Getting social in Hanoi

In Hanoi, I had my first taste of Vietnamese food and it was an EXCELLENT recommendation by my Hanoi Kids guide. She brought me to eat Bun Bo Nam Bo at a shop called BUN BO NAM BO (surprise!!) named after its specialty. It’s more expensive than the usual ‘Bun’ noodles you’d get by the street but ever since then, I haven’t had anything quite like it (I was desperately trying to find though!). It cost 35,000 VND, about 2.60 SGD). IT’S SOOOOO GOOD!!!!

According to my good friend Wikipedia, Bun Bo Nam Bo is done in a southern style and it’s different from the usual type of ‘Bun’ you get from the streets. In fact, I just found out that I went to the most popular beef noodle place in Hanoi (rated #5 attraction in Hanoi on TripAdvisor)! The shop is a hole-in-the-wall type of establishment and it’s located along 67 Hang Dieu Street. It is a MUST-TRY *drools*.

Bun Bo Nam Bo

67 Hang Dieu Street

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We also went to get ice cream from a highly popular ice cream place called Kem Trang Tien.

It was swarmed with locals, all standing around eating their ice cream. Having been there for over 50 years, the place is practically an institution in Hanoi, but it’s little known to tourists and foreigners because it’s not written in guidebooks. Most foreigners head to Fanny’s by the lake, but Trang Tien is (supposedly) better and definitely cheaper. It cost about 12,000 VND a pop and we tried the 2nd most popular flavour, which is green rice.

Why try the 2nd? You may ask. Well, simply because the 1st was sold out. The best-selling ice cream at Kem Trang Tien is on an ice cream cone. I have no idea what flavour it is of though. When I was getting ice cream for my guide and I, it was out of stock. But in the time we were standing around and enjoying our ice cream, no. 1 was back in stock. And people were just rushing to join in the queue, some were so desperate that they don’t even bother queuing up, but squeeze their way through. Every person leaving the line were carrying 3 or more cones in their hands, just like this man below.

(Sorry about the blur photo. The people were always in a rush!)

Why not give Trang Tien ice cream a try when you’re in Hanoi?

Kem Trang Tien
35 Trang Tian Street

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The day I joined my friend D and her Hanoi Kids guide, we went for lunch at Quan An Ngon Restaurant.

It seemed like a rather nice place and the bill ran up to 200,000 VND for the 4 of us. We ordered about 4 dishes (fish, pork, salad and soup) with steamed rice and several cans of soft drinks. The food was tasty but portions were small.

Call me a miser, but I would rather be eating by some street stall for 20,000 VND than to eat here. It was my most expensive meal in Vietnam I think, but still very cheap by Western or Singaporean standards.

Quan An Ngon
18 Phan Boi Chau

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Yes, I’d rather be eating this!

Pho Bo (Beef noodles)

Or this!

Bun Cha (Pork noodles)

These delicious and healthy street-side eats should only cost you 20,000 VND. If you’re quoted any more than that, BARGAIN.

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D and I also happened to chance upon a cool yogurt ice-cream shop called Soyo along Quang Trung St while shopping. The interior is so cute and the sheep toys are SOOOOOOOO ADORABLE!!! I wanted to buy 1 from the shop, but they weren’t for sale :( When I saw one of them at the Toys street in the Old Quarter, I just had to buy one :D :D :D

The concept of Soyo is pretty interesting. You can squeeze out however many flavours you like and the amount, add toppings if you like and then they’d weigh the cup and charge you accordingly. I can’t remember how much we paid but it was cheap! And much appreciated after hours in the hot sun.

SoYo
Quang Trung Street (I know it’s quite a long street, but it’s hard for me to describe where it is. Actually, I forgot :p)

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I met Hong, a fellow CSer, on the first night I was in Hanoi and I got to ride pose with her super cool pink bike (with fluffy white clouds). Woohoo!! Such a biker chick *proud*

(Please ignore my country bumpkin attire. Thx :p)

We wanted to settle for drinks just outside St Joseph’s Cathedral, but it was way too crowded and too hot, we settled for an air-conditioned restaurant nearby. You should check out the Cathedral area at night and see locals sitting on little stools having drinks. Join them!

By the way, Bia Hoi (some kind of beer) can only be gotten on the streets at the little stalls and not in restaurants.

For the ladies, you can try Halida. Very light and I was drinking it like it was water (though I am not alcoholic).

Here are some other social events that happened in Hanoi:

Dinner at the Old Quarter, then drinks at Press Club with Hong and 2 french girls we met in Sapa

Lunch and then coffee with Amelia and Daniel at the Art Cafe near the Cathedral