Ok, I shall skip to my favourite section. One of the top items on the travel agenda was eating well, and we wanted to sample food across various budgets. Hanoi is of course famous for Pho, and we tried two Pho restaurants. We also tried a variety of other cuisines.
Pho Truang
We picked up a brochure for this restaurant from the tourist info centre, which boasted as having the best authentic Hanoi-style pho. Overall the pho was cheap and good, no complaints. We had our great first bowl of pho here.
Pho 24
Located near the Temple of Literature, we recognised this from some of the travel guide recommendations and popped in to try it. Prices were comparable to Pho Truang (about 28,000VND-39,000 VND for a bowl of Pho), but Pho 24 also had meatballs which were missing from Pho Truang menu. We also felt the broth was superior, although the noodles were slightly less flavoursome. Overall, this was our preferred pho joint. (An interesting note, apparently Pho 24 is actually Southern Vietnamese style, which explains why they provided the accompanying dish of beansprouts and lime wear familiar with in Singapore, whereas Pho Truang did not.)
Bobby Chinn Restaurant
We passed by this restaurant on the way in from the airport, and recognised the name from cooking show fame. We came back the next day to try it for dinner, and had an excellent meal. The food was mainly western style, although they used many Asian spices. Bobby Chinn's quirky humour added to the overall great ambience, which also included red hanging drapes, lovely lighting and two complimentary morsels from the chef. Those certainly added to the experience! Overall the main courses were pretty good, desserts were chocolaty superb, the presentation was excellence par none, and the experience was one of the best I have ever had. (Of course, the great company helped too.) Total cost came up to about 30USD per person.
Scallop on Shell
Green Tea Duck
Crab Trio (Soub, Cake, Salad)
Chocolate Mousse
Assorted Brulees (Vanilla, Lemon, Chocolate)
Bobby Chinn's Irreverant Menu
Emperor aka Club De L'Oriental
Emperor was the only Vietnamese restaurant in Hanoi given a 3-star rating by Frommers, so we had to hunt it down. And it was quite a hunt, because the restaurant had relocated to 27 Tong Dan St., Hoan Kiem District (Tel: +84 4-826-8801) as of early 2008. This just goes to show the pace of change in Hanoi now, because the 2007 Frommers review said it was under renovation at the time of writing!
The food there was excellent, with variations on familiar dishes such as chicken in lemon leaves, fried codfish and grilled squid in lemongrass. One interesting dish was the beef wrapped in the local equivalent of betal nut. Another superb dish were the summer rolls, supposedly rated "Best Summer Rolls" by the NYTimes. The best part was the price, which came up to only about USD20 per person, for probably the most delicious meal we had on the trip. The decor and ambience was also lovely, living up to the old name of Emperor with a very old majestic feel, although it didn't quite project the unique experience of Bobby Chinn.
Prawn Summer Rolls
Fried Cod Fish
Beef in Betel Leaves
There has been much raving about Fanny Mae Ice Cream on the web. I just thought I'd state for the record that it was ok, but I didn't find it particularly outstanding.
to be continued ...
photos will be updated as travel partners' pictures become available
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