Casual Dining at Al Fresco's (Hai Ba Trung)

Following from my earlier post on our trip to Cat Ba last month, we arrived in Hanoi at 6pm on Sunday (11 May) after a long car ride. M was rather sweet and suggested that we dine out so that I didn't have to cook (I prefer to eat at home because home cook food is healthier). I wasn't too hungry as we were both snacking away in the bus on our way back, so we decided to try Al Fresco's.

There is a branch along Xuan Dieu, where I stay but I was told that the food served at Al Fresco's (Hai Ba Trung) was much better. Well, I thought the decor and ambience was definitely better at Hai Ba Trung as it gave a much more cozy feeling.

The welcoming feel of casual dining...

The interior...

M ordered a cheezy spaghetti (I am not kidding.. the entire plate was covered with cheese) while I ordered a garlic bread to share and a portion of pygmy ribs. M liked his spaghetti a lot though I was turned off by the amount of cheeze in it. The garlic bread was nice but too oily. I enjoyed my ribs though. The meat was tender and soft.. and the sauce was yummy!

The french loaf in Hanoi is good...

Yummy yummy ribs...

Cheezy spaghetti!

Our meal there was quite satisfactory if not for the total lack of vegetables.. but it was still a good meal. :)

Al Fresco's
23L Hai Ba Trung
Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
Tel: 04-826 7782

Cooking Lesson at Hilton Hotel

The Hanoi International Women's Club (HIWC) organises a cooking session at Hilton Hotel for interested learners on a monthly basis. This is really popular amongst the ladies here because we get to learn from an experienced chef, Chef Theo, who often shares useful cooking tips with us. Typically, he will give a step-by-step demonstration on how to prepare 3 dishes in 2 hours. At the end of the demo, we will get to sample the food at generous portions. :)

Last Tuesday, we were shown how to make soups (tomato and asparagus) and dark chocolate brownie. The tomato soup was really very very good, esp since I am a tomato lover. The asparagus soup was a little creamy for me but tasty nonetheless. The dark chocolate brownie was HEAVENLY. The richness of the dark chocolate blended very well with the ground almonds. I was very tempted to finish the entire portion but had to resist. It wasn't the high calorie count that I was wary about, but rather the "jia lard" feeling that I dislike everytime I eat something very filling.

I wanted to take some pictures from the cooking session but didn't bring along my camera. Kat was very kind to share her photos with me. Here's some snippets, compliments from dear Kat. :)

The tedious process of making the asparagus soup...

The sinful brownie and delicious tomato soup (my fav of the day!)

Moca Cafe - A Casual Dining Experience

As part of our weekly food rendevouz, M and I wanted to go to Totoya Japanese Restaurant for lunch last Saturday. However, we found out that most Japanese restaurants in town were closed over the long holiday (30 Apr and 1 May are PH in Hanoi) so we ended up at Moca Cafe instead.

Moca!

Along the happening street of Nha Tho

I have been to the cafe once previously but it was only for a drink with my friends. So lunch was new to me though I heard that the food was not bad. The ambience of the place is casual and nice, great for catching up with friends. Books and souveniors were also sold at a corner of the cafe so you could browse through them before your food was served.

The cafe was really crowded when we arrived. We managed to find a table near the entrance and settled down quickly before placing our orders. I decided on a Moca Special Sandwich (with grilled chicken and ham) while M decided to try a pasta dish.

My Moca Special Sandwich

M's pasta (I forgot the name though)

I was a little disappointed by my sandwich because the chicken was cold when served but I think it was meant to be that way. The sandwich also came with a huge serving of french fries which I didn't like. M's pasta turned out quite yummy.

It was a quick lunch for both of us as we were not hungry that day. The bill was about VND 168,000 so it was fairly reasonable. We had fun looking at the books though. It was rare to find English books in restaurants in Hanoi. :p

Moca Cafe
14-16 Nha Tho, Hoan Kiem District
Hanoi

Hoa Sua Training Restaurant

I have heard about this restaurant for a long time and always wanted to try it. The restaurant was set up as a training school for disadvantaged youths in Hanoi to learn a "life skill" i.e. cooking. Both While I heard that the quality of the food varies (depends on the young chef who's being trained that day), the prices are reasonable and it's all for a good cause. M has been there several times so I decided to ask S, Kat and K instead. Both Vietnamese and Western food were served there.

The ambience of the restaurant was very nice. We sat at the terrace and were served by a group of enthusiatic waitresses and waiters, eager to put into practice what they had learnt. We ordered a Vietnamese set lunch, at the recommendation of Kat and a drink. While the young students were very polite, their attention was a little overwhelming. And some of them had difficulty understanding what we were saying. But knowing that they were trainees, I felt that we owed it to them to be a little patient. After all, we could see that they were trying really hard to give us a good lunch experience.

The lunch set was quite nice, served with a variety of small Vietnamese dishes with soup and rice.

We also ordered a dessert each to try. K and S had a chocolate puff with ice cream.


Kat had a mango mousse which was a little hard. The texture of the mousse was like cheese!



I had a sticky rice ice cream. Initially I thought it was a new ice cream flavour but it turned out to be two small scoops of ice cream on a cup of sticky rice. :) The rice was a little hard but the ice cream was good, especially in a hot day.


The total bill came up to around VND 400,000 for 4 persons which translates to around SGD 38. Quite a good price, I would say. And I am definitely in favour of supporting these young students. Will visit the place again before I leave Hanoi.

Hoa Sua Training Restaurant
28 Ha Hoi
Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi
Website: http://www.hoasuaschool.com/

Green Mango - Fusion Cafe

M and I went to Green Mango Restaurant located along Hang Quat Street last Saturday. I went there with my friends previously and thought it was quite a nice place. The thai green curry was supposedly quite good so I told M about it and he was eager to give it a try.

The ambience of the restaurant was warm and cozy and we comfortably settled ourselves down at a corner.

I had wanted to order a salad but most restaurants in Hanoi have stopped serving raw vegetables due to the recent cholera outbreak. So I opted for a grilled chicken sandwich instead. M had a little episode with the waiter while ordering his thai green curry lunch set. Initially, the waiter wanted to charge us the same price though salad was removed from the set menu. I asked if a replacement e.g. soup could be given but was told it was not possible. M said he was not willing to pay the same price if the set was not complete. Eventually, the waiter agreed to reduce the price but it was after much hassle and "consultation" with his manager. We almost wanted to leave. I thought it's really strange that a restaurant would continue to charge its clients the same price though the set served was incomplete. But well.. what can we say?

The bread rolls served as appetizers were quite yummy and I was quite tempted to buy some from the restaurant. :) My grilled chicken sandwich was average and M was a little disappointed with his green curry as he felt it tasted like the pre-packed sauces. I had wanted to try the green mango with sticky rice for dessert but was quite full after the carbo-heavy meal (an entire meal of bread + more bread). So I gave that a miss.

Top left: Yummy bread roll; Top right: Chicken sandwich
Bottom left: Thai Green Curry; Bottom right: Hard crust with cheese

The total bill came up to around VND 160,000 (around SGD 9) which was quite affordable. But I must say the service was a little disappointing that day. I probably won't be going there again.

Green Mango Restaurant and Hotel
18 Hang Quat
Hoan Kiem, Hanoi

Eating Lala @ La Restaurant

No punt intended but this was really what happened when I went out for lunch with my gal friends on Wednesday. We went to La Restaurant, located near the St. Joseph Cathedral, which served both Western and Vietnamese food. The place was really small and could probably hold 20 people max.

The daily specials!

More selection... though limited...

We got a table at a corner and sat down to chat, before placing our orders. At A's recommendation, I ordered a clam soup (aka "lala") and rice crepe with mushrooms. The latter dish sounded good but turned out to be a local Vietnamese dish called "banh cuon". I couldn't help but feel disappointed when the dish was served because I could definitely get more delicious orders at other shops.

Banh cuon - served with a fish sauce dip and lots of veggies!

The clam soup was great though, cooked in white wine, coriander, garlic and onions. Perfectly yummy for the cool weather. I forgot to take a picture then as I was starving! Feeling unsatisfied with my picture conquests, I decided to snap the orders of K and L. K ordered a lunch set comprising of salmon, grilled vegetables and fried rice while L ordered cha ca, which means grilled fish. This is a very famous dish in Hanoi which I have yet to try.

The salmon set with veggies and fried rice

Cha ca or grilled fish with bun (vietnamese noodle)

The prices of the food were fairly reasonable. My clam soup was VND 55,000 and the banh cuon was VND 50,000. Total would be around SGD 10. The service was average though as they got L's order wrong. It's a nice place to go but I probably won't be going there anytime soon yet. :p

La Restaurant and Bar
25 Ly Quoc Su
Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
Tel: 9288933 or 0913221971

Cafe Goethe at Goethe Institute Hanoi

M and I decided to enjoy western food as part of our weekend treat today so off we went to Cafe Goethe (located within the Goethe Institute). As the name goes, Cafe Goethe serves delicious and authentic German food in a nice, cozy environment.

As you step into Cafe Goethe...

You are greeted by a garden of colourful flowers...

When you turn right, you see a small cafe...

Located within a school...

And you feel like.. you are back in school! :)

As the weather was cool today, we sat at one of the tables outside. I was told that the pork dishes here were good so I decided to deviate from my usual fish and chicken orders. I had wanted the stuffed cabbage rolls but was told that it wasn't available. The waitress then recommended me the grilled pork cutlet with steamed rice and vegetables which I thought sounded good. M took the grilled pork sausages with mashed potatoes. We also ordered a soup each: M had ham with potato soup while I asked for seafood soup.

When the food arrived, they certainly looked as good as they tasted. Both our soups were not bad but I didn't find any particularly outstanding. I loved the grill sausage and mashed potatoes though. The grilled pork cutlet was delicious though a tad oily for the health-conscious me.

I almost forgot about taking the picture (see the big bite!)

The grilled pork cutlet (would be +++ good minus the oil)

The entire meal (including 2 soups, bread bowl, 2 main courses and 2 drinks) came up to VND 190,000 which is SGD 19. Definitely value for $ right? Only downside was that I felt unsatisfied because I didn't have my usual huge servings of vegetables. But then again, what do I expect at a German eatery!

Cafe Goethe
58 Nguyen Thai Hoc
Ba Dinh, Hanoi
(I forgot to check the opening hours but I assume it is open daily.)

Bleu de Thuy - International Food

Located along the "Food Street" in Hanoi (Tong Duy Tan), Bleu de Thuy is a quaint and cozy restaurant that serves international cuisine at affordable prices. The service there is quite good, with friendly English-speaking waitresses.

The entrance of the restaurant.

M and I went there today for lunch because we both wanted to "break" my usual Japanese food routine. I ordered a salmon salad while M had a set lunch (main course + dessert) which consisted of pan seared shrimps and chocolate panacotta.

The home-made bread. I couldn't resist a second helping!

My half-eaten salmon salad. Forgot abt the picture earlier as I was hungry. :)

M's chocolate panacotta.

We both liked the bread though I was definitely crazier over it than M. It just tasted so soft and crusty! I enjoyed my salad too as the grilled salmon complemented well with the salad veggies. However, my favourite salad was still the mushroom salad (with duck meat and soba) which I didn't order today because I wanted to try something new. M's pan seared shrimps were quite disappointing too. The portion was small and he found it so-so. But he enjoyed the dessert which I found a little too sweet for my liking.

The salad cost VND 70,000 (around SGD 7) while the set lunch was VND 96,000 (ard SGD 9.60). Overall, I would say that it is value-for-$ though for guys, the portions could be a little too small.

Bleu de Thuy
Bar-Cafe-Restaurant
28, Tong Duy Tan, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
Tel: 04-9285900