If you are concerned about What to buy and Where to buy good quality gifts or souvenirs that typically represent the vibrance of Hanoi, the list below would help you, and point you in the direction of places to go. There are many options for gifts that you can consider, such as food, clothes, accessories, and handicrafts…

Food

Ô mai (Sugared or Salted Dried Fruits)

Being famous for their fragrance and reasonable price, Ô mai is one of Hanoi’s best sellers and unique specialties for travellers. Moreover, this snack is dried packaging, so it is easy to carry on the plane. Among many different types and flavored of ô mai for you to choose such as green dracontomelon o mai, apricot o mai, kumquat o mai…, dracontomelon sugared with ginger is the most unique one for its sweet and sour taste blended perfectly with a little spiciness of ginger. It will definitely satisfy everyone, even the picky eaters.

Where to buy: You can purchase traditional sugared or salted fruits at Hong Lam o mai chain stores, or in the Old Quarter on Hang Duong Street, Hang Da Street (Van Loi Shop), at the beginning of Ly Quoc Su Street.

Cốm (Green rice flakes)

When it comes to the autumn of Hanoi, we could not forget green rice flakes wrapped in fragrant lotus leaves, which is a truly Hanoi gift in this season. Furthermore, eating those green rice flakes with ripe bananas will taste like heaven. If you visit Hanoi in the off-season this specialty, you can choose green rice flake based products, such as stir-fried green rice flakes, green rice cakes, etc.

The best place to buy lip-smacking fried green rice flakes is Qùa Quê shop on Dinh Liet street, which is near Sword Lake. This street is near the intersection with Hang Bac Street and there is a famous snail shop right away. Rice flakes fried with coconut here are sold only for a thousand VND per delicious small piece. And if you want to buy in bulk, you should order in advance.

To buy the best green rice cakes you can go to the end of Hang Than Street, near the junction with Yen Phu Street. There you can find many famous delicious green rice cake shops. However, please check the production and the expiration date of the product before purchasing, since rice cakes have a short shelf life, especially in the tropical climate in Vietnam.

Where to buy:

• Nguyen Ninh store, 11 Hang Than Street. (for rice cakes)
• Vong Village, Cau Giay, Hanoi. (for fresh green rice flakes)
• Qua Que store near Sword Lake (for fried rice flakes)

Lotus Tea

Lotus tea is an unmissable Hanoian gift that seems to be the most luxurious but also the pickiest product for users. The most famous one is still West Lake lotus tea, which is remembered for its sophisticated production process. The locals will use Thai Nguyen type 1, the most renowned one to produce this tea, marinating tea leaves with lotus rice many times to absorb the characteristic flavor. More important, it is lotus in Westlake but nowhere else used to create the right fragrance. Thanks to this rigorous production, brewed tea will have a characteristic-rich flavor that spreads in the mouth.

Souvenirs

Handicrafts

You can choose to purchase art designed crafts as a memento while visiting Hanoi at stores along Ly Quoc Su, Hang Gai, Hang Bong, Nha Tho, Van Mieu Street… For its delicate and ornate, the price of handicrafts is normally higher than traditional souvenirs.

Ceramics

To buy quality pottery products to take back home for your relatives, you can visit Bat Trang pottery village. Here you can get the ceramic for a song, because the price starts from a few tens of thousands of VND. More interestingly, you can learn and make your own unique ceramic products, get the artisans burn it for you to bring home at a reasonable price.

Where to buy handicraft in Hanoi:

• Craft Link – 43 Van Mieu Street – Tel: 0243 7710.
• Craft Window – 99 Nguyen Thai Hoc – Tel: 733 5286.
• Hoa Sữa – 63A Tràng Thi – Tel: 934 2792.
• Lacasa – 12 Nha Tho – Tel: 828 9616.
• Love Planet – 25 Hang Bac – Tel: 828 4864.
• Mosaique – 22 Nha Tho – Tel: 928 6181.
• Tân Mỹ Silk – 66 Hang Gai – Tel: 825 1579.
• Tuyết Lan – 10 Ly Quoc Su – Tel: 828 9835.
• Tre Việt Decor – 125B Lo Duc – Tel: 971 4298.
• Tranh thêu lụa XQ Hà Nội – 88 Pho Hue Street – Tel: 943 6786.

Clothes, jewelry and accessories

Silver jewelry

You can buy products made of Vietnamese or Thai silver, which has a stylish modern design and especially suits the young. To get them, you can go to shops on Hang Bac Street or a quite famous store on Quan Su Street (near the intersection with Trang Thi Street).

Silk, designer clothes

Silk is a gem that attracts tourists by its vibrant colors and variety of texture such as raw, hard or soft ones. You can visit Van Phuc silk Village, which is about 10 km from the center of Hanoi to acquire some silk products. Van Phuc silk is characterized by cool, thin, soft, and less wrinkled fiber like ordinary silk.

In addition, you can obtain these products as well as ao dai, hats, clothes, scarves, bags, etc. along Hang Gai Street and Nha Tho Street.

Locations to buy silk in Hanoi that you can refer to:

• Co – 18 Nha Tho – Tel: 828 9925.
• Ha Dong Silk – 102 Hang Gai – Tel: 828 5056.
• Khai Silk – 121 Nguyen Thai Hoc – Tel: 747 0583.
• Kana – 41 Hang Trong – Tel: 928 6208.
• Kenly Silk – 108 Hang Gai – Tel: 826 7236.
• Sông Hà Nội – 5-7 Nhà Tho – Tel: 828 6965.
• Cửa hàng túi xách tay Ipa-Nima – 59G Hai Ba Trung – Tel: 942 1872.
• Cat Walk – 39 Van Mieu – Tel: 747 0271.
• Kid’s Fashion – 45 Quang Trung – Tel: 822 9226.

We hope the above bits of advice can help you deal with the problem “What to Buy and Where to Shop to find budget and quality souvenirs in Hanoi?” and also can be useful for you in choosing the most exciting and satisfying gifts.