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Da Nang – City of Ocean and Home of Fishermen
Da Nang makes its home on a long coastline, around 74 kilometers in length, with many wild islands and a remarkable peninsula to the north of the city. With all this coastline, Da Nang has a variety of fresh seafood all year round ripe for the picking!
Since the city is surrounded by sea, many local people become a fisherman, cruising on their boats upon the ocean as the sun sets. The ocean is very important to local people because it provides them with a way to earn a living and gives them the ability to take care of their family.
Fishing can take anywhere from one day to half a month, depending on which kind of seafood you want to catch. The fishermen use light to attract fish at night. That’s why if you look out to the ocean at night, you’ll see big spotlights attached to the front of fishing boats as they attract the fish to catch. Even if you put the net in the water for a short time, you can catch a huge amount of fish. All the fish are kept on ice after they’re caught. Once the fishermen are happy, they come back to their family onshore, often in the early morning for the fish market.
Read more: Da Nang Travel Guide: Experience Da Nang and beyond!
Due to the importance of the ocean, local people worship Lady Buddha who sits atop the peninsula with the Linh Ung Pagoda. This statue is the highest Lady Buddha statue in Vietnam (67 meters high). She stands against the mountain, face to the ocean, one hand sprinkles holy water, which brings peace and safety to the fishermen for a long time. She stands almost as a guiding light, or a lighthouse as they set out to sea.
Thanks to these fishermen, a variety of seafood is available on land. Both local people and guests from afar can enjoy these fresh seafoods in many different ways with many different flavors. The list below includes famous seafood and seafood markets in Da Nang. Happy eating!
How to Eat Seafood in Vietnam
Before introducing the best seafood in Da Nang, I want to show you how seafood is usually presented in Vietnamese restaurants. When you walk into a local restaurant, many large bins of colorful fish and sea creatures may catch your eye at first. These bins are not just for decoration! All the ocean dwellers swimming inside the bins will become your dishes later. After you sit down at your table, walk over to the tanks of fish. Somebody there will take your order as you point to which fish you want. There is usually a board on the wall with the day’s catch and prices, make sure you’re getting what you want. Sometimes communication gets lost in translation, and you may end up with a more expensive bill than you expected. The person who took your order will then pull out your pick and weigh it, thereafter sending it to the kitchen or out front to the grills. Each restaurant typically has their own way of preparing their food. Sometimes it’s just with fish sauce, green onions, and peanuts. Other times they have a more elaborate preparation. Be sure to specify how you want your food cooked before you sit back down. Don’t forget to have at least one fish prepared in a hotpot! This is typically not an extra charge and parts of the fish like the head, which is often discarded, is then made into a delicious soup!
Read more: Getting around in Da Nang
Please be aware that some dishonest owners will switch your selected seafood to bad quality seafood in the back of the restaurant. This circumstance is quite rare, but you should still be aware in case it happens. As usual, the places with lots of people are typically good establishments! So do judge a book by its cover (especially the seafood).
Best Seafood in Da Nang
Nam O salad with fish – Goi ca Nam O
Goi ca Nam O is a special type of salad made with fish in Nam O district. Nam O is a fishing village where fresh fish first touch land after their long journey over the ocean. Local people will prepare the fish immediately, so eating this food in Nam O District is the most delicious. Sardine (ca trich) is the best fish to eat with this salad. You must gut and clean the fish, press the fish to dry, and season it with spices and Nam O fish sauce. Goi ca Nam O is best when enjoyed with many kinds of herbs and vegetables (lettuce, young banana, cucumber, basil leaves, fish mint, etc). Then roll all of the ingredients into rice paper, dip into the fish sauce, and enjoy the remarkable taste!
Try some of these famous restaurants in Nam O District:
Cay Khe Restaurant
Address: 44 Le Thanh Nghi street, Hai Chau district, Da Nang
Opening Hours: 10 AM – 9 PM
Price: 45,000 – 90,000 VND
Binh Da Restaurant
Address: Nguyen Tat Thanh street, near the fork of Nam O and Nguyen Tat Thanh street
Price: 60,000 VND for one bowl of Goi ca Nam O
Grilled stingray – Ca duoi nuong
Fresh ray caught from the ocean is gutted and cleaned, and seasoned with spring onion, onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, chili, and salt. The cook cuts a few shallow grooves into the body of the ray so it better absorbs the seasoning. After 15 minutes of marinating, the ray is grilled with betel leaf to increase the taste. Peanut, fried spring onion, and herbs are sprinkled on the top of the grilled ray. This food is served with rice paper, herbs, vegetables, and fermented fish sauce.
Check out these restaurants if this sounds delicious:
Hoa Map Restaurant
Address: September 2nd Square, Hai Chau District, Da Nang
Opening hours: 3 PM – 11 PM.
Price: 80,000 – 120,000 VND, depends on the size of the ray
Phuong Restaurant
Address: 30/4 street, Hoa Cuong Bac Ward, Hai Chau District, Da Nang
Opening hours: 4 PM – 11 PM
Price: 70,000 – 120,000 VND.
Vinh Hi Restaurant
Address: 59 Nguyen Trai street, Hai Chau District, Da Nang
Opening hours: 10 AM – 11 PM
Price: 60,000 – 165,000 VND
Seafood hotpot – Lau hai san
Hotpot is a soup containing a variety of vegetables and ingredients, prepared with a simmering pot of soup broth on a burner right on your dining table. Seafood hotpot usually includes shrimp, clam, squid, fish, crab with tomato, mushroom, morning glory, and coriander. Each restaurant has their own specialty. Did you know that the broth is the most important element of hotpot? The broth is made of pork bone, which is stewed for one hour to make the naturally sweet flavor. A lot of the time if you got to a seafood restaurant and buy a fish, you can ask for the head in a hotpot at no additional cost.
Seafood hotpot is perfect for a cooler day on the beach and even more perfect for real foodies.
Snails and Shellfish – Oc
You can enjoy many kinds of snail cooked in a plethora of ways in seafood restaurants. Snails can come fried, grilled, boiled, stewed, or sautéed. Some outstanding dishes are sea snails sautéed with coconut (oc huong xao dua), scallops grilled with oil and green onion (so diep nuong mo hanh), scallops stewed with lemongrass (chip chip hap xa), and oyster porridge (chao hau).
Other seafood
There are other delicious seafoods you can try in Da Nang: crab sautéed with tamarind (cua rang me), roasted crab claws with salt (cang ghe rang muoi), pickled squid in vinegar (muc kim nhung giam), grilled squid with satay (muc nuong sa te), or stew round scad (ca nuc hap).
For where to eat seafood hotpot, snail, and other seafood, you can have a look at the list below, which includes both luxury and cheap restaurants. These are some of the best seafood restaurants in Da Nang!
Luxury Restaurants: (150,000 – 450,000 VND / dish)
Nem Restaurant
Address: 216 Vo Nguyen Giap street, Son Tra district, Da Nang
Opening hours: 6 PM – 10:30 PM
San Ho Restaurant
Address: Block 12-13, Hoang Sa street, Son Tra district, Da Nang
Opening hours: 8 AM – 10 PM
Website: http://sanhodn.com
Phuoc Thai Restaurant
Address: 16-18 Ho Nghinh street, Phuoc My ward, Son Tra district, Da Nang
Opening hours: 8 AM – 11 PM
Website: http://phuocthai.com.vn
Cheap Restaurants: (50,000 – 120,000 VND /dish)
Eo Bien Restaurant
Address: 189 Hoang Sa street, Tho Quang ward, Son Tra district, Da Nang
Opening hours: 9 AM – 10PM
Be Na Restaurant
Address: Le Đuc Tho street, Tho Quang ward, Son Tra district, Da Nang
Opening hours: 10:30 AM – 8:30 PM
Ba Ro Restaurant
Address: 118 Ly Tu Tan street, Tho Quang ward, Son Tra district, Da Nang
Opening hours: 9 AM – 10 PM
Nam Danh Restaurant
Address: 139/59/38 Tran Quang Khai street, Tho Quang ward, Son Tra district, Da Nang
Opening hours: 10 AM – 10 PM
Be Man A Restaurant
Address: Block 11 Vo Nguyen Giap street, Man Thai ward, Son Tra district, Da Nang Opening hours: 9 AM – 11 PM
Note: There is another Be Man restaurant right next to this one, but it is Be Man B on Hoang Sa street you want (Be Man A isn’t as good). So be careful when checking this site.
Best Seafood Markets in Da Nang
Tho Quang Fishing Port
The biggest seafood market in Da Nang is Tho Quang fishing port market. Many fishing boats from some central provinces (Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, …) gather in Tho Quang to sell to retail traders, wholesale traders, and these traders will also deliver seafood to many markets in Da Nang, Quang Nam, etc.
Tho Quang fishing port is located on Van Don street, on the fork with Pham Bang street, Tho Quan ward, Son Tra district, Da Nang. Anybody, from traders to local people and tourists can visit and buy seafood to their heart’s content. Tho Quang fishing port is open all day but the fishing boats dock from around four to six in the early morning, so get there early for the freshest seafood. You can go directly to the fishing port area to buy seafood from the fishermen. The price in Tho Quang fishing port is cheaper than in other markets. To enjoy your fish or seafood, bring it along with some spices and lime to grill as you check out a few of Da Nang’s hidden waterfalls.
Other seafood markets
There are other seafood markets inside the city that are also famous and attract many local people and tourists. You can have a look at these markets below.
The market in Thanh Khe Dong Ward is on riverside road Phu Loc, 300 meters away from the south of Nguyen Tat Thanh street.
Dong Da market is located at 42 Luong Ngoc Quyen street, Thuan Phuoc ward, Hai Chau district, Da Nang. This market is considered to have the biggest amount of seafood sold in Da Nang.
Seafood market in the fork of Hoang Sa and Le Duc Tho street, Tho Quang Ward, Son Tra district, Da Nang. The seafood here is very fresh because it’s put on display as soon as it leaves the fishing boat. After buying your choice of seafood, you can bring your fish, crab, or ray to the restaurant opposite the market and the restaurant staff will cook it up and serve you right there!
You now know everything there is to know about seafood in Da Nang, save these restaurants and dishes on your to-do list and explore these places when you visit Da Nang City!
If you’re looking for more specific articles for a longer stay in Da Nang check these out:
Your Complete Guide to Da Nang International Airport
Everything About The Marble Mountains in Da Nang
If you enjoyed reading this article and would like some more fun info about what to see, do, and eat (and a bunch of interesting cafes!) in Vietnam, follow us at the 4U Trip!
