Popular Restaurant

There are tons of great places to eat in Hanoi, ranging in price from less than a $1 (street stalls and pho) to over $20 (The Press Club) for a meal. For those not wanting to cook, eating in Hanoi can be easy and cheap. Below are some of the places. By the way, Vietnamese for 'dog meat' is 'thit cho', so you know what to avoid.

Budget

Pho Ga (32 Le Van Huu)- Famous for very good Hanoi pho (chicken noodle soup), a bowl costs $0.73 and is a filling breakfast or lunch. There are air conditioned rooms upstairs.
The Kangaroo CafÃ© (18 Bao Khanh)- a backpacker cafÃ© run by an expat Australian with big burgers and good chicken snitzel for about $2.
CafÃ© Moca (16 Nha Tho)- good western and Indian food for about $3-$6. Delivery available.
CafÃ© Julien- an internet cafÃ© with good food and ice cream. The steak sandwich ($2) and the Thai green chicken curry are both very good ($2).
Tandoor (24 Hang Be)- very good Indian food. The Sunday lunch buffet is a great for about $5; set lunch during the week is about $3.50. Delivery available.
Little Hanoi (21 Hang Gai)- good breakfasts (excellent French toast) and sandwiches ($2).
The Hilton Hanoi Opera (1 Le Thanh Tong) has a good bakery with 50% off on items after 6pm.

Moderate

The Garden (36 Hang Manh)- a nice restaurant with a courtyard in the ancient quarter. The chili chicken is very good for about $4.
Brothers CafÃ© (26 Nguyen Thai Hoc)- beautiful restaurant with courtyard in what used to be a temple. A good buffet lunch is $7.
Church Street Bar and Grill (Nha Tho)- a nice restaurant that has little balcony on the 2nd floor. If the weather is nice it's a great place to sit and watch the street scene below. The food is very good, but pricey for the area. The set lunches with a choice of appetizer and entrÃ©e is about $7 (the squid salad followed with sea bass is excellent).

Expensive

The Emperor (18b Le Thanh Tong)- very beautiful restaurant set in old French villa with great atmosphere and great Vietnamese food. My favorite place to take visitors to Hanoi for a fancy dinner.
Le Tonklin (14 Ngo Van So)- also good Vietnamese food set in a French villa.
Hoa Sua (81 Tho Nhuom)- have a good French meal and feel good about yourself-- this place takes street kids with few opportunities and trains them in English, French, and restaurant careers. For dessert, the profiteroles (pastry filled with vanilla ice cream and covered with chocolate sauce) are excellent.
Nam Phuong (19 Phan Chu Trinh)- good Vietnamese food with live traditional music in the evenings.