Where and what to eat in Sapa?

On the journey to explore the wonderlands or simply wandering around the mysterious and far away villages of beautiful Sapa, do not forget to delight your trip with the right spice that is Sapa’s cuisines.

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Sapa’s specialties are what most tourists cannot resist. Sapa has around 14 kinds of specialties that can be enjoyed around the year no matter in which season it is. Among those dishes, there are some that are slightly more popular and only in Sapa can you feel the most genuine taste.

Rượu táo mèo (Docynia indica wine)

Speaking of Sapa, people will be immediately reminded of this wine. Docynia indica is also regarded as “the fruit of love” for its sour, bitter and sweet tastes.

Thịt lợn cắp nách (Hanged armpit pork)

The pork is made of Mường’s breeding pig which is quite small, about 4-5 kilograms. After being cleaned and seasoned, the whole pig will be grilled on the fire. The finished pork is rather mouthwatering with extremely crispy skin on the outside and the juicy, tender meat inside. The taste will be even more attempting if you drink some docynia indica wine while eating.

Thắng cố

This is one of the special dishes of Mông Ethnic with beef, pork, buffalo meat and horse meat cooked together. The unique thing about the dish is that there is a total of 27 kinds of spices mixed together to create such unforgettable taste. The dish is greasy and eaten with "forest vegetables" added in as extra flavor. Especially in the winter, it is such a heart warming moment when you gather with your friends and the locals in the wooden house, eating thắng cố and drinking some corn wine.

For Sapa’s Specialties, there are some places and restaurants that are recommended:

Sapa’s Grilled Skewered Food

Grilled skewered food in Sapa may be one the most special treats that all visitors wish to try at least once. Sapa’s Grill Food has made its own brand that cannot be mistaken with anywhere else. People usually say that if you come to Sapa but not having tasted the place’s grill food then you have just missed the most unique kind of food of Sapa’s cuisine. In Sapa, grilled food is served almost everywhere from the market to the church, even in small alleyways. Just a table, a few plastic chairs and a warming coal stove are enough to create a “Grill kiosk”.
Sapa offers a variety of grill dishes from potato, cassava to grilled egg, grilled balut and grilled pork stomach. Food in Sapa is not expensive but you should still ask for the price first.

Breakfast

Vietnamese people are used to eating Phở for breakfast. Although Phở is not a specialty of Sapa but you should try to see how its taste differs from that in other regions. There are also various dishes that you can choose for your breakfast in Sapa

Café

Almost all of backpacking tourists and foreign visitors like going to Sapa’s bars at night. If you visit Sapa in winter, it will be a fantastic idea to take a ride to one of Sapa’s bars or café to have some hot drinks.

Gem Valley Café
Gem Valley Café is very popular for the locals as well as foreign tourists. The café is out-standing for its spectacular view of the beautiful terraced rice fields.

Address: Cát Cát Village, Sapa, Lào Cai
Tel: (+84) 912 849 753
Opening hours: 9:00 am to 9:00 pm
Price: 20.000vnd – 30.000vnd