Reviews by Snellopy
We finally managed to talk our mates into changing pubs on Friday rather than just going to Jaspa's because it was convenient. This was the first place we tried, because we've got a few Irishmen with us, and everyone likes a good Irish bar.
Derry's had only just opened recently, and I don't think they were ready for a contingent of people to descend on them en masse. Each time a new batch of us arrived, they just managed to scrounge enough chairs together.
They had drinks specials posted, “order two tiger drafts get a plate of pork spring rolls on the house”... though there was a horde of us ordering tiger draft, it didn't actually count if 14 of us ordered a tiger draft, one person had to ask for two themselves which seems a bit picky especially when there was heaps of us and they were making money hand over fist. Once we worked this out we tried it a few times, but then gave up as they weren’t so great (and a few of us had food poisoning and are blaming them, but a mate had the fish and chips and it looked pretty good).
Orders frequently got messed up, with some people waiting for ages for their drinks to arrive - but in their defense there was about 20 of us, we were pretty rowdy and the order frequently escalated before they could get out of the room we had overtaken. Towards the end of the evening, when our numbers petered out, and it was only the people who were staying for just one more drink, we were given quite a few drinks on the house in thanks for dough we had shelled out.
It is too soon for me to really comment on the Irishness of the place I will give them the benefit of the doubt because they had only just opened... the outside of the building was painted green, but that was the extent of the Irishnification.
It has a nice view over Truc Bach lake, the staff were friendly enough, the cocktails while small had a kick, so I will definitely be back again and give them another review if things have improved.
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I love this place; it is an institution in our school (though we're still yet to take the newest batch there yet). We always go to the first one on the left, though I have gone to the one on the right with a friend one time and I believe most of the girls from work prefer one up the back… but then you’d have to drive past all the touts trying to get you to stop at their place.
There's not much more to say than what everyone else has raved about - the chicken legs (we normally get at least 2 each), the spuds (3 or 4 each), the bread (one each) and Anchor, which you can drink till the cows come home with no ill effect. Since I always eat with my hands - food should involve all the senses - I wait for half a beer before I dive in as it can be too hot to handle otherwise.
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I had a friend who loves to wander around town, poking about, exploring. I'm amazed he found this place, as from the road it looks like a wooden wardrobe since the bulk of it is lower down. But once you go in, and down the stairs to the level where it is set up, it is a fantastic little oasis. It has a fountain in the middle, most of the structure is old wooden beams or bamboo, and it is surrounded by a bamboo (and fake bamboo) garden.
They've now expanded their repertoire since my first visit ages ago, and now include a buffet option that finishes at 2, and then is on again in the evening. They’ve also got a menu with traditional Vietnamese food, and a few other token things thrown in, like hamburgers. The prices are very reasonable, and the food is good quality. The beers tend to be a bit warm, though. They do have ice, but that doesn't work for everyone - I for one though would rather slightly watered down cold beer to warm non-diluted beer.
As I said, the entrance is hard to find, and I use the bright red neon Massage sign on the opposite side of the road as a navigational beacon. This place has an amazing setting to relax in, especially when hung-over (we've tested it) and the atmosphere is great.
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This is a nice little place, with a large and rotating selection of different beers from around the world on offer. They're currently stocking that great nectar, Coopers, for less than anywhere else I've seen it.
The food is top notch, and you can see them cooking it. Their Eggs Benedict is fantastic (I've tried it in lots of places in Hanoi, it is by far the best I've had so far). Their cheese platter has only three cheeses on it, but they are good range - goat's, a blue cheese, and a third one (but I forget what) and reasonable portions and it also comes with some dried fruit as well. It could do with some more biscuits, but you can always ask for more. I've found the dips that come with the bread are the same... there's plenty to go on top, just not enough to ferry it to your mouth (I am more than willing to just use my hands though, but it often draws looks of horror from other patrons).
They’ve also started doing a Wednesday night special of a dish paired with a beer, which I haven’t tried yet, but had glowing reviews from mates that have been.
The staff are attentive without overly hovering, and the restaurant is light and airy and a comfortable size so long as there aren't too many other people there.
While lots of the things I've said sound a bit like back-handed compliments after re-reading, it is a great place to go. And the last time I was there, they showed me a full page review of it in the Vietnam News, with the author saying he had taken some pointers from other people's write-ups at the New Hanoian, so the words of those who have gone before have convinced others, too.
One thing, it is closed Mondays; I keep forgetting that, and have to think of a plan B.
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Highway four is a good place to take visiting friends, especially if they want to try weird foods like scorpion and crickets and stuff. When we go, we tend to order the same 3 or 4 dishes, and always the catfish spring rolls (which I was leery at the first time, as catfish isn't eaten back home in Australia, but I have American mates that go nuts over it). The passion fruit chicken is great as well. They have a fairly large selection of hot pots, but I'm not a fan of them at all, I've had too many bad ones elsewhere.
They do deliveries which can be a good idea as the place is often noisy and crowded - though the last time we tried to order one, it turned into a take away instead, they were too busy, but that's no big deal.
The main saving grace is the Son Tinh fruit liquors... they are good either straight or in the various cocktails they mix up. You can even get them to take away too. While they taste nice, and have a good kick, you stink like a demon the next day after a night on them.
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After living in the outback for three years, I got out of the habit of going to the movies, as a 2,000km return trip for something that sucks really makes you wish you hadn’t gone. And for quite a while after I got here I didn't see the point, either, as you could buy all the latest movies on DVD for about the same price (or slightly less). But I've recently started going again, and intend to go more often, especially for things that should be seen on the big screen - anything with big explosions.
Megastar has their listings online http://megastarmedia.net/en/session_time.aspx so you can pick a good time to go and avoid kids or crowds, and lets you search multiple movies up to a week in advance.
The VIP section has extra leg room, and the pricing differential makes it well worth it. You also get to choose your seats, so if you're going with a bunch of friends, and you want to sit together, you need to buy all the tickets at the same time. It took about 5 movies before we worked that out though, you need to touch a light blue square to pick your seats, before the time limit of the cashier getting pissed off with you runs out, and you’re sitting next to the usher.
A bonus star because they sell beers and let you take them in, much better than home! They will even sell them in a bucket with ice, if you need more than one for each hand (which would be the case in a chick flick).
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A nice little cafe that a bunch of my mates suggested for drinks one evening - though they told me it was on Trang Tien, and it took me a couple of laps swearing at my incompetence until I realised it was on a little side-street off Trang Tien. It had a really good view of the nightlife on Trang Tien - what I assumed was the queue for parking was actually people lined up for Trang Tien Special Ice-cream which my friends told me was the first ice-cream company in Vietnam, hence its popularity (we had 2 each when we finished, its not that special).
They have a good range of cocktails, especially the milky kinds that Vietnamese girls go for, ones with Baileys, Amaretto… the ones that don't taste like booze. The beers were a bit warm, and I would definitely not eat here, I ordered two main courses and was still hungry, both were about the size of tapas plates.
They did have a sign up saying that they have happy hour from 10am til 3 PM, so it might not be a bad option for lunchtime drinks, after eating elsewhere. And they have those fans which spray a fine mist of water to combat the heat and humidity, which will definitely help for people watching.
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This place is owned by one of my kids' parents, and they invited the whole class there on the opening day for an awesome spread. They did it sensibly too, skipped their normal menu and went instead for trays of pizza, plates of chips, and all the other sort of things that attract kids (but alas no fairy bread). We teachers could pick at it, but they also did a fantastic banana flower salad (I've just uploaded the picture) for my co-teacher, and spaghetti cabonara for me, with ice-cream for all afterwards. They ran it really smoothly, especially considering how, uh… "lively" that class can be.
I've been a few times since then, sometimes recognized as the teacher of the owner's kids, sometimes not (I prefer it when I'm not, as it is more peaceful as just a normal punter). It is a boat floating on Truc Bac lake, but it is no-where near as crowded as the Highlands Coffee one, so I much prefer it. They have a huge range of food, Vietnamese dishes, pastas, pizzas, and it is also a Nguyen Son bakery, so it has all the normal cakes, pastries, breads and ice-creams.
I like going here on the weekends for a breakfast/lunch, especially when the swan paddle boats are going on the lake, and watch as spoilt children drive them into the boat with as much force as they can. I'm too lazy to walk upstairs, on the top of the boat, but thinking about it, it may be a good option for a few sundowners on a clear day.
The prices are reasonable, and it is a nice central location to start the day at.
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Ostrich! I'd seen it on the menu at a few other places, but had always bee booed down by my friends. But this place has a stuffed one (albeit a bit disheveled) out the front, and specializes in it. Some friends had been there recently and their recommendation was enough to tip us in favour of a trip there.
The decor downstairs is nicer, but there is not a lot of space, but I have the feeling it'd be stinking hot upstairs in the day time.
The menu has quite a few flexible and interpretative spellings, and I don't think the waiters spoke heaps of English - so getting clarification of what Ostrich Gastric entailed (just the juices? the stomach itself? the contents? Something worse than I could imagine?) so we went with pretty safe options. The dishes we got were pretty tough, but the sauces were nice, especially poured over our rice to soak it up.
The way they poured the beer was pretty cool – one handed, the waiter put the bottle over the lip of the tall glass, then pulled it back, tilting the glass at about 5 degrees which allowed the beer to flow down the side of the glass, giving it a good head. And there I was about to be my classy self and drink it straight from the bottle, I would have missed the show!
I don't think I will race back there, but it is good to be able to cross yet another animal off the Raging Carnivore's Guide of Animals to Eat that I haven't digested yet.
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I don't like this place, every time I have been here, the service has been shocking. Over fifteen minutes to get a drink each time I've been there, and if it is supposed to be cold like a fruit juice, it is normally luke warm. Admittedly every time I have been here (except for the last) I have been hideously hung over, so there may have been some time dilation due to the alcohol in my bloodstream. The food normally follows about 45 minutes later, generally requiring the late breakfast to be re-classified as lunch.
My eggs Benedict last weekend were cold and had obviously been sitting around on a bench, forgotten and forlorn for quite a while, making the sauce manky as it was starting to separate.
The layout of Puku is really bad too. The counter where you order and pay makes a bottle-neck at the entrance. Each visit to Puku at least once I have been queued up to order/pay/tell them they have screwed up the order and more customers have been passing through and I politely step back to make space for them - someone will jump in and take my spot, just for a moment, to chat. Not a problem, though it always turns out they are a "regular" and so they get served before me and don't have the decency to pass the attention of the waitress back to me.
Most of the regulars also seem to take up a whole table with their laptop, ipod, and sense of superiority. The entrance to Puku is narrow and dingy and easy to drive past, which is what you should do, the atmosphere is not welcoming.
Definitely give Poo-ku a miss. I was discussing it as a breakfast option with a workmate the day after my last visit, and like me, he doesn't see the attraction. But he managed to talk his friends into an R&R breakfast, a much more satisfying solution.
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