Cooking tour with Chef Didier Corlou and Robert Morrison

Click here or click here to know more about this tour


Join cookbook author Robert Carmack and textile designer Morrison Polkinghorne in Hanoi as we explore the hidden food treasures of northern Vietnam. They will re-unite with award-winning guide Vu Minh Tho, plus celebrity chef Didier Corlou, Our Globetrotting Gourmet® tour, jointly organized by AsiaTopTravel, includes deluxe sleeper trains to the highland markets around Sapa near the China border, plus two nights on a deluxe private floating junk sailing picturesque Ha Long Bay. Great hotels, delicious food, wonderful company, plus daily breakfast, most meals, cooking classes and market tours. That's our Globetrotting Gourmet® winning recipe!

Cuisine is made for travelling and for a simple pleasure, which is what I would define as “gastronomy.” - chef Didier Corlou.

Sunday July 12, Day 1

You will be personally met at the airport with a welcome bouquet, then transported to your deluxe 5-star hotel. 5-star Hanoi hotel along picturesque West Lake It is brand new and spectacular -- rating in this year's Conde Nast HOT list! Hanoi is the country's second largest city and administrative capital, yet it maintains a distinct charm of yesteryear. Its Old Town's trade streets reflect a medieval character of specialization, from paper street, silk street, tin street, and the like. Our strong advice is to see Hanoi NOW, rather than later. Each year brings more modernization, and higher buildings.

Monday July 13 , Day 2

As this is our first full day of the tour, we have planned a very special foodie introduction to Hanoi!
This morning meet celebrity chef Didier Corlou who takes us marketing for his restaurant's daily shopping list.
Didier runs Verticale, arguably the city's best, and is former executive chef at Hanoi's famed Metropole hotel. Watch him choose specialty items from the best of fish, game and poultry, and barter with the merchants for the cheapest price. We’ll also have a chance to sit for morning market coffee and typical breakfast fare. Afterwards go to his kitchen for a cooking demonstration focusing on regional northern Vietnamese dishes, followed by a light lunch. The remaining afternoon is yours to wander Hanoi's streets freely. Don't miss the Opera House and Hoan Kiem lake. In the old quarter, (which we will explore tomorrow) we highly recommend walking down Pho Totich, a charming short laneway leading to popular Pho Hang Gai or Silk Street. There are great deals on silk and hand-stitched embroidery. It's all central, and a short taxi back to our hotel, then group dinner. We'll also briefly stop for one of Vietnam's favorite late-night snacks, Che, a sugar drink mixed with various jellies, pulses, fruits and coconut.

Tuesday July 14, Day 3

Save room during breakfast today, as we traipse off to a progression of pho restaurants, plus hanoi's most famous hawker restaurant streets. Pho is arguably Vietnam’s most famous dish, and chef Didier Corlou calls it “the best soup in the world.” We contend that you won't learn the difference between a good, fair and poor pho until tasting them back to back -- which is exactly what we do! Finish with a cup of authentic ca-phe phin, brewed on the street from a tiny filter -- better yet, we've located one of Hanoi's best! In the afternoon, we've scheduled a walking tour of the Old Quarter. We don't know a better way to explore the sites of the city's 36 trade streets, each specializing in an individual craft. Re-group for the Thang Long water puppet theatre, and afterwards evening hawker fare where we eat like the locals! You will love the nom bo kho green papaya salad, which Vietnamese serve with grilled dried beef. Return to hotel, and the remaining evening is free.

Optional: Le Mat village on the outskirts of Hanoi is renowned (and equally notorious) for its traditional restaurants, serving any and everything from snake to monkey to bear and porcupine. As this is a food tour, and if you're interested, we'll help you with reservations and private guide, but because of its nature, it is entirely an optional event.

Wednesday July 15, Day 4


Today, tour Hanoi environs and countryside villas along the Red River delta, including the making of edible rice paper sheets in picturesque Tho Ha. It is a fascinating trip, including a river ferry you won't believe! Also visit Dong Ho village, famous for its inedible paper and magnificent prints, plus a stop at But Thap pagoda. We end in Haiphong, Vietnam's principal seaport and third largest city. Better yet, it has the laid-back feel of Hanoi in the 1990s, yet scantly visited by overseas tourists. We've scheduled a special lunch of rural fare, plus dinner at a popular bia hoi eatery. Bia hoi is Vietnam's famous 'fresh beer' that is made without preservatives, and must be drunk within a day, lest it sour. Typical accompaniments include seafood, suckling pig and steamed okra. It's all great fun, and very authentic.

Thursday/Friday July 16 + 17, Day 5 + 6


This morning walk through the old section of Haiphong, its bustling market life, magnificent opera house, plus Du Hang pagoda and the traditional architecture of Hang Kenh communal house. We'll stop for morning coffee then drive to Ha Long.

No visit to northern Vietnam is complete without viewing the spectacle and grandeur of Ha Long Bay. These pinnacles of stone rise majestically from its emerald green waters, well warranting their Unesco heritage status. Time permitting, we'll see Ha Long City's wonderful fish market, then board our private junk for the next two nights. All rooms have private toilet, comfy beds, and delicious food. Pure heaven. All meals included.

Saturday July 18, Day 7


Breakfast on board, then continue cruising along the beautiful harbor all morning, before heading back to Hanoi and our overnight train up to Sapa. En route we'll stop at a village specializing in ceramics -- made the same way for hundreds of years.

In Hanoi, a delicious French dinner at an NGO training school, before catching our train. We've booked private compartments per couple (single occupancy available) with plenty of room for baggage.

Sunday/Monday July 19 + 20, Day 8 + 9


We've planned an exclusive series of outings to the high country, including sumptuous accommodation in upgraded deluxe rooms. We immediately head to the famous Bac Ha morning market, probably the most authentic in the region, then returning in the afternoon to Sapa and hotel check in. The evening is on your own in this gorgeous area, and dinner not included.

Day 2:

After the famous Sapa breakfast, we begin with an easy walking trek or local villages, then return by overnight train to Hanoi. Lunch and dinner included

Tuesday July 21, Day 10


We arrive early this morning to Hanoi, but have arranged morning check in for those still groggy from the overnight train, including breakfast. Today we've left your schedule free for any last minute shopping, visiting, touring (ask us if you require a private guide for the day), and in the evening a very special gala dinner finished with a moonlight ride through the old town of Hanoi.

Wednesday July 22, Day 11


After hotel breakfast we will arrange your airport transfers back home. For those interested in staying longer in Hanoi, or visiting other areas of Vietnam, ask us to arrange your trip south -- including flights, accommodation and guides to Hue, Hoi An, Danang, Nha Trang and Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, or other highlights, such as Dalat, the Mekong Delta and Phu Quoc island. Just ask!

Tour price inclusive of:

• Deluxe hotel accommodation
• Internal transportation
• Daily breakfast and most meals
• Cooking demonstrations and market tours.

Tour Price Exclusive of

• Airfares to and from Asia.
• Aiport tax
• Insurrance(componsory)