Halal food in Halong Bay
There are just few people follow Muslim in Vietnam, so Halal food is not popular even for big cities like Hanoi or Halong City. But, don’t worry! Vietnamese use many different ingredients to cook their meals so even if you cannot eat some kinds of meat, there are still other options to feast in.
Halal Restaurants in Halong Bay
There are a few Halal restaurants in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, but there’s not even one in Halong Bay. So if you stay on land, the solution is choosing a big restaurant, which has many different dishes in its menu. The chefs can cook for you many delicious foods made from beef, chicken and seafood. And our advice is focusing on seafood. There are many kinds of special seafood, which you cannot find in any other places in the world. Take your chance!
Also, Vietnamese usually uses just one kind of meat for one dish, but they do mix different types of meats for stuffing dishes with ground pork as the basic ingredient, so you better be alert with stuffing dishes such as Spring Roll, Stuffed Squid, Stuffed Crab or Meat Ball.
Tour/Cruise trip
If you book a sharing tour then probably not all tourists in the same trip are Muslim. Hence, double check with your tour company about the food, remind them about your special diet before decide to book. For Halong Bay tour for Muslim, you can google it and it leads you to these names: hanoimuslimtours.com, halalfoodinhanoi.com, or muslimtravelvietnam.com. But remember this one thing: even if they claim that Halal food will be bring from Hanoi to Halong Bay for you, it is not likely to be true. With a 4 hour-drive from Hanoi to Halong Bay, the food will go bad. And if your tour lasts for more than 1 day, even if the food can be eaten, it will be reserved in fridge and taste no good. THERE IS NO FRESHLY COOKED HALAL FOOD IN HALONG BAY, WHETHER YOU ARE ON LAND OR ON BOAT.
If you go with a cruise trip, then you can be assured. Cruises often serve international buffet for breakfast, so you will have many food options. For lunch and dinner, normally, fixed menu with beef and seafood are served. Aside from alcoholic drinks like beer or alcohol, water, soft drink and juice are also available for your choice.
And if you still want to enjoy the infamous dish of Vietnam – the Spring Roll?
Pork is often used in spring roll as mentioned above, but they can make special spring roll with crab meat. And Halong Bay is a sea area where you can found the freshest crab remember? The taste will be excellent, we promise so don’t miss this delicacy just because you cannot eat pork. Remind the crew beforehand so they will be happy to prepare an unique version of Spring Roll for you. One note, Spring Roll is usually the dish that will be demonstrated in cooking class activity (in the afternoon) of cruise trip so you might want to remind them right from noon..
Food can never be a barrier preventing you to come and enjoy this magnificent World Heritage!
