The New Hanoian

I have found some strange things in my food in Hanoi. I found a headless cockroach in a bowl of pasta, and one time, a burnt match in the bottom of my glass of iced coffee.

But The Windmill tops the list for serving me and my friends a plate of onion rings and fried taro BATTERED WITH CAT HAIR.

I kid you not, the batter mixture was actually matted with fur. Masses of little black and white hairs. Which we only noticed after we starting eating them. Under the food, the plates themselves were also covered in a greasy layer of distinctly feline fur.

When we showed the waitresses they looked suitably horrified and all gathered around to inspect the offending fur balls and swiftly remove them from sight. I wish I had taken a photo.

The mind boggles as to how this happened. There was so much hair that, bizarre as it sounds, it seemed as though a cat had actually fallen into the batter or the deep fryer.

As much as we then enjoyed making jokes about eating pussy, this experience has pretty much turned me off The Windmill, a place I previously really liked.

Tonight it's been the third time since my arrival one month ago that I had dinner at this place. And it never disappointed me.
The beer (the dark one) is cold, strong and, above all, very tasty - at least for my german throat.
The windmill offers a variety of food that again and again satisfied my appetite. Depending on what you've ordered you can find up to 5 sauces/dressings on your table. Tonight we had sea food spring rolls, chicken, some singapore style noodles and tofu, plus some salad. Everything tasty, especially with these sauces. All that, food and beer, can be enjoyed in a quite and pleasant athmosphere, with personnel very attentive, meaning: they're not jumping around you, but they're just here, when you need 'em.
Certainly one of my favs.

The dark beer...that is what every review for the windmill should start with. Been having it for a few years and it always makes me cry a little thinking of all the micro brews back home. A very decent dark beer and maybe the best (local) at some times in Hanoi.

The food is pretty good too, have it after a dark beer or four and it's fantastic. Tofu's, squids, pork, fried rice all solid, and not to expensive considering the nice atmosphere and of course the beer.

The light beer is fine too but similar to many others in the city.

File this under “how come I never knew about this before?”

I spent an enjoyable Sunday evening at the Windmill. As mentioned below the site is very beautifully done out. However it’s more than just twinkly lights. Add to that a bit of French architecture and beautiful bamboo growing along its external fringes.

But it’s the beer that is the biggest winner. I didn’t try the dark beer as I’ll save that for another occasions but the light (coloured) beer I drank was fantastic.

Brewed at the site, it’s pitched somewhere between a pale ale and a wheat beer it’s absolutely delicious.

The cost, while considerably more than bia hoi prices, is still cheaper than your average bottle of Bia Hanoi in a half decent bar.

To eat we ordered deep fried squid, Russian cheese, tofu in tomato sauce. In addition I’m not sure what they called them on the menu (I wasn’t doing the ordering) but there were what appeared to be very Highway 4 -style catfish spring rolls that were every bit as good as the H4 version.

In general, while the beer is the star, the food is more than decent enough for grazing on.

On the downside they lose a star for making us feel that once we were the last table that they really wished we would leave. Also for a minor discrepancy in the bill that was eventually sorted. That said, on the whole, the staff were very attentive and helpful.

Anyway this place is really great. Great beer in a fantastic setting. Considering it was my first trip there I felt very at home.

I’ll be returning to try that dark beer.

A great place to relax and watch the plug-in lights twinkle in the trees, but the staff made me nervous with their hovering, and when we were ready to pay the bill and leave, they were nowhere to be found! We also requested a beer/drink menu and were told none existed, however a microbrewery surely has more than one type of beer to offer....! We are real beer lovers so on that aspect it was disappointing. But the food was decent, and the courtyard was quite lovely.