RESTAURANTS

Stroll along the main road (Cau May St south of the plaza, then around to the left to Muong Ha St) and see what suits you. Most hotels have restaurants too.

For a fancier meal, Victoria Hotel’s TAVAN is a lodge-style dining room with outdoor seats looking over Mt Fansipan. Food’s good, and there’s a breakfast buffet if you need more than jam-n-bread.

About 200m west on the road down to Cat Cat (reached from the square at the north of Cau May St), HMONG CAFÉ is a new throw-back to traveler’s cafes of a decade ago. It wins points for creating style with minimal budget (conical hats for lampshades, a red rope twisted into wall cobweb design, hand-applied pink stripes on a gray concrete bar), plus the free ‘Hmong apple wine’ they serve with cheap noodles and pizzas.

On the main Cau May St, VIET EMOTION is a (too?) slick little tapas place with picnic kis (US$3.50-4.75), vegetarian parilla (US$3.50) and set breakfasts – it’s pretty good.

Down the road on Muong Hoa St, QUEEN HOTEL has better-than-average rice dishes, and nearby RED DRAGON is a famed English-run pub-style spot with balcony seats above and big sloppy English breakfasts and shepherds pies.

If you follow Cau May St north, past the square and up the pedestrian stairway, you’ll reach BAGUETTES ET CHOCOLATE (Thac Bac St), a French-style bakery and sandwich spot in a French villa. They have a few hotel rooms and picnic lunches (from US$2.25), and sales benefits disadvantaged children.