After a day out on Ha Long Bay or paddling through Lan Ha Bay, Cat Ba Town snaps into a different gear around 6 PM. The waterfront fills up, plastic stools scrape across pavement, and the smell of charcoal and garlic butter drifts down from the cluster of stalls and open-front restaurants along the main strip near the ferry pier. It is not a formal market with a gate and a name — it is more of a nightly congregation that happens because this is where everyone ends up.
The Layout: Where to Walk First
The core of the action runs along Nui Ngoc Street and spills toward the harbor promenade. Most of the seafood grill stalls set up between roughly 6 PM and 10 PM. A few spots push later into the night, especially on weekends when the last ferries from Hai Phong deposit a fresh wave of visitors. The western end of the strip is louder, more tourist-facing, with laminated menus in English and Korean. Walk a few hundred meters east toward the fishing boat moorings and the prices drop and the menus get shorter — usually a good sign.
If you are coming straight from a kayak tour, most guesthouses are within a 10-minute walk of the night market. You do not need to plan this. You will just find it.
What to Order
Grilled Seafood by Weight
This is the main event. The stalls display their stock on ice — whole fish, prawns, squid, scallops, clams — and you point at what you want, they weigh it, and it goes on the grill. Whole grilled squid (muc nuong) with scallion oil runs around 80,000–120,000 VND for a medium piece depending on size and the stall. Prawns (tom nuong muoi ot) go for roughly 150,000–250,000 VND per 300g. Prices are negotiable if you are ordering for a group, but do not push too hard — the margins here are not huge.
Scallops grilled with spring onion and peanuts (so diep nuong mo hanh) are the thing to order if you have never had them done this way. They cost around 25,000–35,000 VND per shell. Order four or five and eat them the moment they come off the heat.
"Oc" — The Snail Situation
"Oc" (Vietnamese for snails and small shellfish) deserves its own moment. Cat Ba's night stalls do several varieties — oc huong (spiny murex) steamed with lemongrass, oc len (mud creepers) stir-fried in coconut milk, and oc mo (button snails) in tamarind sauce. A portion of any of these runs 50,000–90,000 VND. They come with a small pick, a lime-salt-chili dipping sauce, and the implicit understanding that you will be at this table for a while. This is slow, fiddly, deeply satisfying food.
If you are traveling with someone who claims they do not like shellfish, order the oc len in coconut milk anyway. It usually changes minds.
Cheaper Fills
Not every meal at Cat Ba needs to be a seafood blowout. A few stalls along the back lanes serve "banh mi" stuffed to order — 20,000–25,000 VND — and there is at least one place doing "bun cha" from a charcoal brazier near the southern end of the main street. It is not Hanoi-level bun cha, but after a long day outdoors you will not be complaining.
For something lighter before the main event, look for the women selling "goi cuon" from trays — fresh rice paper rolls with shrimp and pork, dipped in hoisin-peanut sauce. Three rolls for 30,000 VND is standard.
Photo by Marcus Luu on Pexels
Drinks and the Post-Kayak Ritual
Cat Ba's "bia hoi" scene is small but functional. The cheapest draft beer is available at a handful of open-air spots along the promenade — 10,000–15,000 VND per glass. Most of the seafood restaurants sell canned or bottled beer at 20,000–30,000 VND. Nobody here is serving craft anything. That is fine. A cold Saigon (사이공 / 西贡 / サイゴン) Special and a plate of grilled prawns at a plastic table facing the harbor is its own kind of perfect.
"Vietnamese coffee (베트남 커피 / 越南咖啡 / ベトナムコーヒー)" is available from a couple of carts that operate into the late evening if you are in the dessert-and-coffee camp rather than the second-round-of-beer camp.
Photo by FOX ^.ᆽ.^= ∫ on Pexels
Practical Notes on Prices and Ordering
Bring cash. Most stalls do not take cards, and while a few of the sit-down restaurants have introduced QR payment, it is not reliable. The ATM near the ferry terminal is the easiest cash point in town. Budget around 200,000–350,000 VND per person for a solid seafood dinner with one or two drinks. Closer to 150,000 VND if you are sticking to snails and bia hoi (비아호이 / 鲜啤 / ビアホイ).
Ask the price before they grill anything. This is not paranoia — it is just sensible practice at any seafood market where items are priced by weight. Most vendors are straightforward, but knowing the number upfront avoids the awkward post-meal renegotiation that occasionally catches first-timers off guard.
Cat Ba Town is not a large place, and the night market winds down earlier than you might expect on weeknights — many stalls start packing up around 10 PM. Get there by 7 PM if you want the best selection.
Practical Notes
The walk from most Cat Ba guesthouses and hostels to the waterfront strip is under 10 minutes. There is no entrance fee, no wristband, no reservation — just show up hungry. If you are day-tripping from Ha Long Bay (하롱베이 / 下龙湾 / ハロン湾) on a cruise, check whether your boat returns to Cat Ba Town or to Tuan Chau port, as the latter puts the night market out of reach.
Last updated · May 26, 2026 · independently researched, never sponsored.
