Hoi an Odyssey Hotel

Luxury Hotel and Spa

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The Son Bistro Hoi An

Bar, Restaurant, Vietnamese

The Son Bistro Hoi An is one of my new favourite places to sit in Old Town to do work, have a beer, and watch the masses of Hoi An Tourists pass by. It is on the small street in the middle of Old Town that leads down to The Hoianian, and so, as The Hoianian is often busy outside and their WIFI sometimes too bad to work, I sit outside here instead. The street gets quite busy, especially at weekends, and so there is plenty of opportunities for good quality people-watching. It can also get quite busy here too after 5 pm so get there early if you want to guarantee a prime spot.

The Son Bistro Hoi An is a family owned place, and the husband and wife team that run it are very friendly and are often around in the evenings talking to customers. The staff here are also very friendly and the service is quick and reliable even when you are sitting outside. There is also an inside section, which is very pretty and cozy, but I have to be honest, I have never sat in there; the outside is just too nice a place to sit. They also have an aircon section upstairs if you are feeling hot after a hard day’s walking, but I have never even ventured upstairs as I don’t really like sitting in aircon too much. When the weather is nice they a have a good selection of tables to sit at outside, both high and low, so this is where I prefer to spend my time. I do prefer the regular height tables, though, as the low tables are difficult to work at with a laptop, but all give a great view of the passing throngs of people.

They also often have a couple of musicians playing music in the evening which gives the place a lovely relaxing feel and has even prompted some people to start dancing in the street on occasion. Not me, though, obviously :).

One final thing that I really like about The Son Bistro, which not everyone would look for in a review of a bar or restaurant, is their toilets. It may not be important to everyone, but it is to me. The toilets are spacious and clean and almost “inviting”, if that’s a word you can use with toilets. Obviously I wouldn’t recommend going here just to experience the toilets, and I don’t have to when it has so much else gong for it, but it’s nice to know they’re there.

The Son Bistro Hoi An busy night outside
The Son Bistro Hoi An inside sofa

The Food

As with most places I sit at, and work, and watch the world go by, I haven’t really eaten here, and so don’t have much of an opinion on the food. I did, however, eat here once, as my friend and I were both a little hungry and wanted some snacks. He went for the seafood noodles, and I went for the beef skewers. Although not the cheapest food around, the price wasn’t too bad for being in the centre of Old Town. I think the noodles were about 130,000 VND and my skewers around 110,000 VND or something like that. I can’t comment on the noodles, but my friend said they were quite good, and my skewers, while a little small, were tasty, and the sauces that accompanied them were good. I would certainly consider eating here again, even if just for something small again, as the quality was good.

The Son Bistro Hoi An Beef skewers
The Son Bistro Hoi An seafood noodles

The Drinks

The Son Bistro Hoi An has a good selection of drinks from cocktails, to wine, to draught beer, as well as a welcome selection of teas and coffees and soft drinks, and the prices aren’t too bad. There is something for everyone here, and so a good place to sit for a drink with a large party with eclectic taste.

For me, though, the beer is the real hero here. As well as some solid craft beers from the local 7-Bridges brewery, they also offer Huda on draught. Not only that, but they also offer the draught Huda as a Happy Hour special. The Happy Hour might not be the best around, as it only offers buy 2 get 1 free, but it is reasonable for draught beer, and is also generously lengthy–I believe it runs from 2pm to 7pm, although I will have to check that again.

Overall, The Son Bistro Hoi An is a place I like to spend time, and is a place I go to regularly (probably a little too regularly) and would recommend it as a welcome pitstop on your tour around Hoi An Old Town. Maybe even make it your destination for dinner. I haven’t yet, but I may well do soon.

Directions

As mentioned before, it is in a prime spot, just up from the river on Le Loi street, which has The Hoianian on the corner.

See all Bar Reviews

The Hoianian Wine Bar & Restaurant, Hoi An

Bar, Restaurant, Vietnamese, Western

When the weather is fine, the Hoianian bar is one of the best spots in town to sit outside and watch the world go by. It is a lovely little place with two floors, a balcony terrace upstairs overlooking the street, and tables outside lining the side street along the length of the building. It is right in the centre of old town and next to the river, so it gets a lot of people passing by in the daytime and the evening. If you are a people-watcher, like me, then there aren’t many places better. This is what you might call prime-people-watching real estate.

Sitting outside people watching is a tiring job

Outside is where I like to sit when it is sunny, but if the weather is not so good, or you are in a larger group then you can sit inside. Downstairs is a cool place to relax, with a bit of a bohemian feel, with sofas and chairs, but also some tables to eat at. There are more tables upstairs, which can also cater for larger groups, although I would suggest booking if you want a group table in the evening as it gets quite busy.

Upstairs Dining

The Drinks

This is a wine bar as well as a restaurant, and drinking outside in the sun is the reason I mostly go here. Another reason, which goes together well with the first reason, is happy hour. The happy hour at the Hoianian is a rather generous seven hours, from 12:00 pm to 7pm. Most bars and restaurants in Old Town offer happy hours like buy one get one free, but most bars and restaurants seem to limit their offers to cocktails. Since I am not much of a cocktail drinker, they don’t hold much appeal to me, but the Hoianian sits much more comfortably within my wheelhouse–with a happy hour also featuring wine and local beer. Now, that’s a happy hour I can get behind, and one which does the name proud. The good thing is, the prices aren’t overly expensive anyway. A bottle of Larue at full price is 39,000 VND, so the buy-one-get-one-free offer is a no-brainer. Glasses of wine at full price range from around 140,000 VND for several South American options, so with buy-one-get-one-free, you are looking at around 70,000 VND, which is not too bad at all. I haven’t tried the white yet, but the reds that I have tasted were surprisingly good for happy hour fare.

A tiny downside to sitting outside the Hoianian is the service. It can be a little hit and miss. When it is very busy, it is usually ok, with staff coming outside to check on customers fairly regularly, but on days when it is not so busy, it can sometimes be a while before staff venture outside, and so you might have to go indoors to place your next order. This is certainly not a deal-breaker for me, though, and is a small price to pay for an outside table.

A couple of other minor things that irk me a little, but not enough to stop me going, are the WIFI, which tends to be a little hit and miss and not always very fast, the backs of the outside chairs are a little uncomfortable, and they don’t always open the outside seating area until later in the evening. I suspect this is due to staff limitations when it is not busy, but it can be rather disappointing when you want a mid-week al fresco beer before it gets dark.

If the weather is nice, then, and I can get a table outside during happy hour, The Hoianian becomes one of my favourite bars in Hoi An. It is just a great spot to sit and soak up the sun and the Hoi An atmosphere, and with the great happy hour prices, there is just nothing not to like. Well maybe the service and the WIFI.

The Food

As of yet, I haven’t managed to eat at the Hoianian. It is on my list of restaurants to visit, but for now I can only comment on the Hoianian as a winebar. I will update this section as soon as I can.

The Market Bar, Hoi An

Bar, Restaurant

(AKA The Market Terrace, Hoi An)

The Market Bar (or is it The Market Terrace? I ‘m not really sure) in Hoi An is what you might call a “local” from Hoi An Odyssey Hotel. It takes a paltry 11 minutes of walking to get there and is basically as close as you can get to the hotel while still being officially in Old Town. On it’s own, this would be a good thing, but it could, of course, be seriously let down if the place struggled to hold up its end of the quality bargain. Thankfully, for everyone involved, the Market Bar holds up its end, and then some. My only criticism of the Market Bar would be that people could easily walk past it without even realising it is there. And that would be a crying shame.

The Market Bar, Hoi An, is a wonderfully atmospheric rooftop bar and terrace (hence the naming confusion) with good food and even better drinks. It is not a huge place, boasting just a few sofas, a seated dining table and rows of balcony “bar seats” overlooking the street below, but what it lacks in size, it most certainly makes up for in character. It is a delightfully moody place with music to match. Whoever is in charge of the playlists is certainly in sync with my taste of bar music. While the music does change, it tends to be a fantastic blend of funky house beats, light jazz, and even some classic rock seamlessly thrown in. Last time I was in there, I even heard a couple of Disney classics. I’m not sure if it was planned, but it was done so well that it seemed to fit perfectly with the rest of the set.The music here might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I don’t think many people would walk away complaining about it.

Market bar terrace hoi an dining table restaurant

The Food

The food in Market Bar is not extensive. It is not a huge menu, but once you know what they serve, you are quite happy to go back just for that. There is no secret that this place is aimed at westerners, and probably more at expats than tourists (that’s probably why it is so well hidden), and this is evident in the type of food. There is no Vietnamese food here, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them a chance.

The Market Bar menu is kind of split into two halves: The first half is the menu of Phuong’s fish and chips, which offers both dine in and delivery menus of fish and chips, chicken and chips, sausage and chips, and possibly other things…with chips. I have to admit, the battered fish is fantastic, and as an Englishman, that is not said lightly. The fish is perfectly cooked, and meaty, which is great after trying some of the battered mush in other places, and the batter is light and crunchy. The chips, which I believe are double fried, are also good. Some people might find them a little oily because of the double frying, but the taste is well worth the added oil. More often than not, you will get a free miniature portion of the chips when you order a drink, and I challenge you not to buy more.

The second half of the menu is where things are taken up a notch. Between the cerviche and the meat and cheese platters, they have everything needed for a romantic meal of sharing and picking, even if you’re on your own or with a group of seven. My only criticism of the platters would be that the bread can be a little hit and miss at times. Sometimes it is perfectly fresh and fantastic, while other times, it can feel a a day or two old. It’s a small criticism, and when you have a chunk of brie and a slice of parma ham slapped on it, it no longer seems much of an issue, but I am trying to be fair here. There is one thing that makes any discussion of bread-freshness a completely non-point, though, and that is the baked Vietnamese camembert. The Market Bar baked Vietnamese camembert is a force unto itself and is something that should definitely not be missed. It’s not cheap to be fair, I think at time of writing it is about 200,000 VND ($8-ish), but it’s a whole bloody camembert. And it’s baked. And it is…well just trust me and try it. The only problem is that it demands a nice bottle of red to accompany it…or is that just me? I guarantee it won’t last long (the camembert not the wine).

Did I mention that they also do wine? Now don’t get me wrong, red wine is probably my favourite drink in the world, and while I always have a glass (or bottle) of red when I order the platters (it just seems right), where the Market Bar really shines, is their gin and tonics:

The Drink

At the time of writing, the Market Bar, Hoi An, offers a happy hour on the drinks between 4 pm and 6 pm. This makes their San Miguel beers about 50,000 VND, but more importantly, their large selection of fish bowl gin and tonics are also only 50,000 VND. If you like gin and tonic then you simply have to visit the Market Bar. They have infusions and flavours that you will never have heard of, nevermind tried. From the simple “hint of negroni”, to “mint and chocolte nibs”, to “orange and hibiscus” and they’re just the ones I can remember. Trust me, they have a lot. Their choice of other drinks is a little more limited, but if you like gin and tonics you will be in second heaven. Even after happy hour the prices only go up to about 100,000 VND or something, and these aren’t called “fish bowls” for nothing, you could swim a small family of carp in these bad boys. (in case you didn’t know, they are called fish bowls because they are made in large “fish bowl” type red wine glasses). My favourite of the fish bowl gins is probably the orange and chocolate nibs, probably because I could chew on those little chocolate nuggest for days. It is a drink and a snack rolled into one. Be wary of the chilli gin though, it is not for the faint hearted and just a little too spicy for a drink in my opinion.

While the prices are not the cheapest in town, the location, food, drink, and service of the Market Bar make it a must-visit in Hoi An if you have the time. The service is impeccable, and the views of the streets below are wonderful for people watchers like myself. There are certainly few places in Hoi An, if anywhere, that have the atmosphere and ambience that Market Bar delivers.

This is one of my favourite places in Hoi An and one of my regular places. I feel lucky to have it so close to the hotel and I would advise you to at least give it a try, even if it’s just for a happy hour gin.

How to Get There

The Map

The Directions

  1. Choose your method of getting to the bridge, and cross the bridge into Old Town
  2. Take the first left
  3. Look for a sign on your right just after the turn
  4. Face the market building on your right
  5. Go up the stairs on your right
Market bar terrace hoi an sign
market bar terrace hoi an market