Hanoi Trip for the Palate
By Park Soo-mee
Contributing Writer
HANOI ― One of the random tricks I've developed over the years when traveling to a new city is to check the number of fast-food giants on the streets. Often, the less signs of familiar burger chains in a city, the richer and more unique the local food.
This applies to Hanoi ― the Southeast Asian capital of one of the few remaining socialist states. The city doesn't have any Starbucks or McDonald's ― a symbolic sign in itself of the city's culinary ego. Pizza Hut opened their first shop in Hanoi last year. Wandering around, you quickly realize that the face of Colonel Sanders is about the only familiar logo you come across in this charming city with a Parisian edge.
Instead, its colorful streets are dotted with pho stalls; vendors sell banh mi, crisp Vietnamese baguettes stuffed with grilled meat and pickled carrots with a kiss of p?t?, or banh cuon, soft rice crepes gently wrapped around shrimp or pork.
A good place to get a feel of the city's dining scene is Quan An Ngon (18 Phan Boi Chau, 942-8162), a Vietnamese version of the Western food court but with dishes boasting more authenticity. The key at this culinary paradise located in a lush courtyard is to sample as many different dishes in one spot.
Dozens of tiny stalls offer scrumptious local dishes, all street-style, including bun cha, grilled pork and vermicelli served in a smoky soup, various fritters, pho and tasty banh cuon, soft rice rolls served with toasted garlic and flavorful fish sauce, the entire bowl of which I almost wolfed down.
To do it right, you can't skip dessert. Across the street from the restaurant, Nguyen Son bakery (17A Phan Boi Chau 771-2550) offers French-styled pastries and macaroons in a casual setting. My companion and I brought back apple pastries and croissants to elegantly accompany our afternoon tea in our hotel room ― bliss.
The legacy of French cuisine is nicely integrated into many local treats, as evident in the ubiquitous street vendors selling Vietnamese baguettes. But it's also not uncommon to find a lush cr?me caramel, a soft French custard pudding with caramel topping, in Hanoi's upscale restaurants like Wild Rice (6 Ngo Thi Nham Street, 4-943-8896), or artfully-moist croissants that might rival Parisian patisseries in Caf? Opera (1 Le Thanh Tong St, Hoan Kiem Dist, 4-39330500).
If you're into fusion, you'll be impressed by the local offerings in such places as Bobby Chinn Restaurant (www.bobbychinn.com), run by celebrity chef Bobby Chinn. To get a better taste of contemporary Hanoi, a caf? inside Tan My (www.tanmyembroidery.com.vn ), a luxury four-story establishment adorned with eclectic artwork and works by local designers, offers tasty treats if you don't mind paying a little extra.
For seafood lovers, Hanoi offers healthy variations.
Hai San Ngon (199A Nghi Tam Street, 4-3719-3169), with an elegant courtyard, offers "blood cockles salad," clams with green papaya and cucumbers served with light rice chips.
The widely-introduced Cha Ca La Vong (14 Cha Ca Street, 4-825 3929) is worth a visit just for the ambience of the local mom-and-pop establishment. As you're seated, a menu alerts you that the restaurant only offers one dish ― grilled catfish with dill, served separately with rice noodles and chopped peanuts.
And for those who insist, local fast-food options do exist in Hanoi like "Pho 24" (1 Hang Khay, 936-5259), a Saigon pho chain, which serves a simple rice noodle soup with mint leaves and lime ― southern style.
A perfect place to end your trip is Caf? Pho Co (11 Pho Hang Bai, 828-5080), which gracefully overlooks Hoan Kiem Lake on Hanoi's emerging Old Quarter. Enough has been said about this place in travel blogs already. Nonetheless, this eclectic caf? built in an old villa house has a tranquil view of the city's colonial past without the noise or extra cost. It's exactly the kind of place for travelers to sit back for a few hours reminiscing about the trip while writing postcards to friends.
If you haven't tried already, this is also the place for Ca phe sua nong, Vietnamese coffee served with sweetened condensed milk. Serious coffee drinkers, though, would prefer other options like Caf? Mai (96 Pho Le Van Huu, Hai Ba Trung District, 622-7751), where beans are house-roasted, either to taste in the shop or grind to go (Vietnam is the world's second-largest coffee producer next to Brazil).
By the end of the trip, your memories of a Hanoian summer naturally mingle with the pungent aroma of fish sauce; images of locals cooling off on side blocks of tiny alleys with icy beer jugs and petite fruit peddlers gracefully parading through the streets with wooden baskets hanging onto a long stick carrying loads of pineapples, bananas and papayas on their shoulders. Hanoi is all about culinary lure.
And if you're like me, and still crave more after four days of binging and boozing in the city, there's always a half-day cooking class by friendly local chefs held at the beautiful garden of the Old Hanoi Restaurant (www.oldhanoi.com). The class includes a visit to a local market followed by a full-fledged cooking class, starting with spring rolls, and ending with ginger pudding and sweet potatoes.