Da Lat city not only attracts tourists with its poetic beauty and super chill locations, ideal for vacations, but is also famous for its diverse cuisine, attracting many young people. A vibrant community of people from all over the country has contributed to its diverse and rich culinary culture. To make your choice easier, we've listed here the ten specialties you should try at least once when you visit this pleasant city with a temperate climate.

Sturgeon Hot Pot

Sturgeon hotpot is always on the list of delicious dishes in Da Lat that diners cannot miss when coming to the city of thousands of flowers. Not only delicious and attractive, this dish also has high nutritional value.

Sturgeon hotpot broth is cooked with ingredients including: satay, tamarind juice, Thai hotpot spices, chili... to achieve a sweet, sour, spicy taste, combined with sliced ​​sturgeon to make the hotpot delicious and well-rounded. Da Lat sturgeon hotpot is eaten with fresh vegetables grown from clean vegetable farms in the city of thousands of flowers such as: banana flowers, cabbage, kimchi mushrooms, shredded water spinach. In the cold weather of Da Lat, there is nothing more "warming" than sitting next to a pot of steaming sturgeon hotpot.

Grilled Corn And Sweet Potatoes

Grilled corn and grilled sweet potatoes are nighttime snacks in Da Lat that you cannot miss. Although it is a rustic and popular dish, it is extremely popular.

Grilled corn in Da Lat is fragrant, each grain is soft and smooth, grilled on a golden charcoal stove outside. And the soft sweet potatoes have a sweet taste. In the cold weather of the thousand hectares, there is nothing more interesting than sitting next to the charcoal stove, inhaling the aroma of grilled sweet potatoes and grilled corn.

Grilled Rice Paper (Bánh tráng nướng)

Grilled rice paper is one of the snacks that is loved by many young people and is likened to "Da Lat pizza" with full ingredients from dried shrimp, dried chicken, butter, sausage, scallion oil, ... grilled just right, when eaten, it will be dipped with chili sauce. The special thing about this dish is that it must be eaten hot to keep the delicious crispiness and heat of the cake.

As a rustic dish, not too sophisticated, Da Lat grilled rice paper still successfully leaves an impression on visitors with its unique flavor. Every evening in the cool weather of dreamy Da Lat, holding a hot, delicious grilled rice paper in your hand and enjoying each crispy piece of cake, there is nothing better.

Banh Mi With Shumai Soup (Bánh mì xíu mại)

Da Lat's banh mi with Shumai soup is not really a sophisticated dish, but it still makes people remember it forever if they have had the chance to enjoy it once. Unlike traditional banh mi filled with meat, sausage, butter, pate, pickled vegetables, cilantro, and Vietnamese coriander, Da Lat's banh mi with Shumai soup is a few plain bread served with a small bowl with two or three meatballs and a few slices of thinly sliced ​​pork skin.

To enjoy this dish properly, you will tear off each piece of the crispy bread, then dip it into the steaming meatball soup, add some meatballs and sausage leaves to make the flavor richer. The sweetness of the soup, the rich taste of the meatballs and sausage with the spicy taste of sliced ​​chili have brought an unforgettable and strangely harmonious flavor.

Chicken Hot Pot With É Leaves (Lẩu gà lá é)

In recent years, chicken hotpot with é leaves has become an indispensable dish of Da Lat. But few people know that this specialty originated from Phu Yen. É leaves are one of the typical vegetables in the South Central Coast and Central Highlands provinces, especially Phu Yen.

É leaves, along with basil and lemon balm, have a slightly sour and astringent taste when eaten raw. However, when dipped in hotpot water, they become rich and fragrant, similar to lemon balm and mint leaves. The perfect chicken hotpot with perilla leaves has a blend of the sweet taste of the broth, the crunchiness of the firm chicken, the aroma of mushrooms and especially the characteristic aroma of é leaves.

Da Lat Mini Pancakes (Bánh căn Đà Lạt)

Bánh căn is a specialty of Da Lat, you will find this type of cake wherever you go. This is one of the dishes that seems to be the “breath” of Da Lat. Because the climate here is cool nearly all year round, and cold in the winter months, it is great to sit in the middle of a hot stove, chat with the friendly owner, warm your hands by the fire in the early morning, and enjoy each batch of hot, crispy cakes fresh from the oven.

Bánh căn is made from delicious rice flour, a little seasoning like salt for flavor, then poured into small round molds and baked on a charcoal stove. The filling inside the banh can usually includes ingredients like shrimp, minced meat, minced beef, squid or raw vegetables. A crispy banh can just out of the oven is eaten with a bowl of fish sauce along with a little shredded green mango, hot broth, sweet taste simmered with bones. The light pink meatballs are simmered for many hours, when bitten, you will not feel the dryness due to lean meat but on the contrary, you will feel a little fatty due to the fat mixed in, making anyone who eats this dish praise it as delicious. 

Xắp Xắp

Xắp xắp is the popular name that street vendors call it by the way they arrange the ingredients and spices on the plate. This is a snack you should try once when coming to this mountain town.

Xắp xắp is made from young papayas shredded into small, long fibers. After shredding the papaya, it must be soaked in salt water to soften it, then scooped out to dry and then prepared for processing.

A plate of xắp xắp is not large, just enough for about 1-2 people. Shredded papaya prepared in advance is put on the plate first, then put the meat on top. It can be beef jerky, beef liver cooked with five spices to a golden brown color, pork liver braised with five spices. Then, slice the cinnamon and sprinkle it on top, add a little crushed roasted peanuts that are not too fine, chili, herbs, then pour the sweet and sour broth.

When enjoying xắp xắp, you will feel the sweet crunch of papaya, the sourness of tamarind in the broth, the fatty and chewy taste of the meat, the spiciness of chili and the aroma of spices, vegetables and peanuts.

Sticky Rice In bamboo With Grilled Chicken

Grilled chicken with sticky rice in bamboo is a must-try dish when traveling to the foggy city of Da Lat. It is not difficult to find a restaurant serving this dish with delicious flavor and reasonable price.

The rice is cooked in bamboo tubes so you will smell the characteristic aroma. The rice itself is sticky but not mushy, fragrant and rich in flavor.

Eating sticky rice in bamboo in Da Lat is incomplete without a tray of golden grilled chicken. The chicken here is local chicken, so it is fatter and has better texture. Marinated with special spices and grilled over hot coals, the chicken is crispy on the outside and sweet on the inside, creating an attractive duo.

Hot Soy Milk

Hot soy milk in Da Lat is a popular specialty here. Therefore, you can easily buy it anywhere, from the night market to famous coffee shops.

Like in many other places, Da Lat soy milk is also processed very simply. Soybeans will be soaked, ground, then filtered. The milk is then boiled, creating not only a cheap but also very nutritious drink, providing abundant energy for people. Some even claimed that the fatty, sweet flavor of soy milk dispels all the cold that exists around them. 

Avocado Ice Cream

Having finished the main dishes in Da Lat without trying avocado ice cream - a specialty dessert of Da Lat - is a waste of your life. Da Lat avocado ice cream is attractive first of all thanks to its fresh ingredients. The avocado used to make ice cream is always waxy, fresh and ripe. Thanks to that, when eating, visitors will find the avocado very smooth, fragrant and also feel the freshness in it. Da Lat avocado ice cream is made according to a special recipe, moderately sweet but not too boring. The combination of rich avocado and cold ice cream creates a wonderful delicacy.

Closing Remarks

Exploring Da Lat through its cuisine is to taste the highlands themselves. These top 10 must‑eat specialties in Da Lat—from sizzling pancakes to steaming hot pots—reflect the city’s character, history, and climate. Each bite is a discovery of local ingredients, communal spirit, and creative simplicity.

Pair your food journey with visits to flower farms, mist‑clad hills, and colonial cafés. You’ll find that Da Lat’s flavors linger long after your visit.

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