A selection from critics and travellers:
C.ine: “A very popular seafood restaurant with gingham tablecloths and views over the bay … feast on delectable dishes including sweet soft-shell crab, hot and sour fish soup and green-mango prawn salad.” (Lonely Planet)
Be Thui Cau Mong: “Small restaurant offering the famous Quang Nam specialty of spit-roasted veal … the calf, carefully selected at a young age and at a weight of 3035 kg (6677 lb) so as to be not too large and not too small, is roasted whole on a long rod over an open street-side fire of burning charcoal … the blackened skin is then scraped off, and the pink meat is shaved into thin slices and served with salted anchovies, rice paper, chili, garlic, fish-oil dipping sauce, green banana pieces and herbs.” (Triposo)
Gia Vy 2 is where locals head for their banh xeo fix … .banh xeo is a fried savoury pancake topped with green onions, bean sprouts and your choice of meat: shrimp (tom), squid (muc) or beef (bo) … it’s eaten nem-style, stuffing pieces of the pancake inside a rice paper wrapper along with a motley of lettuce, herbs, shredded mango, sprouts, cucumber and a sweet-sour-salty-hot dipping sauce.” (Travelfish)
Mia Hang 07: “Despite the semi-disreputable appearance (of both the restaurant and the customers), it attracts a loyal local crowd of older intellectuals, who while the day and night away in semi-drunken and fully-rehearsed arguments about the last millennium of Vietnamese history … Vietnamese language knowledge is obviously helpful to follow the twists and turns of the intricate debates, but thanks to involvement with American soldiers in the 1960s, several of the older men can happily hold forth in English after a few grilled octopus and beers … offers the same shellfish and seafood options of the restaurants on the beach promenade for prices around 20-40% less.” (Triposo)
Nha Hang Bay Hoa Restaurant: “Very nondescript, almost ramshackle on the outside … it’s fair to say they rarely, if ever, have seen a non-Vietnamese customer … inside were tanks and buckets of fresh catch … we ordered the scallops, which came presented on a half shell with a flat rice cracker … they were so good we ordered them again … the menu was enormous.” (Passing Thru)
Com Sau Thu: “One of the most popular com binh danh (canteens) in town … the daily options are displayed in a glass case at the front of the restaurant, so you can just point to a range of dishes and then take a seat … Vietnamese people usually order one meat dish, one or two vegetable dishes, and a soup, and all are placed in the middle of the table and shared.” (Fodors)
Huong Viet Cafe: “Beautiful and atmospheric setting where customers sit inside pagoda structures which are connected by wooden bridges and surrounded by topiary and bonsai trees, all accompanied to the sound of classical music from both Europe and Vietnam … popular with the upper-classes of both local residents and Vietnamese tourists.” (Triposo)