Hà Giang specialities to try on the Loop: what to eat and where
What to eat in Hà Giang and where to find it on the Loop: Tráng Kìm pho in Quản Bạ, bánh cuốn bà Hà and cháo ấu tẩu at Mộc Miên in Đồng Văn old quarter, thắng cố and mèn mén at Sunday markets, what to take home and food-safety tips.
Ms. Judy · · 17 min read
On the Hà Giang Loop, the easiest specialities to find are Tráng Kìm chicken pho in Quản Bạ and egg rice rolls and cháo ấu tẩu porridge in Hà Giang city and the Đồng Văn old quarter; thắng cố, mèn mén, five-colour sticky rice and corn wine are easiest to find at the Sunday-morning markets in Đồng Văn and Mèo Vạc.
On the Hà Giang Loop, beyond the passes and the limestone peaks, it is often the mountain food you remember: a hot bowl of cháo ấu tẩu on a cold evening, a plate of egg rice rolls dipped in bone broth, a steaming pan of thắng cố at a weekly market. This guide lists the Hà Giang specialities worth trying, shows which stop on the Loop each dish is easiest to find at, what to take home, and a few safety notes: ấu tẩu must be properly prepared, and corn wine and riding don't mix. (Since 1 July 2025 Hà Giang has been merged into Tuyên Quang province, but travellers and locals still say "Hà Giang".)
We don't list restaurant prices, because they change with the season and from place to place. For anything sold by weight or by the big bowl, just ask the price before you order.
Hà Giang specialities to try
Keep reading
Dish
Type
Easiest to find in
Tráng Kìm chicken pho
Breakfast
Quản Bạ (near the flying site)
Egg rice rolls (bánh cuốn trứng)
Breakfast
Hà Giang city, Đồng Văn old quarter
Cháo ấu tẩu
Breakfast/dinner
Hà Giang city, Đồng Văn old quarter, Mèo Vạc market
Thắng cố
Main dish, market day
Đồng Văn and Mèo Vạc markets, around the Đồng Văn old market in the evening
Mèn mén
Main dish
Hmong homestays, Mèo Vạc and Đồng Văn markets
Five-colour sticky rice, black bánh chưng
Breakfast, snack
Đồng Văn and Mèo Vạc Sunday markets
Smoked buffalo and pork, lạp xưởng sausage
Drinking snack, gift
All along the Loop, Đồng Văn market
Buckwheat cakes
Snack
Quản Bạ, Đồng Văn
Corn wine
Drink
Markets, homestays
Mint-flower honey
Gift to take home
Quản Bạ, Đồng Văn, Mèo Vạc
Tráng Kìm pho — hand-made chicken pho in Quản Bạ
A bowl of Tráng Kìm chicken pho
If you only get one breakfast in Quản Bạ, make it Tráng Kìm pho. It is a local chicken pho: the broth is simmered from free-range hill chickens, clear and gently sweet, and the noodles are steamed sheet by sheet and cut by hand right in the shop, so they are soft, springy and smell of new rice. You can stand and watch the whole process, from ladling the batter and steaming the sheets to cutting the noodles.
Plenty of people say after the first bowl that it stands comparison with Hanoi pho — and it really deserves a place in any list of must-try food in Hà Giang. The Tráng Kìm area is only about 500 m from the Quản Bạ paragliding site, so it is an easy breakfast before your slot or a stop right after you land.
Where: Quản Bạ, about 45 km from Hà Giang city (roughly 1h15 on QL4C). If you leave the city early, save your appetite for breakfast here.
Egg rice rolls — breakfast in Hà Giang city and Đồng Văn
Egg rice rolls with bone-broth dip
Unlike lowland bánh cuốn, the Hà Giang version is steamed thin, an egg is cracked onto the sheet and it is rolled up while the yolk is still soft. It comes with hot bone broth instead of the usual fish-sauce dip, plus spring onion and herbs. It is light on the stomach — good for breakfast before you ride or before a flight.
Where: morning rice-roll stalls in Hà Giang city (Km0) and in the Đồng Văn old quarter, for example bánh cuốn bà Hà, No. 31 Phố Cổ. Bánh cuốn is a morning dish and many stalls stop when the batter runs out, so go early.
Cháo ấu tẩu — a must-try, but at the right place
Two bowls of hot cháo ấu tẩu
Hà Giang's most famous dish. Ấu tẩu is a toxic root that has to be soaked and simmered very thoroughly for many hours before it is safe to eat. The porridge is cooked with sticky and plain rice and pork trotter; it is slightly bitter, nutty and peppery-numbing, and a hot bowl on a cold night warms you right through. In November–December, when evenings on the Rocky Plateau often drop to around 5–15 °C, a bowl of cháo ấu tẩu is the cold-weather cure many travellers remember best.
Where: Hà Giang city; the Đồng Văn old quarter, best known at Cháo Mộc Miên in the market area; food stalls at the Mèo Vạc Sunday market. In the evening there are usually porridge stalls around the old market in Đồng Văn too.
Safety notes:
Only eat it at long-established shops that specialise in it and are busy. The cook has to know exactly how to prepare the root.
Never buy raw ấu tẩu roots to cook yourself, even if the seller says it's "easy".
If after eating you feel spreading numbness, nausea, dizziness or an irregular heartbeat, go to the nearest medical facility straight away — don't wait to see if it passes.
Thắng cố — the market-day dish
A pan of thắng cố
A traditional Hmong dish of meat and offal (usually horse, beef or buffalo) cooked with black cardamom, star anise and cinnamon in a huge pan. Thắng cố belongs to the highland markets of Đồng Văn and Mèo Vạc, where people gather round the pan and drink corn wine. The flavour is strong and can be unfamiliar the first time — try a small bowl, with mèn mén or rice.
Where: food stalls at the Đồng Văn Sunday market and the Mèo Vạc Sunday market; in the evening, stalls around the old market in Đồng Văn often serve thắng cố along with grilled skewers. It is usually sold by the big bowl, so ask the price before ordering.
Mèn mén — the Hmong "rice"
The Hmong staple, made from finely ground maize, steamed twice. Mèn mén is eaten with mustard-green soup, meat, or dipped in chilli salt. The grains are dry and crumbly, so it goes down best with soup. A mèn mén meal at a homestay is a good way to understand life on the Rocky Plateau, where maize is planted in every pocket of soil between the rocks.
Where: dinner at Hmong homestays along the Loop (ask your host in the afternoon so they can prepare it), food stalls at Mèo Vạc and Đồng Văn markets. In Quản Bạ, ask the homestays in Nậm Đăm village.
Five-colour sticky rice, black bánh chưng and market breakfasts
At the markets, besides thắng cố, you'll see five-colour sticky rice (coloured with leaves and flowers), black bánh chưng (sticky-rice cakes), lạp xưởng sausage, smoked buffalo, dried persimmons and all kinds of herbs. Mèo Vạc market also has canh tẩu chúa soup and cháo ấu tẩu. These are easy to eat and easy to buy for the road.
Buckwheat cakes are the snack of the buckwheat-flower season (about October to early December, peaking late October–November). You'll find them in Quản Bạ, Đồng Văn and at the flower-viewing stops. More in buckwheat flower season in Hà Giang.
Smoked meat and lạp xưởng sausage
Smoked buffalo meat
Buffalo and pork are marinated and hung above the kitchen fire for days until they take on a smoky aroma. It's a common drinking snack at homestay dinners and one of the most popular gifts to take home. Buy it clearly packaged, with the producer and an expiry date on the label.
Where: all along the Loop, most of all in Hà Giang city, Đồng Văn and at the markets. It is sold by weight — ask the price before it goes on the scale.
Corn wine — save it for the evening
Pouring corn wine from a jar
A spirit distilled from maize; the best known is corn wine fermented with leaf yeast. It is strong and fragrant, and you will be offered it at homestay meals and at markets. Mèo Vạc market even has a whole row of corn-wine stalls run by women, the wine kept in big jerrycans, and you can taste before you buy.
Important:never drink while you still have mountain roads to ride, and never drink before flying. The Loop is full of tight bends, long climbs, trucks and buses; a single cup is enough to slow your reactions. Keep the wine for the evening, once the bike is parked and you're not going anywhere. If your host offers a glass at lunch, you can decline politely: "I still have to ride." If you travel with an easy rider, keep an eye on your driver too — see easy rider or ride yourself.
Mint-flower honey
Hà Giang mint-flower honey
Wild mint flowers bloom on the Rocky Plateau around late autumn and early winter, giving a lightly fragrant, delicately sweet honey. It's a gift many people take home. Buy from a reputable seller with a clear origin, and avoid unlabelled bottles sold by the roadside.
Where: Quản Bạ, Đồng Văn, Mèo Vạc, and the speciality shops in Hà Giang city.
Markets — every speciality in one morning
If you only have one morning to taste lots of dishes, go to a market. The two easiest for Loop travellers both take place every Sunday morning:
Đồng Văn Sunday market: in and around the old stone market hall of the old quarter. Vendors arrive from about 5:30, it's busiest around 7:00–10:00 and winds down in the late morning or early afternoon. Thắng cố, lạp xưởng, mèn mén, five-colour sticky rice, black bánh chưng, dried persimmons, smoked buffalo, herbs, plus a livestock section.
Mèo Vạc Sunday market: in the centre of Mèo Vạc commune. People arrive from 4–5 a.m., it's busy by about 6:30 and thins out after around 10:00. Food stalls (thắng cố, mèn mén, cháo ấu tẩu, canh tẩu chúa, five-colour sticky rice) and a row of corn-wine stalls.
Sà Phìn market: a "shifting market" held every 6 days, so it moves one weekday later each week; right by QL4C at Sà Phìn, on the Đồng Văn – Lũng Cú road. Ask your homestay which day it falls on.
The livestock area at the Đồng Văn Sunday market — Photo: Zennysmile, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Market tips: bring small-denomination cash, have breakfast at the market itself, ask before photographing vendors, and arrive before 9 a.m. to see it at its busiest. To make a Sunday market, spend Saturday night in Đồng Văn or Mèo Vạc. Details for each market: Hà Giang markets and Mèo Vạc market.
Hmong women beside a long row of corn-wine jerrycans under a tarpaulin at a Hà Giang highland market — Photo: Nghia Bui – Zonitrip, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
What to eat at each stop of the Loop
Hà Giang city (Km0)
Egg rice rolls in the morning, cháo ấu tẩu in the evening. It's also the easiest place to buy snacks, water and medicine before heading up. See the Hà Giang city guide.
Quản Bạ (Km45)
Tráng Kìm pho for breakfast, buckwheat cakes in flower season, mint-flower honey to take home. If you're paragliding or paramotoring in Quản Bạ, the simplest plan is a light breakfast, fly, then lunch. Dinner can be mèn mén and smoked meat at a homestay — see staying overnight in Quản Bạ and the Quản Bạ stop guide.
Yên Minh (Km100)
The town between Quản Bạ and Đồng Văn where many groups stop for lunch. Meals here are usually simple rice dishes or pho. The stretch from Yên Minh up to Đồng Văn has plenty of climbs and passes, so eat moderately, drink enough water and skip alcohol at lunch. See the Yên Minh stop.
Đồng Văn (Km150) — the old quarter
The richest food stop on the Loop. In the morning: bánh cuốn bà Hà (No. 31 Phố Cổ). Morning or evening: cháo ấu tẩu at Cháo Mộc Miên in the market area. In the evening the old quarter has cafés, old houses hung with lanterns and food stalls around the market (cháo ấu tẩu, thắng cố, grilled skewers). Phố Cổ café is in a house more than 100 years old on the corner of the market — a good place for a hot coffee while you watch the street.
An old two-storey house in the Đồng Văn old quarter, now a café — Photo: Vuong Tri Binh, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Note: Đồng Văn has no regular weekly night market. There are "old-quarter nights" on full-moon nights (lunar 14th–16th) in some months, and evening programmes during festival season — for example the 12th Buckwheat Flower Festival opened on the evening of 25/10/2026 in Đồng Văn commune, with activities running to the end of December 2026. Ask your homestay what's on that night. Read more: Đồng Văn old quarter at night and the Sunday market and the Đồng Văn guide.
Mèo Vạc (Km185)
Sunday market, thắng cố, mèn mén, the row of corn-wine stalls. Mèo Vạc is the stop right after the Mã Pí Lèng pass; if you cross the pass in the afternoon, keep dinner and the wine for Mèo Vạc. See the Mèo Vạc stop.
Two elderly women selling greens beside their baskets at Mèo Vạc market — Photo: Benjamin Smith, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Du Già (Km265)
Home-cooked meals with local families, hill chicken, wild greens — lighter fare after a few days of thắng cố and smoked meat. See the Du Già stop.
What to take home
Mint-flower honey — choose labelled bottles with a clear origin.
Smoked buffalo and pork, lạp xưởng — choose vacuum-packed products with an expiry date; refrigerate once you're home.
Shan tuyết tea — light, compact and keeps well.
Buckwheat cakes — buy in flower season and eat within a few days.
Dried persimmons — found at the Đồng Văn market.
Corn wine — if you take some home, choose a sealed bottle. If you're flying, wine and honey usually have to go in checked luggage, because carry-on liquids are restricted.
Don't buy raw ấu tẩu roots as a gift, and avoid "medicinal wines" or herbs with no name and no instructions.
What to eat before paragliding
Many guests ask whether they should eat before flying. The Mebayluon flying team's advice:
Have a light breakfast about an hour before your flight: rice rolls, pho, sticky rice, a bánh mì. Don't fly on an empty stomach.
Avoid greasy or spicy food, thắng cố, or eating too much right before you fly.
No alcohol on the day you fly.
Bring water. The team also provides free drinking water at the site.
Eat where locals eat, dishes cooked through and served hot.
Drink bottled water, especially at stops far from town.
Ask the price first for dishes sold by weight or by the big bowl, such as smoked meat and thắng cố.
Carry snacks like biscuits and dried fruit for the long stretches between towns.
Only eat cháo ấu tẩu at specialist shops; never cook ấu tẩu root yourself.
Drink corn wine only once you've stopped for the day: no riding and no flying after drinking.
Carry cash for markets and small eateries.
Frequently asked questions
Is cháo ấu tẩu safe?
Yes, when it is properly prepared at a specialist shop. The ấu tẩu root has to be soaked and simmered for a long time to remove its toxins, so never prepare it yourself. In Đồng Văn, travellers usually eat it at Cháo Mộc Miên in the market area.
Where can I get good egg rice rolls on the Loop?
They are easiest to find in Hà Giang city and the Đồng Văn old quarter, for example bánh cuốn bà Hà, No. 31 Phố Cổ. It's a morning dish, so go early before they sell out.
What should I buy as a gift in Hà Giang?
Mint-flower honey, smoked meat, shan tuyết tea, buckwheat cakes and dried persimmons are popular choices. Buy from places with a clear origin.
Should I drink corn wine before paragliding or while riding?
No. Alcohol slows your reflexes and affects your balance, makes dizziness in the air more likely and is dangerous on mountain roads. Fly and ride clear-headed, and save the corn wine for dinner.
Which market should I go to for thắng cố?
The Sunday-morning market in Đồng Văn or Mèo Vạc. Spend Saturday night in one of the two so you're there early.
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