The "Hai Phong Golden Chef Competition 2025" on May 9 is considered a new feature in the series of activities to promote Hai Phong cuisine in 2025.
This also marks the transformation of the Port City with the famous “foodtour” products before and the Delicious Food Festival from May 10-12 at Hai Phong Station and Nguyen Du Flower Garden. Here, visitors can enjoy the dishes that have made the “name” of Hai Phong and the region’s cuisine with famous crab noodles, spicy bread, crab spring rolls and diverse OCOP products at 25 interactive booths.
In fact, the "Hai Phong Golden Chef 2025" competition is considered a professional playground and bears the strong identity of Hai Phong cuisine this year. The competition took place on May 9 at Diamond Palace - Hai Dang Plaza, with 18 teams including chefs from hotels, restaurants, vocational training facilities and local Tourism Associations. Each team made a 4-course menu in 180 minutes: street snacks, specialty main courses, creative dishes and desserts. The jury includes culinary experts and famous chefs, ensuring fairness. Mr. Mai Xuan Thang - Chairman of Hai Phong Tourism Association said that Hai Phong Golden Chef 2025 is a traditional and annual competition, entering its 5th year this year. The competition has been accompanied by Hai Phong Tourism Association for the past five years and has gathered many excellent chefs from all over the country to the Port City.
Sharing with the Business Forum, Dr. Tran Quoc Lam, Chairman of the Ha Tinh Tourism Association, commented: “The competition not only strengthens the capacity of local chefs but also opens up opportunities to exchange and share experiences with colleagues in neighboring areas”. According to him, this is a practical step to realize the goal of making culinary tourism a national strategic product.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tuan, Director of Tuan Ruoi Restaurant (Hai Duong), shared: "This event helps us introduce Tu Ky Ruoi specialty in a creative menu. At the same time, I learn new processing trends and apply digital technology in promotion through livestream and social networks." According to Mr. Tuan, the trend of ordering food online and digitizing experiences is profoundly changing the Vietnamese food service market.
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tuan, Director of Tuan Ruoi Restaurant (Hai Duong) and his booth in the contest.
In recent years, food tours have become a unique tourism product, putting Hai Phong cuisine on the Vietnamese tourism map. The culinary map has been widely distributed, introducing famous restaurant chains and local specialties such as spicy bread, crab noodles, crab spring rolls, sui din, pate, chrysanthemum tea and coconut coffee. This product not only helps tourists easily discover local flavors, but also stimulates the experience intention of Gen Z, when research shows that local factors and sharing on social networks are the main motivations.
Talking to the Business Forum, Mr. Nguyen Phuong Toan, Assistant Chef of Mad Cow restaurant under Pullman Hai Phong hotel group, said that this competition brings a new feature, a new idea in bringing Vietnamese cuisine in general and Hai Phong cuisine in particular to the big banquet table of the world. This is a very fair game in terms of cultural exchange, fair in terms of cuisine. According to him, when in America people eat pho every day, people eat spring rolls every day, then Vietnamese cuisine will be truly successful.
The special prize this year belongs to the chefs of Dream Dragon Resort Hotel. Along with that, 6 first prizes belong to the Vietnam Royal Chefs Association, Pullman Hai Phong Hotel, Paraolia Tuan Chau five-star cruise, Thanh Nga Luxury Ninh Binh Restaurant, Lau Dai Vang Hai Dang French Restaurant and Hai Phong College of Tourism. Besides, there are 4 promising prizes and 12 gold prizes for the teams participating in the "Hai Phong Golden Chef 2025" competition.
Six units won first prize in the "Hai Phong Golden Chef 2025" competition.
Also part of the 2025 Hai Phong Cuisine Promotion Program, the 2025 Hai Phong Cuisine Festival will take place from May 10 to May 12 at Hai Phong Station and Nguyen Du Flower Garden, gathering 25 booths, including 9 food tour booths and 11 food booths with OCOP products from localities. The event also features booths from neighboring regions such as Hai Duong with green bean cakes, Tu Ky shrimp paste, Kiep Bac lotus wine and Con Son honey, opening up opportunities for inter-provincial culinary culture connections. Live cooking demonstrations by top chefs and interactive culinary games will help visitors engage more deeply in the experience.
However, Hai Phong's culinary tourism industry faces the challenge of inter-regional competition and requires improved service quality. Fresh ingredients from Do Son, Cat Hai, and Bach Long Vi need to be guaranteed safe and traceable. Technological innovation, such as the use of interactive digital maps, AR/VR tours, and live streaming from events, can increase visitors' length of stay and spending. The combination of railway food tours and the "Red Flamboyant Train" route has extended the journey of discovery, creating a unique highlight for culinary tourism nationwide. Multi-platform communication, from newspapers, television to social networks, needs to be invested in synchronously to spread the image of the Port City.
Overall, Hai Phong is opening a new era for promoting culinary culture. From local food tours, the Delicious Food Festival to the Golden Chef Competition, the Port City is utilizing all resources to affirm its brand. The next journey will depend largely on the continuous creativity, inter-regional connections and technology application of agencies and businesses in the city.