Hoi An is better known for "cao lau" and "banh mi", but "mi quang" — the wide, turmeric-yellow noodles from neighboring Quang Nam province — is just as embedded in the local diet, and considerably less discussed by food writers. A proper bowl comes with shrimp, sliced pork, a hard-boiled quail egg, roasted peanuts, sesame rice crackers, and a small pour of concentrated broth that barely covers the noodles. You dress it yourself with fresh herbs and a squeeze of lime. The question in Hoi An is not whether to eat it, but how much you want to spend — because the gap between a market stall bowl and a restaurant bowl is real, and not always justified.
The Budget End: 25,000–40,000 VND
The cheapest reliable mi quang (미꽝 / 广南面 / ミークアン) in Hoi An is at the covered stalls inside Hoi An Central Market (Cho Hoi An), on Tran Phu street at the riverfront edge of the Old Quarter. A handful of vendors set up from around 6:30 a.m. and run until noon, sometimes earlier if they sell out. Expect to pay 25,000–30,000 VND for a standard bowl. The portions are small by tourist-restaurant standards, which is correct — mi quang is a breakfast and mid-morning dish, not a lunch centrepiece.
The broth here is deeply savory, slightly oily from pork fat, and the noodles are made fresh that morning. You get two or three shrimp and a few slices of pork shoulder. It's not a showy bowl. The rice cracker — the "banh trang" — comes on the side, you break it over the top yourself.
A second option at this price tier is Mi Quang Ba Thi, a small shopfront on Truong Minh Luong street, about a seven-minute walk south of the Old Quarter. Locals outnumber tourists here most mornings. Bowls run 35,000–40,000 VND, the shrimp are bigger than the market stalls, and they tend to be more generous with the peanuts. Opens around 7 a.m., closed by 1 p.m. most days.
The Mid-Range: 55,000–80,000 VND
This is where Hoi An (호이안 / 会安 / ホイアン)'s tourist-facing restaurants enter the picture. You're paying for a cleaner space, English menus, and a slightly more composed bowl — more toppings, sometimes a full egg instead of quail, occasionally banana flower shreds added to the herb plate.
Quan Mi Quang 1A on Phan Chau Trinh is the most cited mid-range option and earns it. The bowl is 65,000 VND, the pork is both shoulder and a sliver of pork belly, and the broth has a good shrimp-forward depth. The herbs arrive in a proper pile — perilla, bean sprouts, sliced banana blossom — and the rice cracker is thicker and crispier than what you get at the market. The room is basic, ceiling fans, plastic stools, open frontage onto the street. Opens 7 a.m. to around 2 p.m.
Photo by Trần Phan Phạm Lê on Pexels
The Splurge: 100,000–130,000 VND
A handful of restaurants inside and just outside the Old Quarter now plate mi quang as a refined dish — styled bowls, charcoal-grilled pork additions, sometimes a prawn that has been butterflied and arranged rather than dropped in. You're paying 100,000–130,000 VND.
Morning Glory Restaurant on Nhi Trung street (connected to chef Trinh Diem Vy's brand) does a version at around 120,000 VND. The bowl is larger, the ingredients are high quality, and the setting is genuinely pleasant for a sit-down meal. Is it three times better than the market stall? No. The fundamentals of mi quang don't reward excessive refinement — the dish is built on texture contrast and concentrated broth, and that works just as well in a plastic bowl. But if you're eating with someone who won't sit on a plastic stool, or you want mi quang alongside other Hoi An dishes in one meal, this is a reasonable spend.
Photo by HONG SON on Pexels
What Actually Changes Across Tiers
Here's the honest breakdown:
- Noodle quality: roughly equal across all tiers — most places in Hoi An source from the same small number of local noodle makers.
- Shrimp: size and quantity improve meaningfully at mid-range and up.
- Broth depth: surprisingly consistent. The market stalls are not worse.
- Herb plate: better at mid-range and above — more variety, fresher.
- Rice cracker: thicker and crispier at mid-range. The market versions are sometimes stale.
- Setting: entirely personal. The market stall experience is part of the point for many people.
Practical Notes
Mi quang is a morning dish — if you show up after 1 p.m. at any of the cheap or mid-range spots, there's a good chance they've closed. The splurge restaurants keep lunch hours. Hoi An's Old Quarter is walkable and compact; all three price tiers are within 15 minutes of each other on foot.
Last updated · Jul 15, 2026 · independently researched, never sponsored.
