What to eat in Danang: Vietnamese influencer’s food tour spotlights dishes beyond pho
Vietnamese food expert Helen Le takes us to her favourite restaurants in Da Nang for mi quang noodles, banh mi, banh xeo and more
Helen Le is obsessed with mi quang. “I want to make it as famous as pho,” she says of the Vietnamese noodle dish.
As a dedicated culinary chronicler, author and influencer, Le – whose full name is Le Ha Huyen – has been creating Vietnamese recipe videos since 2011. Beyond that, she offers cooking masterclasses and occasionally hosts tours, guiding hungry visitors to her favourite eateries in her hometown.
We joined one such tour, and the first stop was at one of Le’s favourite mi quang spots, Mi Quang Nhung (135 Nguyen Tat Thanh, Hai Chau), an unassuming street stand in the city’s Hai Chau neighbourhood.
A Da Nang staple, mi quang can be eaten at any time of the day, but Mi Quang Nhung is only open in the morning. Naturally, mi quang is the only dish it serves. The noodles are hand-cut into thick strands, and customers can choose from a selection of toppings – stewed chicken, beef, pork rib, fish, or frog legs. We arrived late to find the frog legs sold out, so we settled for snakehead fish fillets, which were firm and flaky.