7 Bridges Brewing Co. (Hanoi Taproom)

7 Bridges Brewing Co. built its name in Đà Nẵng, where the award-winning brewery is still based, before expanding north. This West Lake taproom at 104 Xuân Diệu, in Tây Hồ, is a genuine dedicated Hanoi outpost rather than a satellite bar, pouring the brewery's own beers from its core range alongside seasonal releases.

The draught list includes its Dragon IPA and fruit-driven sours, with seasonal IPAs, stouts and fruity specials rotating through the year. Afternoons are the time for value: the taproom's own page lists a happy hour from 1pm to 5pm, Sunday to Thursday, with 30 per cent off all 7 Bridges draught beer.

The building has a fully air-conditioned ground-floor dining room and a lounge upstairs, and the terrace overlooking Tây Hồ (West Lake) is the draw on a warm evening. Food runs to pub snacks and pizza, which the taproom makes a point of, and the brewery upcycles brewing by-products into the kitchen as part of a zero-waste, no-single-use-plastic approach. The brewery's own branded merchandise is on sale at the bar.

The taproom opens daily from noon to 11pm, with the kitchen closing at 10.30pm. Live music runs weekly through the summer months, with dates posted on the brewery's Facebook page, and group bookings and private events, from corporate dinners to birthdays, are catered for with set menus in English and Vietnamese. If you would rather drink at home, beer and food can be delivered, free within 3km, and the taproom is also on GrabFood and ShopeeFood.