Benkay Japanese Restaurant

On Friday, I met up with my gal friends for lunch at Benkay Japanese Restaurant, located within Nikko Hotel. It was meant to be a birthday celebration for L but turned out to be a farewell lunch for me as well.

The food at Benkay is very good as it is known to be one of the best and most authentic Japanese restaurants in town. However, the prices are steeper too. Coincidentally, all of us took the Tempura Set Lunch special offered that day. Great minds think alike. :)

We were served a small appetizer before our main course came.


The set consisted of rice, pickles, vegetables, an assortment of tempura and the super silky soft chawanmushi. I was a little disappointed with the tempura though. The batter used seemed to be lacking something as it was not as crisp nor fluffy as one would expect of tempura.


The dessert was a small portion of fruits. We didn't ask for coffee as we were quite full then.


I would still recommend Japanese food lovers to give Benkay a try as my previous experiences were very good. Perhaps the cook was in a rush to prepare 4 sets of tempura today.. which was why the tempura was not as well done. :)

P.S. Thanks to S and C who gave me a treat.. I will miss u gals!

Benkay Japanese Restaurant
Nikko Hotel, Level 2

The Sushi Tokyo Restaurant

I am really into a Jap food craze, isn't it? Sometimes I really wish that M was posted to Japan and I can eat all the delicious Jap food I want there!

Back to my entry, M and I went to a Jap restaurant near his office last Saturday for our weekly food hunt. We went there once previously and quite enjoyed the food. Since our driver was on leave last Saturday, we decided to eat somewhere near and M suggested this place, much to my delight. (Ok, give me any Jap restaurant and I will be happy.)

I asked M to make a reservation as I heard it was usually full during weekdays. Apparently, it was less crowded for weekends so we managed to get a table in a small room. The last time we had to eat by the bar counter.



I ordered my favourite Sushi Ladies' Set while M had a combo set of fried stuff. Our appetizers (grilled eggplant and potato stew) came first and I liked the grilled eggplant very much. The potato stew was ok though M, being a potato lover, thought it was rather nice.

Grilled eggplant

Potato Stew

My sushi (comprising of unagi roll + tuna + salmon + ika + sweet beancurd skin) was really delicious... even M felt so. I couldn't finish the whole plate by myself so M happily contributed by taking the unagi roll. He didn't really like his fried stuff set though. Felt that it was like eating in a fast food restaurant.

My fresh salad

Sushi!

M's fried combo set

After we have finished our main course, dessert was served. Today it was caramel custard which didn't look too good so I did not take a picture. I realised that most restaurants have stopped serving ice cream these days. Perhaps it's due to cost cutting measures. :(

The total bill came up to VND 266,000 for two persons which is around SGD 20. It's a really good price considering the good food and cozy ambience. Sushi Tokyo continues to be one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in Hanoi.

The Sushi Tokyo Restaurant
15 Ngo Trang Tien
Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
Tel: 04-936 4236

Lunch at Totoya with Kakis!

I went to Totoya Japanese Restaurant the second time with my friends last Wednesday and enjoyed the meal. Guess it was partly due to the great company. :) Heard from Soo that another restaurant down the road called "New Sake" was equally good. Will definitely pop by to try next time. Enough said, here are some pictures to whet my appetite again.

The appetizers served before the main course

My unagi don (what M had previously)

L's udon set

Soo's tempura set

I hope I don't end up gaining weight this summer. :p

Totoya (Kim Ma) Japanese Restaurant

It's unbelievable but we went for Japanese food again last Saturday.. Totoya was recommended by our Japanese friend but the branch near Vincom Towers has closed down. So we decided to try the Kim Ma branch instead.

The ambience of the restaurant was very cozy and nice, though a little warm. We took a corner seat in a small room. There were Japanese posters put up all around which reminded me of those little shops we frequented during our Japan tour.



The set lunch menu was rather comprehensive and inexpensive, ranging from USD 5 to 8. Considering that this included the main course with soup, appetizer, side dishes and coffee, it was pretty good value for money.

Appetizers...

Chawanmushi..

M ordered a unagi don set (yes, again!) while I had a maki set. We were enjoying our appetizers when a waitress brought us a california maki roll to share. I thought this was one of the starter items so chomped it down happily (turned out that this was a mistake but the waitress who thought we wanted an extra maki order.. so we had to pay for it).

California maki

Then my maki set came and at one glance, I knew I made the wrong choice. The maki rolls were very nice but it was too much rice for me in a meal. I felt so stuffed.. all because of the wrong california maki order.

My maki set

The unagi don was much much better than Ren. The unagi serving was generous (80% unagi and 20% egg) and delicious. M enjoyed himself quite a bit.

Unagi Don

Overall, we both enjoyed our lunch experience very much. This is a place I would definitely come back again.

Totoya (Kim Ma)
637 Kim Ma, Ba Dinh District
Hanoi
Tel: (04) 834 7844

Ren Japanese Restaurant

Last Sat, M and I went for our weekly food hunt around Hanoi. As I am crazy about Japanese food, M suggested that we try a new place that he found in town, Ren.

The decor of the restaurant was really pretty and zen. We took a table near the window where a mini waterfall was running down. For a moment, I felt like I was in Japan.

The entrance

The open kitchen concept!

We took a while to decide on our orders. I took a Ren special set while M had a Unagi Tamago don set. My set arrived first and it looked really appetizing. There was tempura, grilled fish, sashimi and some light appetizers. However, I was a little disappointed by the sashimi as it didn't taste very fresh. That reminded me of the advice which my Japanese friends gave me "Never eat sashimi during summer in Hanoi as it might not be fresh". They were right... :(

My rice bowl and tempura

Interesting starters

The sashimi

M's Unagi Tamago don looked equally good too in terms of presentation. But I couldn't help but notice the don was filled with 80% eggs and 20% unagi. Guess this is what you get when you order the lunch value set.

M's unagi tamago don

Overall, I thought the quality of the food was not as good as Masuda or Sushi Tokyo. The ambience was great, no doubt, but if I were to come here again, I would try the noodles or katsudon. Definitely not the sashimi.

Ren Japanese Restaurant
8A Hang Chao, Hanoi
Tel: 04-7338550

Kamon Japanese Restaurant

M and I decided to try a new Japanese restaurant today, recommended by our friends. It's located directly opposite the Japanese Embassy in Hanoi and I was impressed by the sheer size of the embassy compound. For a moment, I felt like I was in Japan...

The restaurant was pretty small and a little untidy looking but the service was good. We were greeted by a series of "irashaimase" from the staff as we entered the restaurant, before being shown to a small, warm room. Despite the fan and air-con, I made a conscious mental note not to come here during summer as I will be baked then.

A small restaurant with a cozy feel from outside

We ordered a portion of the Hiroshima okonomiyaki to share as it was one of M's favourite dishes. I had a vegetable salad and steamed clams with sake while M had a unagi-tamago don (eel with eggs and rice).

From Top Left: vegetable salad; Top Right: steamed clams;
Bottom Left: Hiroshima pancake; Bottom Right: Unagi don

I was a little disappointed with the okonomiyaki as it didn't turn out as well as I had expected. The noodles were slightly overcooked and the wrap was a tad tough, unlike those that we had in Japan. But I might be a little biased here as this I didn't like this dish that much even in Japan.

My salad was alright though I had wanted wafu dressing instead of mayonaise. The clams were good but it's something that I could prepare at home too. :) M's rice bowl was nice, according to him, though he has eaten better ones at other Japanese restaurants.

I guess we should have tried the teppanyaki which was highly recommended instead of the usual fare which turned out to be "normal". Maybe our expectations were too high. But it will be a while before I go back to this restaurant again. Till now, Masuda and Sushi Tokyo still remain my top 2 favourites. :)

Kamon Japanese Restaurant
104 Van Phuc Street,
Ba Dinh District, Hanoi
Tel: 04-7624428

Ky Y Japanese Restaurant

After a boring 2 weeks' stay at home recuperating from my flu, M decided to cheer me up by yesterday having lunch at one of my favourite Japanese restaurants, Ky Y.

Located along the food street of Trieu Viet Vuong, Ky Y is an unassuming restaurant with neither fantastic nor impressive interior decor. Instead, it focuses on creating a warm atmosphere and providing affordable good food for its customers.

How does it appeal to you?

The restaurant was quite crowded when we arrived and we were shown to the third floor, where we got a room big enough to accommodate 6 people. The room was slightly warm but I guess it was good for me since I was still having a slight cold.

Our room with nice little decoration pieces

M quickly decided on a soba tempura set as he said it had been a while since he ate buckwheat noodles. After much pondering, I finally settled on my somen sushi set. My lunch set arrived pretty soon with the food items nicely displayed in a bento style.

My somen sushi set.. appetizing..

Unfortunately, M's set turned out to be udon instead of soba. The waitress was apologetic but she said M had pointed to the udon instead of soba set (which I thought was quite unlikely because M doesn't like udon). Well, there was nothing much we could do about it so M told her he would take the udon. Luckily, it wasn't too bad.

M's udon tempura set

After we finished our main course, we had the dessert i.e. coconut raisin ice cream, compliments from the restaurant. I am a coconut fan so I enjoyed it quite a bit! But M took half of my ice cream because he said I was still recovering and shouldn't eat too much. Well.. I guess that's true.

Except for the error made on our soba, I think we had a pretty satisfying lunch today.

Ky Y Japanese Restaurant
166 Trieu Viet Vuong
Hai Ba Trung, Hoan Kiem District
Hanoi
Open daily except Sundays for lunch and dinner

Masuda Japanese Restaurant

As mentioned in my earlier post, Masuda Restaurant was where I celebrated my birthday with M. Located along Ba Mau Lake, it is one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in Hanoi. The prices are fairly reasonable and you can get a good lunch set for around USD 6 - 10.

I promised to upload some pictures on the food so here they are. I wanted to take a picture of the entrance the other day but forgot to do so. Anyway, enjoy the foodie pictures!

My favourite cha-soba - healthy and yummy!

The combination of sashimi, eel and egg in the chirashi don was perfect.

Complimentary chawanmushi and salad.

Masuda Japanese Restaurant

No. 9, Ba Mau Lake, Phuong Lien

Dong Da District, Hanoi

Opening Hours: 11am to 2pm; 5pm - 10pm

Open every day except during Tet Holidays