Do not reduce the province to one dish
If you have one meal in Hạ Long, squid cake is an easy name to encounter. But Quảng Ninh Newspaper also lists Quảng Yên fermented pork rolls, Tiên Yên rice rolls, Đông Triều ragworm, and Bình Liêu stir-fried noodles. The list spans coast, estuary, lowland, and upland; a longer trip can include very different meals. It is not a ranking, and some foods may be seasonal or tied to particular areas.
Choose food along your route
A meal can help explain the place you are passing through. On the coast, ask about squid, ngán, or sa sung; farther east, look into foods documented by residents and provincial sources. Do not assume a dish is locally sourced just because it appears in a restaurant name. OCOP products can be a lead, but ratings and categories change; check the label and producer information.