The New Hanoian

I won't go so far as to give Hapro 2 stars like Dratman (although most of his review is spot on), but I think that this restaurant deserves no more than 3 out of 5 stars, given its location, the pricing, and the quality of food. I visited Hapro a few days ago during my first night in Ha Noi, mainly due to convenience, and was a little surprised that the quality of food wasn't better. I expect restaurants that are situated directly in the center of Ha Noi's high rent district area to pull their weight when it comes to quality of food, but I guess that Hapro succeeds due to its convenience factor.

My meal: I ate rice, grilled tuna with tomato sauce, and vegetables for my main course. The tuna wasn't that bad, but the vegetables were ice cold. I've had this problem on several occasions in Viet Nam, so I'm not sure if the temperature of the vegetables was intentional or not, but believe me when I say that I will make sure to ask for hot vegetables the next time that I come to Hapro (if I even come back). I drank coconut juice which was actually quite nice, given that fact that I had been walking around a lot that evening. For dessert, I ate double chocolate ice cream. Surely quality ice cream isn't that hard to find in Ha Noi, but I was still very happy and glowing after eating the ice cream at Hapro. I thought the presentation of the dessert was lovely and the ice cream tasted very fresh.

Long story short I would say that Hapro (the restaurant portion) is just so-so. It's not a place that I would recommend to other travelers or friends for large meals, but it is somewhere I would go for a refreshment or ice cream.

I found Lá a few days ago for the first time (through Wikitravel), and can with certainty say that this is definitely a good find in Ha Noi coming from the perspective of an expat. It's really nice to walk into a restaurant and immediately feel like it's a place that has a loyal customer base, and this is exactly the feeling that I received when I walked into Lá.

I am not sure who he was, but a tall Western man was helping out the staff, walking from table to table and checking on customers. This was a very nice touch. Don't get me wrong, the wonderful ladies who are the primary staff of Lá had everything absolutely under control and didn't seem to need his help. But he did come across as someone in a position of power, like a manager or an owner, and it was nice to see that he cared about the dining experience of the customers.

I saw several diners chatting with each other, making Lá feel like a similar version of "Cheers", where every body knows your name. A family was sitting next to me eating, two women on my other side were eating, and at the far end of the restaurant, two older gentlemen were eating. I bring this up to make a point that Lá seems like the kind of bar/restaurant that is both friendly to families and also friendly to single travelers looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of noisier places around Ha Noi.

On to the food.

My meal was as follows: I ate the soft shell crab, the banh cuon, potato soup, and a chocolate cake/brownie type of sweet for dessert, along with mocha coffee. The soft shell crab was pretty good, if a little bland, but the sauteed onions underneath the crab were excellent. the salt and pepper mixture that came along with the crab made the meal come together nicely. The potato soup that I ate was hands down delicious, and went well with the soft, hot, and chewy bread that was served with my meal. Gosh, I could eat that soup every day for a meal along with that bread and butter. The banh cuon (w/mushrooms) was a bit starchy for me, only because it felt like I was eating layer upon layer of banh cuon without encountering any large chunks of mushroom. The fish sauce helped, but the next time that I come into Lá, I will most likely pass on the banh cuon. The dessert was to die for. My mouth is drooling just thinking about it. I love chocolate, and the brownie-like consistency of my pie was wonderful. The mocha coffee made it taste even better.

All in all I have to say that Lá is not the type of place you go to for a loud, active, crazy environment during the middle of the day. If you're looking to get away from the noise of Hoan Kiem for a while and really relax with a good meal and a familiar feeling, then Lá is the place to go.

Tonight I ordered delivery pizza for dinner from Luna d'Autunno upon reading about the restaurant on TNH and boy am I glad I called. I have lived in Ho Chi Minh City for the last several years and one of the most depressing parts about living in the city has been the utter lack of quality pizza, especially when it comes to pizza delivery. So it was quite refreshing to be delivered a hot pepperoni pizza that did not at all taste like cardboard.

I ordered a simple meal from Luna d'Autunno: a pepperoni pizza pie and Tiramisu for dessert. As all of you pizza hounds know, the crust either makes or breaks the pizza, and in Viet Nam finding a terrible pizza crust is as easy as finding a bowl of pho here. So it was wonderful to be delivered crust that was crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and hot. The pepperoni and cheese were suitable, and the tomato sauce was even to my liking (a rare occasion in Viet Nam). The only thing that left me scratching my head were the pieces of pepper (ớt) scattered on the pizza. Don't get me wrong; I'm okay with spicey foods and even enjoyed the ớt on my pizza tonight, but it was a bit unexpected, considering that I made it clear that all I wanted was a basic pepperoni pizza pie.

The Tiramisu was a bit tasteless and warm, but maybe this had something to do with the fact that I had just hammered down an entire pizza pie filled with cheese, pepperoni, bread, tomato sauce, and peppers. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being rock my face off, the Tiramisu was a 5.

The delivery time was excellent. I think I waited no longer than 30 minutes for my meal. I was hungry, so this was a plus.

Long story short, I don't know if I enjoyed the pizza from Luna d'Autunno so much because of the terrible pizza I've grown used to down in Ho Chi Minh City, or if I enjoyed it so much because it was just that good. Give it a try, though. I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. I'm definitely going to call the restaurant again before heading back to Sai Gon.

I found the Green Tangerine through a travel guide (Wikitravel) and was absolutely pleased with my visit there. At first, the wait staff had trouble understanding my English (I am American) but when I switched to Vietnamese, everything fell into place.

My Meal: I had flavored tea, a chocolate-banana smoothie, the scallops in orange sauce dish, and also the Green Tangerine frozen yogurt with chocolate cake for dessert. Let me just say that the scallops dish I had was one of the best meals that I have ever eaten in Viet Nam. Sure, the overall price for my meal was only slightly unbearable, but the value for what I paid in terms of quality of service and food was well worth it. The frozen yogurt was absolutely amazing, as well as the chocolate cake that came along with it. The smoothies and teas were so-so and nothing to write home about, but there's not a lot to be expected from tea. I only wish that tea advertised as "ice tea" would come very cold, and not hot/cold with melting pieces of ice. That said, the meal in and of itself was excellent.

The staff was attentive, the atmosphere of the restaurant was eclectic, and the location of the restaurant was suitable. Definitely pay a visit to the Green Tangerine when you're in town.

In the last week I have been to Angelina's for lunch twice, and the food both times has been very good, if a little pricey.

A set menu is offered, in which you choose a Starter, Main Course, and Dessert. I believe that the price of the set menu is $18USD, and if you decide to go a la carte, you will surely pay more for your meal.

Meal 1: My first meal was the breaded goat cheese salad, the chicken, and an ice cream/cake roll dessert. The salad was good and not at all over dressed, the chicken dish was accompanied by potato and egg plant pieces, and the dessert was wonderful. I also had a martini and requested that it be very cold. It turned out to be a nice treat.

Meal 2: My second meal was tomato soup, pasta with italian sausage, and Tiramisu. I drank ginger ale. This was my favorite meal of the two meals, and the service was particularly memorable. The wait staff is nice, accommodating, and very personable.

One final note: because Angelina's is out of the way of the main restaurants at the Metropole, it's a lot quieter. So if you need to get some work done or want a romantic dinner or lunch with a loved one, then this is the place to go. There are three floors (you walk in on the second, I believe), each with a different feel to it. Enjoy.

I cannot possibly hope to top Hippo's amazing, and accurate review of Pepperoni's, but I have to say that this is one of the places that has terrible pizza and ribs. I mean, really terrible food. I don't know what it is about the barbecue sauce that they use but it makes everything taste like a sour, rotten piece of flesh. The ribs are fatty (don't get your hopes up for great meat here), and the pizza is so terrible that I can't even finish it, which is saying a lot, considering that I can tank down a pizza like a vacuum cleaner. Avoid this place if at all possible, but if you can't, don't say I didn't warn you.

I'd like to thank the TNH crowd for putting me on to this amazing restaurant. Admittedly, I have not visited the actual location, but have tried the delivery service of Khazaana.

Last night I ordered the Dal Palak, Jeera Pulao, Raita (w/Cucumber), Prawn Tikka, and Chicken65. Everything tasted wonderful, especially the Dal Palak, which I am very particular about. The delivery service took around 40-45 minutes, which is great, considering that last night Ha Noi experienced a ton of rain and also the restaurant is popular.

Ordering over the phone via English was not a problem at all. In short, this home dining experience courtesy of Khazaana was excellent. If you are in desperate need of good Indian cuisine in the city, look no further.

I ate at Bobby Chinn's a few days ago and have had some time to reflect on the experience. To sum it up, I have to say that the marketing and buzz around this restaurant far surpass the quality of food and dining experience. To be sure, my waitress was very nice and accommodating, but I felt a little misled as I was eating my meal, as I thought that I was in store for amazing, unforgettable food.

I had the crab salad, big macaroni and cheese, and mango ice cream for dessert. The crab salad was good, not great. The macaroni and cheese was served piping hot (a plus) in a clay pot but was absolutely smothered in cheese sauce. I had to look for my pieces of macaroni because there was just so much sauce in the clay pot. Unless you love sucking down an entire pot of thick, creamy alfredo-like cheese sauce, then avoid this menu item like the plague. The bright spot of the meal was the mango ice cream, which was served with cashew nuts, some sort of green oil-like substance, and garnishing.

I expected the atmosphere of Bobby Chinn's to be buzzing. That said, I did go to the restaurant during the day time, but given the 'buzz' and hype around the out-of-the-way restaurant (77 Xuan Dieu is very out of the way), I expected there to be a lot of expats and tourists alike enjoying a meal here. Given the price of the meal and the quality of food at Bobby Chinn's, I really doubt that I'll be going back to the restaurant for food. Perhaps a night out on the town for drinks at the restaurant would be a good stopping point, but other than that and there seem to be far better alternatives in the city.

Upon reading the reviews of other TNH users, I went to Qt Spa today (Sunday, May 17th, '09) for a very basic hair cut. How my experience at Qt Spa ended up being so different than other TNH users is beyond me, but suffice it to say that I will never be going back to this salon, given that the value of service does not justify the price tag on the service.

I was the only customer at the spa this afternoon and requested a bald cut (a very basic task for any trained barber) with clippers, as I like to keep my hair virtually bald at all times. I also requested a conditioning massage, which was charged at $12.00USD for 45 minutes. As soon as my masseuse saw another customer come in, she cut the massage short to 20 minutes and I was still charged at the full rate. Only upon protest was the price reduced.

A bit of background: I have lived in Ho Chi Minh City for the past few years and am very well accustomed to spas and salons in Viet Nam. While this is only my fifth lengthy journey to Ha Noi, I don't imagine that the standards of service in Ha Noi should vary greatly from the standards of service in Ho Chi Minh City. 400,000VND for a dirty bald cut, dirty beard trim, and quick, half-hearted scalp massage is just insane, considering that I could get all of that and more for less than 200,000VND at any other shop in Viet Nam, even an upscale shop.

A word to the wise: find another spa, really. If you want a quiet, true spa/salon experience, this is not the place to go.