FIRST TIME TO VIETNAM!

It’s been a while since I’ve ventured out into a new country so pretty excited to start exploring!

 On a side note, I know in-flight meals could be difficult to appreciate but I’ve got to say the food served on Vietnam Airlines was surprisingly better than expected TBH! And I finished everything reallyyy! Wine is oookay only though and there isn’t personal in-flight entertainment just saying  xD

Landed in Hanoi to low dark skies and drizzles – What gloomy weather to start the trip ohmanns D:

Anyway we took Bus 86 from Hanoi Airport all the way to the last stop which brought us to Hanoi Railway Station. Bus ride is around 1.5h long and it’s VND 30k per trip. We paid on the bus itself.

Some kind person at the bus station helped us Uber to our hotel – Spring Flower Hotel – which is located in Old Quarter.

If not for the many tourists walking around, the Old Quarter doesn’t feel like a tourist place to me at all – There were no English signs or visible Maps anywhere. When we were there, we were just relying on our trusty paper map to walk around and get about (no Data cos we didn’t get SIM cards :x)! And we also got the chance to cross the roads in a very local way i.e. just ignore the traffic and walk ahead steadily with confidence xD

 

The rain had stopped by the time we settled down and we were ready to get out and about. Our hotel was within walking distance to Hoan Kiem Lake and so that was the first attraction we headed to.

 

 

 

 

Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre is just beside the lake! We bought tickets to the 8pm water puppet show (VND 100k per person) and we had some time before it started so we roamed around looking for somewhere to chill for a bit.

 

Ended up at Cong Caphe – Was first drawn to the cool vibes and thought it has nice Alfresco seating with a good view. The staff recommended the Cong’s Signatures for drinks so we got the Coconut Milk with Coffee (VND 45k) and Coconut Milk with Chocolate (VND 55k) to try (: Strong taste of coconut milk – other than that they were just sweet sweet sweeeeet!

 

 

 

After that we realised Cong Caphe is everywhere – feels like the Starbucks of Hanoi xD

Rushed off to catch the water puppet show and it turned out more interesting than I expected with some cool effects. We didn’t understand Vietnamese at all but we could more or less figure out what’s happening for each part so it’s pretty cool with good music also!

Unfortunately after the show ended it raineddddd againnnn. Wanted to find somewhere for a proper dinner but battling the rain was too hard and it’s kinda late so we had no choice but to settle ourselves down at some random roadside stall and have a beer!

Special mention goes to Lệ Phố – Taro Croquettes that were crispy with fillings such as mushrooms and meat within – Enjoyed them the most! 😀

Listened to the rain while people-watching and that concluded our first night in Hanoi (:

***

The next day after breakfast our first stop was to check out EGG COFFEE! 😀

Initially the noobs me thought egg coffee would be something like coffee mixed with half boiled egg which I am not a fan of BUT NOPES it turned out to be something totally different from what I thought it was!

 

 

We checked out Giang Cafe which was said to have the original and also one of the best Egg Coffee around in Hanoi. Located at 39 Nguyễn Hữu Huân, and also along the road lined with many coffee shops, it may be easy to miss, especially when it has just a narrow lane leading into the cafe!

 

 

 

 

 

Ordering was really straight forward – got one hot and one iced to try but really just go for the hot one! The cup of coffee will come in a bowl of hot water which keeps it warm and nice (:

Read that egg yolks were used in place of milk to create the egg coffee cos back in the olden days milk was scarce. And so the drink tasted more like a dessert with its creamy texture and fragrant coffee beneath – Reminded me of creamy meringue and Creme Bulee maybe!

Thought it was on the sweet side (i rmb the iced one being much sweeter), and a very enjoyable drink overall!

 

After that, we headed in the direction of Hoa Lo Prison Musuem and did a little sightseeing along the way.

Decided our late lunch was going to be at Bún Chả Hương Liên, which was around 15 – 20 min by foot from Hoa Lo Prison Museum. Adamant to go cos I just had to check out this Bun Cha place where Anthony Bourdain brought Obama to! They even came up with a “Combo Obama” for us to simply get the exact same food which Obama had – very thoughtful haha

 

Read that Bun Cha is quite a local Vietnamese dish of grilled pork in clear savoury broth with fish sauce and eaten with rice noodles and herbs dipped inside the broth. That was the first time I tried Bun Cha and thought it was a very interesting dish – I never really noticed we have this in the Vietnamese restaurants back home.

I like how the noodles soaked up the broth so well that every mouthful was so full of flavour! It was amazing – the noodles felt like the right thickness. And the broth – it was a little sweet and quite light to my taste (though my friend thought it was rather greasy).

I would have enjoyed the grilled meat more if I had gotten more affirmative assurance that the meat are all pork – Cos when I tried asking the staff if there is beef she pointed out some meat patty and seemed to be telling us these are beef oops

The fried seafood rolls were awesome as well – stuffed with meat and prawns and so crispy yayyy 😀

After lunch, we hailed a taxi from the streets to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The museum was closed by the time we were there, but still it was a nice walk around with good weather, blue skies and pretty clouds.

I liked how we managed to walk from the Mausoleum all the way back to the Old Quarter – it’s not really a short walk though. Found it interesting to pass by various embassies along the way and take in the local Hanoi sights.

Happened to pass by Gong Cha and bought Lemon Aiyu with White Pearls (VND 43k) to freshen up a bit! Don’t think we have this back home haha it’s really shioks and even have some lemon bits which is quite cool (:

Also passed by some pasar malam/night market and saw many shops selling lanterns – think it was cos Mid Autumn’s Festival was round the corner at that time!

Didn’t get the chance to explore further cos we were hungry for dinner then xD Checked out Bún Bò Nam Bộ which is famous for its Bun Bo!

Unfortunately, I can’t take beef and so I didn’t get to try this specialty that was highly raved about.. Bun Bo is Vietnamese vermicelli with grilled beef – my friend who tried this said it was good and refreshing like having a salad so it should be not bad!

 

I ordered one pork roll to try instead while my friend enjoyed her Bun Bo and I think it might have seemed quite strange to just order one pork roll only. Cos I can’t noticing how the Vietnamese couple at the table beside us had ordered a couple of pork rolls (maybe around 10 or more) and just eating them heartily before having their Bun Bo – guess the pork rolls are kinda like appetizers? hahaha they taste pretty normal like pork sausages though

 

 

Alright so I decided I should have a proper dinner as well so we just rounded a corner and headed to this restaurant which is also pretty famous for one specialty dish – Chả Cá Lã Vọng!

And there we were at Chả Cá Thăng Long! Chả Cá Lã Vọng is another very local dish that I don’t see often back home – And when I read how this is a “unique specialty of Hanoi people”, it is definitely a MUST TRY for rememberbyfood 😀

There was a bowl of spices/vegetables on our table where we were seated and I could distinctly smell dill (but as you can see there are others as well like spring onion etcetc). That’s the amount of fish for one person and the staff helped us cook the fish with the vegetables on a little stove at our table. Service was really good cos after the fish was ready, he filled a bowl with rice noodles and other veg, put in the fish cooked with veg, sprinkled some sauce and roasted peanuts and offered me the little bowl filled with the delicacy along a pair of chopsticks, inviting me to try.

I knew it would taste awesome before I even tried (:

On hindsight, I guess he probably helped us cos we seemed pretty clueless on what we were in for. Nonetheless, that was really kind and service was really impeccable (Y)

And everything tasted really well together! It’s the kind of dish that whets my appetite and leaves me wanting more. And it’s the kind of food that I would definitely want to introduce to my family cos I feel they would find it interesting and delicious too (:

And that was a pretty good end to our day of walking around Hanoi in search of food 😀

***

We still had a bit of time in Hanoi when we returned from our Halong Bay cruise and before leaving for Sapa.

Spotted a street vendor selling Bánh mì opposite our hotel – And cos the noobs me never tried it before – even back at home – I had to get one just to try

What struck me the most was how after the baguette was stuffed with bbq pork, the entire baguette was then “kiaped” between the grills and bbq-ed for a bit more! Made the baguette nicely toasted and very very crispy! (Y)

To be honest, it had too much fatty meat for my liking haha though the bread was awesome! Good to try heh

 

Probably only had time for a last dinner in Hanoi! So we thought we could spend it at somewhere fancy (:

Decided on Green Mango which was not too far away by foot. The ambience was nice and the staff were friendly too (:

 

Got a Bailey’s Milkshake for myself – can’t really taste much of the Bailey’s though – just a nice sweet milkshake topped with ice-cream!

For appetizers, we ordered Spring Rolls from the Earth which are fresh rolls with vegetables, smoked duck, oven-roasted lamb and wok-tossed beef. The staff were really kind to help us split out the beef ones from the rest. First time trying spring rolls with duck and lamb so that was pretty interesting!

My friend ordered Cha Ca La Vong and it was quite an interesting twist to the one we had previously! The ingredients were pretty similar just that we had to DIY and roll up the fish, rice noodles, vegetables and peanuts in the rice paper instead!

And the serving was hugeee (Y)

 

 

 

The friendly staff also recommended us something off the menu – Bun Cha! – and she was saying how she usually doesn’t like Bun Cha but she really likes this one from Green Mango and she assured me that it’s all pork so I had to try it too!

Felt the broth here was lighter but I remember the grilled meat of the “Obama Bun Cha” tasted more flavourful

 

Still Green Mango was a pretty cool place to dine at! (:

 

 

On a side note, we did consider checking out Quan An Ngon for dinner – Read online that it is a Vietnamese street food restaurant and the concept is kinda like hawker centre/food court where you get everything under one roof! It is quite nearby the Hanoi Railway station, but we found it rather far to get to by foot so we didn’t get to try. Heard from other travellers we met in Sapa that it was not bad though!

So desserts after dinner was a must! I was really excited for desserts cos I decided we were going to try some interesting Vietnamese local desserts for our last night in Hanoi – So excited that even though I was already super full from dinner I knew I could not give it a miss! I was telling myself nopes I could not leave Hanoi without trying that

 

Here’s Xôi Chè Bà Thìn Số 1 Bát Đàn – we stopped by here on our way back from dinner. It is a corner shop and there are stools outside the shop where you sit and enjoy your desserts.

Throughout our whole trip, we have been wondering how the locals can sit so comfortably on such short stools to eat – and finally we got to experience it for ourselves! (:

 

 

 

 

 

To be honest, I have no idea what they call this in Vietnam BUT REGARDLESS THIS IS REALLYYY AMAZINGGGG!

Especially enjoyed that sticky rice you see there cos it tastes so chewy just like mochi! There’s coconut and ginger as well and the whole fusion is just OMG I LOVE IT!

Maybe it would be better if it’s served hotter but no matter what I polished this clean 😀

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wished we had more time to enjoy this more slowly and freely And I wished perhaps we could have tried out more of this at different stalls. That being said, I’m still very very very glad that I got to try it after all NO REGRETS! 😀

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saw the locals drinking this cold drink at the dessert stall so I decided I should try as well! No idea what it’s called so I just kept pointing at what the locals were having when I ordered, hoping the stall owner would understand oops Had to “dapao” though cos we had a sleeper train to catch

Thought the idea is a bit like “Cheng Tng” – just that this is much much sweeter and they have some ingredients within which are kinda interesting (: Could only remember some chewy bits hahaha

 

 

***

Last meal in Hanoi would be at the airport waiting for our flight.

Blueberry Milkshake and Salted Egg Yolk Tofu helped to while some time away haha

And in-flight meal back was again rather decent, in my humble opinion 🙂

Ending off with a snap of the sunrise at Noi Bai International Airport which was taken at around 6 am in the morning CHEERS TO MANY MORE NEW ADVENTURES AND EXCITING FOOD IN FUTUREEE! 😀

 

And sharing the addresses here for quick reference…

Giảng Cafe – 39 Nguyễn Hữu Huân, Lý Thái Tổ, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Bún Chả Hương Liên – 24 Lê Văn Hưu, Phạm Đình Hồ, Hai Bà Trưng, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Bún Bò Nam Bộ – 67 Hàng Điếu, Cửa Đông, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Chả Cá Thăng Long – 19 – 21 – 31, Đường Thành, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Green Mango – 22 Tống Duy Tân, Hà Nội, Hanoi City 100000, Vietnam

Xôi Chè Bà Thìn Số 1 Bát Đàn – As it is!