Mornings in Da Lat are quite cold and the fog lingers just enough to create a dreamy landscape. Believe it or not, this climate has created a distinct morning food culture. A hot breakfast to counter the cold weather as you enjoy Da Lat’s rolling hills and slow pace will surely make you a morning person and maybe even a lifelong Da Lat local.

When I was around ten years old, I came to Da Lat with my grandpa for a month. At that time, my grandpa was raising two horses to sell after they grew up. Every morning I asked my grandpa to let me ride the horse to the city center for breakfast. I will never forget these breakfasts with my grandpa. Da Lat’s cold mornings are perfect for a warm breakfast with your family and friends. Let me recommend a few foods that remind me of this precious time and places to start your day.

Bánh Căn in Da Lat (mini pancake)

Having originated from the south-central coast of Vietnam, banh can is a very popular dish in Da Lat. When it immigrated to Da Lat, banh can went through a small transformation. These changes have made banh can of Da Lat even more delicious and therefore favored by many people. It’s a kind of grilled rice flour cooked in a special oven made of earthenware.

Banh can is served with chicken egg, quail egg, minced beef, squid, or shrimp. The dipping sauce plays a vital role; you have to immerse the cake completely in the sauce before eating. The sauce is made of diluted fish sauce and fried chopped green onion and meatballs. The Vietnamese usually eat banh can for breakfast since it’s easy to eat and can provide enough energy for a morning.

Authentic places to eat banh can for breakfast:

Banh Can Xiu Mai Cay Bo

Address: 56 Tang Bat Ho Street, Ward 1

Hours: 6 AM – 11:30 AM

Contact: (+84) 975 289 709

Price: 20,000 VND – 30,000 VND

Banh Can Binh Dan

Address: opposite 62 Phan Dinh Phung Street

Hours: 7 AM – 11 PM

Contact: (+84) 98 736 74 85

Price: 20,000 VND – 30,000 VND

Banh can Le

Address: 27/44 Yersin Street, Ward 10

Hours: 8 AM – 12 AM

Contact: (+84) 933 189 596

Price: 15,000 VND – 30,000 VND

Banh Can Xuan An

Address: 1 Nha Chung Street

Hours: 9 AM – 8 PM

Contact: (+84) 02633 827 690

Price: 15,000 VND- 30,000 VND

Bánh Mì Xíu Mại Dalat (bread with meatballs)

Banh Mi Xiu Mai Da Lat is not like a normal Vietnamese sandwich, stuffed with meat and sausage. It’s eaten by dipping a piece of bread into a bowl of meatball soup. This soup is mixed with shallots, onions, and garlic, so it’s fragrant, stimulating your sense of taste right away. In addition, this soup also has pork skin, Vietnamese meat sausage, and chopped green onion.

Tear a small piece of bread, dip it into the soup, wait until the bread is saturated with flavor, and take a small bite of meatball. You will taste the sweetness of the meat, the good smell of the flavors, and the hot bread and soup may warm you up in the cold morning of Da Lat.

Authentic places to eat banh mi xiu mai for breakfast:

Banh mi xiu mai in Yersin Street

Address: 10 Yersin Street

Hours: 7 AM – 6 PM

Contact: (+84) 02633 828 459

Price: 10,000 VND – 15,000 VND

Banh Mi Xiu Mai in Nguyen Cong Tru Street

Address: 137 Nguyen Cong Tru Street

Hours: 6 AM – 10 AM and 2 PM – 9 PM

Contact: (+84) 941 403 765

Price: 15,000 VND – 25,000 VND

Banh Mi Xiu Mai – Ha

Address: 157, 3 Thang 2 Street

Hours: 6 AM – 12 PM

Contact: (+84) 1659 439 397

Price: 15,000 VND – 35,000 VND

Bún Thố of Da Lat (noodles in a big earthenware bowl)

With low temperatures all year round, it’s always a bit cold in Da Lat; therefore, bun tho was invented to combat this cold that the citizens face every day. As its name suggests, noodles and soup cook in a big earthenware bowl to retain the hot temperature. The ingredients of this food are not really special: fish, shrimp, meat, and noodles. The soup is made from bone broth and coconut water, bringing you a taste of natural sweetness

What makes this dish distinct is that it is served still boiling. You’d better not touch the bowl because it’s extremely hot and can injure you. The white smoke evaporates and carries with it a wonderful smell, warming you up right away!

Authentic places to eat bun tho for breakfast:

Café Memory Acoustic Da Lat (you can also have a drink here after breakfast)

Address: 24/7 Hung Vuong Street

Hours: 7 AM – 10 PM

Contact: (+84) 91 687 13 06

Price: 20,000 VND – 100,000 VND (including food and drink)

Phuot Da Lat Café (you can drink here as well)

Address: 45 Pham Ngu Lao Street

Hours: 7 AM – 10 PM

Contact: (+84) 916 871 306

Price: 20,000 VND – 40,000 VND

Bún Bò Huế in Da Lat (noodles with beef soup)

Bun bo Hue literally means noodles with beef soup of Hue City, a city in central Vietnam. The noodles in this food are actually rice vermicelli and the soup is made of lemongrass, garlic, shallots, ginger, and chili paste. The main meat you will eat in bun bo Hue is beef but sometimes you will see pork. Bun bo Hue can be found all over Vietnam, but it is said that bun bo Hue in Da Lat has a special characteristic: the cold climate requires you to finish the hot dish fast before it cools down!

Authentic places to eat bun bo Hue for breakfast:

Bun Bo Thien Trang

Address: 2 Ho Tung Mau Street

Hours: 6 AM – 10 PM

Contact: (+84) 0263 3812 626

Price: 30,000 VND – 60,000 VND

Bun Bo Hue Cong

Address: 1/1B Phu Dong Thien Vuong Street

Hours: 6 AM – 9 PM

Contact: (+84) 0263 3552 569

Price: 30,000 VND – 50,000 VND

Bun Bo Hue Vy Vy

Address: 202 Phan Dinh Phung Street

Hours: 6 AM – 12:30 AM

Contact: (+84) 978 511 882

Price: 35,000 VND – 45,000 VND

Bun Bo Ut Van

Address: 36A Ap Anh Sang Street

Hours: 7 AM – 5 PM

Price: 30,000 VND – 50,000 VND

Bun Bo Xuan An

Address: 15A Nha Chung Street

Hours: 7 AM – 10 PM

Price: 30,000 VND – 40,000 VND

Phở in Da Lat (rice noodles with beef soup)

Pho is a symbol of the culinary culture in Vietnam. You can even eat pho in many restaurants all around the world! This food may seem a simple dish in which rice noodles and beef broth are the only ingredients, but it mixes elite Vietnamese food with history! Like bun bo Hue, eating pho in Da Lat is a different experience compared to other places due to the cold weather here. Usually, people come to Da Lat to enjoy the cold weather of the city, but it’s more fantastic when you eat something hot and delicious when you feel cold, especially the cold of the morning, when everything is still covered by the fog!

Authentic places to eat pho for breakfast:

Pho Hieu

Address: 23 Tang Bat Ho Street

Hours: 7 AM – 10 PM

Contact: (+84) 0263 3830 580

Price: 20,000 VND – 50,000 VND

Pho Thung

Address: 2/8 Nguyen Van Cu Street

Hours: 8 AM – 10 PM

Price: 30,000 VND – 50,000 VND

Pho Bang

Address: 18 Nguyen Van Troi Street

Hours: 7 AM – 9 PM

Contact: (+84) 0263 3828 396

Price: 35,000 VND

Pho Thanh

Address: 12 Hoang Van Thu Street

Hours: 6 AM – 12 PM

Contact: (+84) 937 568 203

Price: 30,000 VND – 55,000 VND

Bánh Ướt Lòng Gà (steamed thin rice cake with chicken tripe)

Banh uot long ga is one more specialty of this highland city. Banh uot literally means wet cake, a kind of steamed thin rice cake; long ga is chicken tripe. Normally, people eat banh uot with cha lua (Vietnamese pork sausage), shrimp powder, or mung bean paste. However, in Da Lat banh uot is eaten with long ga and chicken meat. This food is usually served in a big bowl or a deep plate of banh uot, then long ga, chicken meat, cilantro, and pepper. You will eat this food with a small bowl of diluted fish sauce. The texture of soft and hot banh uot combined with the fat of long ga and the sweetness of chicken harmonizes with the slight saltiness of the fish sauce: a truly unique experience when eating this food.

Authentic places to eat banh uot long ga for breakfast:

Banh Uot Long Ga Hang

Address: 68 Phan Dinh Phung Street

Hours: 7 AM – 9 PM

Contact: (+84) 932 968 141

Price: 20,000 VND – 60,000 VND

Banh Uot Long Ga Chip Chip

Address: 28 Tang Bat Ho Street

Hours: 6 AM – 7 PM

Contact: (+84) 906 063 771

Price: 30,000 VND

Banh Uot Long Ga TrangDaLat

Address: 17 Tang Bat Ho Street

Hours: 7 AM – 6 PM

Price: 25,000 VND – 35,000 VND

Breakfast Restaurants

If this food list looks a little daunting, or maybe you can’t choose between some of these delicious foods, just slowly wake up and head to a trusted café. You may want to simply sit down in a nice atmosphere to peruse a menu of many options, including some Western dishes before you start a day of exploring. Here are my suggestions:

An Café for Fresh Breakfast

One of my friends suggested this coffee shop in the city center. It offers a lot of familiar food like banh mi, bun bo, and spring rolls. There are also delicious drinks like the typical coffee, fruit smoothies (avocado, strawberry, mango, etc.), tea, and juice. Do you know why this café is special though? In every corner of the shop are little vegetable gardens, you can pick the veges and eat whatever you want! All of these fresh vegetables were bought by the owner from local farms and then replanted in pots. It doesn’t stop here. An Café also has a beautiful atmosphere and arrangement. Having your breakfast in such a beautiful place and enjoying fresh vegetables will be a great beginning to your day!

MORE INFORMATION

Address: 63 Bis 3 Thang 2 Street

Hours: 6 AM – 10 PM

Contact: (+84) 975 735 521

Price: 30,000 VND – 50,000 VND

Émai dalat Restaurant for Western Food in Da Lat

This delicious Italian restaurant is located in Da Lat City, and if you have been eating too much Vietnamese food, it’s not a bad choice to turn to Western food for breakfast. “Treat yourself to the sublime” is the slogan of émai dalat Restaurant. You can find delicious Italian food made of fresh ingredients in Da Lat like soups, pizzas, bread, and salad. émai da lat is also a café and homestay, so consider spending your days in Da Lat in an Italian home enjoying their food and drinks.

MORE INFORMATION 

Address: 1 Thi Sach Street

Hours: 7 AM – 11 PM

Contact: (+84) 02633 839 001, or their website

Price: 50,000 VND – 100,000 VND

Anna’s Coffee House

Once you climb up the hill that leads to the cable car station, you will meet Anna’s Coffee House. From the moment you step through its door until you leave, you will feel the tranquility that makes this place so loved. It’s quiet and simple layout, highlighted by shelves full of books, is the perfect place to enjoy a little breakfast. Anna’s serves excellent food for all meals during the day, including brunch. Mexican dishes such as beef burrito, chicken tacos, and vegetarian quesadillas make Anna’s brand. Make a short trek to the hill on a fresh morning, and a tasty and peaceful breakfast will be waiting for you at Anna’s Coffee House.

Address: 9B Dong Da street, Ward 3, Da Lat city

Hours: 7:30 AM – 5 PM

Contact: Facebook fanpage

Price: 20,000 – 50,000 VND

We all need to provide our bodies with enough energy for a day discovering Da Lat City, so a tasty breakfast will give you a good start.

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