Entree Kibbles: Ngu Pho - Serving Hanoi's Cha Ca Lang (Grilled Fish) @ Da Nang in Vietnam

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Ngu Pho - Serving Hanoi's Cha Ca Lang (Grilled Fish) @ Da Nang in Vietnam

Wandering aimlessly on our first day in Da Nang, we were unsure what to have for dinner until a picture of a familiar dish on a glass panel of a restaurant caught our attention and reminded me how good it was when I first had it in Hanoi.

Ngu Pho, a restaurant originating from the last dynastic capital of Hue, serves Cha Ca Lang, which was a grilled fish dish from Hanoi. While it might not sound authentic, it's Google Maps review rating score of 4.3 was assuring. And seeing the picture actually made me crave for a bite!

Interior of the restaurant on both levels one and two; for level two, it appeared to be fully reserved and we found out it was for a birthday party later. It might seem that business was bad but you have to understand that my family always prefers early dinners and the crowd started streaming in when we were about to leave.

Table layout with a free box of tissues at the side.

Watermelon Juice - this was for Alex as I am a believer of eating fruits, instead of drinking juice, which was literally laden with sugar without much fiber. In addition, sugar syrup would likely be added. Whatever the case, Alex said it was thirst-quenching!

Cha Ca Lang (Grilled Fish) - before we start with the signature dish for Ngu Pho, here's a short introduction on Cha Ca Lang, including a paragraph on how to enjoy the dish! p.s. Korean was included as Da Nang is extremely popular with Koreans!

Preparation for our grilled fish, which was said to be sufficient for two persons. Pricing was 155,000 dong which was cheaper than the famous restaurant in Hanoi, Cha Ca Thang Long; that was priced 179,000 dong per person.

In addition to the mud-colored, foul smelling prawn paste, a separate small bowl of fish sauce with pickled vegetables was placed on our table. Frankly, service at Ngu Pho was much better than Cha Ca Thang Long. Back at the latter, we had to request the prawn paste from the waiter, who made it seemed like we were troubling him.

Despite the instructions I shared earlier on how to enjoy the grilled fish, please wait for the service staff to stir fry the fish for you first as you wouldn't know where to start, and what to do! Leave the cooking to the professionals!

Final product; ready to dig in!

Although there were just six pieces of grilled fish, each portion was chunky and despite its size, the meat remained soft, tender and delicious, bringing me back to the memorable time we had at Cha Ca Thang Long.

Best way to eat isn't to eat the meat on it own; do mix in with the repertoire of the side ingredients for that orgasmic experience! An essential ingredient for me, would be the pungent prawn paste, which unfortunately, wasn't well liked by some, like Alex.

=====

Personally, I think this could give the Michelin-awarded Cha Ca Thang Long a run for their money, especially after considering the great service and the cheaper pricing. I will definitely bring my mom here when I revisit Da Nang in May next year!