CBielo Italian Restaurant

I still haven't managed to figure out the name of the restaurant so apologies if it is wrong. A look at the signboard didn't really help and I forgot to clarify this with the waitress. She would probably have given me an indignant look. :) Anyway, yesterday, M and I popped by this small Italian eatery near our house for lunch. It wasn't our first choice but well, the restaurant that we wanted to try had closed down.

The restaurant used to be quite "dingy" looking as we came here two years back. It certainly looks much better now.

The exterior

The interior

We ordered a spinach pie for starter (It was a wrong order as I thought it was a spinach salad) and two main courses: pizza with ham and mushrooms as well as spaghetti with bacon, tomatoes and chilli.

The spinach pie was quite hot and nice. A little greasy though as I tend not to like puff pastries.

The pizza was a disappointment. The crust was bland and tasteless and the toppings miserable.


M liked the spaghetti while I thought it was only average.


It was definitely not a restaurant that I would recommend to others though I did find the service rather good.

CBielo Italian Restaurant
172 Xuan Dieu
Tay Ho, Hanoi
Tel: 04-2153103

What's Your Nem?

After hearing so much raving reviews about the movie "Red Cliff", M and I decided to watch it for ourselves last Wednesday evening. The movie was pretty alright but I didn't like the half-ending. Most of the Vietnamese there were not aware that this was Part 1 so when the movie ended, there was a small commotion.

We decided to head to a small eatery that sells "nem" within Vincom Towers for our dinner. "Nem" refers to rice rolls in Vietnamese. There are many different kinds of nem in Vietnam, with distinctive differences across cities. For e.g. the nems in Hanoi are more subtle while those in Hue could be more spicy. The fillings of each nem were also different. Hanoians prefer to use boiled pork and shrimps while Hue would use stir-fried vegetables and pork. So it was really interesting to have a shop selling various kinds of nem here.

The shop was pretty crowded when we arrived. After placing our orders at the counter using the computer, we took a small table by the corner and waited for our food to be served. We didn't have to wait long. I ordered a nem with escargot but it was sold out after I had placed my order. The waitress had to replace it with a Hanoi nem and in the end, she gave me an extra piece as a form of compensation. It was sweet of her but I became overwhelmed with too much nems!

Cute shop name...

Modern interior...

M's bun (pronounced as "boon")

The Hanoi nem

Chao Nem

Hoa qua sua chua (Fruit Yoghurt)

I guess the quality of the food was not bad considering this was a "fast food joint" concept but I still prefer the nem made by my helper. :p The total bill was around SGD 8 so you can't really complain. I would probably come back and try the other types of nem.

What's your Nem?
5th Floor Vincom Towers
Hanoi

Mee Hoon Kway Lunch

C invited Soo and I to her house for a mee hoon kway lunch today. I was quite looking forward because Ka mentioned to me once that the mee hoon kway was very good and it's true! I guess home made stuff is still different.. the texture of the mee hoon kway was chewy and good. The soup base was dried anchovies soup which I love. C said mee hoon kway is very easy to make, using just flour, egg and water. But I guess it's still a little troublesome for me, especially since M is not too keen on this and I hate kneading.


Soo also brought a Muji cake mix from Singapore. The pack came with chocolate, flour, and a cake paper mould. The preparation was quite fast and in 30 mins' time, we have a really yummy mini chocolate cake for dessert. I will definitely buy some of these when I go back to Singapore. :)


It's friends here who really make a difference to your otherwise boring afternoons.

My first Tau Suan...

I made my first bowl of tau suan today. Got this really simple recipe from Soo and couldn't help trying. It turned out fine though I must say it's not as good as those sold in Singapore due to lack of gula melaka and pandan leaves.

But I am happy to have something local for an afternoon snack on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

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