Nha Trang's food is built on its fishing fleet. The dishes to look for are bun cha ca, fish-cake noodle soup; bun sua, the same soup with jellyfish; banh can, crisp mini rice pancakes; and nem nuong Ninh Hoa, grilled pork rolled in rice paper with herbs. Seafood, from squid to lobster farmed around Cam Ranh, is sold by weight, and the one rule that matters is to order only where prices are posted.
Nha Trang is Vietnam's biggest beach city, and since the 2025 reforms it is the capital of Khanh Hoa province, which absorbed Ninh Thuan. Its restaurant scene has changed with its visitors: South Korea is now its biggest source market, with over a million arrivals from January to May 2025, and the Russian quarter around Hung Vuong, Nguyen Thien Thuat and Biet Thu streets is full of menus in Russian.
What to eat in Nha Trang
| Dish | What it is | Typical price (2025-26) |
|---|---|---|
| Bun cha ca | Rice noodles with springy fish cakes in a light, sweet fish-bone broth | 40,000-60,000 VND |
| Bun sua | The same soup with crunchy jellyfish | Similar to bun cha ca |
| Banh can | Small rice pancakes baked in clay moulds, with egg, shrimp or squid, dipped in fish sauce | About 30,000 VND a serving |
| Nem nuong Ninh Hoa | Grilled seasoned pork, rolled in rice paper with greens and a thick dipping sauce | Varies |
| Banh xeo muc | Small pancakes with whole baby squid and shrimp | From a few thousand dong a piece |
| Banh canh cha ca | Thick tapioca noodles with fried fish cake, quail eggs and fish roe | About 30,000 VND |
Bun cha ca is the city's breakfast. VnExpress recommends Nguyen Loan at 123 Ngo Gia Tu, where a bowl with fresh fish, fish cake and jellyfish costs about 40,000 to 60,000 VND, and the stalls around Dam Market. Banh can comes from charcoal-heated clay moulds; VnExpress picks include Banh can 134 on Tran Quy Cap street, at about 30,000 VND a serving.
Nem nuong comes from Ninh Hoa, north of the city: finely ground pork with garlic, pepper and fish sauce, grilled and rolled at the table with rice paper, crisp fried rice paper, herbs and a sauce of glutinous rice, soybeans and pork. It has been certified as an Asian culinary record, and VnExpress recommends Dang Van Quyen at 16A Lan Ong. For something grilled and sweet, bo nuong Lac Canh, honey-marinated beef grilled at the table since 1963 on Nguyen Binh Khiem street, costs from about 100,000 VND a dish.
Seafood and lobster
Seafood is sold by weight at restaurants across the city, and at beachfront restaurants dishes run from about 150,000 to 1,000,000 VND. Locals head to the seafood areas near Tran Phu Bridge, around Thap Ba street, which VnExpress describes as a food paradise of about 50 stalls, and the snail restaurants of Bo Ke.
Lobster is farmed in the bays around Cam Ranh, south of the city. In February 2025, farmers were getting about 680,000 VND a kilo for green lobster and 1 to 1.1 million VND for ornate spiny lobster, so restaurant prices are higher. Binh Ba, the island often sold as a lobster day trip, is closed to tourists: it lies inside the security zone of the Cam Ranh military base, and on 4 June 2026, as Tuoi Tre reported, Khanh Hoa told travel firms not to organise or promote tours there.
How to avoid overcharging
Nha Trang has had a string of overcharging cases, and they share one feature: the restaurant did not display its prices.
- In February 2025, a restaurant billed a group of 15 Chinese tourists more than 20 million VND over Tet, including a Tet surcharge; it was fined 96.5 million VND and ordered to refund part of the bill.
- In May 2025, a floating raft restaurant in the bay charged 1.75 million VND for a half-kilo boxfish.
- In June 2026, another raft restaurant charged a family 2.9 million VND a kilo for boxfish, and inspectors found it had no posted prices.
The rules are simple: order where prices are posted, ask the price per kilo before choosing, watch the weighing, agree the cooking price, and check the bill. Be especially careful at floating restaurants in the bay. Our hidden costs and scams guide covers the wider picture.
The markets
Dam Market. The round, three-tiered market building from the early 1970s is Nha Trang's best-known landmark market, but its future is unresolved: it was ordered closed in 2021, rated structurally dangerous in 2022 and proposed for heritage protection in 2024, and in 2025 provincial inspectors found that the neighbouring redevelopment project had been licensed illegally. Food stalls in the surrounding streets still trade, and VnExpress recommends the jellyfish and fish-cake noodle stalls on Ly Quoc Su street, open from about 5:00 to 17:00.
Xom Moi market, at 49 Ngo Gia Tu, is the city's second-largest market, open from about 6:00 to 17:00, with fresh and dried seafood, fish cakes and street food. Bargain for dried goods.
Night markets. The pedestrian-street night market near the beachfront had 115 stalls in January 2026, mostly clothes, souvenirs and handicrafts. A second night market by Tran Phu Bridge, with food carts, opened as a pilot in 2024; check locally whether it is still running.
What to take home
Bird's nest, harvested from swiftlet colonies on the islands, is Nha Trang's classic gift. A 2025 guide put pure nests at from about 3 million VND per 100 g, and bottled bird's-nest drinks at under 100,000 VND; buy from reputable shops, as fakes are common. Dried squid, at about 500,000 to 700,000 VND a kilo, and dried fish from Xom Moi market are cheaper.
Planning your eating
For a full stay, our 3 days in Nha Trang itinerary builds in breakfast noodles and a seafood evening, and our where to stay in Nha Trang guide explains the Western Quarter behind the beach, where most restaurants are. For prices elsewhere, see our street food prices guide.
Limitations
Prices come from VnExpress recommendations in 2025 and other 2025-26 sources and vary by shop and season; we found no reliable price for bun sua or nem nuong on its own. Dam Market's status and the Tran Phu Bridge night market could change. The restaurants named are VnExpress recommendations, not our own reviews.
Workaround: ask the price before ordering anything sold by weight, check the current market situation with your hotel, and eat breakfast at busy local shops.