Hanoi Cooking Class: Culture, Local Market & Community Care
Recommended by 100% of travelers
Hanoi, Vietnam
- 4 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Combine cuisine, culture, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) all in one experience on this half-day cooking class in Hanoi. Learn to cook Vietnamese dishes in a local villa while supporting meaningful CSR programs. Visit a vibrant market, enjoy an eco-friendly setup, and benefit from hotel pickup and drop-off within Hanoi’s Old Quarter. This hands-on class offers cultural stories, fresh ingredients, and a full Vietnamese meal.
- An immersive way to experience cuisine and culture in Hanoi
- Explore a local market and learn recipes to take home
- Choose from morning or afternoon class times to suit your schedule
- Vegetarian and vegan and private classes also available
Sample Menu
Starter
Vietnamese Salad: Banana Flower/ Papaya/Green Mango
Pick one of these refreshing local salads for your class, each offering crisp textures and tangy flavors. Vegan and vegetarian options are available.
Main
Choose One: Bun Cha /Pho/Cha Ca La Vong (with veggie versions)
Choose one iconic Hanoi dish for your class: Bun Cha/Pho/Cha Ca La Vong. Authentic flavors, rich cultural stories, vegan options available.
Main
Choose One: Fried Spring Rolls/ Summer Rolls/Banh Xeo (with veggie versions)
Choose 1 classic dish for your class – Fried Spring Rolls, Summer Rolls, or Banh Xeo – and experience the flavors and stories behind each bite.
Dessert
Vietnamese signature coffee: Egg/Salt/Brown/Coconut Coffee
Experience Hanoi’s iconic coffee culture with a complimentary cup. Each sip a taste of local tradition to enjoy alongside your cooking journey.
What's Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off within Hanoi’s Old Quarter (with selected option)
- Free welcome drink: herbal tea upon arrival
- Comfortable, air-conditioned cooking and dining space
- Free luggage storage available upon request
- An experienced English-speaking local guide & cultural storyteller
- Friendly tour escort and on-site host for your comfort
- All cooking equipment and utensils are provided for your use
- Full Vietnamese lunch or dinner (depending on your session)
- 01 free tasting of our signature homemade fruit wine
- Fresh seasonal fruits served after the meal
- Digital Certificate Available on Request
- Digital Guidebook: Must-Try Local Eats & Favorite Hangouts
- Complimentary Luggage Storage (Up to 3 Days)
- Enjoy 20% Off Other Hands-On Cultural Experiences
- Free gifts on special occasions (advance notice required)
- Other Personal Expenses
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
What To Expect
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants must sit on laps
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Infant meals not included
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Please inquire with the operator prior to travel to confirm if your excess luggage is acceptable
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
This was one of the highlights of my trip to Hanoi! 🌟 Our amazing host, Maxie, was full of energy, kindness, and local knowledge. She took us on a fantastic market tour where we learned so much about Vietnamese ingredients and culture 🥬🛍️. Then we cooked bun cha, mango salad, and fresh summer rolls — all absolutely delicious! 🍜🥭🥢 Maxie made everyone feel confident and involved, turning the class into a super fun and memorable experience. Highly recommend this class to anyone visiting Hanoi! ❤️👩🍳
Reviews
5.0
based on 5,759 reviews
Sort by: Most recent
Lots of fun! I have attended similar cooking classes in other cities and this was the most organized and social/fun. My guide and driver communicated well and delivered me right to my front door safely and sound. Also, this is a great way to meet other travelers, as there are less than 10 people per session. Request Mr. Long as your chef/guide. Very fun and engaging young man.
This experience was amazing from the moment Trevor picked us up until the very end! His knowledge about food and his ability to communicate effectively in a funny way to keep the class engaged was AMAZING! I recommend this to anyone! Also if you have dietary restrictions- they WILL work with you if they can! They were absolutely wonderful!!!
Mr Long and Alice gave us a lovely and thoughtful introduction into Vietnamese culture and cuisine. Recommended!
Great cooking class, delicious food. The market part was quick but interesting.
Picked us up from the hotel which was great, but then dropped everyone off at the one spot in the middle of the old quarter at the end of the class- not a huge issue but something to be aware of.
The experience with Kim, the instructor, was excellent. The company picked me up from my hotel in Old Quarter. Everyone went to the market for shopping with Kim, and it was fun. The preparation and cooking component was great as a group. The group i was with were lots of Aussies and one German woman. Everyone had a blast the food was excellent. I cannot recommend this event more if you are in Hanoi. Even if you don’t like cooking, it is still a great time - because I bet you like eating delicious Vietnamese food!
Good communication and Alice was very pleasant. The market was amazing all of the fresh fruits and vegetables purchased for our class. Once at the kitchen the whole experience was very hands on.
It was an absolutely amazing experience for my daughter and me. Chris's guidance at the market and cooking instructions were clear and enjoyable. We also enjoyed the tasty dinner we prepared and the conversations with other participants. I would definitely recommend this valuable experience to visitors to Hanoi.
Kim was a great guide. We went to the market where she showed us the fruits and vegetables we would be using to make our meal. She was extremely knowledgeable and personable. She did a great job of explaining the cultural dishes and how to properly cook them. I would highly recommend this cooking class!
The cooking class led by Kim was excellent. We started at a market and talked about what we’d be making and the different items available at the markets. The class itself was a lot of fun, highly recommend
We had a very good time. Kim's English was faultless, the meal we prepared was delicious. Fortunately we were lucky with the weather as much of it is prepared outside.
Response from Host, May 2026
Thank you so much for your lovely review 😄
Kim will be very happy to hear this! We’re glad you enjoyed the outdoor cooking atmosphere, the delicious meal, and the stories shared by our Culture Storyteller. And yes—we’re thankful the weather cooperated too 😊
We did the vegetarian cooking class. Due to low numbers we were included with a group cooking meat. This worked absolutely fine, the guide was great at keeping us all involved throughout. The food we cooked was delicious and I'm so excited to try it again at home.
Response from Host, May 2026
Thank you so much for sharing your experience 😄
We’re really happy to hear the mixed group setup still worked well for you and that everyone could enjoy cooking together. Our Culture Storyteller will love knowing you felt included and enjoyed the delicious vegetarian dishes. Hope your homemade versions turn out just as tasty 💛
This was one of the best cooking classes. Our Chef Collin was amazing. So patient and knowledgeable. Cooked 3 fabulous dishes and I learnt so much. Great group of people, cannot recommend highly enough.
Our guide Chris was great, very informative. The venue was so hot, the air conditioning was not working and the temperature was 36, not even a fan to help with the heat ! The tap water quit working part way through the class. Food was good, instructions were well presented. We usually do a cooking class when we travel and this was the least enjoyable due to the uncomfortable conditions in the “kitchen”
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Hi Marlen,
Thank you for your honest feedback. We're glad to hear you enjoyed Chris's guidance, the food, and the cooking instructions.
We're truly sorry that the heat and the water supply issue affected your experience. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention and will work closely with our local partner to improve the facilities and provide a more comfortable experience for future guests.
Thank you again for helping us do better.
Nora did a great job explaining things and making sure we all participated in the cooking class. While we were in the market buying the ingredients needed to cook with she even tried to teach a little Vietnamese to us. We got a little off course because one of the guests have a special request and Nora tried her hardest to accommodate. In the future it would probably be better to say no to special requests but I know it is hard for them to say no because they are so accommodating. I still give her a five-star for the extreme effort she made and how pleasant she was to work with
The class size was ideal and we got to make so many dishes! Enjoying the meal together at the end was the best.
We had a wonderful market experience and cooking class with Colin and his auntie Hai. We got to pick out what we wanted to try at the market and then we made fresh spring rolls, bun cha, and banana flower salad. Everything was so fresh and tasted amazing. Coconut coffee to top it off. Highly recommend.
Amazing! Rose’s kitchen was fantastic, and our head chef Colin and his Auntie incredible. Highly recommend
We were disappointed by this experience. Not all of it was the fault of the tour operators, but there were some issues that could have been mitigated.
For starters, my partner and I have done food excursions in about 18 different countries at this point, so we had an expectation based on our previous experiences.
The first issue is that the write up did not specify that the food preparation would be communal. We are used to preparing a dish that we will eat thereby limiting hygienic concerns. However, as we prepared dishes for this experience, everyone, about 11 ppl, was making food that would be consumed by others. It was disheartening for us to see kids not washing their hands upon leaving the rest room, people picking up their phones and going back to food prep, and a woman even picking her nose! Needless to say we didn't have an appetite for the salad when it was ready since it was not cooked.
Another issue was the size of the group. There were 11 people and only one tour guide. Moreover, 3 of us spoke English and the other 8 spoke Mandarin (I think) with an interpreter. Unfortunately, the group of 8 kept needing things repeated which inhibited the information. The tour was advertised to be in English, so having items shared by the tour operator in multiple languages was frustrating.
Next, the tour group organized several tours at the same time. This meant that once we were done with the food prep we had to wait to use the stoves and BBQ pit. Having the tour start at 330pm and still not being able to eat at 7pm because we are waiting to cook was very frustrating.
Lastly, 11 people was just too much for one tour operator. She kept having to repeat things for different ends of the table, give separate directions to various people, and wrangle the wayward participants while we were shopping.
All in all it was poorly organized and executed.
On the plus side the food was good once it was cook, we didn't try everything due to the hygiene concern, but what we did try we really liked.
Fun, learning, meaningful and giving all at the same time. Clear snd highly skilled instructor. Would 100% do again
Food was great! Expect to be there 3-4 hours. I’m guessing that depending on your guide/chef the experience might be shorter or longer
Alex (Trung) and Auntie were fabulous! Alex led us through a packed market and explained a variety of fruits, veggies, meats and customs while we purchased the ingredients for our cooking class. Auntie had everything ready for us at the cooking school. Everything was super clean, well organized and coordinated. Our group of 12 people made 3 items. The food we prepared was absolutely delicious. So much fun to buy, prep, cook and share a meal around the table.
Pick you up at the hotel and take you to buy the food at the local market. Excellent cooking school with liked minded people!
Great experience! They picked us up and gave us a tour at the wet market. Our guide, Simon was very knowledgeable and funny, he adjusted the experience after all guest which was great.
We had an amazing morning wth Maxi, prompt pickup at our hotel then a a really informative and interesting tour of the local produce market. At the kitchen we learned so much preparing the food to cook and using different herbs and spices in our dishes. Maxi was so connected with both the children and adults in the group. We met lovely people and we highly recommend this cookery session to everybody,
Julie and Colin from France,
Highly recommend taking this class. Alex was our guide in the market and chef (along with his aunt) during class and it was a really fun, cozy, chill experience.
Felt like cooking at a friend's house. Learned a lot and was lucky to have great people in my tour. Made green mango salad, bun cha, spring rolls and had egg coffee.
A fantastic cooking experience! The host was wonderful and very funny, making everyone feel welcome and included from the start. The place was spotless, and visiting the market to buy fresh ingredients was a great touch. Highly recommended!
Kim was amazing! The visit to the market all the way through to engaging at her aunt’s cooking school. She was just incredibly personable, knowledgeable, and we created some of the most delicious dishes ever!
This is the most amazing experience from beginning to end. You are picked up from your hotel and then you get to experience the wet markets and help purchase the supplies you need for your meal. The meal that you get to prepare is amazing and there is so much of it. Plus they are able to cater for dietary requirements. Maxie is a fantastic host and chef and shares a wealth of knowledge. Maxie guides you and allows you the opportunity to learn from her skills. The whole experience of preparing the meal ,cooking and sharing with new friends is fantastic. It is also incredible value for money. Such an enjoyable experience
This a fantastic cooking class, the whole experience is very professional and informative. We cooked several Vietnamese dishes and then got to cook them and best of all eat them. Maxie was a fantastic tour guide in the markets and was clear and supportive in the kitchen. We loved the whole experience
Awesome very clean & organize from the beginning of the pickup from the hotel to the end
.The presentation was just remarkable if you want to have fun & learn do it. Chef Alex was very good and very clear what we need to do and was very well organized. He taught us everything into detail what each food item was and where it came from & why it should be in that dish . Chef Alex he made everything really fun. Even though I was a solo traveler with the other travelers that were there it really felt like a family function I had so much fun. The house was decorated very beautifully very clean and it felt like an outdoor barbecue when we all got together at the end.
We wore gloves to do certain dishes if we were on a team doing a dish. Very important!!!
If you see and read the reviews you will see that a lot of people do attend this cooking class. I am so glad that I did chose to be here I even sign up for their coffee class the next day.
You definitely and would not regret doing this cooking class sign up now !!!!!!
Member Pricing
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$31.35
per personWas $33.00(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Hanoi Cooking Class: Culture, Local Market & Community Care
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