Hanoi 2016

But I always pondered what kind of food that they must eat in a group.
So our friend brought us to this restaurant serving tasty and economical dishes. Most of them were based on rice mixture then made into noodle, cracker and wrap. Because of the heavily carb based food, they usually ordered and ate in a group.
For the full course ⬇️
http://www.jiaknonstop.com/travel/pho-cuon-huong-mai-hanoi-must-go

In order for the customers to find the freshest broth, the stall will start its preparation at 3 in the morning. Cleaning the bones, slicing the beef and brewing the briskets. Especially the broth, it had been simmering throughout the night to allow the depth of flavors to be mature over time. In many pho stalls, they don't serve only the sliced beef version. For only 70K dong, you could have a bowl of everything - offal, brisket, sliced beef and a raw egg.
Being their second customers of the day, the stall was already filled with the aroma of the beef. Just by the smell, my mouth was already watering. While I was watching the old owner standing behind the counter counting cash and the rest of the staff busy doing the day preparation, my eagerness kept building up (wondering how would the pho tasted like). Finally THE pho had arrived. Light browned broth and med cooked sliced beef. Just a sip of its broth, I could feel my body be warmed up. By the end of every mouthful, it's taste just reset the palate. To spice up the taste, I added pickled garlic, lime and in house chilli! By the time I realized that I still had hotel breakfast, the bottom of the bowl was already staring at my face. ** Indeed Hanoi Pho is the original of all Pho.
Quán Phở Sướng
🏠: 36B Mai Hắc Đế, Bùi Thị Xuân, Hai Bà Trưng, Hà Nội
⏰: 0630H to 2000H

After comparing half a dozens of restaurants, I finally decided on this restaurant.
Classic interior design and OUT-OF-THE-WORLD food! E.g. This beef tenderloin risotto. The risotto was heavily flavored with chicken stock and had the "just right" texture. Every grain was bloated but not mushy. (Way better than most of the risotto I had in Singapore). Tenderloin was soft and tender with a simple seasoning of salt and pepper.
Please visit this restaurant!
For full course ⬇️
http://www.jiaknonstop.com/travel/la-badiane-fine-dinning-hanoi

In just a short period of 4 years time, this restaurant had made its fame by their exotic cuisine and wide range of liquors. They served everything from chicken, beef, pork and even insects. All of their liquors were made in house and served frozen.

Visit them with an open heart, you will be surprised. Highly recommended. JIAK!
For the full course ⬇️
http://www.jiaknonstop.com/travel/ants-restaurant-hanoi-quan-kien

However in Hanoi, people prefer tea. This is because Hanoi is closer to China and has large hill side for tea plantation.
Thus they combined three of their local ingredients - tea, honey and lemon and "created" this drink. The born place of Hanoi Lemon Tea is this stall.
During summer, people have it cold. During winter, people have it warm. The light natural sweetness from the honey countered the sourly lemon. I could even feel the tingling tea aroma on the palate. So good!

If you feel hungry, you can try their sweet soup.
Trà Chanh Đào Duy Từ
🏠: 31-35 Đào Duy Từ, Hoàn Kiếm, Thành Phố Hà Nội, Vietnam
⏰: 0800H to 2200H

This will be the place to go. They beat the egg with sugar then espresso shot below. They even placed the warm water around the cup to keep the drink warm.
A really lovely drink.
Giảng Cafe
🏠: 39 Nguyễn Hữu Huân, Lý Thái Tổ, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội
⏰: 0700H to 2200H

Currently they expanded the stall from their ground level to the second floor (which has air conditioning). You might see two similar stalls selling the same thing but you might want to choose the one with blue colored sign.
Bun Cha (60K dong)
A bowl of grilled patty and pork belly flooded with the sweet and sour pickled juice. While the meat was grilled till piping hot, they placed it into the warm sauce and let the flavors merged together. The way to eat this - Place a bit of rice noodle into the a smaller bowl then seasoned it with some pickled sauce, chilli, garlic and dash of vinegar. Mix them well and add in some green. This way you could fully enjoyed all the flavors.
Bun Nem (65K dong)
Spring roll with minced pork and crab meat. Both meat covered the different savoriness to the palate. They also added in black fungus and rice vermicelli for more texture and volume. Whenever you felt jelat, have some pickled veg. The crunch will refresh the palate. *Must try in Hanoi.
Quán Bún Chả Hàng Mành
🏠: Dac Kim, 1 Hàng Mành, Hàng Gai, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội
⏰: 0900H to 2200H

Their restaurant was constantly flooded with tourist and locals. Even with 3 levels of dinning area, they still could run out of seat.
You could choose from three different carbs - steamed barleys with lotus seed, sticky rice with green bean cake and sticky rice with lard. I highly recommend to give their sticky rice with green bean cake a try. The braised pork and steamed chicken had a savory edge which countered the green bean so well. I was pretty surprised with their braised belly. Perfectly infused with the sauce and the fat didn't felt fatty at all.
For two pax, you could just order one xoi (carb) as the sticky rice was really filling.
Xôi Yến
🏠: 35 Nguyễn Hữu Huân, Lý Thái Tổ, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội
⏰: 0500H to 0100

Just a small stall along Hang Ca. If you don't look out for the sign, you will definitely miss it.
The lady aligned all the pickled veg and cured meat while she allowed the baguette to be lightly toasted in the oven.
Because this banh mi was narrower, it was so much easier to eat. The spicy mayo, sweet sourly pickled veg and savory cured meat. Perfect balancing of flavors.
I held this on one hand and another a Viet milk coffee! Miss this sooooo muuuuuucccch

Banh Mi 25 .
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🏠: 25 Hang Ca Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam
⏰: 0800H to 1900H

The aroma from the fried garlic and crisp from the vegetables allowed the noodle to be flavorful but not jelat. The sliced beef been cooked with fish sauce was like flavor bombs to the palate. I felt super "healthy" with the large amount of vegetables used.
Bun Bo Nam Bo.
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🏠: 67 Hàng Điếu, Hanoi
⏰: 0800H to 2200H

Not only the locals constantly flooded this place, tourist like myself also visited for its fame.
The stall used really old school method to make their base broth. Daily delivered bones from the market, cooked with onion and spring onion over charcoal heat. The only point that separated them from the rest was that they didn't simmered their sliced beef. There was this small wok beside the main Pot which allowed the cook to stir fry the beef with the broth before adding to the pho. This allowed an extra layer of wok hei in the broth and the flavors were more intense. However, I didn't liked the stir fried beef as I found them too hard and chewy.
Side note: the hygiene for this place is really for the locals. ** I still find Saigon pho better.
Quán Phở Thìn
🏠:13 Lò Đúc, Phạm Đình Hồ, Hai Bà Trưng, Hà Nội
⏰: 0600H to 2030H

But there are so many stalls in Hanoi. So I picked out the top three from different categories - Foodie Site, Popularity and Local recommendation.
This Pho Bo stall just minutes away from our hostel at Bat Dan Street. We went thrice and twice it was sold out. Unlike in Singapore, the local tended to have Pho in the morning like us eating Bak Chor Mee. Thus all the pho stalls opened very early. During our last try, we were there by 9am and the Q was so long! Waiting in the chilled wind for almost 20mins. (If you are visiting in a group, I highly recommend you guys to divide and conquer. One Order another look for seats). Like what my local friend said, Hanoi Pho was more on the savory side compared to Saigon ones. She was so Right! We could totally tasted the natural beefiness and the large amount of spring onion helped to carry the taste. Slurping the warm bowl of pho in that cold weather was more than awesome! For those who don't find a bowl of pho filling, you can add you tiao and drip into the broth. Crispy on the outside but inside was filled with beefiness. **I still find Saigon one better.
Phở Bát Đàn
🏠: 49 Bát Đàn, Cửa Đông, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội
⏰：0600H to 1200H / till sold out.