Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, was all hustle and bustle compared to the smaller towns of Chiang Mai and Pai in Thailand. Despite having to cross streets by wading through the constant flow of motorbikes and cars, the many restaurants and night events around Hoàn Kiếm Lake were a welcome change of pace.
After dropping our things off at Central Backpackers in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, we went out in search of our first Vietnamese food tasting: bún chả at Bún Chả Đắc Kim!
While trying bun cha for the first time, I made a rather embarrassing mistake. In ordering a beer, instead of asking for một chai bia, "or “one bottle of beer”, I asked for một cái bia, or “one type of beer.” The waiter pondered the order out loud to himself, told me the correct phrase, and then promptly shared some laughs with the other waitstaff about the oddity of my order.
Anyhow, regardless of my slip of the tongue, after an incredible bun cha dinner, Audrey and I walked around Hoan Kiem Lake, found snacks like bánh trung, or Vietnamese rice cake with mung bean and pork, and took in the night’s festivities. All around the lake, restaurants and bars were filled with people drinking, eating, and performing various musical acts. From cover bands to group dances, everybody was having a good time.
The next day, we wandered around Hanoi eating pho, exploring every alleyway, and trying cà phê trứng (egg coffee), which was quite creamy, sweet, and delicious.
It was interesting to see how street vendors and food stalls ran their day-to-day business. One of the ways they cleaned up leftovers was to throw the leftover pho into the sidewalk gutter.
Later, for dinner, we tried miến lươn, or eel glass noodle soup. It was…..okay. The broth was a funky kind of savory, and I’m not a huge fan of glassy style vermicelli noodles. The fried eels, though, were surprisingly tasty.
We rounded out our Hanoi food adventures with bún bò nam bộ (vermicelli noodles with beef, a dish that is very similar to bún thịt nướng) at Bún Bò Nam Bộ Hàng Điếu.