Private & tailor-made · 1–4 guests
Hoi An Countryside Food Tour: Phi Banh Mi, a Herb-Village Lunch and River Clams
Lunch the long way round: roast pork belly banh mi at Phi, a walk through the Tra Que herb beds for prawn-and-pork tam huu, then smashed rice crackers with baby clams across the river on Cam Nam. One of four private food tours, each built around a different famous banh mi shop, with no other dish repeated. Every dish and the village entry are paid before you travel.
A sample midday at a glance
What changes when midday is yours
A private car for your group alone
Private, 1-4 guests, and nobody outside your party is added to it. It stays with you the whole tour, because the stops are a few kilometers apart; inside the herb village you walk.
Your own licensed local guide
A Hoi An local, fluent in English, who knows the growers and the river kitchens and explains each dish — to your group alone, not twenty strangers
Collected at your own hotel
Anywhere in Hoi An, An Bang and Cua Dai included. No meeting point to find on your own in the midday heat
Every dish and entry fee prepaid
The village entry and everything on the menu are covered. Nothing is collected from you at any gate or stall
No shop stops, in writing
No detour to a craft workshop or showroom that pays to have you delivered
A menu rebuilt around you
Shellfish allergy, no pork, no chili, a child who wants plain rice: tell us and the guide rebuilds the menu before the day
Duration
About 4 hours
Departure
10:30 am pickup
Pickup
Any Hoi An hotel
from · $48 · / personCheck your price ›
Choose your group size · price is the total for the group
Solo traveller$115 BOOK →2 guests$140 BOOK →3 guests$165 BOOK →4 guests$190 BOOK →Free cancellation up to 3 days before · every tour tailored on request
Midday, stop by stop
This is a sample midday: add, skip or linger over any stop and we will adjust it. The car waits at every stop, so the pace is yours.
From your hotel · 10:30 am pickup · anywhere in Hoi An · the car stays with you all day
Phi Banh Mi
About 25 minutes · 88 Thai Phien
4 photos · tap to enlarge
Do Van Phi cooked at the Nam Hai resort before opening his own shop, and CNN singled out the thing that makes his loaf different: roast pork belly, from free-range pigs, sliced into the bread with pork roll, pâté, pickles and herbs.
It is a small shop a short way from the Old Town, and lunchtime is its busy hour, so there can be a wait of a few minutes. Your guide orders while you watch the belly being sliced, and explains why this loaf is built around one roast instead of a dozen fillings.
Drive · about 3 km · out to the vegetable fields
Tra Que herb village
About 60 minutes · on foot between the beds · village entry included
4 photos · tap to enlarge
Cars stop at the edge, so you walk the earth paths between raised beds of basil, mint and lettuce with one of the growers, who shows you the herbs that end up in every Hoi An bowl. The village was named one of UN Tourism’s Best Tourism Villages in 2024.
The dish here is tam huu, “three friends”: a prawn, a slice of pork and a sprig of herbs tied together with a spring-onion stem and dipped in sweet-sour fish sauce. To drink, nuoc e, a cool basil-seed drink.
Drive · back past town and over the river to Cam Nam · the bridge is about 200 m, and on some days you walk across it
Cam Nam island
About 50 minutes · seated by the river
1 photo · tap to enlarge
A village on the far bank, known for the tiny clams fished from the river. Banh dap means “smashed cake”: a crisp sesame rice cracker broken over a soft sheet of fresh rice paper, scooped up with clams stir-fried with herbs. Then che bap, a corn and coconut sweet soup; out of corn season the guide swaps in another sweet soup that is not on our other three menus.
Back at your hotel · around 14:30 · About 4 hours after pickup
One car, three kitchens, no rush
No stops we did not tell you about, nothing to pay at any gate, and any part of it can be changed.
Group total · everything on the menu included
Solo traveller$115 BOOK →2 guests$140 BOOK →3 guests$165 BOOK →4 guests$190 BOOK →Price is the total for the group · free cancellation up to 3 days before
WhatsApp · +84 368 938 081Want a different route, pace or group size? We will plan your day and send you an all-inclusive quote. ›What one price covers
Included
- Private car with driver throughout the tour, from and back to your Hoi An hotel
- Private local food guide (licensed), fluent in English
- One banh mi per guest at Phi Banh Mi, plus every dish and drink on the menu
- Bottled water throughout
- Tra Que village entry
Not included
− Extra food or drinks beyond the menu, paid at the stall if you want them
− Shopping, including anything sold in the village
− A tip for your guide and driver — never expected, always welcome
Is this the right tour for you?
A good fit if
You want to see the fields and the river around Hoi An, not only the Old Town.
You would rather ride than walk in the midday heat: the car is with you between every stop.
Lunch is your main meal of the day and you like herbs and river food.
You are travelling with children or older parents and want short walks with a seat waiting.
Look elsewhere if
You are one person on a tight budget.
You are strictly vegetarian. The pork-belly loaf and the clams are the point of this menu; the morning tour can be done fully meat-free.
You want the Old Town itself. This tour stays outside it; the afternoon tour walks the heritage streets.
You want a cooking class. Nobody cooks on this tour except the people who feed you.
For the heritage streets, the afternoon tour pairs the Banh Mi Queen with an assembly hall and cao lau; for a vegetarian day, the breakfast tour works from start to finish. Or tell us what you want to eat, and we will plan a midday around it.
Questions before you book
About the day
How long is the tour and when does it start?
It runs About 4 hours door to door, with a 10:30 am pickup from your hotel and drop-off at the same hotel. The car stays with you throughout, and the walking is mostly the paths of the herb village.
Where do you pick us up?
At your own hotel anywhere in Hoi An, An Bang and Cua Dai beaches included, at no extra cost and with no meeting point to reach on your own. We also collect from Da Nang, with a transfer surcharge shown at checkout; the drive takes 40 to 60 minutes, so pickup is earlier. Your guide waits in the lobby for 20 minutes.
What if Phi Banh Mi is closed or the queue is long?
Family-run shops close now and then, and some sell out on busy days. If Phi Banh Mi is closed or has run out that day, your guide switches to another famous shop on our list, such as La Banh Mi Sai Gon or Banh Mi Lanh, and tells you before the stop. Queues are usually 5 to 15 minutes, longer at peak times; your guide waits in line with you and orders in Vietnamese, but we do not jump queues or promise to skip them.
Can we taste the other famous shops?
Not on the same tour: one banh mi each is plenty alongside everything else on the menu. Each of our four tours stops at a different famous shop with its own taste: Banh Mi Phuong on the morning market tour (char siu and a house sauce, not spicy), Madam Khanh – The Banh Mi Queen on the afternoon heritage tour (rich pâté and egg, a little spicier) and All Day Banh Mi on the river evening tour (two fried eggs, pâté and cheese by the river). The four menus share no other dish, so you can join one a day and never eat the same thing twice.
Can we change the route or the pace?
Yes. This is a sample menu and every part of it can be adjusted: add a dish, skip one, or spend longer in the herb village. Tell us before you book and we confirm the plan and an all-inclusive price in writing.
Does the guide speak good English?
Yes. Your guide is a licensed Hoi An local who speaks fluent English, orders every dish in Vietnamese and explains how the herbs are grown and how each dish is eaten as you go.
Booking and practicalities
Is the price per person or for the whole group?
For the whole group, from one to four guests: the figure shown for two people is the total for both, so the cost per head falls as the group grows. Each guest gets one banh mi for the tour, and a group can share if appetites are small. Children under 5 travel free and do not count towards the group size; from 5 a child counts as one guest. For five or more, message us for a quote.
How do I pay, and when?
Two ways: pay the full price online by card, or pay a 30% deposit online and the rest in cash on the day of the tour, in US dollars or Vietnamese dong. We can also send a secure payment link on WhatsApp. The booking is confirmed once the online payment goes through, and your pickup time and guide’s name arrive in writing.
Can I cancel or reschedule?
Yes — free cancellation up to 3 days before departure for a full refund, and free rescheduling subject to availability. Within 3 days of departure, 30% of the tour price is charged because the car and guide are already committed.
Can this lunch be vegetarian, halal or allergy-safe?
Vegetarian: only partly. The guide rebuilds what can be rebuilt around herbs, egg and tofu, but the pork-belly banh mi and the clams are the heart of this menu. Muslim-friendly: the guide orders chicken, egg or vegetarian versions and asks each kitchen about lard and pork stock; we cannot promise a certified halal kitchen. Allergies: tam huu holds prawn and banh dap comes with clams, so a shellfish allergy means the guide swaps both for other dishes. Kitchens here share surfaces, so we cannot guarantee a dish free of every trace.
What should I bring, and do I need cash?
A hat, sun cream and shoes you do not mind getting dusty on the village paths. You need no cash at any gate or stall on the menu, since every dish and ticket is already paid; anything you order beyond the menu is paid at the stall, and if you chose to pay the balance in cash, bring it for your guide.
What happens if it rains?
Rain alone does not stop the tour: every food stop has covered seating. If the road to the villages floods, a storm is forecast or there is an official warning, you move the date free of charge; we only switch you to another of our tours if the guide confirms that route is dry, and if no date works we refund 100%. Che bap is seasonal; out of season another sweet soup takes its place.
Book the countryside lunch
Private car and licensed local guide, hotel pickup, every dish and entry already settled.
Group total · everything on the menu included
Solo traveller$115 BOOK →2 guests$140 BOOK →3 guests$165 BOOK →4 guests$190 BOOK →Price is the total for the group · free cancellation up to 3 days before
WhatsApp · +84 368 938 081Want a different route, pace or group size? We will plan your day and send you an all-inclusive quote. ›











