Eat Like Ushi

The concierge at our hotel (the exceptional Hanoi Elegance Emerald) recommended us a topline cruiser for the Halong Bay overnight trip. The Calypso Cruiser was supposedly the best of the lot and many guests had enjoyed a stay there. Although the weather was cold and skies winter bleak, the junk was lovely and comfortable. The rocking motion didn't induce any form of nausea. At night looking out across the bay you can see other boats anchoring.

The staff assisted us in a small cooking class to make cha gio (spring rolls) which added a little fun. Otherwise dinner included a mix of prawn cocktail, salad, clams, spring rolls presented electrifyingly on a pineapple, not very good fries (for some Western familiarity), chicken, fish and fruit.

None of the food was outstanding but it was satisfying enough. It is a boat after all.

After returning from the trip, I commented to the concierge that the stay was nice, however there were some cockroaches in the rooms (not mine but others) and that other guests had managed to get a discounted fare of about USD20 less from a travel agent. The concierge took this on board - later that day the manager of the junk company came to the hotel in person. He greeted me and apologised for the cockroach issue. I was reimbursed the difference in the discount fare and offered a free hotel transfer at the expense of the junk company.

This service is impeccable. I think given that you can't completely immune any cruise from the issues I noted, I can't recommend the hotel or junk enough.

Other than a steaming bowl of bun bo hue, the only specific thing on my list to eat in Hue was to sample the royal cuisine. There's two places that seem to specialise in this - Hoang Vien and Tien Gia Vien. Tien Gia Vien seemed to have reviews that seemed more favourable to me and so it was on my list. Funnily enough during a private tour of the city, our driver decided to take us somewhere for lunch - which happened to be Hoang Vien. I was a little skeptical at first as the first table I saw were an all middle-aged European tourist group. As the next 5 tour buses of the same arrived, it was decided this was not the place for lunch. The surprised driver couldn't understand why we didn't want to eat here, but after some negotiation took us to a little cafe in a side street behind a petrol station, the place he eats lunch. That was a great meal.

The next evening dinner was booked at Tien Gia Vien. The neighbourhood was quiet and the place is in a little side alley. During a January night, the place was relatively empty with only a few couples there. I can imagine this wouldn't be the place, the type or food nor the price for any kind of locals, but there was refreshingly no tour groups.

The staff spoke English well enough to explain the dishes to me.

- Bunch of carrot & papaya flowers
- Dance of the Phoenix
- Pineapple Lantern of Assorted Appetisers
- Surprise Soup of Hue
- Vietnamese Spring Roll in the form Peacock
- Big Steamed Prawn
- Sweet & Sour Papaya in the form Dragon
- Meat, Pork with Potatoes in the form Elephant
- Cantonese Rice in the form Tortoise
- Dessert: Dragon Boat includes Fruit

The setting is lovely, the food artistry is beautiful and the flavours themselves are fine. I prefer the street tastes generally but this is something a little more refined, a little less heavily flavoured and nice as a change. And you get to play with the food to create new hybrid beasts!!

Nha Trang is one of the cities that seems to have a particular reputation for food. The seaside location lends itself to fantastic seafood from ladies selling lobster on the beach (which I didn't get to have unfortunately) to little stalls dotted with buckets of live fish and crustaceans cooked to order by weight.

Travelfish had one very enticing suggestion - Lac Canh. It was a peaceful evening stroll to get there and to be sat amongst nothing but locals all enjoying the charcoal BBQ brought to the centre of each table. The food is great, the flavours lovely, and the condiments make it a fun and tasty meal.

I'd recommend ordering the plates with the Lac Canh name in it - the only dish I regret not getting is their signature beef. And the one on the table next to me made be pine.

I can't quite remember how I heard about Bobby Chinn's restaurant in Hanoi, it may well have been seeing his name attached to a TV food show and researching from there. A couple of blog reviews made the place sound interesting in its quirkiness and good in flavour.

The restaurant setting is beautiful, a quiet area in north Hanoi accessible by taxi. The entrance and the downstairs bar are very warm and welcoming, and it would have been nice to have more time to rest here and enjoy the hookah and a few cocktails.

The quirks start with the illuminated magnifying glasses to read the menu. The menus themselves are written with hilarious banter and make for good entertainment. The next quirk (should you choose to accept it) is the "you are beautiful" sidedish, that comes as menus to take home and the staff regularly telling you (or your partner should you order it for them) that they are beautiful, right up until the written form with dessert and the final goodbye gesture at the door on leaving.

The food itself is delicious, and I had no faults. If you want something special to end your trip in Vietnam/Hanoi, I recommend this place very highly.

12-2016

In cleaning up very old collections of travel documents, I came across the menu...

It's a shame this Hanoi restaurant is closed in favour of a (not well rated) London version.