With its geographical location and role as the gateway to tourism in the Central and Central Highlands regions, combined with its historical value in trade and cultural exchange, the culinary products in Da Nang reflect a fusion of Vietnamese and international cuisines while still preserving the unique characteristics of the local traditional gastronomy. Additionally, Da Nang benefits from an abundant natural resource base, providing a diverse supply of ingredients that contribute to the distinctiveness of regional cuisine.

With its long coastline and smooth white sandy beaches, Da Nang’s beaches attract a large number of tourists for relaxation and culinary experiences. Along the coastal route of Hoang Sa – Vo Nguyen Giap – Truong Sa, visitors can easily find fresh seafood restaurants offering a wide variety of deliciously prepared dishes at reasonable prices.

Visiting Da Nang, tourists will be amazed by the diverse culinary offerings and a wide range of dining options, from upscale restaurants in hotels and resorts to traditional and casual eateries. From breakfast, lunch, and dinner to late-night dining, Da Nang offers an endless culinary journey.

Those who have been to Da Nang are likely familiar with Huynh Thuc Khang breakfast street and Pham Hong Thai night food street, where countless signature dishes are served, such as fish cake noodle soup (bún chả cá), Quang-style noodles, fermented fish noodle soup , Vietnamese savory pancakes, grilled pork skewers, beef stew, sweet desserts, and refreshing beverages.

For visitors who enjoy an authentic local experience, traditional markets like Han Market, Con Market, and Bac My An Market offer a great opportunity to savor local specialties while exploring and shopping.

To sustain, develop, and elevate its cuisine into a distinctive tourism product—stimulating visitor spending and attracting tourists, experts, and investors—Da Nang has been implementing comprehensive measures. These initiatives not only encourage culinary businesses to enhance service quality but also introduce appropriate policies and mechanisms to develop gastronomy as a key tourism product.

The Tourism Development Strategy for Da Nang City until 2030, with a Vision to 2045, issued by the Da Nang People's Committee under Decision No. 2726/QĐ-UBND on October 19, 2022, identifies culinary tourism as one of the city's main tourism products. The strategy emphasizes upgrading the quality of existing culinary offerings while fostering new and innovative products. In particular, it focuses on developing and promoting local, Central Vietnamese, and signature Vietnamese dishes as standout tourism products. Special attention is given to maintaining authentic flavors, ensuring dishes are visually and gastronomically appealing, and highlighting regional uniqueness in every dish.

Culinary cultural values are integrated into various annual tourism events such as the Enjoy Summer Festival, New Year Celebration Festival, and Beach Tourism Season. During these events, artisans showcase traditional food-making techniques such as preparing rice paper, Quang-style noodle sheets, crispy Vietnamese pancakes (bánh xèo), and wrapping bánh nậm and bánh bột lọc, recreating the vibrant atmosphere of traditional craft villages. Additionally, culinary competitions and live cooking demonstrations have been organized, including the Da Nang Open Chef Competition, culinary tours, cooking classes, and regional and international food booths. Vocational and tourism training institutions in the city have also increased investment in resources, upgraded equipment, and revamped training programs to enhance culinary and food processing education, meeting the growing demands of the tourism industry. At the same time, Da Nang's tourism sector has intensified culinary promotion efforts through initiatives such as developing printed food maps, researching the implementation of digital food maps, and creating innovative video content to showcase the city's diverse gastronomy.

To position Da Nang as a premier culinary tourism destination with high-quality, distinctive offerings and a strong brand presence in Vietnam and the region, where local, regional, and international cuisines converge, the Da Nang People's Committee issued Plan No. 114/KH-UBND on May 24, 2023, outlining the strategy for developing gastronomy into a signature tourism product in Da Nang from 2023 to 2030.

Accordingly, for the domestic market, the plan focuses on attracting tourists from provinces and cities across the country, with an emphasis on increasing the number of high-spending visitors from markets with direct flights to Da Nang, such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, the Red River Delta provinces, Ho Chi Minh City, and the Mekong Delta. For the international market, the strategy aims to attract high-spending tourist segments, including leisure travelers, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) visitors, golf tourists, luxury vacationers, and wedding tourism clients. The key target markets are Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, with a gradual expansion into Western Europe, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, India, and the United States. At the same time, Da Nang’s culinary tourism products are structured into three main categories: local cuisine, regional Vietnamese cuisine, international cuisine. Each category is further segmented into three tiers:high-end culinary tourism product, street food tourism products, incorporating cultural heritage, rural agriculture, and local specialties, traditional and contemporary culinary experiences, blending authenticity with creativity.

Lê Ni