Ninth week in Hanoi

So here I am seated here after dinner at the restaurant of my choice. Quan Bia Minh on 7A Dinh Liet Street is supposedly a restaurant that is popular with backpackers for the good variety of food at very reasonable price, I was here yesterday evening to check out the place.

So back to yesterday, Was a quiet day while I got my dosage of Future Weapons 2 on my laptop. Come 5pm, I decided checking out places I could go for dinner and perhaps drinks. My search left me with a little place called Bun Bo Nam Bo at 67 Hang Dieu Street.

Hopped on a xe om (motorbike taxi) to the HSBC ATM just off the Hoan Kiem Lake. I had told the guy I needed to go there but we ended up one street away. Not wanting to deal with the hassle of telling him to head to the bank branch. I got off the bike and told him to wait and I would return in 2 minutes. The poor guy must have wondered what on earth was going on and he followed me on his bike against the flow of traffic for when I exited the ATM lobby, he was right outside waiting for me.

The Bun Bo at Hang Dieu street was average and nothing spectacular. The reasonable prices and cleaner environment as opposed to having the meal on the streets or in a dark alley was the only plus point in my opinion. Other than that, 28,000 VND for a Bun Bo and 18,000 VND for a Hanoi Beer was pretty cool. With the current exchange rate of SGD1 = 13,700 VND in an average bank, that is less than SGD4 for dinner and a beer. Try beating that on any other day.

Less than 10 minutes by foot from the project office, I headed off to Dinh Liet Street after dinner and sat on the terrace enjoying a cold mug of Halida draft and watching the traffic go by. I should have brought my SE P1i with me last evening and snapped a few good evening shots. Spent close to an hour and half chilling out taking in 3 mugs. Draught here is incredibly cheap. At 7,000 VND a mug, I have yet to come across another restaurant in Hanoi that can beat the price and the service.

Across the road

Up the street

Overlooking the street

Quan Bia Minh at 7A Dinh Liet St, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam

So yes, I’m back at Quan Bia Minh this evening to try out the dinner menu. It didn’t take me long to notice the somewhat familiar dishes. Quite a number of them looked similiar to mum’s cooking back home. Well, I did finally settle for Fried Tofu with Mushrooms, Fried Egg with Pork and Shrimp and Hanoi Snails. It’s another week alone so I reckoned what the heck. GH has never been to game on snails. Now that he’s away for a bit, I thought I took the chance.

Dinner was served in about 10 minutes. Sadly, the tofu turned out to be beancurd ‘Tau Kwah’ instead. Not so much the ‘Tau Hu’ I was expecting. with some sliced button mushrooms, it was pretty average. The fried eggs were pretty good made up for it though I would have rather they removed the shells from the shrimps before they threw them in to cook with the eggs.

Interior

Fried Tofu with Mushrooms, Fried Egg with Pork and Shrimp, Hanoi Snails

The snails was a totally different affair. Probably best served piping hot with cold beer, it takes a fair bit of skill to consume the delicacy. The waiter demonstrated to me how to twist the little pick in your finger to pull out the entire snail. Looked easy enough to me. Unfortunately, that last bit where it’s softer got torn off and stuck in the shell probably like 14 of out 15 times. Ended up having to settle on the crunchier bit. On the rare attempts where I managed to get the entire snail out of it’s shell, the gooey part reminded my of earthworms…

Well, the sudden downpour has just ended. I’m still on my beer but I’m pretty sure, dinner alone is under 100,000 VND.If you are looking for a cool place to have dinner and chill, I strongly recommend Quan Bia Minh. Service is fast and very friendly. Piped in music is largely understood. I’m still trying to recall the group from last night. George Michael has the ears of everyone tonight with his WHAM! album.

I’m the only Asian here this evening and definitely the only one in business attire. Still, I do not feel like a sore thumb or out of place. I’m pretty sure the patrons here are pretty friendly but everyone goes about their own business and conversations. I will definitely be back here.

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