Something for everyone at this well-priced Vietnamese restaurant

We are always tempted to eat a lot of French food in Vietnam – all the amazing baguettes and well-priced wines and cheeses. These are not easy to find in other places in SE Asia and when you live abroad for a while it is hard to say no to a perfectly ripe cheese and a slice of bread.  However, on our recent trip to Vietnam, we vowed to avoid sliding into this trap and we wanted to have a deep dive into Vietnamese food. And I am glad we did. The Bahn My sandwich was the sandwich of my dreams, Bia Hoi and boiled peanuts hit the spot as an afternoon refresher and Quan Com Pho restaurant was an excellent way to try lots of local foods with our large group.

Quan Com Pho is in the Hoan Kiem district and just south of Hoan Kiem lake. It is a simple restaurant in an old colonial style house. The wooden tables and chairs are rustic but not artistically so – it has the feeling of a street stall that grew up and formalized, a local neighborhood place where locals and expats go for well-priced Vietnamese favorites. The average price of a dish is about 30 – 35,000 VND.

There were about 8 of us on this recent trip, so we decided to order family style in order to try little bit of everything at Quan Com Pho. The menu was endless and so it was in fact hard to choose. Lyan had already decided before we sat down that he wanted to have Nit Neo Nuong (grilled pork chop) and while it wasn’t on the menu, the kitchen happily complied.

And then we moved on to try Vietnamese Spring Rolls , Fried Chicken Wings, a Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab with Butter, Pho bo (beef noodle soup), and grilled eggplant. This was of course washed down by a few bottles of Saigon Beer J

Everything was super fresh and full of that distinctive savory, fresh flavor profile of Vietnamese food. The grilled pork chop was mouth watering good, so we were happy that Lyan had ordered it ‘off menu’ (in fact we ordered 3 servings by the end of the meal!)

I have a soft shell crab fetish, so I pretty much will order this anywhere it is on offer. And of course, I was curious to try a Vietnamese version. The soft shell crab (Cua Lot Chien Bo) was in fact buttery, yet light. The simple preparation highlighted the flavourful crab. And it even made a convert out of a friend who typically doesn’t like crab.

The Pho and spring rolls were good, but of course it isn’t hard to find good spring rolls or Pho anywhere in Vietnam.

The only “miss” of the afternoon, we all agreed, were the chicken wings… a bit dry and “skinny” – I don’t know if the chickens are scrawnier here than in other parts of SE Asia, but there simply wasn’t much meat on the bone.

A real unexpected highlight was the grilled eggplant – another dish we ordered a second helping of. It was so rich and flavourful that it became the unwitting star of the show.

Quan Com Pho is definitely worth a try if you are in Hanoi. It’s nothing fancy, but that’s kind of what we liked about it. Good, simple and traditional food that well executed and tasty but also light on the wallet.

Quan Com Pho Restaurant
29 Le Van Huu
Hanoi, Vietnam
Telephone: +84 4 9432356

Visiting the celebrity chef’s signature restaurant in Hanoi

Bobby Chinn is one of the most celebrated chef’s in Asia. If you watch the Travel & Living channel, there is no doubt you have seen his show Bobby Chinn Cooks Asia. Beyond that, he is regularly featured in newspaper and magazine articles and even recent Sony handycam commercials. We wondered if after all the media exposure, if his restaurant could really live up to all the hype.

When we were in Hanoi recently, we decided to give it a go. Paul made a booking for us and 2 other friends on a Saturday night. Interestingly enough, when arrived to their new location (they have recently moved), we noticed the restaurant was startlingly empty… and actually remained this way when we left some 3 hours later. Never a good sign for a restaurant…

But in the spirit of keeping an open mind, we sat down and perused the menu. Much like Bobby on his TV show, the menu is packed full of personality. Lots of witty aphorisms and quips entertain the diner. And even found on the menu is a most usual item. For $5.78 USD, you can order a side dish of the staff complimenting you – “we tell you, you are beautiful all night long…includes a signed copy of the menu.” OK, so he’s funny, but how’s the food?

I ordered the Vietnamese 6 course tasting menu (800,000 VND / $44 USD) which included:

• An amuse bouche of chicken satay
• Black bean soup
• Duck Confit (Pho Cuon)
• Beef La Lot (chargrilled beef wrapped in La Lot leaves)
• Smoked Pork Belly in caramel sauce, braised cabbage and lotus rice
• Ice cream

The real standouts in my tasting menu were the grilled beef wrapped in La Lot Leaves and the Smoked Pork Belly. The beef was tender and juicy, seasoned perfectly with local spices. I would definitely order this again. The pork belly in caramel sauce was rich (of course), served in a bubbling casserole dish straight from the oven. I will admit I have had pork belly I have enjoyed more (like that at the St Regis Singapore dim sum brunch). And the rice was rather sticky and somehow not so fresh. Everything else on my tasting menu was competent, but not the wow I was expecting from a chef held in such high regard.

Paul got the Western Tasting Menu of 6 courses (800,000 VND / $44 USD) which included:

• An amuse bouche…also chicken satay
• Pumpkin soup
• Mushroom risotto
• Seared day boat scallops with braised edamame and truffle pea jus
• Five spices rack of lamb with apple risotto and red wine, lamb jus reduction
• Dessert sampler

Paul thought the mushroom risotto was really well done, creamy and earthy, overall a perfectly cooked risotto. However the rest of his dishes were also just so-so. Nothing was bad, but also nothing terribly standout. And in general he felt, and I agree, it was a rather unimaginative tasting menu. (And why the 2 risottos? One as a course and one as a side dish?) Usually this is where chefs have the opportunity to strut their stuff and this was a predictable list of dishes that didn’t highlight the culinary aptitude of the kitchen.

Monica and Lyan, our dining companions, ordered a la carte. They chose a crab trio ($15 USD) of crab salad, truffle crab espresso and glazed crab cake. This was another standout dish. We all sampled the various crab dishes and agreed this showed creativity and culinary finesse. Whereas the blackened barramundi on braised banana blossoms ($16 USD), much like our tasting menu was just good, but not great.

It’s kind of a shame really, we all wanted to love Bobby Chinn’s in Hanoi, but somehow we just couldn’t fully embrace it. The décor is stunning and dramatic…the service was good…but the food simply wasn’t at the caliber one would expect from a chef who is so lauded. Beyond that, it also felt a bit commercialized…as an example, we were offered his book to buy for $25 USD no fewer than 3 times. And this did annoy me a bit…although as I skimmed the book I did find amusement in noting that the Vietnamese government had censored out all references to the Vietnam War. (And I should mention that Paul found the book the very next week in Singapore for a fraction of the price – $9 SGD or $6 USD).

Overall, we would say Bobby Chinn’s in Hanoi is not a must do for dining. However, we would recommend a street Bahn My sandwich any day. But the dramatic and romantic environment does lend itself for a nice night of cocktails and shisha, but skip the food (if you’re on a shorter visit… probably something great for local expats to have on reserve)… or at least order the crab trio or beef la lot to be safe.

Bobby Chinn
77 Xuan Dieu Street
Tau Ho District
Hanoi, Vietnam
Telephone: +84 4 3719 2460

Living in Thailand, the thing that always amazes me is how different Vietnam is even though there are so many superficial similarities…Asian culture whose roots are Chinese, developing nation with a high poverty level, similar cultural customs, etc. But where Vietnam separates itself is with the people. This is a place where people have seen war, hunger and extreme communist regimes. This is a country where the work ethic approaches that of New York or Hong Kong and seems to be driven by a real feeling that they can advance and are not limited by their social status at birth. They are grateful for everything they have as they have worked hard to earn it. Ho Chi Minh city, formerly Saigon, is a prime example of this.

As the largest city in Vietnam it is the bustling commercial center for the country. And this is not lost on the Western world – many companies are moving their overseas manufacturing operations out of Thailand and China, not because the cost of operation is tremendously different, but because the commitment to quality and efficiency are vastly superior. Companies like North Face, Patagonia, some of Nike and running their global manufacturing facilities from HCMC.

And beyond the corporate world, there is a inspiring art scene with everything from serious painters to talented fashion designers. It really is unusual to see such original thought in SE Asia. This will sound jaded and no doubt will raise some eyebrows, but the region is not known for original thought….SE Asians are masters of copying and with clear instructions they are wonderful do-ers. But art and culture as we know it (original musicians, galleries with artists, fine arts museums, operas, symphonies) are simply absent in SE Asia. This is generally because of the government and resulting education systems which create followers rather than leaders. Original thought is squelched as that is the stuff of questioning minds and protests. But somehow, despite the current communist regime in Vietnam, there is a thriving art scene in HCMC. And while this certainly exists at a high brow level, it also exists on a more approachable scale – Vietnamese designers trained by french tailors during the colonial times turn out incredibly unique and inspired silk dresses in the most dazzling array of colors and patterns. This is just another example of how the Vietnamese persevere and create their own destinies.

Likely this is resulting from HCMC’s long history. It was actually part of Cambodia until it was annexed by the Vietnamese in the 17Th century. Colonized by the French in the 1800′s, the city became so Western and cosmopolitan that it was known as “Paris in the Orient.” Today, the city is still adorned with wide elegant boulevards , French colonial buildings and lovely little bistros and cafes making breads and pastries in the French tradition.

Au Parc was one such example. Easily the most delightful cafe I have had the pleasure of dining in, in all of SE Asia. A French cafe, it offers the standard fare (omelets, croque monsieur, pates, cheeses, cafe au lait) but also offers French North African fare (hummus, falafel, chicken tajine). What impressed us the most was the quality of the food – the freshest ingredients, prepared absolutely correctly. It was so good, we ate there twice! Sampling once from the French items and the second time from the North African menu. I will say that sometimes one stumbles upon gems in Asia – and typically these gems are qualified by the fact that they are “good” for Asia – meaning….well it is not NYC pizza, but not bad for Bangkok. Au Parc however, would have a welcome home in any major metropolitan city in Asia or the West. It was just that good.

So by day, aside from our visits to Au Parc, we explored the city on foot. It is actually quite small and completely manageable for a weekend trip. In one day we managed to see the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum. Two must sees,for sure. But mainly we took in the city with long walks….popping in a lacquer-ware shop here, stopping for a Vietnamese coffee there. Funnily enough a large part of the one rainy afternoon was spent in Annam Gourmet Store. If you have lived or spent any time in Asia this place will blow your mind – the array of imported foods and wines is simply dazzling. Copolla Cabernet Sauvignon’s for $15, a wide selection of Belgian ales including Duvel and Chimay, organic flours and grains, imported cheeses and pates, imported chocolates and heavenly sweet treats. We emerged with a couple of bottles of Californian wine, organic buckwheat pancake mix and dried cranberries. Yum.

So back to Bangkok we go….with pancake mix, memories of a well spent weekend and a deeper appreciation for Vietnam.