Hanoi, Vietnam

Hanoi is a place we’ve been wanting to visit for a long time and finally were able to do this over the Easter weekend holiday. From Hong Kong, Hanoi is a short hour and 40 minute plane ride which is perfect for a quick get away. The Sofitel Metropole Hotel is in the heart of Hanoi and is conveniently located to many of the areas and venues we wanted to visit. It’s the grand daddy of hotels which opened in 1901. We stayed in the new wing of the Metropole which was well appointed and away from the street noise.

First off on our food list was to try a few places selling Pho (pronounced ‘fur’) which is a traditional soup blending beef strips or chicken strips, rice noodles, herbs and spices. Across the hotel was where we had our first taste of this national dish. For lunch I ordered the beef Pho & my husband ordered the chicken Pho. Naturally we also had to order deep fried spring rolls and local beer (Bia Ha Noi or Ba Ba Ba). Our food bill in the end was USD$11.00! Feeling quite satiated, we headed for a self guided walking tour of Hanoi’s old quarter. I think it’s fair to say that walking in Hanoi is like a game of chicken! The rules of the street differ quite a bit from what I’m used to in Hong Kong and it’s fair game for pedestrians who cross the street. There are motorbikes (a kazillion of them!!), cars and bicycles coming from all directions and just when you think you’ve mastered it, wham! bikes come at you from one way streets (in the opposite direction!). My husband learned the hard way and thank goodness he has good reflexes otherwise the bike incident could have been worse.

You can buy anything on the street or sidewalk. How about a manicure, haircut or a quick bite? We bought two ceramic vases shown bottom left (USD$5.00).
For our second tasting of Pho we tried the ubiquitous Pho24 which is most probably a safe bet if you don’t want to eat the street version shown above. The number 24 refers to the 24 ingredients they use 24 hours! Their noodles are all homemade and chemical free. Try the beef brisket pho……….delicious!

Another traditional street food dish is cha ca which are fish burgers. There are so many places to visit and eat which added to our dilemma as we were only in Hanoi 3 nights. While I was taking a cooking class Saturday morning at the Metropole, my husband went around to a few of the restaurants we talked about and he decided that Bobby Chinn’s was the place to go for our last dinner in Hanoi. A great choice, indeed! The food is an infusion of Californian French and Vietnamese. What makes this place unique? The man himself (people want to see Bobby in his restaurant), his staff, the interesting menu, a large wine and cocktail list, good location, the service is quite professional and ambiance (silk drapes on the ceiling which are also used as room dividers) to match that of a scene from Arabian nights. Rosebuds hang from the ceiling and rose petals are scattered on the tables. The toilets have to be the best I’ve seen in Asia! Who else throws rose petals in the toilet bowl? Ok, so enough on the restaurant aesthetics let’s get down to the nitty gritty – food! With so many dishes to choose from I decided to go with the ‘Symphony of Flavors’ (USD$18.00) which is a selection of the chef’s signature bite size appetizers. I chose ‘Foie Gras Terrine’ (USD$15.00) with mixed greens and house vinaigrette. The foie gras was beautiful if that’s an acceptable food word! The texture was velvety smooth and a hint of aged wine crept through. The bite size appetizers were enough for me as a main meal! I love food where you can taste the ingredients and not one flavor overpowers the rest. My husband decided on grilled salmon resting on a bed of pureed potatoes infused with wasabi. Lonely Planet guide said anything on the menu with salmon would did not disappoint! For more on what’s on the menu, click here. One last note: the passionfruit martinis are out of this world! I’m not a big martini drinker but this drink could be the turning point for me! Oh yes, we ‘had‘ to try the shisha. Shisha is a water pipe with sweetened, flavored tobacco. The ones in Bobby Chinn’s restaurant are a first in Vietnam. The flavor we chose was apple and I’m told that Bobby hand carried these shisha’s from Egypt.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: One restaurant we just didn’t have enough time to visit is the Koto Restaurant. KOTO stands for ‘know one, then you should teach one’. It’s a not for profit restaurant where they take street kids and give them vocational training. Hanoi has much to offer in the way of historical tours, shopping and eating. If you are travelling to Hanoi, send me an email and I’d be happy give you some tips. You can also use Lonely Planet or The Rough Guide to help plan your itinerary but the one travel guide we used and had a few laughs over was the Luxe Hanoi guide (stylish, brutally frank and sometimes, frankly, brutal). Cheers!