Entree Kibbles

Saturday, January 13, 2024

Cha Ca Thang Long - A Michelin Bib Gourmand Eatery in Hanoi @ Vietnam #michelin

The unsatisfying meal at Bánh Mì Vui on our last night in Hanoi meant a search on Google for another nearby dining establishment, and we found one just about 260 meters away; Chả Cá Thăng Long.

Its beautiful structure drew us away from its signage and the Chinese characters on the archway misled us into thinking it's a museum! Just a side note; Chả Cá Thăng Long was awarded Michelin Bib Gourmand in July 2023, after our visit.

Although there was no queue at about 7.30 pm when we arrived, the restaurant was packed and we were sent up to the upper levels, which appeared to be reserved for foreigners who don't speak Vietnamese!

Remember I mentioned about an art installation at Hotel Renaissance that I found familiar? I think this was the original source of memory! p.s. this was in April 2023 whereas my stay at the hotel was in November 2023.

Burner on every table.

There's a very interesting thing about Cha Ca Thang Long; its food menu was limited. To be exact, there's only one item on the menu, called a set, with top-ups you can add. Part of the set was the inclusion of the mixed spring onions and dills that seemed excessive at first but we realized it was for three sets.

Almost the full ensemble. We were thinking of ordering just two sets since we had banh mi earlier; however, we figured that we should stuff ourselves on our last night. Alex didn't share our thoughts, obviously, and that's the reason for having three, instead of four sets.

Each set came with two fish spring rolls! While they were served hot and crisp, the taste was average and something I would choose not to order if I have an option as I could save precious tummy space for other things.

Full ensemble; sans the spring rolls.

Cha Ca means fried fish and it's not my first time having this Vietnamese dish from Hanoi since we had Vua Chả Cá on our first night in Hanoi!

More information about cha ca from Vietnam; made from mudfish with the bones removed, the meat was seasoned, "covered with banana leaves and grilled by coal heat". What we are seeing in the picture above would be the cooked version.

Let the service staff start the ball rolling! For a section that's more for foreigners, I would have to say the service was lacking, specifically from a guy who appeared to be the in-charge. He had no interest in answering questions from uninformed tourists and appeared to want to do the minimal.

He just let the pan simmered and didn't tell us what to do as we had expected him to come back to check on the ingredients. We guessed it didn't make sense to let the food sit for too longer and Kon took the initiative to stir the ingredients.

We topped up the meal with fish guts!

p.s. I think this was my first experience with them.

Finished product with vermicelli and nuts. Fish was well marinated (with turmeric) and strangely enough; tasted so delicious that was even better than Vua Chả Cá, and it came without the bamboo shoot smell. Fish guts were just chewy and something I could live without.

Icing on the cake was the addition of prawn paste; which totally enlarged the pupils and making this meal one of my most memorable and satisfying in Hanoi! For the prawn paste, please request separately as the service staff wouldn't automatically give it to you as part of the set, and might even appear unwilling.

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Definitely a nice, concluding end for our last night in Hanoi. As mentioned earlier, service was lacking and in stark contrast to what we experienced at Vua Chả Cá. Chả Cá Thăng Long should consider poaching the amazing Nhan Vien from Vua Chả Cá, who would have made the meal perfect!

Address

2d P. Đường Thành, Phố cổ Hà Nội,

Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Map

As above.

Website (in Vietnamese)

https://chacathanglong.com.vn/

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Set Meal - 176,000 Dong each

Beer Sai Gon - 30,000 Dong

(Subject to Tax)

Click here for my Week-Long Itinerary to Hanoi - City of Lakes, Ninh Binh and Halong Bay @ Vietnam

Monday, January 08, 2024

Family Mart Taiwan - Mystery Bag for the Year of the Dragon!

Back when I was a kid, a lot of mama shops would sell small black bags that had a picture of a question mark. Known as mystery bags, I would buy just for the excitement of wanting to be surprised although many a times; the items inside were absolutely useless!

Fast forward to a few decades later; right ahead of me before I stepped into a family mart branch at Taipei was an eye-watering display of red paper bags that were known as prosperity bags even though their function was similar to the mystery bags of my childhood.

I purchased a bag for 249 Taiwan dollars (about S$10.68) and brought it back to Singapore! p.s. the lady who collected my money did warn me that inside would mainly be snacks, with maybe some coupons which I could only use in Taiwan!

Excitement of tearing apart the paper bag and peering to see what "treasures" I would be bestowed with! Time to unpack everything to the table for a closer look.

The full glory - a bottle of drink, two packs of kinder bueno, one bowl of instant noodle, three packs of snacks, one postcard, a pack of wet tissue, and two tiny black bags of don't know what. p.s. Alex loved the cheeze bits whereas I preferred the squid biscuits.

Not pinning too much hope on these mini mystery bags.

Turned out to be two key chains of what appeared to be a tapir? Don't think I would be using them given my penchant for losing key chains. Who knows if they could fetch a fortune in the future!? Neh.

Behind the postcard was a redemption coupon for two bottles of drinks worth 38 Taiwan dollars each! I would have to miss out on the deal since I wouldn't be returning to Taiwan until maybe a year later. My travel calendar is already quite full.

Almost threw away the emptied bag when I noticed this envelope stapled to the inside of the bag. Would this be the biggest gift for the entire mystery bag?! Let's tear along the dotted line!

A lucky draw coupon with more discount vouchers, including a 68% discount voucher for Pizza Hut! I was more attracted by the million dollar (I guess) lucky draw and happily scanned the QR code.

Okay, sure, I will download the Family Mart app.

Sadly, I am unable to do so as it is currently not available in my region / country! Oh well, not that it matters as the whole point of buying the mystery bag was born out of an excitement and curiosity to find out what's really inside.

Sunday, January 07, 2024

红美人 (Hong Mei Ren) - The Red Beauty Oranges

Lunar New Year takes place in about a month's time and we have already started seeing boxes after boxes of mandarin oranges stacked up at supermarkets! Apart from the usual species (like lu gan, jiao gan, peng gan etc), a special one appeared to have been marketed earlier.

红美人 (Hong Mei Ren) - directly translated as the red beauty, I had noticed this special species, said to be a "hybrid between tangerine and orange" last lunar year and a friend passed me one to sample. Thing was: it's expensive and if memory didn't fail me, one fruit cost between S$2 and S$3!

Lucky me, NTUC Fairprice has a promotion these two days; a box of 10s with an original price tag of S$19.95 now cost S$8.90, a hefty 55% discount! With no shopping bag, both Alex and I can manage, sadly, only two cartons.

Unravelling the red beauties within. Individually covered with two layers of protection, I can't wait to rekindle the taste I first experienced almost a year ago!

Do handle with care as the beauties are delicate.

One key advantage of the red beauties was the ease of peeling off the skin! To be fair, that's quite easy for most mandarin oranges but can be a feat for normal oranges. In addition, the skin for the red beauties was so thin!

Another noticeable feature of the red beauties was the reduction of the white spongey fibrous substance that connects the orange segments. Known as piths, I don't mind them but a friend of mine detests them for reasons unbeknownst to us.

Look how "clean" it was!

As mentioned earlier, please handle with care. The red beauties were literally bursting with juices and it's quite easy to damage the edible parts. Not that it matters that much to me as it would eventually end up in my tummy.

See how juicy it was! The taste was definitely on point; with losing the sourness from typical oranges, there was a sweetness similar to the lu gan species of the mandarin oranges. My friend who introduced me to red beauties told me this brand isn't as sweet but honestly, I am still happy consider one fruit was less than a dollar!

Get yours soon as promotion ends today!

While stock lasts!

Saturday, January 06, 2024

Henryfry Fried Chicken @ Chinatown in Bangkok [Thailand]

As a faithful lover of fried chicken, it's interesting to realize that I seldom seek fried chicken whenever I am overseas. Things are going to change with this Henryfry Fried Chicken in Bangkok!

Located within walking distance from Hua Lamphong MRT station, it commanded a high review rating of 4.4 from over 200 reviewers. Since I was staying at the nearby Hotel Royal Chinatown, why not a visit?

The eatery was pretty packed but expected given that we came during the lunch peak on a Sunday. Nevertheless, I was expecting a longer queue which would have appeared better for Alex whom I had dragged along for the meal.

Table setup - hm.... I don't eat fried chicken with knife and fork; you have to eat with your fingers to know if the fried chicken were "finger licking good"!

Root Beer - friends are usually aware I don't drink carbonated drinks but closer ones would know I have a weakness for root beer! This one from Henryfry tasted herby and the creamy sweet kind that I enjoy.

Fried Chicken - our delish looking chicken parts! The chicken joint sold the chicken parts individually, and there were three sets; small, medium and large giving you two, four, and six pieces respectively, and will include potato wedges, pickles and henry's signature sauce.

Best of all, we could choose the parts we want! We ordered a small set of chicken thigh and wing, and topped up with another chicken thigh. That would have been sufficient to try out the chicken, and leave some stomach room for other eateries in Bangkok!

Problem was: the portion was huge! Alex's thought was that this one piece would be enough for his stomach even though knowing him; should it fail the taste test, he would discard it aside.

Thankfully, the chicken meat went beyond our expectation; screaming of fresh juiciness, it was obvious from the swirling steam (or smoke as Singaporeans love to call it) that the chicken parts were deep fried only upon ordering!

And the chicken skin was so crispy! Don't deny a chance with the henry's sauce; it was adelicious concoction of like thousand island sauce, Thai chilli, paprika etc. Use it to hype up the flavor of the chicken!

For someone who dislike potato wedges, these were acceptable as they were served piping hot and had a crisp texture without the soft and mushy insides that I dislike.

As I get older, I grow fonder of such pickled vegetables, especially those that continued to have a crunch that gave way to burst of sourness and sweetness!

Leaving the crispy chicken skin to the last.

I always believe in leaving the best for the finale.

Homemade Pineapple Ice Cream - how not to resist a dessert when it was available on the menu!? This seemed the most unique compared to the rest which included strawberry parfait, panna cotta sour jam strawberry, coconut ice cream.

Well, the texture was more a paste than ice cream. Below the paste was a slice of pineapple sitting on a biscuit base. Not bad tasting but if ice cream lovers would likely be disappointed.

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