Hoi an Odyssey Hotel

Luxury Hotel and Spa

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Good Morning Vietnam, Hoi An, Italian Restaurant

Italian, Restaurant

If you are looking for Italian food in Hoi An Old Town, then you can certainly do a lot worse than Good Morning Vietnam. There aren’t too many dedicated Italian restaurants in the Old Town at the time of writing, and while there are certainly the odd one or two, and a few others that offer Italian food on their menus, Good Morning Vietnam is the best bang for your buck place that you will find. This has been my go-to Italian restaurant for many years as the quality is high and the prices very reasonable.

There are two floors to choose from here. Downstairs is the most popular by far as it seems 90% of the interior design effort went into it, and it is often quite busy. I would certainly recommend booking if it is in high season. The front of the restaurant is open to the street, which makes it very inviting from the outside, but means it can also get a little warm in the summer, but inside it has a very cosy feel to it. The walls are painted the ubiquitous Hoi An yellow and adorned with photos, which kind of makes it feel like you’re in someone’s home.

If downstairs is full, or maybe too hot, then you can venture upstairs. Most people never get this far and it often fills up only when the downstairs is full. I can kind of understand this, as although they have more room and bigger tables upstairs, which is perfect for larger groups, it does lack the charm of downstairs somewhat. It just feels a little like an afterthought. As we have been there many times though, we usually head straight upstairs as it tends to be quieter.

The Food

As I said earlier, I have been here many times over the years, and have tried many things on the menu. I have also ordered their pizza for delivery many times. Unfortunately, as is my way, I always forget to take photos so I do not have as many as I would like. The best place to start, I think, is the pizza. Good Morning Vietnam offers both medium and large pizzas with thin crust and a wide variety of toppings. The medium is more than enough for one person, and the large perfect to be shared. If you like a pizza with a thin base and traditional crispy crust then this will probably be the best pizza you will have in Hoi An. When I am in the mood for a light crispy crust, I always buy from here. It is the easy winner. I have tried many of the toppings and have not found a bad one yet, so am very happy to recommend the pizza to anyone.

While the price for a pizza is obviously going to be more expensive than your local Vietnamese food (and I have heard people complain about this), the high quality ingredients used here make the pizzas very good value for money and worth every penny.

I actually don’t order pizza often when I dine-in anymore as I order it regularly for delivery, so I will usually order something from the pasta menu. But before I even get that far, we always order the caprese salad and the garlic bread. The caprese salad is simply a large hunk of fresh mozzarella cheese with slices of fresh tomato, drizzled in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and topped with Italian herbs. It is wonderfully light and fresh. Well it would be if we didn’t always eat it with the garlic bread. The garlic bread comes looking like an enormously puffed up calzone. A ball of wonderfully hot and soft bread filled with air. Along with the caprese salad and a plate of the complimentary olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip it in, this is a fantastic way to start any meal.

I have tried many of the pasta dishes at Good Morning Vietnam, and the pasta is usually well cooked, although it can be a little on the soft side sometimes but never enough to deter me from enjoying any of the dishes. The lasagne is well sized and tasty, although possibly not as tasty as the one in Morning Glory Signature in my view. Having said that, it is certainly bigger and the garlic bread here is much better, and as I enjoy eating lasagne with garlic bread, the overall experience is tied. The ravioli is good also, although I have to say I prefer the pumpkin ravioli to the meat one, and as a man who likes his meat, this is no easy thing to say. The pumpkin ravioli is incredibly tasty, although it may not be enough to fill you up if you haven’t ordered the caprese salad and garlic bread like me. A couple of honourable mentions would go to the salmon tagliatelle and the tagliatelle Bolognese, as these are both very good and well sized for a main course for anyone. The only dish that I have been a little disappointed with, is the gnocchi gorgonzola. I love gnocchi and I love blue cheese, but I found this one to be a little sharp for my taste, like the cheap blue cheese you buy in the supermarket. I have only had it once so maybe it was just a bad blue cheese day and if you like very sharp blue cheese, then this might be just the dish for you.

Overall then, it is certainly worth paying Good Morning Vietnam a visit, as it is lovely place to sit and eat and the food is high quality and very reasonably priced. While I haven’t tried the non pasta menu, I have seen someone get the steak and that looks very good too. It is a solid Italian restaurant in Hoi An and worth a visit if you are looking for some Italian food.

The Drinks

While the bar here is stocked with a wide variety of spirits and they have beers like Huda available at a reasonable price, this is an Italian restaurant, so all I really care about is the wine. They have quite an extensive wine menu at very good prices, but they also offer house Italian wines by the glass and by the carafe as well as the bottle at a very good price indeed. This is great if you don’t want to slug through a bottle and just want a few glasses to go with your meal. I believe they offer two different house variations, and while both are not bad quality, it is probably worth paying just a little extra for the more expensive one. It is still cheap, but tastes a lot better. Both the reds are fine though and will go well with the food. I haven’t tasted the white so I won’t comment.

As you can probably tell, I have been to Good Morning Vietnam many times and ordered delivery even more frequently than that. If ever there was something to look for in a recommendation, that is probably all you need to know.

Directions

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 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