Da Nang’s rich and diverse cuisine features a combination of traditional flavours and creativity in the food processing. Aside from traditional local dishes, visitors to the city can enjoy regional specialities from the north to the south; and popular food in such foreign countries as South Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, India, Europe, and the US. Also, the city is highly appreciated for meeting the culinary needs for vegetarian, macrobiotic, and Halal food.

According to the UK’s Observer magazine in 2023, culinary journey is one of experiences that travellers to the beautiful coastal city absolutely cannot miss. The magazine also introduced both popular dining spots and luxury restaurants in the city which served creative Vietnamese dishes.

Data published by the Da Nang Statistics Department in 2023 showed that revenue from food and beverage services recorded positive growth and always accounted for 60-70% of revenue from catering and accommodation services. This indicated the quite high demand for spending on food and beverage services of guests and local people.

Local people and tourists enjoying food at the Con Market - one of the famous culinary areas of Da Nang.

Human resources in the food services and hospitality industry have expertise in processing food, mixing drinks, etc. Also, the city boasts young and abundant human resources capable of transferring from other service jobs (receptionists or waiters/ waitresses at accommodation establishments to dining establishments, restaurants).

Da Nang is now home to more than 7,000 restaurants and dining establishments serving a variety of dishes in three groups of local cuisine, regional cuisine, international cuisine and in three segments of popular (street), mid-range (combined with experience) and high-end.

Recognising the potential for the development of culinary tourism, the Da Nang Department of Tourism has been laying an emphasis on advertising local cuisine in on-site and online forms, especially promoting online advertising to match modern trends.

Specifically, the Department of Tourism has continuously created and published articles, photos and videos about cuisine on its social networking sites such as Youtube, Facebook and Tiktok. Also, mini games have been organised to help tourists understand better about local cuisine.

Besides, the unit has partnered with Food Blogger Helen Le to conduct three livestream events "Eat with Da Nang", and a series of programmes exploring Da Nang cuisine with 3 episodes, all have been posted on Helen's YouTube page. These programmes have attracted thousands of views and interactions on social platforms, bringing positive effects to Da Nang's culinary tourism.

Moreover, the Department of Tourism has actively promoted the local culinary images through popular reality TV shows such as "Going to the kitchen if you want to eat" by Artist Truong Giang, "Brilliant Journey" and "2 Days 1 Night" programmes.

Da Nang’s cuisine is promoted in the "2 days 1 night" current trending entertainment programme which attracts millions of views on TV and social networking sites.

Along with the Department of Tourism, the Da Nang Culinary Culture Association has upheld its role in adverting local cuisine. In December 2022, the Association organised the first-ever festival to announce 100 typical dishes of Central Viet Nam, helping the community to be aware of the value of dishes in the culinary culture of Da Nang and the region.

In April 2024, the Association hosted a culinary culture festival themed ‘Savory Da Nang’. The purpose of the event was to raise awareness of the treasure of indigenous cultural resources, preserve and develop indigenous cuisine in an effective and sustainable manner, and develop a force of professional chefs to create standard dishes for the public and tourists.

Last but not least, the Association engaged in adverting Da Nang’ specialities at regional, national and international festivals; coordinating with parties to organise cooking competitions; upholding the role of connecting and supporting parties; and creating the best environment for chefs, food establishments, and young talents to develop strongly to contribute more to the development of Da Nang culinary culture.

To develop cuisine into a unique and attractive tourism product that attracts and retains tourists, the municipal Department of Tourism plans to survey and standardise food establishments in the city to ensure that they meet the five abovementioned customer service criteria. These criteria will be oriented and applied to 3 groups of local, regional and international cuisine and 3 segments of popular (street), mid-range (combined with experience) and high-end.

At the same time, the unit will concentrate on widely publicising and calling on investment in the development of new, unique, and attractive culinary products in an attempt to increase experiences for tourists through the story of culinary culture and the culinary arts associated with indigenous culture. Importance will be attached to developing food tours based on connecting and exploring destinations combined with culinary experiences at famous local eateries and 4 to 5-star hotels.

The culinary map in Da Nang is released by the Department of Tourism in both English and Vietnamese versions.

The Department of Tourism will complete and launch the Digital Cuisine Map of Da Nang called "Da Nang - Must-try delicious dishes". This will be a useful, convenient and quick tool in finding information about local, international and regional delicacies; and about quality and highly rated restaurants and eateries, thereby helping tourists have a good culinary experience during their trip to Da Nang.

In addition, the city will develop and promote standard brands, as well as honour quality food establishments, Michelin-starred restaurants, and international award-winning restaurants.

Attention will be paid to strengthening communication work, and positioning Da Nang as an outstanding culinary destination, and a place where the quintessence of traditional local and international cuisine intersects and converges.

“The Department will effectively boost digital transformation in culinary business activities. In particular, it will connect dining establishments with such tech solution providers as iPOS and KiotViet to optimise business operations and customer services like ordering, payment, operations, management, electronic invoice issuance, and customer care", Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai An said.

“Developing culinary activities, especially street food, is a growing trend globally. Street food activities have clearly contributed to enhancing the city’s allure to tourists and increasing the competitiveness of its tourism industry. However, it is necessary to create distinctive characteristics of culinary tourism in order to retain tourists", Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Nguyen Thi Hoai An Mrs. Elizabeth, a native of the U.S., showing her love for rice paper rolls with pork, a speciality tourists should not miss when coming to Da Nang.

Mr. Ly Dinh Quan, Chairman of the Da Nang Culinary Culture Association, underlines a must-do for Da Nang to preserve and develop its traditional culinary specialities such as fish cake noodles, Quang noodles, rice paper rolls with pork, and raw herring salad, to mark Da Nang’s cuisine on the culinary tourism map of Viet Nam in particular and the world in general. At the same time, it is necessary to encourage creativity and development of new dishes featuring the combination of traditional and modern elements, he added.

He undertakes the necessity for the city to improve the quality and diversity of culinary services and organize events to promote its culinary culture to domestic and foreign tourists. Importance should be attached to cooperating with famous chefs and restaurants to create special Da Nang-branded dishes. The presence of these dishes on the menus of international restaurants will help advertise Da Nang’s cuisine to the world, according to him.

Mr. Quan also highlights the importance of cooperation during the development of culinary tourism. Besides managers, each individual and business establishment needs to promote their role in developing Da Nang’s culinary tourism, he notes.

The friendliness of sellers and the factor of ensuring food hygiene and safety will enhance visitors' culinary discovery experience.

He suggests business establishments (restaurants, cafés, and street food stalls) make local speciality dishes and introduce them on their menus; as well as organize culinary events such as cooking exchanges and free tastings to attract more visitors.

Hotels and motels should provide information about famous culinary destinations and give tourists suggestions on popular local dishes, Mr. Quan adds.

Meanwhile, speciality stores should provide quality and diverse culinary products to visitors while introducing their origins and uses.

Aside from enjoying on-site cuisine, Da Nang has a variety of culinary products as gifts such as Nam O Huong Lang Co fish sauce, Ba Lieu 'banh kho me' (dried sesame seed cakes), beef rolls, COCIMO beef sausages, and dried seafood.

As for people, they can share their experiences about their favourite dishes and restaurants on websites, personal blogs or social networking sites. This helps spread information and create interest in Da Nang cuisine from the online community. At the same time, when meeting tourists, people can share about local dishes and famous culinary locations in the city, thereby helping visitors have a more interesting and unique experience about local cuisine.

“In addition to beautiful landscape, cuisine is also an important factor to woo more tourists to Da Nang. Sometimes it's as simple as raw fish salad or rice paper rolls with pork but how can guests still remember the dishes and want to come back after enjoying them.",

Cuisine always has a particularly important position in creating national culture. Each dish contains a message for the person who enjoys it, and it conveys the feelings of the person who created the dish to relatives, friends and tourists, helping increase the length of tourists’ stay in the central coastal city.

Reporting by THU DUYEN, PHUONG MINH
Translating by MAI DUNG
Video making by BAO LAM
Designing by LE THANH