The New Hanoian

Sadly, Bobby Chinn's Restaurant is closed now. This used to be the best place for having a shisha in a relaxed athmosphere. Busloads of mostly US package tourists would take your picture after being told about the opium.

I'll keep this short n sweet since the place is closing down in just a few days.

My #1 recommendation: clay pot macaroni and cheese. It's the perfect stick-to-your-ribs kind of comfort food for this time of year.

Also, I'm glad he's continuing his culinary presence in Hanoi with the new deli/delivery based on Xuan Dieu. Who cares if Bobby is too busy with book signings or TV shows? The food is good, so I eat it and enjoy it.

The idea that there is some intrinsic metaphysical "value" that can be assigned to food is a strange one. If you try to assign these values, the existence of a place like Bobby Chinn's should be about as within the realm of rational possibility as a Giffen good. Our taste receptors just don't tickle our brain's dopamine channels to merit paying $15 for an entree at BCs when you can get bun cha for a fifteenth of that price. The pleasure difference between scratching an itch and having sex on crystal meth probably isn't fifteenfold (though if you have the exact number, I'd love to know it). Judging whether BCs is a great "value" would be like panning McDonald's for not being romantic. You're not wrong, you're just... well here's the clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQl5aYhkF3E

My guess is (and maybe I'll start getting the Jimbo treatment for disagreeing with cetiomega), that if a juicy lamb shank came out of a snack dispenser, or, to be honest, any restaurant in Hanoi with less "Haven't you seen me on TV? I'm Bobby! *Everyone* likes my food", people would be avoiding reviewing the spot at all just to keep it to themselves. Is it the best food in the world? No, its not, but there's no reason to judge the restaurant any differently because the owner seems to think it is. Sure, I can't tell all the people that hate the food that their taste buds are incorrect, but I think if you're weighing coming here for the first time, you should take some of reviews on taste with a grain of salt. The food is good, creative and the portions are far from the smallest in town, the interior is much more alluring than most other high-end restaurants in Hanoi, and the service is great.

Dear Diary,
I made my way to Bobby Chinn's restaurant in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the handsome heart throb I fell in love with on Travel & Living's program featuring the namesake of this establishment. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be seen, so I had to eat my meal without his razor sharp wit and outstanding social skills to entertain me. I ate here once before a long long time ago. I, apparently, am a glutton for punishment. I don't see the point in paying so much for food that tastes like it just fell out of a machine after pressing B5. I felt as if I should have ripped a plastic bag open with my teeth before eating this food. I suggest a quick and orderly name change. Instead of the brilliantly creative Bobby Chinn's Restaurant, It should be named "Come and pay me way too much money for shitty food because I am on TV" I understand the name is a little longer, but it will fit if you make the letters small enough. Save yourself the time and money and just rip the foam out of the seat of your Honda Wave and throw some ketchup on it. Unless you are really hoping to have your picture taken with international television personality Bobby Chinn. HE isn't even interested enough in this restaurant to come regularly and his name is on the door.

(Hammer that fail button Bobby!)

*** Eurotrash agrees with me in this review so I am not so bitter now, I guess.

Ok place, but thought this was where Micky Ds was? What gives... I mean anyone can do salmon but you ask to super size it and all you get is a slap?