Building a culinary street in Hanoi's Old Quarter

Hoan Kiem District is promoting the construction of a culinary street in the level I conservation area of ​​Hanoi's Old Quarter, including Hang Buom - Ma May - Hang Giay - Luong Ngoc Quyen - Ta Hien - Dao Duy Tu.

The culinary streets will be located in the expanded walking space serving tourists and Hanoi residents to visit and experience Hanoi's Old Quarter, and explore the cultural and culinary values ​​of the ancient capital.

Illustration photo.

To effectively implement the project, Dong Xuan Joint Stock Company, the project implementation unit, is actively mobilizing households to sell traditional Hanoi dishes such as: Bun thang, Bun oc, Pho, Pho cuon, Thanh Tri rice rolls, Ho Tay shrimp cakes, traditional sweet soups, etc., while organizing and arranging shops and stalls to ensure aesthetics, environmental hygiene, and food safety. In particular, the situation of restaurants cooking in the middle of the street will be strictly prohibited. After implementation, the unit will work with functional agencies to regularly inspect food hygiene. In particular, the company also organizes many training courses to improve the skills of sellers, avoiding cases of soliciting and "ripping off" tourists. Dong Xuan Joint Stock Company also develops a plan for the location of checkpoints, arranges static traffic points, security and order, environmental hygiene, etc.

Through a survey of street-front houses opening shops on Hang Buom- Hang Giay- Luong Ngoc Quyen- Ma May- Ta Hien streets, out of a total of 159 shops, 47 are food and beverage shops, accounting for 30%. On the sidewalks of these streets, there are 50 people selling at night. The formation of spontaneous restaurants on the above streets with a variety of food and beverage products has partly met the needs of tourists, especially foreign tourists.

However, due to lack of planning, food and beverage stalls are arranged haphazardly, soliciting customers, food safety and environmental hygiene are not guaranteed... Therefore, planning the food court in a civilized and polite direction on the basis of preserving the traditional culinary culture of the old quarter is necessary. The company has also held many meetings to discuss and survey the opinions of people in the area of ​​the expanded walking street and nearly 100% of households support the restoration and promotion of traditional culinary values ​​to serve tourists.

After visiting and shopping at Hang Dao - Dong Xuan walking street or tourists visiting and staying in Hanoi's Old Quarter, they can enjoy traditional dishes on the extended streets. Mr. Do Xuan Thuy - General Director of Dong Xuan Joint Stock Company said that the characteristics of these neighborhoods are many famous specialties of Hanoi, bearing the imprint of Vietnamese and Chinese people. Those dishes show the delicate talent of Hanoi people, becoming famous brands of the neighborhoods and leaving good impressions on domestic and foreign friends. This place also preserves works built in the 18th-19th centuries with ancient architectural appearance, creating a unique architectural complex, notably historical relics such as Bach Ma temple, Quan De communal house, 87 Ma May ancient house, Huong Tuong temple... All will create a unique identity for the extended walking space.

Previously, many people were also concerned about the construction of a food street in a level I conservation area due to the failure of the Tong Duy Tan food street. However, the Tong Duy Tan area did not attract visitors because it was separate from the Old Quarter and lacked traditional cultural spaces of Hanoi. Meanwhile, most international tourists when coming to Hanoi enjoy exploring the vibrant and bustling life in the Old Quarter.

According to Mr. Mai Tien Dung, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism: “The expanded walking space in the Old Quarter really needs to be connected with Tong Duy Tan food street or exploit the cuisine on some streets with many famous dishes such as Hang Buom, Ta Hien, Dao Duy Tu... to serve tourists who want to eat and rest after visiting and shopping here. The harmonious combination of walking space, shopping with cuisine is necessary, the problem is how to organize it in a synchronous and attractive way”.

According to (QĐND) - LC