The Vietnamese capital, under the radar for most travellers, is a shining example on the foodie front. And it has now beaten some of the most renowned gastronomic hubs to a major title.
What was at stake?
The fifth annual World Culinary Awards is a sister event of the World Travel Awards, established in 1993 to honour excellence in travel and tourism. The results were determined by industry experts and frequent travellers alike.
Why Hanoi?
As well as being an ideal city to wander to, its array of food choices is especially delightful for travellers.
Hanoi has emerged on the global tourism map, with three of Vietnam's seven Michelin-starred restaurants. Hibana by Koki, Tam Vi, and Gia earned their first Michelin stars in the Michelin Guide 2023 and successfully retained them in 2024.
It was also ranked among the top 15 culinary destinations in the world by readers of TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel guidance platform.
Last year, the capital emerged from the tight competition, including Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, and Kyoto, to be honoured as Asia's Best Emerging Culinary City at the awards.
Now it has gone one step better in 2024. Hanoi beat serious competition from every corner of the globe to be crowned World's Best Culinary City Destination.
The nominees included Auckland, New Zealand; Cape Town, South Africa; Lima, Peru; Lisbon, Portugal; Los Angeles, United States; Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Port Louis, Mauritius.
And even more impressive was that it beat five other rivals including Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, and Tokyo to be crowned "Asia's Best Culinary City Destination" at this year's World Culinary Awards.
The capital has forged its own dishes, such as pho, bun cha and cha ca, but international influences still linger even after French colonization and Chinese culinary techniques.
In the Asian category of the awards, Capella Hanoi was also named Asia's Best Brunch Venue 2024 and Hibana by Koki @ Capella Hanoi was named Asia's Best Hotel restaurant.
Conclusion
Hanoi is fast becoming a must-see and must-eat destination; given the number of awards it has taken in the past two years and this year's accolades, travellers will no doubt be eyeing up the Vietnamese capital as a must-do in their Asian adventures.
Andy Probert is an independent journalist and PR writer. He writes about travel, aviation, new tech and business. His work has appeared on the BBC, in The Daily Telegraph, Hurriyet Daily News and other newspapers worldwide.
