Dinner on day four of our Hanoi trip was at Hong Hoai's Restaurant that, at this moment, had a google review rating of 4.9 from an impressive, over 6,000 reviewers!
I am going to go straight to the topic although truth was; I was famished and forgot to take more photographs of the eatery's interior! Whatever the case, food matters more than anything in a dining establishment.
Tra Da - this was the most expensive tra da I had at 20,000 dong as generally, the pricing was less than 10,000 dong! However, the tea flavor was a lot richer. I am happy paying lesser for a glass and double the serving.
Bun Cha - I had mentioned on a number of occasions that compared to pho, bun cha is my preferred Vietnamese noodle dish. Even though the grilled meat was aromatic, taste was salty and unlike my regular indulgences, I had to eat it with the vegetables to even out the saltiness.
Caramelized Pork Belly with Egg - just the delicious sound name was sufficient to work up an appetite! I was a bit disappointed with the egg though as I didn't expect quail eggs!
Honestly, this was just braised pork, and in my opinion, my mom's braised pork would have tasted sweeter than what I had at Hong Hoai's Restaurant. To be fair, the meat was tender! Totally can ignore the eggs, which didn't make or break this dish.
Pork Rolled in Betel Nut Leaf - having heard of betel nuts for so long, my curiosity was piqued for this dish and I can't wait to dig into the little meaty nuggets wrapped with leaves.
Maybe it's me. I can't really discern any interesting flavor from the betel nut leaves. In a nutshell, eating into each roll was similar to having water dumplings (水饺), albeit with soft bones in the filling. Not bad although not breathtaking too.
Banh Xeo with Beef - I fell in love with this after trying the amazing one from Ẩm Thực Quê Nhà in Ho Chih Minh City. The unique thing for this dish at Hong Hoai's Restaurant was that the server took extra steps to show us how to eat it, correctly!
So, the correct way was to eat it like a popiah wrapped with the rice paper! I love the fact that pineapple was added, which gave it an endearingly zesty and sweet twist. We should have chosen another meat too as beef turned out to be too tough!
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I wouldn't say this was a bad meal yet all of us were flabbergasted as to the high review rating. A rating of about 4.0 would be more reflective of what we had that night. Or maybe, we ordered the wrong things? p.s. service was very good and the staff spoke great English!
As many of you are aware, Bangkok is top on my list whenever I need a breather outside of Singapore yet strangely; despite the hype of the Mae Klong Railway Market, I have never been keen to check it out.
It's a somewhat different story at Hanoi. I still wasn't keen but since it was within walking distance from Bonsella Hotel; the pertinent question is, why not?
We were immediately approached by one of the cafe owners and agreed to walk over to her cafe since we didn't have any specific cafe in mind. Wrong move in my opinion as the track was curved and more cafes can be found further down. p.s. having said that, owner was friendly and our coffee was decent.
If you like cats, you can consider this cafe instead as there were four docile felines; one of which had very unique eye colors! Our friend, Lock, was obsessed with them!
Train would be coming towards us from the picture above and most cafes would not be concentrated here. Anyway, I am wondering if the cafes can still operate as my visit was in April and I understand there were calls for the tracks to be closed to tourists due to numerous safety incidents.
Looked like there was a natural tunnel for the train right ahead. I was too lazy to walk all the way and since this was a working train track; the risk was high that I would get myself killed.
Walking back towards 'civilization'.
And the prettier section with more cafes that flanked both sides of the train track. While trains do run daily, do note they run at night / early morning on weekdays. Do check the web for the latest schedule so that you wouldn't be disappointed.
Someone took a sign and put it right in the middle of the train track!
Does it mean the track would be closed?!
Just a warning sign although it did beget the question; I am already on the other side and what should I do if I need to cross over to the other side? Remember, this is a long train track.
Back of the sign. Hm.... although common sense, the last I heard was that someone was actually hit by a moving train recently and the driver had to do an emergency brake. While such train streets are interesting, for the sake of safety, I do agree that it's best to limit public access to the train tracks.
Better picture of the train street.
More cafes in the area, with wall murals, hanging lanterns that made it a prettier setting for photo-taking. Unlike Mae Klong Railway Market, this train street had a more chillax vibe.
Those afraid of being hit by the trains can consider the upper levels that some cafes had. Just be mindful as there's no modesty panel.
Fridge magnets for the tourists.
Wall mural; what I would love to see would be antique photographs of the train street. The railway was built over a hundred years ago by the French and it would be nice to see contrast the differences from past and now.
Aside from Vietnamese coffee and drinks, you can also get food. Unfortunately for us, Bonsella Hotel provided breakfast and despite being drawn to the aroma, I needed to control my food intake!
Random photos for your viewing pleasure.
As we were waiting for the arrival of the train, there was suddenly a flurry of activity and we were asked to go into the shop instead! Similar to what we encountered at Hanoi beer street! Apparently, the setup was too near to the incoming train and I bet many cafes along the track were affected.
Video of the incoming train!
The aftermath of the train street. I would think it's nicer if I was in the train, instead of being outside the train. Frankly, I didn't think it was a big deal to check out the train street but if you have some time to spare; why not?
Khlong Ong Ang Walking Street is supposed to be one of the newer attractions in Bangkok Chinatown although I think it still needs plenty of work to draw in the crowds as most people would likely only pass by the street if they explore Sampeng Market all the way to the end.
For me, what attracted me was this tiny, moveable counter that offered fish food pellets and bread for 10 baht, which was less than Singapore 50 cents. I knew for a fact that someone will be very interested; Alex!
Honestly, the canal water didn't look promising and I was prepared to assume that my money, no matter how small, would gone down the drain, literally.
Just a swing of my wrist and the resulting movements were shocking! Not only were there plenty of fishes; they appeared to be huge, like catfishes!
I did all these while waiting for Alex, as he was having a relaxing time going through the shopping at Sampeng Market whereas I am the impatient kind who doesn't like to waste too much time browsing things I have no interest in.
Chinatown in Bangkok, also known as Yaowarat, is well-known for its food street when night falls between Tuesdays and Sundays. Aside from seafood, the other item commonly sold was roasted chestnuts!
I love roasted chestnuts and the prepacked versions just can't find those that were freshly roasted. However, there is a disadvantage - the outer shells are so hard to peel, and if you are down on luck; the 'nuts' within might turn out to be not fully cooked, or rotten. A great disappointment after all the hard work!
Here's the moment I would like to introduce you to this makeshift stall that I had been patronizing for my past two visits to Bangkok. The quality of chestnuts was so good; I was tasked to haul one kilogram back to Singapore for my dearest mom!
Like mother, like son; my mom doesn't enjoy peeling roasted chestnuts, and this particular stall had the added advantage, of peeled, roasted chestnuts! Nowadays, more stalls offered the same service but me being a loyal customer means I am happy going back to this same stall.
What I did in my recent visit was to order from the friendly aunties, who spoke Teochew, before breakfast at Tee Yok Coffee - Klongthom, and then return to collect on my way back to Hotel Royal Bangkok. p.s. Hotel Royal Bangkok is our preferred stay at Chinatown!
Loving them and regretting not buying an extra kilogram so that I can slowly divulge once I am back in Singapore! Well, maybe I can steal a few when I am back to my parents' place for dinner tomorrow.
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Location
At the corner of Pichaiyat Building, that had a Lotus supermarket. Intersection of Yaowarat Road and Mangkon Road in Bangkok, Thailand. Refer to blue arrow.
