Makan-makan @ Ha Noi

Okay, I'm not a food blogger like Jaslene or WMW, but I feel I should write a little bit about the "interesting" food that Evie and I had on our recent trip to Ha Noi.

Food served aboard Halong Bay Boat Ride

As the boat left the Bai Chay Tourist Wharf on mainland, we were served local Vietnamese food which was cooked in a small kitchen on the boat. I didn't get any details of the names of the food though. Such a lousy flogger aren't I? But I did take a few pics.

Taste a bit like fried popiah.

Layered fried eggs.

Tofu.

Fish.

Com Viet Restaurant
40, Ly Thai To Street
For dinner on our first day, we tried the restaurant recommended by Rachel, which serves a broad selection of local Vietnamese cuisine. It was fairly quiet when we arrived; there was an Australian couple dining. We ordered roasted pigeon, pork stew and stir fry vegetable (can’t remember the name). It wasn’t great, but I loved the ‘crispy’ roasted pigeon. Yummy!

See! See! The pigeon head!

As we were about to leave for the Water Puppet show, three girls all dressed up in traditional Vietnamese costume, started to perform a few traditional music instruments.


Cha Ca La Vong
14, Cha Cha Street
A must-eat local cuisine for every visitor to Ha Noi – the erroneously labeled “grilled” fish. It is actually pieces of tumeric coated fish fillet fried in groundnut oil (plenty of it) in a pan mounted on a little charcoal stove. You will then have to add a fairly significant amount of spring onions, coriander and basil leaves, and a bit of peanuts, into the pan with the fish and stir-fry. Instead of rice, you eat it with rice noodles. Costs RM20 per person! Rather pricey if you ask me!

Apparently, this place is listed under Patricia Shultz's "1000 places to see before you die". Indeed, an intriguing food experience that should not be missed when in Hanoi!


Quan An Ngan
Phan Boi Chau Street
This little food oasis is tucked in the shady corner of Phan Boi Chau St. We had never intended to come here in first place. We told our cyclo man to recommend a good roadside ‘pho bo’ or beef noodle. We had wanted to experience eating local noodles by the roadside, sitting on those tiny stools. Instead, he misunderstood us, and he brought us to this fairly classy “foodcourt”.

The entrepreneur had refurbished an old bungalow, and had nicely converted and done up the entire place into foodcourt with a tasteful design and concept. Customers mainly comprise smartly dressed office workers, rich to middle class locals, and of course, tourists. You get to choose a variety of local fare from more than 10 food counters.

I tried the Bun Oc Om Chuoi Dau (Braised Snails with banana & tofu served with rice noodle), while Eve tried Mien Mang Suon Moc (Bamboo cassava noodle soup with pork ribs and pork balls). We shared the desert, Xoi Vo (glutinous rice cooked with split peas).

I love my dish – a traditional local food in northern Vietnam – the snails were crunchy rather than chewy. The pieces of bananas in the soup were cooked with the skin and you were meant to eat all of it – I confirmed it with a Hanoian man seated next to me. Food prices were reasonable. We only spent a total of RM14 here!

Bamboo cassava noodle soup

Braised snail with banana & tofu

Glutinous rice cooked with split peas

Local Vietnamese coffee mamak
Next to St Joseph's Cathedral

As what Fable referred to as local 'mamak' in his sms, we decided to sit down by the sidewalk on those little chairs and have Vietnamese coffee and people-watch. It was indeed very relaxing with the cool temperature and watch the day pass by. I'm not much of a coffee person, but Evie loved the coffee so much, she decided to buy a few packets of Vietnamese instant coffee from a local convenience store.

Next post: The Charm of Ha Noi