Pizza 4P’s Bao Khanh near Hoan Kiem Lake @ Hanoi [Vietnam]

The one thing that the Great Kon will surely do whenever he visits Vietnam (and that's like a few times a year) is to pay a visit to Pizza 4P’s, and he can patronize more than once in one trip! 

Hence, it makes total sense for us to check out its branch in Hanoi, which was coincidentally located within eighty meters and along the same street as Bonsella Hotel, our accommodation for six nights in the capital of Vietnam.

Since we didn't make any reservations, the only place available would be the great outdoors, which wasn't an issue in early spring (when we visited), when the climate was still relatively cool. I bet it would be sweltering hot this month.

Sapporo Draft - hot weather, I need a beer to cool me down and cold weather; I require a beer to warm me up. Either way, the beer wins and I absolutely love draft Japanese beer! So smooth, and so comfortable for the exhausted soul. 

Salmon Avocado Tartare with Garden Herbs - let's wash down the beer with some healthy dish! I think I am falling deeper in love with avocado nowadays; love its nutty creaminess when eaten with vegetables! Personally, I can do without the salmon which I thought was a tad fishy.

4P's Cheese Fondue - said to be recommended, we decided to give it a try. Do you know that Pizza 4P’s makes their own cheese right here in Vietnam, "using fresh milk from cows that grew up in the rich nature of Da Lat"?!

Fondue didn't appeal as much as cheese platter though... It wasn't bad; just my preference and the cheese fondue was a bit salty. At only about S$9.00, I shouldn't be complaining! 

4 Cheese Pizza - beer is a must-order (since it was only about S$2.00), together with this pizza topped with mozzarella, parmesan, camembert and blue cheese; utterly delectable! Check out my initial review here. 

Of course must eat with the honey!

Yum yum yummy!!

Baked Lasagna with Mozzarella - been craving for lasagna for some time and the best in recent years was one made by a friend that was absolutely delicious! Maybe I should follow up on his recipe but it's such a fattening dish! 

There were so much minced meat within; definitely worth the price, even though I am looking for more than just a higher ratio of meat. Taste wise, it was above average and could do with more cheese in between the layers. 

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Address 

11B, Bao Khanh Alley, 

Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 100000, 

Vietnam

Map

As above.

Website

https://pizza4ps.com/

Pricing

Sapporo Draft - 39,000 dong

Salmon Avocado Tartare with Garden Herbs - 153,000 dong

4P's Cheese Fondue - 128,000 dong

4 Cheese Pizza - 240,000 dong

Baked Lasagna with Mozzarella - 168,000 dong

(Subject to 10% Tax)

Click here for my Week-Long Itinerary to Hanoi - City of Lakes @ Vietnam

Cinnabon - Best Classic Cinnamon Rolls? @ Raffles City Shopping Mall in Singapore

The world famous cinnamon rolls have arrived in Singapore! Technically, Cinnabon started operations around four months ago but knowing Singaporeans; I am not going to spend my precious time queuing for hours! 

I actually walked past the store a month plus ago and the queue was still long for me. Therefore, I decided to take the opportunity of clearing my leave on a weekday to check it out again. The line this time was definitely much more bearable; I was third in queue. 

Open kitchen concept; I do bake occasionally and was mildly taken aback by the size of the cinnamon rolls from Cinnabon. They were sliced a bit too thickly? My version would usually be half the thickness! 

Moving towards the counter where I was greeted with a mouthwatering array of cinnamon rolls, ranging from classic, chocolate to caramel pecan.

My eyes went wide when I reached the counter. The classics were gigantic! The ones I made at home would be considered as mini versions! I am so making the "normal" cinnabon size for my next cinnamon roll bake.

Waiting for the pager to beep as I couldn't resist ordering one classic just to have a fresh taste, and the friendly staff member was warming it for me.

Here it is; the much awaited classic Cinnabon. I was tasked by a friend to check it out as I do make quite a mean cinnamon roll and my love for it is so great; I would usually bake a batch and freeze them just so I can eat them, one at a time, slowly over a few months. 

Even, buttery spread of cinnamon and sugar along the inner layers; that's a good sign and I took in a nice whiff of cinnamon, although I think mine was slightly stronger.

The roll, while long, was thin and lacked the satisfying fluffiness of bread. As some of you are aware, I like my cinnamon roll to have crisp edges, which were sadly lacking in this classic cinnabon.

Given that Cinnabon hails from United Stated, I was expecting sweetness to be well over the limit! Interestingly, the sweetness was bearable and that's even for the lemon glaze! The glaze recipe I had for my cinnamon rolls was so sweeet; diabetes would scream "embrace me"! 

Dough was slightly more fluff up towards the end, otherwise known as the middle of cinnamon roll. As you can probably guess, this classic couldn't hold a candle to my cinnamon roll. Aside from what I mentioned above, another issue faced was that the roll didn't taste buttery enough! 

I don't like to waste food though and even though it wasn't up to expectations; it was still a decent tasting cinnamon roll. p.s. the color theme for Cinnabon is a beautiful classic shade of blue that some called tiffany-blue. 

Bought a box of 4 mini caramel pecan cinnabons for my parents. 

I shall update their thoughts in this post tomorrow. 

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Address

252 North Bridge Road, #B1-60, 

Raffles City Shopping Centre, 

Singapore 179103

Map

As above.

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/cinnabon.sg

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Classic Cinnamon Roll - S$6.80

Additional Information

There's an impetus to buy more when you are there but unless you are forever-hungry teenager, ther's no way you can stomach so many of those cinnabons. Heating and storage instructions as above for your reference! 

Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su - Special Beef Bowl near Hoan Kiem Lake @ Hanoi [Vietnam] #michelin

It's no secret I am no fan of pho but the Great Kon had done his research! Judging from the packed restaurant, even I was curious to check out Hanoi's Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su! 

Popularity has its annoyances, when competitors set up similarly named establishments to steal your customers! Hence, do note the other two branches under the same company. 

Given how close diners had to sit with each other, it's a matter of eat and go! Hence, we did manage to secure a table pretty quickly. And we were served the above after ordering. Damn, I usually ignored such additions and prefer to go with the original. 

Special Beef Bowl - with about ten different pho dishes, all of which were simply different parts of beef, we strongly believed the special bowl, with its mixed beef parts, would give us variety. 

It was a piping hot bowl of soup with noodles and beef; absolutely delightful in the cool 20 degrees Celsius we were blessed with on our second day in Hanoi! First thing I attacked wasn't the soup; it was the beef! 

So amazingly tender and for a price of only about S$5.20, I am seriously getting a lot of fresh beef! Some were a bit pinkish so do go for the well done beef pho if you aren't too keen with raw looking meat. 

As you can see , the beef broth, made "from stewed broth, bone marrow, beef bones", was clear; while typical of pho, it did give the impression of blandness. One sip of the hot soup and you would warm under its flavorful sweetness! Although it was tasty, I would prefer a beefier flavor.  

My major grouch about pho would be the flat rice noodles. Okay, maybe more the way they were cooked as the version that's stir fried was totally acceptable. 

Whatever the case, I must be hungry as the noodles were rapidly devoured so that I would leave the best for the last; the beef parts including brisket and flank (I think). 

Interestingly, I didn't finish the soup; must have been too full with the tra da! p.s. Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su was awarded Michelin Bib Gourmand at the augural Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi Michelin Guide earlier this month! 

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Address

10 P. Lý Quốc Sư, Hàng Trống, 

Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

(Look out for orange logo)

Map

As above.

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Special Beef Bowl - 90,000 dong

Click here for my Week-Long Itinerary to Hanoi - City of Lakes @ Vietnam

Pizzakaya - Japanese Pizzeria x Cafe @ VivoCity [Singapore]

I have a love-hate relationship with pizzas; absolutely relishing in them every single time while lamenting and feeling all guilty about the massive calorie gain right after the meal! 

Yet, when Jovyn chose Pizzakaya - Japanese Pizzeria x Cafe (over burgers for that matter) for her birthday lunch, I couldn't reject her. Nevertheless, I have always been curious about Pizzakaya ever since I chanced upon it at Jem. 

This Halal certified eatery had this bright, sanitized, spacious modern concept that looked so inviting! At a timing of almost past the lunch hour (at about 1.30 pm), it's assuring to see so many diners in the restaurant. 

View of Resort World Sentosa! Alfresco seating was available for those crazy enough to sit outside in such hot and humid weather; way more suitable for night time, especially if you are blessed with a light sea breeze.  

p.s. the visuals of this pair of brick pizza ovens gave the assumption that the owner was serious about its pizzas! And you know what Pizzakaya is supposedly famous for? Their hand-stretched Japanese-style pizzas! Not that I am aware of the differences though. 

Whatever the case, we were keen with the above promotion; S$45.80 (subject to service charge and taxes) premium set with one starter, two mains and one tower dispenser! This shall be sufficient for a growing teenager and a middle-aged man who can eat but need to cut down on starch. 

I was already fixed on what to order, and with a growling tummy exacerbated by the water activity we had at Sentosa earlier, I was impatient! But wait, I am not allowed to order from the service staff.

This QR code was essential for ordering! After ordering, it was an arduous wait for the food; which wasn't true as I did check the timing on my photos and the first thing that arrived came in less than 10 minutes after I confirmed the order on my phone.

Tower Dispenser - yes, drink is not food but it would help to quench some thirst, and sugar from the iced lemon tea did somewhat placate the tummy monster. 

Anyway, this was a 1.5-liter tower and it was utterly shiok for the eyes! The lemon tea was pretty good and reminded me of iced lemon tea from KFC a long time ago, when I, as a service staff, would brew the tea with loads of teabags and add in tons of white sugar! 

Starter - there were options for calamari and truffle fries; I would have gone with the former but the birthday girl is a fries-queen! Freshly fried and piping hot, the fries were thick-cut with a nice crisp! We caught whiffs of truffle; however, they were hardly on par with the ones from PS.Cafe.

Main - our first main shall be teriyaki chicken baked rice. Selection for the premium set included two pizzas, two pastas and two baked rice. I would have opted for pastas as I have never been a fan of baked rice.

Jovyn, once again, made the decision, and I am happy to go along with it (well, birthday girl). It was cheesy alright although I took more issue with the dried, thinly sliced teriyaki chicken. Rice was surprisingly okay but with me on a starch-restricted diet, I would have opted for nasi briyani instead of baked rice anytime. 

Main - second main has to be a pizza since Pizzakaya is a pizzeria! So, two options under pizza for the premium set; either teriyaki chicken pizza or takoyaki pizza. I love variety and since we already had teriyaki baked rice and takoyaki pizza seemed interesting; let's proceed with the latter.

The dried bonito flakes were kept in a separate bowl so that you can add the amount you enjoy. p.s. just in case you didn't know, bonito is actually a fish and in Japanese cuisine, bonito is the main ingredient for dashi. 

I half suspected the takoyakis would be cold and hard and thank god they appeared to be hot and fresh from the griddle, with soft, gooey insides that contained pieces of octopus! Unfortunately, Jovyn was under the impression those balls on the pizza were meatballs! Boy was she disappointed. 

Personally, I think it's better to separate takoyaki from pizza given the difficulties in eating them TOGETHER. I am also more a fan for thin crust pizza and hand stretched pizzas are known for being fluffier and thicker, like bread. 

Needless to say, I left the thick crusts aside.  

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Despite my reservations about the hand stretched pizzas, I was attracted by the unique versions Pizzakaya has; like quattro cheese, beef bulgogi, milky bangkok etc. And there was this ondeh ondeh pizza for dessert! Pricing, in my opinion, was also pretty reasonable. Definitely a place to consider if I am meeting my Muslim friends! 

Address

1 HarbourFront Walk, 

#01-157, VivoCity, 

Singapore 098585

Map

As above.

Ala-Carte Menu

As above.

Pricing

Premium Set - S$45.80

(Subject to Service Charge and GST)