Hanoi, Vietnam

3D2N weekend getaway to Hanoi, Vietnam. Unless you enjoy being in a crowded area, by all means, stay longer! I won't deny that it's an extremely lively place but just too crowded to my liking. Still prefer places like Redang Island.

Accommodation

For this trip, we've decided to stay at Essence Hanoi Hotel & Spa (Junior Suite). We arrived slightly earlier than the designated check-in time but thankfully rooms were already ready. Front staffs were friendly and very helpful. Apart from the usual complimentary bottled water, they provided us with some local welcome fruits and even a bottle of complimentary wine. Rooms were clean and well kept! Very convenient location but can be a bit rowdy/loud on Friday nights because the hotel is strategically located just in front of the famous Ta Hien Beer street. But otherwise, I would really highly recommend this hotel.

The rate for 2 nights, 2 adults were RM763 (back when I visited in January 2017). 

Food

I've always enjoyed Vietnamese food. So this got me really excited. I will share with you some of the food we managed to devour but unfortunately remembering restaurant's name in a foreign language isn't quite exactly my forte. 

Vietnamese coffee is one thing. Vietnamese egg coffee is a whole new other thing! I don't know how it was brewed or what's the ingredient. All I know is that the egg froth is so creamy, fluffy and light, all at the same time. It doesn't have that eggy scent and it doesn't overpower the main character, coffee. Weird but definitely worth a try. 

Pho with thinly sliced beef. I remember clearly how flavorful the broth was and it's not easy to come by places with soup that's clear yet tasty.Seen in the photo, the pho here was served with plenty of greens and I love it! One thing though, I do not recall having bean sprouts in my pho here in Hanoi, something different as what I usually have back in Melbourne.

Banh mi galore. It's basically Vietnamese sandwich and there's plenty of selection ranging from Pate banh mi to the usual pork/chicken slices banh mi. It's like baguette with meat and greens (eg. cucumber, carrot and coriander). Good as snack but also good enough for a proper meal if you have small appetite like me.

Be ready to be sitting by the pavement if you're into street food! Don't worry, not on the floor. Most shops do provide you with small tiny plastic stools.

This random stall we went seemed to be quite popular based on the number of customers they were serving. Indeed. Tip, just follow the crowd! They serve the best chicken pho I've ever had (have already been consumed by the time we took this photo). It's a shame I do not remember the name nor the location of this anonymous stall!

To be honest, ordering food in Vietnam can actually be quite stressful due to language barrier. Might be worth it if you learn a few vocabulary beforehand.

Atas food 
So those are the street food. Next up, french fusion. You heard me right. Freaking french fusion in Hanoi?! I too got really excited but soon realise it was a mistake. Honestly speaking, La Badiane was overrated and if I had to label them, it will be "try hard".

For appetizers, we had:

• Marble of “Foie gras” with figs, almonds & pistachios in wild pepper essential oil, apple chutney & raspberry coulis. 
• Crab sphere mimosa style in wild ginger essential oil, Dalat asparagus with candied lemon & beetroot, crunchy sesame.

For maincourse, we had:

• Roasted French duck breast with lychee & apple salad with roasted almonds, sweet potato mousseline, basil oil & red wine cocoa sauce. 
• Marinated grilled Australian beef tenderloin, pear in red wine & sauted arugula with shallots & peas, Gorgonzola emulsion.

Sounds good isn't it? But it's all a lie! It was the very first time I didn't finish my food not because I was full but because I really thought it didn't taste good. Foie gras was just creamy, without much foie gras taste; crabsphere was overpowered by ginger and my... it was gross; meat were tough and who the hell marinates steak with both black AND white pepper! They were trying really hard to mix the asian and western ingredient which clearly didn't go well together. And please, don't use those cheap ass fried shallots (that your asian parents probably will say it's mixed with plastic) as garnish on your steak. 

I was mad because as a Malaysian, dude this place isn't that cheap! I'd be happier eating my pho than spending my money here. 

Food aside, I will say the restaurant did a good job with the set-up. The decoration, ambiance and even the entrance was very well done. The moment I stepped in, I felt like I was in another part of the world, away from all those busy crowd in Hanoi. But really, going to a restaurant, the main objective is to eat, and you eat the food, not the ambiance.

You get what I'm trying to say, I hope.

Places to visit
Ho Kiem Lake
If you're hoping for a quiet stroll around the lake, you're wrong. There's no such thing as a quiet stroll because Hanoi is all about the humans. The lake isn't all that amazing but if you're doing some sort of a "city tour", might as well chuck this in your itinerary.

You can consider visiting this place at night too! The whole area around the lake, is a super popular hangout spot. Just look at this cray building lighted up with cafes and restaurants (and the humans).

Hanoi Night Market
Just around the corner from where I took the photo of the cray lighted up building, there's a night market going on. Please don't quote me on this but I think it only happens on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

One thing I've learnt about myself, unless the night market is filled with street food, I'm not a fan. So no further elaboration on this night market will be provided.

Hanoi Old Quarter
Our accommodation was located in Hanoi Old Quarter so this was check off the list easily! In fact, I'd recommend you to stay in Hanoi Old Quarter. You really do get the "feel".

Ta Hien Street
If anything, this is the one thing you must not missed! The liveliness is simply out of the world and it's not just filled with tourist, this place were buzzing with locals too. Plus point, this place is conveniently located just around the corner (or in fact I would say right in front) of where we're staying!

Having live music is one thing but being spoiled with the wide variety of finger food, I lost my mind! I take my tidbits with beer very seriously.

Halong Bay
We signed up for a ground tour via our hotel. Figured it would be good to escape the crowd for just a day and I'm glad we did. View was well worth.

The local guide picked us up from our hotel. Proceeded for a few more stops to pick up the rest of the group and off we went on a 3 hours-ish car ride before arriving the jetty. Yes, it's going to be a cruise! One thing I wasn't quite happy was the fact that they brought us to one of those typical "shopping" stops along the way (argh!).

Got to the jetty and lunch was served in the boat itself! It wasn't something to shout for but I was really hungry by then so everything tasted amazing. Oh and yay~ did not suffer from seasick!

Got to this "checkpoint" where everyone was given the option to either go for kayaking or be in one of the sampans and someone will do the paddling for you. Take a wild guess which option we took?



After kayaking, they brought us to Thiên Đường Cave.

okla view not bad!

Summary