Cha Ca La Vong is a restaurant in Hanoi famous for its grilled fish (Cha Ca) dish which was created some 130 years ago. The restaurant/dish is so famous that the street is named after it, and it’s featured in almost every single Hanoi’s travel guide.
There’s one problem though, as some other restaurants are riding on its fame with similar name and menu to take advantage of naive foreign travellers, and I was one of the fallen prey of the conspiracy during my Hanoi trip in July 2008…
Random photos of Halong Bay, Vietnam; taken during my trip in July 2008…
Quan Com Pho is a Vietnamese restaurant in Hanoi. Found this place via a travel guidebook during my Hanoi visit in July 2008, and the restaurant seemed pretty promising on some online reviews… thus giving it a try.
Their menu was quite different from what I had at other Hanoi restaurants; their food was kinda like a fusion of traditional Vietnamese cuisine with some new cooking ideas.
Hue Food is a restaurant that sells Hue cuisine in Hanoi, Vietnam. The restaurant is located at 6, Lý Thường Kiệt Street; found this via a local newspaper’s food column during my Hanoi visit in July 2008.
Hue is a historic city in central Vietnam and was the imperial capital of Nguyễn Dynasty (1802-1945). Vietnamese food in general can be divided into three categories… the northern food, southern food and central food (which is often referred as Hue food).
One of the distinctive difference between Hue food and other Vietnamese food is the popularity of roundish vermicelli (bún) instead of the flat rice noodle (phở) in other Vietnamese region. Hue food also tends to be a bit spicier, but still mild in relative to Malaysian or Indian food.
There is a popular Hue dish called the bún bò Huế (Hue beef soup noodle), but I am not quite sure if the noodle soup I had at the restaurant was what I hope it was…
Quán Ăn Ngon is a popular restaurant in Hanoi (18, Phan Boi Chau Street), Vietnam, which offers a variety of traditional Vietnamese dishes and street food.
The restaurant was quite cozy, and the food decent. Not my favourite Hanoi restaurant, but if you can only have one meal in the city… this is probably the place you want to be because of the great varieties.
Lunch at Cay Cau Restaurant at De Syloia Hotel in Hanoi during my July trip. A bit pricey, but great food, lovely place, and I was in good mood for photos…
Vietnamese have quite a unique way to prepare their coffee. One of the most popular coffees is the ice-milk coffee (cà phê sữa đá) which is also popularly called the ‘drip coffee’ by travellers because of how it was brewed… like this and this.
Didn’t manage to drip the coffee myself when I was in Hanoi in July 2008; the cafe I visited served the well-prepared drink instead (pic).
My sister who tried some coffee in Hanoi prior to my visit told me that Vietnamese coffee was stronger than common espresso… can’t agree on that, at least not with the one I had. A decent glass of coffee though… smooth, thick and rich.
Phở (pronounced like ‘fuh?’) is a traditional rice noodle soup and one of the most iconic Vietnamese foods. Pho is normally served as a bowl of flat-rice-noodles in beef broth, with some beef slices or other options like tripe or chicken etc.
There are a few variations of pho depending on the regions in Vietnam. The pho in Hanoi is called phở Hà Nội or phở bắc (northern pho), which is normally served with green onions; while the other regions are using different herbs instead.
A new found friend brought me to one of the locals’ favourite to try the pho when I was in Hanoi in July 2008. The place is Pho Thin, located at 13 Lo Duc St.
The restaurant was packed on the Saturday morning. The customers were sitting shoulder to shoulder while some others lining up for their seats. It’s not difficult to understand the crowdiness after tasting the pho, because it was really good.
The rice noodles were smooth and chewy, and the broth was rich in flavour despite looking mild and clear… and their chillies were nice too. Simplicity to its best.
