Travel Photographs | Hanoi, Vietnam

by Aaron Joel Santos

I did some work a few months back for Private Clubs magazine out of the USA, for a travel story on the food scene in Hanoi. It’s a story that’s been done to death by magazines and bloggers the world over, but the writer really did his research, and hit the literal pavement to dig in as deep as he could into the food culture in the capital. And for that, I commend him. He met with several food bloggers and writers and other locals and expats during his trip to Hanoi, and the research shows. It was great to see him digging into bowls of snails and plates of roasted duck at bia hois, and not just sitting in a crystal castle at the Metropole Hotel or at Didier Corlou’s restaurant. Those places are fine–great even–but if we’re going to talk about food in Hanoi, let’s talk about plastic stools and wet markets and cursing vendors and chicken bones and fragrant broths mixing with motorbike fumes and all the rest. Living here, it’s easy to forget what a great city this is for food. It’s unique and interesting and always kind of playing second fiddle to Malaysia or Thailand or even southern Vietnamese cuisine. But I’ll take Hanoi any day of the week. So thanks to Michael Kaplan for a great article, and to the entire team at Private Clubs for running the story, and for hiring me to walk around and do what I love to do. Take photos.

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