossed rather than in soup. The Hoa Lu area is also known for ca ro Tong Truong, a local perch, usually pan-fried until crisp or simmered in a mustard-greens soup. Either is a light start, which matters if you are about to sit in a boat for three hours.
Goi ca nhech, worth a detour
Goi ca nhech is the specialty of Kim Son, out toward the coast, so not every restaurant near the piers makes it properly. Short-bodied eel-fish is deboned, sliced thin and tossed with thinh, roasted ground rice, then eaten with cheo, a sauce cooked down from the fish bones, and a basket of leaves including fig, dinh lang and mo long. It is served raw, so it is one to eat only where it is a house specialty and where locals are eating it. If your route takes in Phat Diem cathedral, you are already in the right area.
What to take home
- Packaged com chay: choose a sealed pack with a long date, because it absorbs moisture fast
- Kim Son rice wine, if you drink country spirits; buy where the labeling is clear
- Pineapple and pineapple products from the Dong Giao area, at their peak around the middle of the year
- Mam tep Gia Vien, a fermented shrimp paste that is pungent but excellent with boiled pork; wrap it well
- Buy at a market or a shop in a residential street rather than at the gates of the sights
The quickest way to judge a restaurant here is to look at what is parked outside. Places built around coach parties cook in batches: the food arrives in five minutes and tastes toned down for a crowd. Walk a few hundred meters away, find a small place with Vietnamese customers in it, and the difference shows up in the first dish.
Practical notes on eating here
- Ask the price per portion before ordering, especially for goat and seafood sold by weight
- Eat lunch before 11 or after 1 to miss the tour groups arriving all at once
- Keep breakfast light if you have a morning boat; a full stomach in the sun is unpleasant
- Bring your own water onto the boat, because there is nowhere to buy any once you are out
- In a group, order a few dishes and add more, rather than committing to a whole set at once
- Cash is still king in the countryside; do not count on cards outside the bigger hotels