The three hour journey back to Hanoi from Yen Duc Village gave Philip the chance to spot his must see national animal of Vietnam…water buffalo!
Despite modern machinery, water buffalo are still used in rice farming here, since they are able to navigate the deep, muddy fields of the rice paddies. Along the highway, we marveled at the families of three, four and more riding at top speed on one moped.
The constant honking of horns and traffic every which way shook us out of our tranquil village trance and reminded us that there was more food to eat and more things to see in our last night in Hanoi. First, though, a little shopping for me. Respectful of my fellow travelers, I limited our shopping excursion to just one shop, Tan My Design, founded in 1969. The impeccable, Vietnam-made products are truly beautiful, but it was the hand-embroidered linens that did me in. Now, when we go to bed, we’ll always think about our time in Vietnam with our heads lying on our hand-embroidered linen pillowcases.
But, big decision, where to go for our last dinner in Hanoi? Bun Cha Nem Cua Be Dac Kim. This is a no-frills restaurant serving a truly delicious version of a quintessential Hanoi dish, bun cha — smoky, grilled pork patties and pork belly in a bowl of half broth/half dipping sauce with added rice vermicelli, lettuce, pickled vegetables, fresh chilies and a large portion of fresh herbs. So unbelievable that I had to take a photo, Jules ate everything in his bowl without our constant reminders and even tipped the bowl into his mouth to catch every last savory drop of the broth. Oh, man, this is good stuff.
Still dreaming about that delicious banh cuon (steamed rice rolls) we had the first day we landed in Hanoi, we decided to try a new place and followed a travel guide’s recommendation for the best banh cuon in town at Banh Cuon Ba Hanh. We pulled a real amateur move and sat down in this teeny, tiny restaurant despite only seeing tourists inside. Why did we do it?!? Both bland and overpriced I was kicking myself over this major error. I refused to let this be our final food experience in Hanoi, so we followed another travel guide’s advice for the best pho in town.
Pho is available everywhere in Vietnam, so the massive line in front of this particular pho shop gave us hope. Uh oh, why does it look so sparkly clean inside? Uh oh, why do all the waitresses have uniforms? Uh oh, why are all of the people on line speaking either English, Korean or Japanese? Dang it, foiled twice!! Well, we were smart enough not to go inside this time, and I resolved to get up at 5:30 the next morning before our flight to Hoi An for pho at a more local joint with excellent reviews written in Vietnamese.
Our car was picking us up at the hotel at 7:30AM for our flight, so I knew I had to make this last food excursion quick. However, my pho joint of choice, Pho Thin, was a solid 10 minutes away by car. While researching my travel options the night before, I discovered this amazing thing called ‘uberMOTO.’ Wait, I get to ride on the back of a moped like a local?!? Sign me up!! Of course, Philip had a few choice words about taking unnecessary risks, wah, wah, wah…. What did the front desk staff at the hotel say? “Many guests take uberMOTO and they all come back alive.” Press “Confirm uberMOTO.”
Unlike most of the locals, though, I was given a helmet, and off we went. Weeeee!!! What an amazing way to experience the city, driving past Hoan Kiem Lake before the arrival of throngs of tourist buses, seeing the decaying old French Colonial mansions in the French Quarter, watching the fruit and vegetable vendors claim their spots for the day. Traffic wasn’t so bad at 6AM, and the cool weather made pho for breakfast seem so right. The sight of a tourist being dropped off by moped in the early morning hour in a non-touristy part of town drew both chefs out onto the doorstep, grinning. Boy, did I feel self-conscious. I tried not to look nervous and busted out, “Sin chao! Mot bat pho.” (Hello! One bowl of pho.) I held my breath, remembering prior reviews of the restaurant stating that they weren’t keen on non-Vietnamese customers. The head chef gave me a quick nod and said, “Sin chao!!” Phew!
I sat down at one of the four long communal tables with five other customers and realized that I was the only woman in the place. Once the steamy, fragrant bowl of stir-fried beef (versus raw, thin slices of beef), scallions and rice noodles were placed in front of me, though, everything else disappeared. A couple squeezes of lime, a few fresh chilies and a generous lashing of special house chili sauce later I found myself deep in the midst of pho rapture. Those bubbling vats of broth in the front were good omens. The broth had a deep, but not greasy, beef flavor, and its mild sweetness could have come from the beef, scallions or both.
I got permission from the chef to take a few photos and thought, ahhh, now this is the proper way to end a food adventure in Hanoi.
