Reviews by grubby
Another good Old Quarter tobacco blender. This one is especially good in the Winter as it stays moist much longer than some other brands.
| Was this review ... |
posted about 1 week ago by grubby
about the event: Hanoi International Music Festival # 2 by Club for Arts and Music Appreciation (C.A.M.A.) @ American Club
Several explanations for the relative lack of success of this, the second Hanoi International Music Festivals were suggested:
1) sophomore slump
2) weekly big bashes at the American Club in November
3) Hanoi has become a cooler place since the first one
personally I think it's 1) or 2). For a start, the ticket pricing was way out of the reach of most local people, and it seemed that there were more local people working there than being festival-goers. The price seemed steep to me, too, considering the entertainment on offer. What do I know, though. I bet the costs for organizing something like this are high. Are they really 50% higher than last April, though?
[Edit: thanks for the correction and explanation of costs, Gunksta]
To my taste, the live entertainment on offer was decidedly meh, with the exception of a couple of acts:
"7 Days" - a vietnamese grunge / hardcore / math rock group with great chops, good influences, and a nice way of mixing it up.
"Kill Girl Kill" - a Beijing tri fronted by two women. These guys were my favorite act, and I think it was because they let loose; they jammed out on stuff instead of just playing songs.
oh, not to forget the Van Ho Ba, who played first for some odd reason, when they deserved a bigger audience. Loadsa fun.
Here's hoping that the 3rd HIMF is a charm, and will be able to draw the kind of crowds and energy that the first one did, as those two aspects were sorely missed last Saturday.
| Was this review ... |
An excellent clean bia joint conveniently located near to the heart of the old quarter.
We tried a dish of bò cuốn lá cải, and all the ingredients were fresh and tasty, and the beef was juicy and tender.
Additionally, if you're into it (and I have to say I was not until this occasion) there's a famous long lợn shop next door for all your pig intestine and blood sausage needs. Sounds awful, but the plate we had was not at all chewy, and the sausage more reminiscent of a good old black pudding. Color me converted.
I suppose that last paragraph belongs in a review of the pig innard shop, but you can order it in the bia joint and they run next door to get it for you.
The bia? Good quality. The service? Pretty good.
| Was this review ... |
A stronger blend found only in Dong Da. The tobacco is very black and moist, and delivers a potent punch, but the 1,000 dong packs are rather small.
| Was this review ... |
This tobacco, although good value in terms of volume, seems to have more sticks in it than in years past. All told it's a lighter blend, but still quite tasty.
| Was this review ... |
This place seems like a real Hanoi institution. At lunchtime it was fairly full of men sitting at tables enjoying a couple of glasses before heading back to work.
The outside is, unfortunately, one of the doi moi horrors that are still scattered around the city, all concrete and gloom.
Despite that, the space inside is not bad, and there's a sunken open-air area that provides more sunlight while insulating you from the traffic.
The food we had was good - high-grade bia hoi fare. The menu looked pretty extensive, and the one special I tried, their cha ca, was very tasty indeed.
Oh, and the beer is brewed next door, so I don't think you need ever worry about them running out.
| Was this review ... |
Oh dear. How the mighty have fallen.
Last night's visit to this esteemed drinking palace was marred by the fact that they "ran out" of bia hoi at 6:15pm, and all but one of the servers seemed to consider their Korean soaps much more important than actually serving customers.
I think the tv answers an ancient need in humans: the need to have something neutral to look at while discussing life with one's fellows. Until the late 1940's (and in vietnam until the 1990's) this need had been fulfilled for countless millenia by the fireplace. People gathered round the fire of an evening and gazed at the dancing flames, while verbally digesting the day's events with their peers.
Fire doesn't talk. It crackles and spits, but it doesn't talk. Much less does fire talk utter rubbish, or require the watcher to conform to national ideals and bedtimes.
I'm a bastard. I asked them to turn the tv off, because it was loud and distracting. I had to ask 4 times; changing the channel is not equivalent to turning the tv off. I'm a bastard.
When one of the older high-scholars who staff the place finally intervened to turn off the idiot box, I sensed a great hostility towards my bastard self: good.
What I noticed afterwards was that the people who had been slack-jawed-ly watching Korean soaps with the same Vietnamese woman doing all the voices, like your mother reading a bedtime story; these same people actually started talking to each other.
And me and my wife could talk peacefully, without listing to people selling washing powder; at least until they assumed we were drunk enough to ignore the tv: wrong.
So, zero stars for being a bia hoi with no bia; one star for the one sensible waiter, and one star because I'm a generous guy.
Not that anyone there reads this, but "come on guys, get your shit together!"
| Was this review ... |
What sets this bia hoi apart from many others is the highly competent service. All the servers were concentrated on their work when they needed to be, and young woman in charge of the shift was very effective.
Another nice little feature of this joint is the way they array their beer snack dishes in a glass case by the entrance, so you can see what tickles your fancy as you come in, or make your way back from the (fairly clean) toilets.
Add the prime location near the opera house to the list and this is a must-visit bia place.
| Was this review ... |
5 stars for the awesome food - the marinated beef and their homemade kimchi are still resonating in my tastebuds days later.
-1 star for "yes, yes" service that averages out as "yes, no" in actual fact.
+1 star because the owner went out and got me superglue for my glasses after my daughter broke them (again).
Get a group together to go here - best to have a long table and enjoy gassing your neighbour with the smoke from the fatty pork.
| Was this review ... |
Breasts indeed, and seemingly custom-moulded. Or should that be "cupped?"
Every wall in this place has some piece of original bas-relief, which says to me that the owner is a patron of the arts; the non-classical friezes in the toilet and the under-stairs cubbyhole are particularly interesting.
The night we were there we were treated to some very tasteful live guitar and a performance by a young vietnamese woman who could be famous for all I know - her singing merited it anyway.
Oh, the drinks. Well, it's standard cafe fare - I saw a lot of froo froo drinks in wide-hipped glasses, but the cocktails I had were just average.
Still, I'm giving it 4 stars so it gets added to my favorites, because it's a place I'll be keeping an eye on. Has potential.
| Was this review ... |