Hanoi for The Food Pilgrims: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

Three floors of dried fish, tea, noodles and spices in a 1889 French-built hall; start on the top floor and work down, and buy a packet of green rice.

The birthplace of egg coffee, invented here in 1946 when milk ran short: a custard of yolk and sugar whisked over robusta, served warm in a cup in a bowl.

The 1871 fish house whose dish gave the street its name: turmeric catfish fried at the table with dill and spring onion, served with vermicelli and shrimp paste.

Beef phở of the old school, clear and deep with ginger and star anise, served with fried dough sticks; queue at the counter and pay first.

A half-day class in a French villa that starts at the market and ends with a table of spring rolls, bún chả and a dessert you cooked yourself.

The serious dinner: French technique and Vietnamese herbs in a courtyard villa; choose the tasting menu and ask the waiter which dishes use the northern greens.

Sticky rice with fried shallots, chicken, pâté and egg, packed in a banana leaf; the stall is a Hanoi morning classic and the line moves briskly.

A big local market with the best fruit and herb stalls in the south of the old city; ask the stallholders to name the greens you have not seen.

Charcoal-grilled pork and noodle lunch in the shop that President Obama made famous; the plain version at four euros is better than the combo.

Thin steamed rice pancakes folded round minced pork and wood-ear mushrooms, served with fried shallots and dipping sauce; a very Hanoi breakfast, eaten at a long table.

Walk the lake after the tai chi crowd has gone and before the heat builds, with a coconut coffee from one of the cafés and a last look round.

One more bowl before you go: the pan-fried beef phở with garlic and spring onion; sit on a stool by the wok and ask for extra broth.