At Home in Hanoi
This is a nice little place, with a large and rotating selection of different beers from around the world on offer. They're currently stocking that great nectar, Coopers, for less than anywhere else I've seen it.
The food is top notch, and you can see them cooking it. Their Eggs Benedict is fantastic (I've tried it in lots of places in Hanoi, it is by far the best I've had so far). Their cheese platter has only three cheeses on it, but they are good range - goat's, a blue cheese, and a third one (but I forget what) and reasonable portions and it also comes with some dried fruit as well. It could do with some more biscuits, but you can always ask for more. I've found the dips that come with the bread are the same... there's plenty to go on top, just not enough to ferry it to your mouth (I am more than willing to just use my hands though, but it often draws looks of horror from other patrons).
They’ve also started doing a Wednesday night special of a dish paired with a beer, which I haven’t tried yet, but had glowing reviews from mates that have been.
The staff are attentive without overly hovering, and the restaurant is light and airy and a comfortable size so long as there aren't too many other people there.
While lots of the things I've said sound a bit like back-handed compliments after re-reading, it is a great place to go. And the last time I was there, they showed me a full page review of it in the Vietnam News, with the author saying he had taken some pointers from other people's write-ups at the New Hanoian, so the words of those who have gone before have convinced others, too.
One thing, it is closed Mondays; I keep forgetting that, and have to think of a plan B.
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Highway four is a good place to take visiting friends, especially if they want to try weird foods like scorpion and crickets and stuff. When we go, we tend to order the same 3 or 4 dishes, and always the catfish spring rolls (which I was leery at the first time, as catfish isn't eaten back home in Australia, but I have American mates that go nuts over it). The passion fruit chicken is great as well. They have a fairly large selection of hot pots, but I'm not a fan of them at all, I've had too many bad ones elsewhere.
They do deliveries which can be a good idea as the place is often noisy and crowded - though the last time we tried to order one, it turned into a take away instead, they were too busy, but that's no big deal.
The main saving grace is the Son Tinh fruit liquors... they are good either straight or in the various cocktails they mix up. You can even get them to take away too. While they taste nice, and have a good kick, you stink like a demon the next day after a night on them.
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After living in the outback for three years, I got out of the habit of going to the movies, as a 2,000km return trip for something that sucks really makes you wish you hadn’t gone. And for quite a while after I got here I didn't see the point, either, as you could buy all the latest movies on DVD for about the same price (or slightly less). But I've recently started going again, and intend to go more often, especially for things that should be seen on the big screen - anything with big explosions.
Megastar has their listings online http://megastarmedia.net/en/session_time.aspx so you can pick a good time to go and avoid kids or crowds, and lets you search multiple movies up to a week in advance.
The VIP section has extra leg room, and the pricing differential makes it well worth it. You also get to choose your seats, so if you're going with a bunch of friends, and you want to sit together, you need to buy all the tickets at the same time. It took about 5 movies before we worked that out though, you need to touch a light blue square to pick your seats, before the time limit of the cashier getting pissed off with you runs out, and you’re sitting next to the usher.
A bonus star because they sell beers and let you take them in, much better than home! They will even sell them in a bucket with ice, if you need more than one for each hand (which would be the case in a chick flick).
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A nice little cafe that a bunch of my mates suggested for drinks one evening - though they told me it was on Trang Tien, and it took me a couple of laps swearing at my incompetence until I realised it was on a little side-street off Trang Tien. It had a really good view of the nightlife on Trang Tien - what I assumed was the queue for parking was actually people lined up for Trang Tien Special Ice-cream which my friends told me was the first ice-cream company in Vietnam, hence its popularity (we had 2 each when we finished, its not that special).
They have a good range of cocktails, especially the milky kinds that Vietnamese girls go for, ones with Baileys, Amaretto… the ones that don't taste like booze. The beers were a bit warm, and I would definitely not eat here, I ordered two main courses and was still hungry, both were about the size of tapas plates.
They did have a sign up saying that they have happy hour from 10am til 3 PM, so it might not be a bad option for lunchtime drinks, after eating elsewhere. And they have those fans which spray a fine mist of water to combat the heat and humidity, which will definitely help for people watching.
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This place is owned by one of my kids' parents, and they invited the whole class there on the opening day for an awesome spread. They did it sensibly too, skipped their normal menu and went instead for trays of pizza, plates of chips, and all the other sort of things that attract kids (but alas no fairy bread). We teachers could pick at it, but they also did a fantastic banana flower salad (I've just uploaded the picture) for my co-teacher, and spaghetti cabonara for me, with ice-cream for all afterwards. They ran it really smoothly, especially considering how, uh… "lively" that class can be.
I've been a few times since then, sometimes recognized as the teacher of the owner's kids, sometimes not (I prefer it when I'm not, as it is more peaceful as just a normal punter). It is a boat floating on Truc Bac lake, but it is no-where near as crowded as the Highlands Coffee one, so I much prefer it. They have a huge range of food, Vietnamese dishes, pastas, pizzas, and it is also a Nguyen Son bakery, so it has all the normal cakes, pastries, breads and ice-creams.
I like going here on the weekends for a breakfast/lunch, especially when the swan paddle boats are going on the lake, and watch as spoilt children drive them into the boat with as much force as they can. I'm too lazy to walk upstairs, on the top of the boat, but thinking about it, it may be a good option for a few sundowners on a clear day.
The prices are reasonable, and it is a nice central location to start the day at.
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Ostrich! I'd seen it on the menu at a few other places, but had always bee booed down by my friends. But this place has a stuffed one (albeit a bit disheveled) out the front, and specializes in it. Some friends had been there recently and their recommendation was enough to tip us in favour of a trip there.
The decor downstairs is nicer, but there is not a lot of space, but I have the feeling it'd be stinking hot upstairs in the day time.
The menu has quite a few flexible and interpretative spellings, and I don't think the waiters spoke heaps of English - so getting clarification of what Ostrich Gastric entailed (just the juices? the stomach itself? the contents? Something worse than I could imagine?) so we went with pretty safe options. The dishes we got were pretty tough, but the sauces were nice, especially poured over our rice to soak it up.
The way they poured the beer was pretty cool – one handed, the waiter put the bottle over the lip of the tall glass, then pulled it back, tilting the glass at about 5 degrees which allowed the beer to flow down the side of the glass, giving it a good head. And there I was about to be my classy self and drink it straight from the bottle, I would have missed the show!
I don't think I will race back there, but it is good to be able to cross yet another animal off the Raging Carnivore's Guide of Animals to Eat that I haven't digested yet.
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I don't like this place, every time I have been here, the service has been shocking. Over fifteen minutes to get a drink each time I've been there, and if it is supposed to be cold like a fruit juice, it is normally luke warm. Admittedly every time I have been here (except for the last) I have been hideously hung over, so there may have been some time dilation due to the alcohol in my bloodstream. The food normally follows about 45 minutes later, generally requiring the late breakfast to be re-classified as lunch.
My eggs Benedict last weekend were cold and had obviously been sitting around on a bench, forgotten and forlorn for quite a while, making the sauce manky as it was starting to separate.
The layout of Puku is really bad too. The counter where you order and pay makes a bottle-neck at the entrance. Each visit to Puku at least once I have been queued up to order/pay/tell them they have screwed up the order and more customers have been passing through and I politely step back to make space for them - someone will jump in and take my spot, just for a moment, to chat. Not a problem, though it always turns out they are a "regular" and so they get served before me and don't have the decency to pass the attention of the waitress back to me.
Most of the regulars also seem to take up a whole table with their laptop, ipod, and sense of superiority. The entrance to Puku is narrow and dingy and easy to drive past, which is what you should do, the atmosphere is not welcoming.
Definitely give Poo-ku a miss. I was discussing it as a breakfast option with a workmate the day after my last visit, and like me, he doesn't see the attraction. But he managed to talk his friends into an R&R breakfast, a much more satisfying solution.
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Kzak is an airbrushing place, where they make your helmets, computer or whatever look fantastic.
Since the helmet law came in, I've pretty much bought a new helmet each month. Imelda Marcos had shoes, I'm going with helmets. While I love all of mine, they weren't eye catching or pretty enough.
Driving down Kim Ma, I noticed a shop that had some really awesome looking ones, but I was always too busy to stop there until one lazy Saturday.
They had helmets, computers, mobile phone covers and bike parts that had all been airbrushed. The guy in the shop didn't speak much English, but he gave me a card with a website and contact details. After having a play on the website, I was most impressed, and fired off an email in English and Vietnamese with the help of my friends.
The prices seemed reasonable to me 1,400,000 dong for my helmet to be completely re-sprayed, and the emblems and characters from a computer game put on it. Now I'm tempted to get my bike done, as well...
The pictures came out great, it only took a few days, and they said if there were any changes I wanted they'd adjust it - but it was perfect so I didn't need this.
A really good way to get something a bit more customized, so you can look stylish on the roads.
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I like the square pizzas here, though once I had a "steak" - but it was a hamburger patty cut into the shape of a steak, so I'd definitely steer clear of them.
The Roma pizza is the one I normally get, quail eggs, olives, ham, mushrooms, all the good bits. It is of a shareable size for two, if you're not particularly hungry.
This is a good place to go for food if you're drinking at one of the surrounding bars on Bao Khan and can't be bothered going anywhere far away. The deserts have looked good as well, but we normally figured they wouldn’t sit too well with the beers as we returned to the bar we had been at previously.
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Just went here for breakfast, it seemed a nice enough joint for a few bottles of plonk and a nice plate of cheese, but I'm not much of a wine drinker.
I can't really comment too much on this place, I'm not the target market for it, but I do have mates both here and back home that would absolutely love it, and would welcome it as a second home, be on first name basis with the staff and customers there, and normally order a "usual", the same combination of drink and food each time they went.
We did find the breakfast portions too small - I swear my eggs Benedict was made from quail eggs, they were that titchy, and the first coffee we were served was practically warm milk.
With the right mix of friends, a few bottles of nice wine, and a few cheese platters, I could see it being the start of a good night before you do something cultured, like the opera.
With the right mix of friends, a few bottles of nice wine, and a few cheese platters, I could see it being the start of a good night before you do something cultured, like the opera.
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We have started going here more often since it has changed hands, and have been enjoying the menu immensely. There isn’t a huge range, but what they do make they are damn good at. The burgers are awesome, and are of a proper size. Instead of a tiny roll you'd get with a bowl of soup and a patty to match, you get a real hamburger that makes your stomach gurgle with joy. Getting a large slaps an extra layer on it, so you have two patties and twice the works and jerks.
I thought that getting a large toasted sanger would mean an extra piece of ham, and maybe some more chips, but it turns out I was wrong. Instead of one ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg, I ended up with two - not a bad addition for only an extra 20 thousand! Unfortunately I’d just polished off a roast lamb meal (which hadn't even touched the sides) but my friends rallied around me and gave me a hand knocking off the second one.
I'm not a salad person, but the salads here are all very decorative and eye catching, and the serves of food (apart from the aforementioned lamb) have been spectacular in size and taste.
We used to drink spirits here, for no clearly defined reason; it just seemed to be a nice place for it, though we have now swapped back to beer again. They have Dai Viet beer in bottles here, one of the few places I've seen it, and it is quite popular with the large French crowd they get in here.
Wifi is good, and you can see the router mounted to the wall of the stairs, giving good coverage throughout the place, and it looks like they are currently doing a bit of redecorating and painting, and have a new series of black and white (I think) photos up.
The music is occasionally too loud, but it is a small price to pay. The owners are often in attendance downstairs and they seem quite friendly.
A good place if you speak French and want to practice, and a fantastic place to snork down a good, filling meal.
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I'd like to be able to give this place more stars, because a bookshop needs every bit of encouragement they can get. I had more luck finding things to read here (and picture books for school) than in the larger Vietnamese bookshops with an English section. But the main styles I'm interested in - science fiction, fantasy, comedy - were all pretty anemic.
I can't comment on their returns policy like some of the reviews below me, nor do I intend on finding out… I'll loan my books to mates, but you'll have to prise them from my cold, dead fingers before I'll part willingly with them forever.
There was an interesting looking collection of books about and on Vietnam, so sending visitors here might be a good idea if they want to take something back home with them.
If you enjoy reading science fiction, fantasy or comedy, then I definitely recommend you take all your books there and sell them so that they have a larger stock next time I go.
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Only recently have I started going here, and I wish I had tried it out sooner. It is a nice comfortable bar when it isn't crowded (admittedly going to an Irish bar on St. Patrick’s Day and then expecting to get a table isn't the smartest plan).
I enjoy sitting on the high barstools and swinging my legs, but they aren't conducive to conversation if there is more than 3 of you, and short people hate them.
The beer is always nice and cold, often with a thin layer of ice detaching off the bottom of the glass and mingling with the head of your beer.
The quality of the food has been solid but not impressive the times I've eaten here, with reasonable sized serves.
I've known about the quiz night for a while, but since I have such a poor grasp of time and shocking organizational skills, I still haven't managed to turn up to it. When I do, that might get it another star.
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At the other end of Hoan Kiem lake if you sit at Legends, you can watch the traffic flow by, but sitting at the outdoors section of this Hapro you get to watch the pedestrians, and the waters of the lake. I don't mind this spot for people watching at times, and there aren't that many outdoorsy areas that are nice and relaxing to sit in (OK, so you will still get the horns and traffic noise here, but that is par for the course).
It is nice to have a beer here, and watch the usually sedate walkers, and the ripples on the lake. I'd steer clear of the food though, it comes in a bucket from the other Hapro across the road - plus there are more tempting menus a stones throw in any direction. It makes for a nice change, and Fanny is just across the road for dessert…
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I have been here a couple of times, mainly on the invitation of parents whose kids are in my class. It is nicely decorated, but I would definitely try and get there a bit earlier so you can snag a good seat outside in the beer garden, and watch the shadows lengthen on the building and the lights come up in the library.
This is one of the few places I have had a nice lamb dish. One time the other teachers with me have had a bit of a hit and miss with their orders, and have looked longingly at others people's plates. That hasn't been the fault of the restaurant though, that time we were all distracted by the antics of the kid in our class, and they ended up ordering the wrong dish.
The serves are a good size, the beer is cold, the prices are reasonable, and the scenery is pleasant. A solid 4 star performance.
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I've been here twice now, and the last time was absolutely awesome, a fantastic meal. The first time was good, but not startling, but since the second trip was so good, I have to give it 5 stars. The first time we went, we got warm nori tuna rolls - and me being uncultured was expecting a bread roll... the word nori didn't register in my mind, so I was surprised to see them wrapped in seaweed. Oh well. We both had kebabs from their barbie selection (back page of the menu, not on every night I think) and they were OK, but not as magnificent as the second time...
We went back recently, when we had received some bad news, and wanted somewhere nice to take our minds off things. Started downstairs with a drink, and the waiters were attendant enough when we wanted another drink, but gave us enough space to talk things over in peace. The chairs down there are cool, they are huge brown thrones, and I had to keep bringing my mind back to the conversation at hand, rather than work out how to command my army of peons.
When we did go upstairs, we were the only people there (for the whole night, a nice change from the first night when it was pretty crowded). Once again, the waiters were great, there when you wanted them, but not in your face topping up your beer every sip.
We both had prawns for an entree - I ordered garlic prawns, but only got 3 or 4. They were nice, but not nice enough to make me love Nuevo Cuisine. My girlfriend got another entree as a main, a salad I think, that she raved on about, I tried it too, and it was pretty good… for a salad. She said two entrees were just the right size. I ordered a steak, something I haven't done for ages in Hanoi, as I feel insulted when I am given something the size of a lamb chop and told its a steak - Aussies know what a steak is, its big, and hangs off both sides of the plate. This was the best steak I have had in Hanoi, getting close to a reasonable size, and the sauce was great, and the deep-fried spud-balls (I forget the name of them at the moment) soaked it up well.
The complimentary bread with oil at the start was great as well, and we figured we might as well round out the meal with dessert. I got passion fruit tiramisu with warm chocolate balls (really nice that melted in your mouth) and fresh raspberries! I can't recall the last time I had them! I snapped a picture of the desert, so I've uploaded it here - I guess Nuevo Cuisine can be filling and pretty. I forget what my girlfriend had; I was too busy enjoying the raspberries.
Definitely taking my folks there when they get here this month.
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Normally when I'm drinking, I don't like to roam. I go to the bar of the evening, drink, and go home. I'm not a fan of bar-hopping, as it’s rare that there's nothing left to drink (unless it is a 1 keg bia hoi).
However, Dragonfly is the one bar where everything changes for me. I've never started there, but I've ended a few nights there - quite often after a New Hanoian Meetup.
I don't like the place, I don't like the atmosphere, I don't like the crowds, I don't like the hookah. But they have a drink which has mango juice and three spirits in it - which I will start talking about at length to all and sundry about half an hour before I remember the name of the street and head there.
For the hookah room you sit on the floor and take your shoes off. I don't smoke, but I went in with my mates to be sociable, while knocking back the aforementioned mango drinks. By the time I was ready to leave, quite a few more people had come in, and my pair of shoes was under a pile of about 50 or so. My eyes are bad, I'd had a heap to drink, and the lighting was poor, so there was no way I was going to spend an hour fishing through the pile for my pair, and I thought it wouldn't be sporting to just grab any old shoes, so I ended up grabbing a xe om home in my socks.
I can't recommend the mango drink enough!
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Been here a few times now, and we have always had the place to ourselves. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and I am sure once the New Hanoian Meetup is here, that the word will well and truly be out about it.
It is on the 19th floor, with great views overlooking West Lake and the surrounding parts of Hanoi. Unlike all the other high up bars I have been to, the prices are not similarly inflated. The cocktails can be a bit hit and miss though, but that is normally a promising sign that they are being hand pored not measured, so fair enough if it doesn’t always work in your favour.
They have a small menu, but I haven't tried the food yet. On a sunny day with a light breeze this place is great, and I think I’ll give it a shot one lunchtime.
They have a lot of signs up for live music and dancing and stuff, I haven't been to any of these, but the selections of tunes they have been playing the times I have wandered in have been at a good volume for background without drowning out the conversation. They have a state and some instruments set up inside and another stage outside on their large balcony.
Definitely somewhere to go more often now the weather is warming up.
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We have started frequenting here for lazy Saturday afternoons - watching the traffic at the bottom of Hang Gai is hypnotic, especially after a few half litres of beer. Speaking of which, we're probably going there in a few minutes - my advice is so good even I take it.
I haven't tried the food here - but that hasn't been the draw card for us really. I have tried it at the Big C branch, and it was quite good.
Definitely somewhere to take visitors, preferably on the first day they are here, so they get the wow/OMFG factor of watching the traffic.
Finding the entrance can be a bit tricky, it is on the lake side of the building, near the sewing machines you can see in the window. You can park on the lake for free if you let them know you're going to Legends, but that does cut down how many you can drink if you drive as badly as I do sober.
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I was given free tickets to the buffet by a mate, who picked them up from someone else as a gift. The Ha Thanh in the name is in a different font and smaller, and so I nearly ended up driving to the wrong restaurant as I looked up Sen on here, and was all set to go to West Lake.
Happily I listened to the voice of reason (my girlfriend, I'm not responsible enough to have such a voice inside my head) and read the address on the card instead. This place is light years ahead of the other place with a similar name.
We booked - not something I'd normally do here, but by the end of the night every table was full - and this was on a run of the mill Wednesday night. The tables are close together, but not so close that you are sitting on someone else's laps, but it can be a bit difficult to navigate to your seat (there was one bloke who repeatedly took about 5 minutes to get back to his table each time, maybe he'd had a few).
The food was fantastic, and there was a good range... sushi and sashimi (neither were stellar, but it was far from being bad), roasted meats, snails and scallops, all the standard buffet stuff, and a range of traditional Vietnamese foods as well at two booths, being prepared and served by a couple of little old ladies much like in other places. The Banh Xeo was cold, though, but yummy.
There weren't too many foreigners there, the two of us, and two more at tables with what looked liked Vietnamese business partners. I'd say it caters to business functions mainly.
The place is nicely decorated, and would be a great place to take visitors to really impress them, but the prices are pretty steep - 195 thousand for lunch, and dinner is 230 thousand Monday to Thursday, going up to 270,000 Friday to Sunday when they have live music.
Its a good place to keep for special occasions
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