The intersection of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen in the Old Quarter is lined on all four corners with bia hoi stalls — low plastic stools, small tables, fresh draft lager dispensed from steel kegs. Bia hoi is brewed fresh each day without preservatives and delivered to stalls around the city; it's light, slightly yeasty, and costs the equivalent of thirty or forty cents a glass. The corner at Ta Hien has become the most famous concentration of these stalls in the city, drawing both backpackers and Vietnamese drinkers through the late afternoon and evening.
The stalls sell snacks alongside the beer: peanuts, fried tofu, grilled corn, nem cuon. The plastic stools face inward toward the intersection, which means you're sitting in the middle of the street effectively, watching motorbikes thread between the tables. It gets loud and crowded after dark, particularly on weekends. Bia hoi is an institution that predates the current tourist economy of the Old Quarter — it was a Vietnamese working-class drink first — and while Ta Hien has become touristy, the bia hoi itself is unchanged: cheap, fresh, and served without ceremony. Order by holding up fingers.