Da Nang boasts a rich culinary culture based on the many varied and abundant ingredients available locally.  However, aside from the specialised breakfast street of Huynh Thuc Khang and the evening eating street of Pham Hong Thai, no dedicated special cuisine area has been established for domestic and foreign visitors.   

Contestants at the qualifying round of the Golden Spoon Contest in Da Nang

Mr Nguyen Duc Quynh, Deputy Director of the Furama Resort Danang, remarked that Da Nang is at the convergence of the culinary cultures of Viet Nam’s northern, central and southern regions.  This great advantage should make the city’s culinary culture one of its key tourism products. 

He added, however, that the local restaurants and eating and drinking areas are scattered across the city.  In addition, most of them serve the same menu and there is unfair price competition amongst them, which all negatively affect the quality of their dishes.

Therefore, Mr Quynh has suggested that the municipal authorities should develop dedicated eating and drinking areas, and make detailed plans for building the city’s culinary brand name to promote the city’s sustainable tourism development.  Importance should be attached to boosting closer links between vocational schools and restaurants and hotels in the city, as well as in the central region as a whole. 

Heed should be paid to developing clean and safe ingredient supplies, and a cuisine library where food publications could be introduced.  Furthermore, a focus should be on promoting the brand names of traditional craft villages such as those producing Nam O fish sauces and Tho Quang seafood.

The Director of the Viet Da Travel Company, Mr Dinh Van Loc, has proposed that the city should have some restaurants which can serve the full range of local specialities, including Quang noodles, ‘banh trang thit heo’(pork and vegetables wrapped in soft rice paper), and ‘banh xeo’ (steamed rice flour pancakes).

A local tourism expert has suggested that the city authorities should develop cuisine tourism tours, upgrade pavement eating and drinking areas into national-standard restaurants, and organise international-level cooking contests and cuisine festivals.

Mr Quynh said that the Furama will work with local relevant agencies to develop a feasible project to establish a restaurant chain called either ‘Danang House’ or ‘Quintessence of Da Nang Cuisine’.  He believes that this project will help to promote the city’s culinary brand name to international friends and attract more visitors to the city.