Restaurant Bobby Chinn, Hanoi

I Had to go to Bobby Chin.

Being in Hanoi and not giving Bobby zhai a visit will do myself great injustice.

Or so many of my friends said (though many of them have not been to Bobby's too..hehe)

Bobby Chinn is one of the few fine dining restaurants in Hanoi. It's located next to Hoan Kiem lake, which provides a rather romantic setting (minus all the heavy traffic and honking...).

The interior was cozy, romantic..red chiffon and silk was draped around the restaurant, modern art filling up a whole wall, rose petals scattered carelessly on each table.

The staff were very professional, service was excellent.

We ordered and wait was not too long..

Got the bread first, which Dragongirl loves. It was fragrant, but it's not the fluffy type. The top was crunchy as it was (i suspect) pan fried. My only gripe is that it's a tad oily..

A fusion springroll complimentary from the chef.. I liked it as it was served with a tangy sauce, somewhat like balsamic vinegarish flavour..

I enjoyed the Truffle Mushroom Pho Cuon tremendously..

The fresh mushrooms were cooked to perfection; slightly springy in texture..the subtle hint of truffle oil wafting from it...wrapped in the cool rice sheet. It was wonderful, just enjoying the blend of flavours and textures.

Dragongirl had lamb shank..

The lamb was very tender, the meat was so tender that it falls off the bones easily. But I found the sauce rather over-powering. The rice was simmered with apples and some fusion of teriyaki sauce. It was just too sweet for me. Didn't like that.

My Blackened Barramundi was very fresh..The fish was sweet, the juiciness was nicely retained.The top part of the fish was pan fried until crunchy; it was coated with spices which did not blanket the sweet taste of the fish. The base of warm banana flower salad with nuts was just mediocre. In fact, Dragongirl did not like it at all.

We didn't have dessert as we wanted to try dessert at another restaurant that we spotted on our way to Bobby's.

We were chatting, enjoying our drinks after dinner when the waitress came over with 2 shells..tiny chocolate pancake filled with velvety chocolate mousse..Complements from the chef.

Sweet.

Hola Hanoi?

Taking a break from Vietnam's food, just what might you do in Hanoi?

The Old Quarters that Hanoi is so famed for. Roads named after products, such as coffee, silk, shoes, clothes etc, Old Quarter is distinctly a part of Hanoi not to be missed..

The Thang Long Water puppets is also uniquely Hanoi. How's the show? Well, the opening act was fine..but by the end of the show? erm, Dragongirl fell asleep..hahaha. A small tip here..we bought the VIP tickets, thinking we'll get a better view. We were quite disappointed to find that there was not much difference from the normal tickets..heck, the row behind us paid half of what we paid! So, just get the norm tics, ok?

The Hoan Kiem Lake, smacked right in the middle of Hanoi City is hard to miss. Beautiful, just strolling around the lake gives a sense of sereness. Well, it was serene until Dragongirl tried stealing the 'sword' ..hehe

Temple of Literature is actually a temple and a literature hall (the 'uni' ) combined (or so I was told). Nice, vast space, with the temple and structures build in ancient Chinese style; it's quite interesting see the 'examination halls' and they have the 'juang yuan bang' - the scholar's list all carved on huge slabs of stones.

The Ngoc Ha Temple at West Lake..I felt very calm once I stepped into this temple. It was a quiet day, we were just taking our time in the temple. There was a bodhi tree in the temple, the locals said that if we were to sit there and rest, we would feel an aura of calm enveloping us.

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum was a quite a sight to behold; the wide open space, the majestic structures and not forgetting, the amazing number of tourists..most unfortunately, it was having some refurbishment, hence we were not allowed to go in..

The Presidential Palace was grand with its' unforgettable vivid colouring. We were not allowed near the area, this was the best shot I managed to take..

One pillar Pagoda explains how it looks like..It was built on a pillar. We were told by the locals that this pagoda was built as the king was grateful that Kuan Yin had bestowed him a son. The elderly king wanted to have a son for years and have been frequently visiting pagodas to pray and seek blessings from kuan yin. One night, he dreamt that Kuan Yin handed him a son. Soon after, the queen was pregnant. Hence, we were told that if you want to have a son, just pray here and your wishes would soon be granted..hehe

As for night, just chill in a local pub.. I simply adore the pubs there as the decor was just so cool (while others, classy). Somewhat french and zen, really nice to while time away with friends. And yes, drinks are not expensive at all...

So you want to travel out of Hanoi? Then a must would be the Unesco World Heritage listed Halong Bay..

Most unfortunately, it was raining when I was there, most of my pictures in Halong Bay looks so misty.. For those who can understand mandarin, Halong literally means Xia Long (dragons descending). And of course there's a legend following this name..:). Should I tell? hehe..guess not, but it's to do with war and descending dragon princes to aid in the war...

We had a rather enchanting night staying in the junk, in the midst of a thousand islets surrounding us...Guess Dragongirl had a better time teaching our junk mates from Germany, Chile, Israel, US to play Blackjack...hehe

You can swim, kayak or check out the caves (in larger islets)..

Though i was not very impressed with the disco caves..Would have been better if it was with white light...

There are also many famous places to visit around Hanoi, such as Sapa..which I did not have time to check out. Oh well...

Waiter There's Something in my.... topless tart!

Besides sounding the the punch line of an off-color joke, this is the theme for the monthly WTSIM blog event hosted this month by

Cook Sister! and as usual I am getting in just under the wire. I have not participated in WTSIM since there was something in my Easter Basket, but besides the incredibly rich humor potential in this month's theme, I actually made a recipe that fits in for a Wednesday tapas (no, not topless!) night that is both topless and a tart, and I thought this would be as good a time as any to share.

If you have followed my blog at all, you know that just about every Wednesday night we have a tapas night with our friend "Evil" David, where both of us make several small dishes. It is a time for us to try new things, explore new ingredients or combinations. If they turn out, it is great, but if not, it is a lesson learned, and we move on. Tapas night has included great successes such as a venison backstrap with a drunken dark cherry sauce, grilled sardines, and bulgogi and some real disasters like the time David's watermelon puree for his planned granita was spewed all over my kitchen and cabinets due to an ill-fitting blender lid. It took weeks before things were no longer sticky again.

Tapas also has become a way to experiment with and use up seasonal bounty- summer's zucchini, tomatoes and corn, fall beets and spinach , venison and winter squash in cold weather- all of these have found their way to the tapas table. And that is how we got to the topless tart that is my entry in the WTSIM...

I came up with this recipe as a way to use the last of the really good locally grown tomatoes and some goat cheese I had to create a light dish. I confess to using an all-ready pie crust for the bottom of this tart, but if you had time you could, of course, make your own. Now that great tomatoes are not as easily come by I would try oven roasting some tomatoes first to sweeten and intensify their flavor. In the summer this is a nice light lunch or a dinner with a big green salad. So give this topless tart a try when you need something light and luscious and hot (okay, okay, enough innuendo!)

Tomato and Goat Cheese (Topless) Tart

1 refrigerated all-ready pie crust

1-2 tablespoons pesto

3 large vine-ripened tomatoes thinly sliced (if tomatoes are out of season, roast sliced tomatoes in slow oven with a drizzle of olive oil for about 30 minutes)

4 ounces goat cheese crumbled

Press pie crust into a tart pan and crimp sides. Brush bottom of crust with pesto, and place sliced tomatoes in overlapping even layers.Slating and peppering each layer. Crumble cheese over top of tomatoes. Bake in 375 degree oven about 20 minutes or until crust is done, tomatoes are bubbly and cheese is soft and brown. Cut in squares or wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.

Your Turkey Sandwich

Almost as central to the big turkey dinner for American families is the turkey sandwich, the favorite use of turkey leftovers in the days after Thanksgiving. But just how to make a turkey sandwich seems to be as personal as one's DNA. When I was first married, I thought that a turkey sandwich was white bread (hey, I grew up when whole grain wasn't cool!) slathered with lots of mayo, and sliced turkey, very minimalist. After all, the turkey was the star, no need for distractions. So imagine my surprise when my husband asked me for a turkey sandwich after our first Thanksgiving together, and I found that he had a completely different and more complex expectation for what would be included.

My favorite: one slice of bread or leftover rolls split, small slathering of leftover stuffing, sliced turkey topped with warmed leftover gravy (My name is Deborah and I am gravy-holic...)

My husband's turkey sandwich: White bread spread with a thin layer of butter (or lately, Smart Balance), a light sprinkle of salt, a layer of stuffing, sliced turkey, thin slices of canned jellied cranberry sauce, topped with another slice of white bread.

In our house, some children have followed his lead- Andrew likes the Dowd Full Monty turkey sandwich like his dad, with Bridget simplifying by taking off the cranberry sauce. Young Gavin tends towards my minimalist approach, but with a very large helping of mayo (it has to be Duke's)

In looking around the blogosphere, I can see that there are as many versions of the turkey sandwiches as there are individuals, so tell me- what is your favorite formula for a knock -out turkey sandwich?

Quan An Ngon, Hanoi..Part 1

This will be a very lengthy post as we ate so much at this restaurant. In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we had it 2 times, once in it’s branch in Hanoi and another was at the main branch at Ho Chi Minh (will write about that in another post). I first heard about this restaurant from my brother when his Vietnamese friend brought him to the HCM Branch.

We ate so much and it was dirt cheap! That was all I could remember from my brother other than the fact that I recalled the restaurant had very warm colours used for it’s walls and interiors.

Jeffrey brought us to sample to fare at Hanoi first. Not too far, but you’d still need to take a cab, Quan An Ngon is very popular amongst the locals as it serves cuisine from north, south and central Vietnam, the food’s tasty, and prices are very reasonable. Also a good place to bring touristy friends as it’s clean and pretty nice ambiance.

We left the ordering to Jeffrey, who repeated asked us, I hope you guys are hungry!
First dish was grilled squids served with lemon juice, pepper and salt.This was absolutely scrumptious; the squid were very fresh, the meat was springy, sweet and thick (somewhat like calamari). The slightly charred exterior gives a hint of crispiness and the smoky flavour was just subtle; matched the marination beautifully.

The grilled prawns was as good, they were just enhancing on the freshness of the prawns; little/ no marination was use, all we got was the sweetness from the fresh prawns and the smoky grill flavour enveloping it.

Nice.

The warm lotus root salad with shrimps and beef (goi ngo sen)was served next.

Very interesting dish, the light flavour from the lotus root was so mild, you need to really clear your palate before trying this. Eaten with prawns crackers, I like this dish a lot..The soft yet lovely texture of the lotus, the crunch from the crackers, the chewiness from the meat and the springy texture from the prawns. Lovely.

Next served was the rather sinful looking roasted pork with steam rice noodles and sliced unripe bananas. The dish was still luke warm, just take a piece of the rice paper and wrap the pork, rice noodles, sliced bananas, some greens and dip in the sweet tangy sauce. The combination was amazing; the burst of flavours and temperatures..sweet, salty, tart, sour..and the warmth from the steamed rice noodles, coolness from the sauce and rice paper..This is really good. Make sure you order this dish.

The vegetable egg pancake/ omelette was simple, yet tasty. A huge omelette, inside was spilling with vegetables and shrimps. Fuss free, yet delectable.

Jeffrey also ordered stir fried glass noodles with unagi (eel)

The local unagi used was tinier..so it was rather tough and chewy. I though this was an interesting dish, but paled in comparison to the previous dishes.

We also had the prawn fritters, somewhat like malaysia’s har peng (for the chinese) or cucur udang (for the malays). I was rather surprise,Why did Jeffrey order this dish when we have lots of this in Malaysia? I took a bite and I take my word back. This is by far, the best cucur udang/ har peng that I have ever tasted. Crunchy on the outside, the dough was soft and melting..dip generously into the sweet tangy sauce.OMG!..The prawns, though it looks rather hard (the shells) and menacing; was so lovely to eat..the taste of the crunchy shells was so, so fragrant. If I could, I would love to gorge myself with this. Hahaha

Jeffrey saw some customers ordering fried pork buns, which he ordered for us to sample too. Not sure if it’s because we were too stuffed by then, I find the buns too porky and a tad oily for my liking.

Lastly, we had the dessert, which was very rich and creamy as all was served with coconut cream/ milk. I am a firm believer of some things it’s better in moderation, and in this case, the dessert was it. It was so rich that it was just too ‘heavy’ for me.. we had mung bean, peanut and coconut milk; sticky sweetened corn with coconut cream; and steam banana and coconut milk. I didn’t find it too impressive. Maybe I was too full to really savour these desserts..

And guess how much we paid for this meal (drinks of beers and fruit shakes included). About RM50!

We left with very full belly and very big smiles..hahaha

Quan An Ngon is located at 18, Phan Boi Chau, Quan Hoan Kiem, Hanoi. DT: (04) 9428162, 9428163.

Keys to a successful Thanksgiving

Hectic. That is the best way to describe the time since I returned from DC. I am not sure how, but Thanksgiving snuck up on me, And now I am caught in a whirlwind of cleaning, planning, shopping. So many blogs are sources for recipes, how-tos, and tips to help you prepare for the biggest food day in the US, and I had great intentions there too,but alas, even my best advice and recipes are more than likely too late if, like me, you have already planned and shopped for the meal, so I am providing a link to my Thanksgiving post from last year, and taking a different route for this post.


First, here are my tips for a successful Thanksgiving:

1) Plan- it is the one way to make sure that you don't have to run out on Thanksgiving day to find cream or butter or canned pumpkin at the corner 7-11. And don't just do this in your head- write it down!

2)Prep- This is something that professional chefs do all the time and can really be a big help when preparing a big meal. I always chop my onions and celery for the stuffing a day or two ahead, bag in a ziploc and put in the freezer so I am not chopping at 7 AM. Make your fresh cranberry sauce, and your pies the day ahead. Another important thing to me is to clean out my fridges and freezer so that ingredients are easy to find and so there is room for the mountains of leftovers.

3) Don't stress- There is so much pressure around Thanksgiving, sometimes because of the expectations of others, but most often because of the pressure we put on ourselves. Don't try to make a whole Cordon Bleu meal when you have in-laws and cousins coming. Incorporate family favorites and pick one or two new dishes to stretch your culinary muscles (for me this year it is angel biscuits, a ginger-pumpkin cheesecake, and fresh brussels sprouts with chestnuts) Remember that tradition is very important at Thanksgiving, and people gravitate toward the foods that they remember from their childhood, so make those dishes prominent in your menu.

4) Enjoy- Thanksgiving is about family and friends first, and then food. Let people help by bringing sides or desserts or wine. If you have a huge crowd, get really nice seasonal paper plates so you are not spending hours on cleanup after the meal. Play games like Spoons or Apples to Apples while the turkey roasts to raise the hilarity factor. Pull a simple craft from the internet to keep children busy or set up holiday movies or video games in a room away from the adults so they don't get bored.

I hope to post at least once more before Thanksgiving, but I will be following my own advice and realizing that I can't do everything, so in case I don't get back to you before Thursday, my Thanksgiving wish for all of you is a day full of great food, and the people you love to enjoy it with!

Highlands Coffee, Hanoi

It was our first night in Hanoi city, strolling, when Jeffrey pointed to us the Highlands Coffee located just next to the Hoan Kiem Lake.

That's Vietnam's version of Starbucks, he told us.

We merely nodded, we were busy absorbing the scenery; enjoying the lovely breeze, cooling our faces. We didn't think much of coffee after dinner, in fact, we've totally forgotten about it.

We had dinner with Jeffrey again on another night..and we were so very full from dinner (shall write about that soon) that we could not think of doing anything or going anywhere else. It was a cold night, the wind was strong, it was drizzling...

What about some local coffee? and in a few minutes, we were standing in front of Highlands Coffee, the branch located at West Lake, Hanoi. It looks so pretty, the 'ship'-like cafe nestled cozily next to the breathtaking, calm West Lake. We went in and were happy with the warm interior and cozy setting. It was, surprisingly, rather noisy though. Highlands Coffee was founded by an overseas viet, who decided to start a coffee chain akin to Starbucks, Coffee Bean..you get the drift. Jeffrey noted that usually, Highlands Coffee always managed to find a fabulous location for it's branches..in Hanoi's case, it's usually by the lake :)

Though I would love, love to have a cup of coffee that night, i was just too full to have that. Decided to have a piping cuppa instead..at least it settles a near-bursting stomach. Hahaha Dragon girl had juice..

Though we did not have the coffees, I did scour through the menu. Highlands Coffee obviously had quite a large range of coffees (local roasted coffee)..from norm long, flats, black, whites; to ice blended and frappucinos. And also a range of teas (cold and hot) and juices. Hungry? No worries..they serve sandwiches, burgers, pasta and rice(i think) too :)

Guess you can give Highlands Coffee a visit if you just want to chill and sip a cup of aromatic coffee at a fraction of Starbucks' price :)

Street food, Hanoi

Most unfortunately, we didnt have much time to explore street food in Hanoi as we went for trips and didnt really have much time to sample local street food. Just a few stuff we ate there..

We were walking down the streets at Old Quarter.

It has been drizzling the whole morning and we were cold and rather miserable.The mouth watering smell wafted through. We looked around and saw a petite old lady making some omelette. We ordered one immediately. She cracked some eggs and mixed with some chopped local veg and fried it immediately on her makeshift stove-basket. We waited patiently..and we were rewarded with a very scrumptious omelette. It was very fragrant, cooked to the right texture and dip in the lime+fish sauce, it's just great :) But one of our faves in Vietnam would be Bun Thit Nuong, directly translated as noodle+meat+grill.It's dry rice noodles served with grilled pork patties, grilled pork and fried spring rolls. The meat patties tasted wonderful, somewhat like a mix of mince char siew and bak kwa. We love it to bits! The fried spring rolls, though yummy, was not as good as the patties..

How we eat this? Mix some rice noodles, meat patties, spring rolls and fresh veg together and makan! Dont drink the soup/ sauce though. It's salty if taken on it's own..It's just to complement the noodles. Wonderful stuff, please please try this when you are in Vietnam..This was one of the stalls we had Bun Thit Nuong. Which serves one of the yummiest meat patties..

We had the vietnamese chee cheong fun..

The rice sheets are cooked fresh, when we ordered..and these smooth sheets are filled with mince meat and sliced wood/ear fungus. Served with a some fried shallots and dried shrimps.Dip in their sweetish salty mildly spicy fish sauce for the perfect simple breakfast..Nice.

We also had lotsa fresh bagettes with pate and eggs..To date, am still wondering why I didnt take a single picture of it. Oh btw, it's near impossible to find a bagette stall in Hanoi while its ubiquitous in Saigon..