Lang Ngon Nha Trang

Down the lane at 83 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, less than a kilometre from the 2/4 square but once inside it stops feeling like the centre: thatched pavilions, timber posts, long tables, lanterns strung over the paths and a pond in the middle. It is one of the busiest Vietnamese restaurants in the city, and on a weekend evening every table is taken. Open 10:30–22:00 daily.

The menu is Vietnamese platter-and-country food rather than seafood: grilled nem, fresh spring rolls, rice rolls, a pile of herbs to wrap them in, and a run of dishes built on heo tộc, the free-range highland pig. Its menu gives a tight range: 180,000–595,000₫ a plate, from pork cartilage with lemongrass salt at the bottom to the three-dish highland-pork platter at the top. Those are plates for the table rather than portions, so for four people the real number is lower than it looks.

It suits two kinds of visit. Groups and families: long tables, several separate pavilions, and enough room for children to move. Anyone who wants photographs: rows of lanterns, the pond, a timber gate and decorated corners that change with the season. If you want a quick meal for two, the places in the quarter are handier; Làng Ngon earns the time you give it.

Because it is down a lane, put "Làng Ngon" into the ride app rather than the street number. Lane 83 has several arms. It is about fifteen minutes' walk from the backpacker quarter, or five by bike. Within the same radius are Nem nướng Đặng Văn Quyên and Lạc Cảnh grilled beef if you want to compare before choosing.