Considering all the delicious chocolates in Vietnam— and the not-so-delicious— there are enough chocolate shops in Hanoi alone to keep you occupied for a full day. High-quality, home-grown chocolate (sôcôla in Vietnamese) is the future here, and luckily there's no shortage of it. The country even has some cacao wine producers, and a thriving coffee scene.
Options of what to eat in Hanoi have expanded beyond bun cha and banh mi, booming into French-inspired desserts and even South American fusion cuisine. While some of Hanoi's local chocolate is consumed at origin, much of it is shipped abroad, especially to Russia, China, and Japan. So even outside of the capitol city of Hanoi, you can probably still find brands like Marou Chocolate (see below) in your local craft chocolate shop. Now let's get to the good stuff.
Pro-tip: the best way to get around Hanoi during your trip to Vietnam is by taxi or motorbike (both of which you can call for using Grab, a popular transportation app in Southeast Asia). Only take MaiLinh or Vinasun taxis, and insist they use a meter.
Maison Marou Hanoi
When you google "chocolate in Vietnam," Marou's name certainly comes up on top. The two Frenchmen behind the brand (the late Samuel Maruta & Vincent Mourou) started it back in 2011, with the goal of making chocolate entirely in Vietnam. Nowadays Marou is working on keeping their several location open after the pandemic. Here you can try all 6 origins of their direct-trade Vietnamese chocolate.
The northern showroom for this Vietnamese chocolate maker is much larger than their shop in Saigon. Smack dab in the center of the financial district, they serve chocolate drinks, bonbons, and pastries, along with their signature bars. While I prefer the pastries at their Saigon location, their selection is the same here, with an attentive and helpful staff and a nice layout of seating options. If you so choose, you can relax and enjoy a coffee of cocoa, unlike in most other Hanoi chocolate shops. If you happen to go downtown, Marou is definitely worth a stop in.
Address: 91a Thợ Nhuộm, Trần Hưng Đạo, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 100000, Vietnam
Hours & Prices: 9am-10pm, daily {open until 11pm Fri-Sat} (100,000VND per 80g bar)
Pheva Chocolatier
Just like their other locations across Vietnam, this Pheva shop in Hanoi sells little chocolate squares with Vietnamese flavors. They are not a bean to bar chocolate maker, like Marou is, but a seller of flavored chocolate bars. Their goal is to bring the local delicacies of Vietnam to the world through chocolate, but I find their bars to be overly sweet and flat in flavor.
With flavor additions such as peanuts and black pepper, it's obvious that the commitment to Vietnam is there, both in their flavors and their branding. Yet there's just something missing, and it's not in the price tag. In typical Vietnamese style, they have quite nice packaging, but the chocolate inside left me uninspired. Make sure to try before you buy, as experiences always differ.
Address: 8B Phan Bội Châu, Cửa Nam, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Hours & Prices: 8am-7pm, daily (80,000VND per 96g box of mini bars)
Tù Anh Chocolate
This shop is mostly online-focused. They sell compound chocolate from Belgium, shaped into flowers and hearts, delivered across Hanoi. We sampled their solid chocolates, and were very underwhelmed, though the staff was quite nice. I'm mostly including them here because you may stumble across them when searching for chocolate shops in Hanoi; I'm here to tell you that these are not the droids you're looking for. In fact, I didn't even put it on the map.
Address: Số 11 Ngõ 100 Trần Duy Hưng, Trung Hoà, Cầu Giấy, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Hours & Prices: by appointment & see site above
Belcholat Chocolatier
The staff was really nice, but that's about the best thing I can say about this place. The decor looks nice, but the bonbons themselves are clearly made with fillings scooped from a bucket and sealed into pre-made chocolate shells. The flavors were very weak and all 4 truffles we got were the same color inside, reinforcing my bucket theory.
The passion fruit was the least offensive of the bunch. Beware that if you decide to come here, they have different levels of chocolate, including bars of compound chocolate (made with cocoa butter substitute instead of the real thing). Be sure to read the ingredients closely before you buy anything here. They're on the map because, well, maybe you really like that kind of thing.
Address: 91A Triệu Việt Vương, Bùi Thị Xuân, Hai Bà Trưng, Hà Nội 100000, Vietnam
Hours & Prices: 8am-10pm, daily (16,000VND per "bonbon")
Also check out my podcast episode on chocolate & cacao culture in Vietnam.
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