Speedy trip to Hanoi - Pho Banh Mi Coffee repeat
Another travel destination checked! Have always wanted to visit Hanoi as everyone tells me it's like super affordable and very unique. Kinda lucky that the team decided to still have a unit trip but sadly it's only for two nights and we weren't allowed to extend our trip :(
Nevertheless, we arrived at Hanoi on Friday noon. Checked in to our hotel and quickly head out to start whatever's left for our day. First stop was getting lunch!
Lunch at Pho 10
This was the only Pho place that is opened at odd hours to get our first bowl of Pho in its home country! So excited to see all the condiments and herbs on the table and a long list of pho for selection.
Beef brisket Pho with eggs and youtiao! Just like how my Vietnamese friend taught me haha Broth was delicious, seriously pho soup is so hearty with all the spices and the rice noodles perfectly soak all the essence. Youtiao, which wasn't as crunchy as I expected, is still awesome to soak up the broth.
Hoan Kiem Lake
Went for a quick walk around the lake after our lunch. I was kind of amazed by how this super calm lake is like a contrast against all the buzz from the city around it. The lake feels like it's been there forever, like some kind of imperial lake gardens. Like how the calm lake forms a mirror image of everything.
Egg Coffee - Cafe Dinh
Just right along the lake is Cafe Dinh which is pretty much on every list of Egg Coffees to try in Vietnam. Climbed up the narrow staircases to reach this super rustic coffee shop at first floor with super packed tables and stools and no aircon lol (It was hot, kinda similar to Singapore's weather). The windows to the lake were blocked by a huge fan. But the smell of the coffee and sugar was definitely welcoming. Take a sip of the egg coffee and it all make sense why people still want to squeeze themselves in this small lil coffeeshop.
First egg coffee ever. To sum it up, it's a dessert coffee, custard coffee. It's like coffee flavored meringue haha. So smooth, silky, caramelised and crazy aromatic. Gotta love how simple ingredients can achieve this delicious effect.
Authentic experience dictates you have these coffee while sitting on a super mini stool hehe.
Hanoi Train Street
Definitely a must visit for this strange hipster spot around a functioning train track. Doubt this is common in the rest of the world.
These are real housing lots that are lining along the train tracks. Love how they have many plants around to add splashes of green
See them hipster cafes right next to the tracks
We had a mini tea break as well.
Fried spring rolls are definitely the go-to snack!
Madame Hien
Recommended by a Hanoi-ian. We are here for true Vietnamese cuisine and I would like to proudly announce this was the best meal of the trip. Like no regrets for missing dinner with the rest of the colleagues sorry haha.
Guys this meal was amazing. Despite my great love for food, I tend to put food as a secondary thing during travels so I honestly havent had like crazy awesome food experience in my travels but wow, this meal at Madame Hien was so good. It's unique, can't find in Singapore and most importantly mind-blowing delicious! Oh and to top it off, the classy ambience in a colonial building and the affordable price just makes it all the better. The steamed squid was so tender and refreshing. The mushrooms in the claypot has this divine wokhey. Everything else was equally delightful. The smoked duck, the tender melty pork
Hoan Kiem at night
Hoan Kiem light is pretty much surrounded by many government buildings and most of them are heritage buildings with beautiful architecture. The area is actually nicely lit up at night, cars are blocked from entry so people can freely just roam around, enjoy the lights at Hoan Kiem Lake and the chilly weather.
Our attempt to take a photo at the very wide street
Hoan Kiem Lake
One of my favorite photos of the trip! Told you the lake is calm as a mirror
There's also plenty of shops around and a super bustling night market selling all sorts of stuff at Hàng Đào. In case you forgot some of your travel essentials like shades and caps, or even want a nice summer dress or those super trendy rattan bags, you can get them here.
Rise and shine for Day 2. That's breakfast at hotel. Quite meh but not bad la there are French pastries to sort of complete the French colonial culture kind of experience.
Half Day Ha Long Bay Cruise
Boarded a bus that transfers us from Hanoi to a ferry terminal and it took about 2 hours I think. It was an early morning, I think I was still super sleepy when we reach the terminal so apologies that there's no record of the bus journey. Think I only became fully conscious when we boarded the cruise ferry which brought us to the limestone islands of Ha Long Bay.
Tea and small lil sweet on board. I think we weren't allowed to be outside for most of the journey. Think it was the last 30 minutes or so when they finally allowed us to go to the upper deck for sightseeing.
So for most of the time, we were stuck in the cabin and can only peek through the windows. It's fully air-conditioned so I guess it's not too bad haha.
Not sure if it's the timing of the day but the waters look like a shade of yellowish green instead of the world-famed emerald waters. But the limestone island are indeed majestic. Something about the intertwining textures of lushgreens and greyrocks that makes it a pretty magnificent sight.
See how everyone has a cap, the sun was really blazing hot. Our first stop was to sort of take refuge in this natural limestone cave >> Dong Thien Cung
Look at all them Jellyfishes, oh wait they are HUGEEEEE.
Kind of impressed with how they nicely illuminate the cave so that everyone can clearly marvel the complicated limestone structures formed by mother nature.
If you read my older travel posts, you will know Im not a big fan of caves, like I'm not sure how to appreciate all these but one thing is for sure, the moment I start thinking about how the caves are naturally formed, it still amazes me every time.
Next we were given options to take a closer look of Ha Long Bay with either boats or kayak. Sun was blazing hot and it's not like I've never did kayaking so opted for the chill option. The sampan ride did made it feel more like a local adventure and perhaps like a step back in time. Just slowly and calmly cruising through the waters. The limestones definitely look more majestic when you stop by closer and had to snap your head up to take in the entire structure.
Back to the cruise and had lunch while we head back to mainland. Plenty of seafood yassss. I don't think there's a kitchen on board so these are probably just reheated. Taste okayyy...Madame Hien probably set the bar too high haha. The lala soup was quite good. The squid was too chewy.
Banh Mi 25
Back to Hanoi and we immediately went out for more food adventure. I've been dying to have Banh Mi in Vietnam, it's like the national sandwich/subway, sold at super affordable prices. Banh Mi 25 seems to be the recommended place and true enough the queue was pretty long in front of this small little store. Thank God for the space saving stools that let us just sit around and wait for our food!
Check out this beautiful cross section of the Sauteed Beef Banh Mi. Love how each of these are served in this rattan tray. But part of me wished it was a proper plate to catch all the juices from the beef! Super delicious beef, refreshing pickles, crunchy baguette. Just so good!
And yes you HAVE to enjoy it with a side of Hanoi-ing motorcycle sounds :P
Cafe Giang
Gotta spam egg coffee, where else can egg coffee be this accessible. Decided to go for another recommended coffee shop. I'm really liking the vintage vibe of these coffeeshops, the framed photos on the wall, the wooden tables and stools, the chipped and aged walls, drinking coffee here is just extra hipster. But the egg coffee here is quite different from Cafe Dinh's. This one is not as thick as Cafe Dinh so it's more like coffee coffee. But I think I preferred Cafe Dinh's super intense coffee dessert flavor.
Think I didn't take many photos because the place was quite dark. Here's a video of the ambience and our egg coffees.
Xoi Yen
Quite stuffed from coffee and banhmi but I was really really curious about what exactly Xoi Yen sells because I've seen this on the must-eat lists! Xoi Yen is located at the same street as Cafe Giang, can't just miss it then. So Xoi Yen sells Xoi (sorrry if it's not obvious enough) aka sticky rice with toppings so I supposed it's cai fan but glutinous rice version. Not sure what exactly to order, we just anyhow whack the toppings and dabao-ed back to our hotel. But the rice already smells insanely good. I remember we decided to just open up the pack at the corridor and just freaking annihilated the whole thing in minutes! It was so good and really no paiseh portion left haha. The glutinous rice is super greasy and fragrant, there's mung bean paste and fried shallots if i remember correctly so it's both sweet and savory, super addictive really. Slightly reminds me of Kaoshiung's Mi Gao which has dried shrimps and fried shallots. The mung bean paste is truly special and such a good flavor and texture. I think we had roast pork, egg and chicken strips as the toppings. Really recommend this!
Home Moc
Dinner time and its team feast mode to reward ourselves as well as bid farewell to our team's founding partner. We had our own private room in this beautiful restaurant with local vintage decor. So much food and drinks. The food may not taste as divine as Madame Hien but they were still really delicious and definitely not something you can get in SG.
Really love the decor of the place.
Our private room with two storeys summore
Behold the feast. Spring rolls, caramelised ribs, roasted pork belly, fried rice and so much more. Everything was pretty tasty really and it's nice to sample so many different types of food in one go!
Then there's second round thanks to all the drinks making us all hyped up. We went for Karaoke and they gave us this hugeeeeee room to comfortably sit almost 30 of us and has its own toilet attached. Surprisingly finding English and Chinese songs wasn't difficult and in fact many canton songs were played haha.
Sang all the way till 3am omg. But oh wells we only have 2 nights here, no time for sleep.
Day 3 Eat Eat Eat
Finally have some time to enjoy Hoan Kiem. Started our day at the Pho place that was closed when we first arrived!
Pho Thin
Recommended by a Vietnamese. This restaurant probably wont catch a tourist's eyes if no one tells you about it. The place was already packed when we reach. We were asked to take our seats at the cafe next door and they will serve our food. Soup was amazing, super clear but flavorful. Damn hearty omg. The noodles were just nice and soaks up the right amount of broth. Beef slices were tender everything just goes well with the broth really. The youtiao wasn't as crunchy as the one I had in SG lol.
This is clearly not Pho Thin, just the balcony of our hotel room. Something about the French balconies that is really classy.
Now this, is Pho Thin. Like seriously, I would really just walked pass.
Ah another bowl of brothy hearty beef noodles. I think the broth is just much more tasty, it's a lot of flavor but still refreshing. Pho is definitely one of the best soup noodles out there. Sry meehoonkueh, you have a competitor.
Continued to tour around Hoan Kiem area, checking out almost every rattan bag shop haha
Finally went to Banh Mi 25 again to chill. This time we went to the outlet with seats, more like a sandwich bar.
Got Iced Coconut Coffee, this is only 30,000 VND omg. So refreshing especially with the scorching hot sun.
Found this pretty balcony of the cafe overlooking a random junction. Come on this cafe is like the best now, yummy Banh Mi, good coffee and seats to chill.
Continued to shop and visited the Dong Xuan market as well, which is essentially a market complex with loads of different shops. You can get your souvenirs here at a much cheaper price. All the local snacks, arts and craft are here.
Had like 2 hours to kill and so...more coffee and food hehe
Cong Ca Phe
If Banh Mi 25 is Hanoi's subway, then this coffee shop is probably the Starbucks equivalent. Like it's everywhere, it's coffee in a hipster setting. Went to the outlet right along Hoan Kiem lake, so love the vintage interior with wooden chairs and tables. Coffee was super strong but smooth. If I had more time, this is definitely where I'll do the "bring a book and act 文青 kind of place".
Banh My Lan Ong
More Vietnamese subways! Decided to give this a try because I havent had a Banh Mi with Pate inside. Understand that Banh Mi is essentially a French fusion product with the Baguette as well as Pate, so gotta try the authentic deal rightttt. Happened to pass by this Banh Mi shop on our way back to hotel and I remember this being the top search when I was looking for Banh Mi place in Hanoi.
Banh Mi is definitely one of the best fusion food. Combinations that sounds weird at first, but hey they work out really good. The crunch, the rich, the smokey, the meaty, the herbs. Already hungry as I'm thinking.
This was really meaty and has a very rich flavor. Still find it amazing how this subway costs so little in Hanoi. They are so satisfying.
Had to take a photo of myself roaming the busy streets of Vietnam
That's pretty much it, our super short weekend trip at Hanoi. What I love about Hanoi, definitely the amount of good food and cheap food. It's really the one with the best food deal among all the countries I've visited so far. And omg I havent get to try Bun Cha ehhh. Just imagine how much good food is there seriously.
Can't comment much about the sightseeing because I didn't really have much time to explore. Ha Long Bay was quite underwhelming for me coz it felt quite rushed and maybe because it was super hot, I didn't get to see the postcard view of Ha Long Bay with blue-emerald waters and majestic limestones.
And...I didnt really want to say this but gosh, Hanoi-ians can be rude T.T And I cross checked this fact with my Vietnamese friend haha. Like really, we asked someone next to our table to take a photo for us and instead of just politely declining, she straight up gave us a bitch-can-you-fuck-off face. And the people in general just didn't feel super friendly and there were quite a few scam incidents that happen among us.
So yea, I guess, it will still be a great place to just unwind, eat and drink all day with friends. But....dont think it's a nice place for solo trips especially if you are into interacting with the locals.
Now finally, a travelog to capture all the fun moments: