Nha Trang

 A short and sweet break is always great especially when it means returning to my hometown to visit friends, family and eat amazing food. I never get tired of eating seafood and Nha Trang is famous for the stuff so it's the perfect place for me. Seafood is involved in most dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I have a kind of 'eating routine' when I go home. I start my morning with a bowl of fish noodles soup or Bún Bò Huế then drive to some random cafes to meet old friends. After that, I stop at a favorite place for a snack where they make crunchy rice crackers and steamed rice pancakes topped with stir fried spring onions and dried shrimps. I try to get some exercise in so I can eat more so I normally play tennis for a couple of hours at my old club. After that, I'm hungry again.

One of the other best things about going home is eating home cooked food, getting spoiled by my mum, my sisters and sister-in-law. I know there will always be lots of excellent food awaiting me. Sweet and sour fish broth, steamed squid, deep fried tuna with special dipping sauce (fish sauce, chilli, garlic, lime and sugar), salad and deep fried pork belly. I pretty much always have to have a nap when I eat at home. Normally I am encouraged to eat way too much. Nothing like the hospitality of home.

In the evenings, I catch up with my good friends for dinner. We go to the new part of the city for special seafood feasts;  barbequed prawn, squid and fish with salt and chilli, fresh jelly fish salad and steamed crabs.

And if that isn't enough, I always return to Hanoi with a polystyrene box full of snap frozen fish and squid which keeps me going until I'm in Nhatrang again

Côn Đảo

We took a very short escape for four nights to Côn Đảo for relaxation which we enjoyed very much. The surroundings are still pretty much wild jungle with beautiful pristine beaches. The locals are very charming and friendly. I love the way the main town is nicely planned with good tidy infrastructure (unlike Hanoi) which makes the town run very easily and smoothly. One main priority when I'm on the coast is finding good seafood. Not difficult on Con Dao.

We hired a motorbike for the whole time to discover the island ourselves instead of taking taxis or joining tour groups from the hotel. We found wild beautiful beaches around, great little coffee shops and also great local seafood restaurants. We kept going back the the same restaurant for the whole four days. Called Ớt (Chilli) Seafood Restaurant, it was serving a great selection of live fresh seafood from crabs, shrimps, Moreton Bay bugs to lobsters and fish. I love the simple cooking methods they suggested, either steamed or barbecued, but always tasty. They also cooked a very nice sweet and sour fish broth to eat with rice and also steamed veggies eaten with a special dipping sauce: Kho Quẹt.

After lunch each day, we headed to Góc Phố Cafe to enjoy their coffee. Sitting on high plastic chairs looking over the road without any traffic and the town's clock tower. Life is so easy, calm and peaceful in this town.

Food is always my first highlight and I'd like to mention my second highlight; the Six Senses Resort. We had such a fantastic time with good breakfast and dinner even though it was more expensive than what we normally pay. We really enjoyed the ocean view from our room, the infinity pool and private beach.

I'd come back here again and hopefully the place stays the same as it is now: charming, peaceful, friendly people and great seafood.

Secret Garden Restaurant, Saigon

I like this restaurant pretty much for its location on the top floor of an old building right in District 1. Secret Garden has a very simple design for both inside and outside on the terrace but I prefer sitting outside where I can enjoy the breeze even though it was in a very hot day in Saigon when I visited in May. The open space idea is great with wooden tables and chairs and some colourful flowers around that made me feel like I was in the small garden.

The restaurant has short menus for both food and drink which is great as I don't like too many choices. I love the simple way they cook the food but without compromising on flavour and authentic Vietnamese style. My favourite dishes the day I visited were the stir fried beef with càng cua vegetables and the crab broth served with pickled baby eggplants. Another rustic idea was the serving of drinks in small bottles with lemon grass, a slice of lemon and ice.... a very refreshing look!

I'd love to come back to the Secret Garden again on my next visit to discover more of their delicious food and drinks menu.

The Secret Garden 
158 bis Pasteur, 
District 1
Ho Chi Minh City

Manila

After relaxing on the beach in Boracay, I stayed a few days in Manila and it was so much fun. I met some of my previous street food tour clients and they took me out for dinner and also recommended so many things that I must do in Manila, including shopping.

Between my eating time in Manila, I visited different malls to buy some souvenirs. Malls in Manila are huge and there are too many of them around. I got dizzy and lost in two of them and they only way out I told myself was to walk down to the ground floor and find the car park. It was so frustrating at the time but actually it was great fun walking around different malls to see how local people do their shopping.
I love the weather in Manila as it was nowhere near as humid as Hanoi and I felt more comfortable. Some people may not like it here but I loved it as it's a bit similar to Hanoi. A big crazy Asian city!

My clients took me to a restaurant called Mesa which is located at the Greenbelt Shopping Centre. This is a great Filipino fusion restaurant and always full with locals and tourists. We had way too much food including deep fried pork, fish, stir fried veggies, pigs' feet and then, not that we needed it, dessert! Apologies that I can't give the exact names of the dishes - sometimes you just have to concentrate on the conversation. After dinner, we went to a square where they play live music to drink beer. It's a bit similar to Bia Hoi without music in Vietnam. It was so cool and I loved that atmosphere very much

My clients mentioned about the most popular fast food in Manila called Jollibee and these franchises are always located right next to McDonalds. I don't know why I took the recommendation but I ate the pasta with deep fried chicken. It was really not my type of food.

The only thing I slightly regret is that I didn't have a chance to ride a jeepney around Manila. They look so good and so colourful. This will be one of the reasons that I will come back to Manila. Thanks to my clients that made my trip to Manila so special and hopefully see you again soon

Seoul

I have to admit that my travels really do revolve around food. Eating, drinking and taking photographs from place to place is my main idea of travel. Most of my friends think I'm crazy and obsessed but I can't really change it. A couple of months ago, I went to Seoul for a week, a period not enough to fully discover the fascinating, lively city. Of course, my itinerary was packed with great food places to seek out, from Korean-style to noodles and dumplings.

Although this is a bit predictable, my highlight was sitting around the grill plates with lots of locals drinking soju, beer and wheat rice wine, called makgeolli. Cooking lovely cuts of tender skirt meat, garlic and mushrooms and then wrapping it all in lettuce is a fun way to eat. On the side, of course, lots of kimchi and different sauces can be used to spice the food up a bit. I observed the locals to see how they eat and to learn local eating etiquette.

The noodles and dumplings in Kwang Jang market were so delicious that I went back twice. I wish I could speak a bit of Korean to learn the secrets of how she makes her hand-pulled noodles and kimchi and tofu filled dumplings so fresh. Lots of people had also recommended the fried mung bean cake, which is a specialty of the market. Served with white onion and soy sauce, they were great but you need to eat where they make it, fresh and hot. I enjoyed the vegetarian cakes better the coloured seafood stuff.

The third dish I liked was the deep fried chicken and deep fried green pepper stuffed with pork, all washed down with big tankards of beer. The drinking culture reminded me a lot of Vietnam, where we often have beer and rice wine on the table, except in Seoul it's beer and soju. One interesting drink we tried was called 'Sweet after Bitter', a big glass of beer containing two shot glasses, one with soju and one with coke! Of course, you have to drink it down in one go!

Topokki, a dish of sliced rice cake with fish cake and a rich sweet chili sauce was not on the top of my list as it was too spicy and too stodgy . I tried it twice and even after a solid evening of drinking, I didn't like it. But the street food tents all over the city have lots of other stuff to try, too.

Visiting market is another way to see the local culture and Seoul's best market is the Noryangjin Fish Market. I spent hours there taking photographs. What an amazing market with so many different types of fish and I loved the way they arrange their shops and also how they prepare the fresh seafood. It was fantastic experience and I don't think I could ever forget it.

Shopping in Seoul is also great with well-known brands and local products but they aren't cheap. I loved looking at the fashion-conscious young local people walking around shopping centres with cool glasses, fashionable clothes and bag fils of cosmetics. They are obsessed with cosmetics, especially skin whitening products. I've never seen so many cosmetic shops in my life. I wonder what they thought of my country-bumpkin tanned skin!

I'd love to go back to Seoul again for another week as I had a fabulous time there.

Hue

I like the central coast city of Hue and have been there many times over the years. After a four year gap, I recently visited this charming city again and definitely got my fill of Hue food. We enjoyed very much our stay with La Residence Hotel, fabulously located on the river and within easy walking distance of lots of great street foo

We walked along the Perfume River/ Sông Hương to have breakfast, starting with Bún Hến (clam noodles) and Cơm Hến (clam rice) at 2 Trương Định St. The vendors were pretty funny when it came to bill time. There was quite a long conversation before they decided to charge us 20,000VND - $1 per bowl. I have no problem at all with the price but I did realise that the Hue locals were only charged half what we payed. I said I'm Vietnamese too, you know :). I suggested to her that if she was poor, she should ask me and other people, they probably wouldn't mind donating or loaning her some but cheating is not a good way to do busines

Further along the road, we dropped into two different coffee places where we paid just 7.000VND (35c). It was not the best coffee but it was nice to be treated as a Vietnamese again :). After getting our caffeine hit, we headed to hue's main market, the Dong Ba Market just over the Trang Tien Bridge. As we headed across, I saw a middle aged woman walking along selling bean curd drink. I ordered two bowls and I was ripped off again. I was so upset but just gave her my money and walked away. It seems that Hue people have changed so much, only thinking about instant cash and taking advantage of tourists as much as possible. I felt sad more than angry with them. I've chatted with friends since and they all had similar stories when they visited Hue. Some are even refusing to return, which is a pity!

Anyway, things improved after that. The highlight of my short vacation was the Bún Mắm Nêm from an old lady who has been sitting outside 15 Phan Đăng Lưu St for more than 30 years. It's only 15,000VND (75c) but it was so satisfying after a long walk around the fascinating Đông Ba Market. I have to say that the noodles were really spicy; I was sweating and tears were running from my eyes by the time I'd finished my bowl of noodles. It was fantastic! A second highlight was Huyen Anh restaurant, where they serve grilled beef with noodles and herbs. It was so yummy

Later in the evenings, we normally headed out for supper, too. Two snacks I was really impressed with were Banh Ep (a rice pancake with egg, served with green mango and herbs) and Bang Trang Trung (a crunchy rice cracker with egg, pate, potato and herbs). Of course, I slept very well at night after eating so much each day.

 

By the end of the trip, I'd completely forgotten about getting ripped off. But one thing I have yet to discover in Hue is really good Bun Bo Hue. We had a couple of bowls but I honestly don't think they were as good as what I've had in Hoi An or Nha Trang. When I go back, I'm going to do more research on that one.

 

 

 

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Hủ Tiếu

Hủ Tiếu Saigon is a signature noodle dish from the south. In the north, it is more of a dry noodle dish, while in Saigon it is clearly a soup. It consists of a choice of egg or rice noodles, a rich porky broth and lots of fresh salad and herb content on the side to counter the meat in the dish. This is one of the dishes on the top of my list whenever I'm going to Ho Chi Minh City. I'm sure there are plenty of people there who make amazing Hủ Tiếu but I love my lady in Bùi Viện street, who serves the best version I've had.



In the last 10 years or so, regardless of where I stay when I'm there, I always eat her noodles for breakfast. It's not just because it's cheap but also about how delicious the broth is: cooked with pork bones for a long time, with incredibly tender meat and the smile she greets me with.



She knows I like to eat fresh bean sprouts, soft knuckles of bone and some thinly sliced pork with not many noodles. I suppose you could say I'm a difficult customer - maybe that's why she recognises me! I enjoy her company and her staff seem to have been the same for years. So she must be a good employer, as well. All middle aged and very funny, sometimes it sounds like they are arguing but it is just a normal conversation. I enjoy being part of their conversation and laughing with it. She told me she doesn't care who her clients are or where they're from, they all human beings and she charges everyone with same price and I like that.

Cafe Anh

I have been going to this cute cafe for the last 7 years but not regularly. Last week with my friend's son, I went back to Anh Cafe and enjoyed the experience and very much.

Right opposite Thien Quang Lake, this is a great place for people-watching. The big trees in front provide shade for the customers and a nice breeze from the lake blows across, which is a blessing in the heat of the Hanoi summer. The coffee isn't the best in town but it passes the test on a morning when I am a bit slow to get going. I take my coffee with a slightly bigger pour of condensed milk and ice. Of course, in summer, hot coffee is out of the question - though sometimes my street food tour customers still prefer that.

Perhaps the best featyre of this cafe is the owner, a skinny old man who wanders up and own the line of customers sweeping up the discarded sunflower seed husks and collecting the money. His cafe is really a part of old Hanoi, I guess and that's reason enough to come back again and again.
Cafe Anh
70 Nguyen Du - Hanoi

BBQ Wings !!!!

In Vietnam, we eat almost every part of the animal. Chicken is no exception, with the organs a regular part of pho ga at many establishments. In the Old Quarter's Ngo Gach St, there are several restaurants specialising in barbeque chicken, wings and feet. The place at 21 Ngo Gach, which is a coca-cola outlet by day, is called Tuan - Duc and is a place that my friends and I have been eating at for 10 years. The difference between this place and other similar places in town, the popular ones in Le Truc, too, is that they serve seasonal side dishes like young mango pickle, young morning glory pickle and jicama. Most of these kinds of chicken vendors in Hanoi marinate their chicken in a mixture containing honey. Here it is the same, though the unique fruity dipping sauce of chilli and cumquat also sets them apart.

The owner is a funny old skinny man whose his son is a younger version of the same. The wife is a bit of a grumpy control freak and usually shouts orders at the young team of helpers. There is always a funny thing to see or a story to hear at this shop.

The chickens are sourced from a farmer in the countryside not far from Hanoi, and the owner tells us the chickens are "happy chickens", which I think means that they are free range.

But back to the parts of the bird. When I go with my Vietnamese friends to this place, we love to eat the chicken feet as well as the wings but my western friends are more keen on the wings because they have more meat compared to the feet which only have skin. In Vietnam eating culture, when we drink beer we love to chew on something and chicken feet are a popular choice.

Also available at this place is grilled bread rolls with honey, very tasty but very filling. The other good thing about this shop is that the beer is always served cold and the price is fixed for tourists and locals alike. Ga Nuong: 21 Ngo Gach Street Hanoi

Dua Ca Muoi - Pickles

Most Vietnamese women in northern Vietnam know how to make dua ca (pickles) well and my mother does, too. I have tried a few times when I was in Nha Trang but just couldn't make it right. Today, I walked pass Hang Muoi street and saw an old woman making it and my mouth started watering.

When I saw the woman hanging Dua vegetables on the side of an electric stand yesterday, I thought it'd be a great shot and I took a photo. Today, when I walked past again, she was sitting there making her specialty, going through the many different processes: the dried Dua veggies are laid in the hot sun for a few hours to wilt, after which they are well mixed with warm water and salt. They should taste a bit salty (no sugar is added). Lengths of spring onion are added and the Dua is ready to eat in 2 to 5 days. If you like the pickles a bit bitter then they can be eaten in a day. If you want to stirfry them, they are best after about four days of pickling.

In Hanoi, many typical Vietnamese restaurants serve stir fried Dua veggies with garlic, a little bit of tomato or sometimes with beef. In my opinion, it's better without beef as it has enough favor; the bit of sourness from the veggies, sweetness from the tomatoes, a little salt from fish sauce or soya sauce. It's a perfect match for beer and to eat with steamed white rice. It's actually a nice option for vegetarians, too...if you can get it without the beef, that is.

Ruou Sim Bay Gao

On my last trip to Phu Quoc, I stopped at Bay Gao Sim wine house and work shop. The proprietor is the first man to make Sim wine in Phu Quoc using the traditional central highland style of one of the minority groups. He started making it over 20 years ago but started his own business in just the last 14 years.

This special Sim fruit is grown in Phu Quoc and only bears fruit for a very short season from February to April. To make the wine, Mr Bay Gao needs to buy from the growers in the forest then ferments it for 3 months.

This wine is apparently good for upset stomachs and sleeplessness. It tastes a little bit like red wine and is also said to relieve stress, guard against physical tiredness and prevent bladder infections. Like so many kinds of alcohol in Vietnam, it seems to be a miracle cure.

Address : Sime Wine Bay Gao
124 Duong 30/4, Khu Pho 1. THi Tran Duong Dong, Huyen Phu Quoc - Kien Giang

Saigon, July 2010

I'm in Saigon for a few days before taking some members of my family to Bangkok for a short vacation. The weather in Saigon is a bit different to Hanoi but I like Saigon as it always cool from 4pm which is much better. At the moment it's rainy season which helps keep temperatures down a bit.

Yesterday, when I wandering around the market in the afternnon when I realised my Iphone had gone. I'm very upset with myself for not being more careful with my bag. Normally in Hanoi I know exactly what's going an around me and where my phone is. I just lost concentration for a second and it was gone!

I'm trying not to let this incident ruin my holiday but it's hard. After trying to call the phone a few times I gave up and went back to the hotel. Later in the evening I went out for some snacks, including duck eggs and crabs with tamarind sauce. This made me feel better but I'm still thinking about the phone.

I was trying to take few photos of the food but I couldn't get them in focus, which I hate. There must have been something wrong with me at the time. I decided to walk back to the hotel for an early night. The next day I returned and had more success taking photos of the food. I really love eating from this old lady who has quite a striking face. She is quite a character, smoking, swearing and laughing with all of her customers. She rocks everybody who comes to her stall.

I also went to my favorite Hu Tiu vendor for breakfast. It was great to see she remembered me and what I normally order as extras such as fresh beanshoots, a bit more dried onion... The only thing that she doesn't know is that I don't eat lots of meat and noodles now because I am trying to loose some weight and workout on my belly. Anyway, I went back to her shop for every breakfast and the day I left early for Bangkok, I got up extra early for another serve of noodles.

A smile and a wave from her was a great start to my trip.

Fishing And Lunch

Many Hanoians went to other cities or to the beach for their Independence Day and May Day Holidays. I not keen on that as wherever you choose to go on these national holidays is generally very crowded and really expensive. So instead,my ex-colleages and I went to Thang Long retreat in Gia Lam for a day. This retreat is such a peaceful place with small bungalows located around a lake from where you can fish. When we arrived, we had the place to ourselves but 2 hours later, the crowds we were trying to avoid showed up. Some were turned away because the place was full. I really appreciated the fact that my friends had booked and ordered from the menu a few days in advance.

I've tried fishing before but I wasn't patient enough to catch any fish. My friends didn't seem to be very interested either so we played cards and drank a few beers, and had a wander about to see if anyone else was having any luck with the fishing. It really didn't seem as if anyone was concerned about it.

Soon after noon our lunch arrived, many different dishes that my friends had pre-ordered, including grilled squid, chicken baked in mud and beef in vinegar.But the highlight of the meal was the 1.5kg deep fried snake head fish to roll with fresh vegetables. I felt bad as we couldn't finish this super fish dish even though we gave it our best shot.

Anyway, the important thing was the relaxing atmosphere on the national holiday. For 8 of us, we only paid 900,000Vnd which means $47 including beers and soft drinks. I am sure I will come back to this place for a future party. Thanks to my friends for a great day.

Heavy Snack

My friends usually go out in the evening after their dinner for a snack and a chat. Last week, they invited me out for Nem Chua Ran - deep fried fermented pork in Tam Thuong Lane. There are lots of small shops selling this snack around Hanoi but it seems the most popular area is in Tam Thuong lane in the middle of Hang Bong street.

We ordered one serve which included Nem Ran, mangos, cucumbers and also french fries. Beside these snacks, they also serve different kinds of grilled dried fish and dried squid. Dry seafood doesn't exactly sound very nice but they are a perfect match for wine and beer, even hot and iced corn juice. All of these snacks use the same dipping sauce and condiments, salt and chilli or sweet chilly sauce. These two dipping sauces sound boring but they really work with these dishes

It's a good snack for a change but you wouldn't want to eat it every day as it's quite high in fat. I am sure I will come back for more as it is quite cheap and something that you can dwell over for a long time for a good chat. Definitely worth exploring this little lane in the Old Quarter.

Thanh Son shop
Tam Thuong Lane

Disappointing Aspects of Phu Quoc

I spent two weeks in Phu Quoc and everything seemed perfect with great weather and beautiful food, especially the seafood. But as always, there were some issues that came up

I went out for lunch on one particular day, walking along the beach just up from the bungalows we stayed at to try to have some different food instead of going into town. Unfortunately, it was a mistake to choose the Lien Hiep Thanh Hotel and Restaurant right on the beach. I ordered grilled squid with salt and chilli, spring rolls and sour broth with tuna. It sounded great as these are specialist dishes from Phu Quoc and most places I've been they had been so nice and yummy. Well, they served us boiled squid instead of grilled and I told the waiter that it was not what we ordered in a polite way but he denied it, telling me this is their restaurant's grilling technique. I was a bit upset and I ended up taking it back to the kitchen myself and they promised to make a new dish for me. Ten minutes later, the same plate came back with the half bitten piece of squid. I couldn't say a word as they were so hopeless and they waiter tried to make a joke but it turned out all stupid. The sour broth with tuna which should be great as it's simple to make was tasteless, the tuna wasn't cooked enough and, if that wasn't enough, the spring rolls tasted like they were from the super market. Totally sucked down there at the Lien Thanh!!!! No tip and worst meal of my life.

On another point, I was expecting the food at the night market to be cheap but it didn't work that way. Most restaurants at the night market were more expensive than restaurants in town and in the hotel. A prawn cost $4, 4 pieces of squid cost $5, a pice of tuna cost $5. Hello!!! this is Phu Quoc, an island where you can catch fish anywhere.

Street Snails

I was walking through the old quarter yesterday and saw so many young people sitting along Dinh Liet street eating snails. I have to say that snails have never been on my list of must eat things as I had trouble a few years ago when I ate some snails at the Old Man restaurant in To Ngoc Van street in West Lake. I had a stomach upset for 3 days in the row after eating snails on that occasion.

I told myself that I shouldn't look but I actually did look and wanted to try them again. I ordered two bowls of two different kinds and also asked the waitress to give me lots of ginger and chiili. These snails don't actually have any special flavors at all but the dipping sauce which includes fish sauce, ginger, chilli and lemon is what makes the dish special. While I was sitting there trying to finish the two bowls I occupied myself by watching people walk past and by taking photos of this dish. I hoped that eating lots of ginger and chilli would help to protect my stomach. By now, after 24 hours, I am still ok and I wouldn't mind going back again. If you have lots of time to spend, this is such a good place as it's cheap and a great location.

Saigon

It's pretty exciting for me when I'm able to get down to Saigon for a few days to see my dentist and visit my sister. It's nice to be in the sun and eat my favorite food from the south. Food in the south is getting dearer but it's well cooked, fresh and tasty and worth the money.

After I visited my dentist, my sister took me out for dinner with her family and our nephew by the river. We had a such a beautiful meal there, ordering coconut salad with chicken skin, stir fried duck eggs with tamarind sauce, fried rice with eggs and garlic, stir fried beef served with vegetables, pine apple and fresh noodles, and the last dish was Thai hopot. They're all really tasty and the bill came out amazingly cheap.

The next day, my niece's boyfriend invited everyone out for breakfast and we chose to go to Lam Son beef steak restaurant. It sounds funny to have a beef steak for breakfast but this is a common thing to do in the south. We had a mixed beef steak which includes fried egg, ham and french fries. It's surprisingly nice and the place is generally really crowded. Good to eat something different instead of chicken noodle soup - pho ga - all the time :).

In the evening, my nephew took everyone out to have Keo fish hotpot which is one of my local favorite even though I am not really into river fish. We ordered some grilled river prawns, grilled Keo fish, grilled squid and Keo hotpot. We were totally full after all and I couldn't even move. It's really nice being with family especially as I'm very close to my sister and my nephew. It's good to see them again and I will be back here briefly at Tet after my trip to Phu Quoc. Looking forward to that!

Chicken in a Coke Can

Chicken in a Coke can? Sounds weird doesn't it? But in Hanoi nothing is impossible. People serve chicken with chinese herbs in old coke cans and it's very common and famous. Known as ga tan, I love this dish very much.

There are two kinds of ga tan, one is black chicken and the other is normal chicken. The black chicken ga tan is smaller and more expensive. I dont know why it is more expensive as they cook it with the same herbs as the normal chicken, and the black chicken doesn't actually have as much meat compared to the other.

In general this is a healthy snack as it is not too filling. It is full of different medicinal herbs which are supposed to be good for your health. I eat one every week and I think it helps me to sleep very much. I'm not sure if there's any real truth in these theories about certain foods being good for you. I suppose if you hear it often enough, you start to believe it.

Mangosteen Restaurant

The mangosteen is an exotic tropical fruit with luscious segments of white flesh inside. The Movenpick Hotel has taken inspiration from this fruit in the naming of its restaurant, which is located on the second floor with views across some of Hanoi’s fine French Colonial buildings. The space is artfully decked out with walls the colour of mangosteens, splashes of purple in the furniture upholstery and the modern paintings on the walls. The table setting includes a glass cube vase containing a single white gerbera and a green fern frond. The décor promises much.

And the menu offers a range of choices that would satisfy most diner’s palates.

For our starters, we opted for the seared scallops served atop a delicate fresh garden salad of lettuce, herbs and avocado and a swiss chicken salad, rich and sweet with cheese, apple and a mayonnaise dressing. The portions, on teardrop shaped white plates, were perfectly sized which we appreciated later when our main courses arrived. A generous selection of breads, including some great salty pretzels, was served on the side. We probably ate too many of those.

From the grill we selected our main courses, which were served with potatoes and vegetables done to the customer’s liking. Accompanying the salmon was a neat stack of crumbed roasted vegetables and crispy potato rosti along with a ramekin of creamy lemon sauce. The stack of lamb cutlets got delivered on a flat raft of spring beans and came circled with halved new potatoes served face down. A herby mint sauce with a hint of chili finished the dish nicely. The kitchen staff should be commended for the timing, temperature and presentation of these meals, all of which were spot on.

Suitably impressed by this stage, there was little need nor room in the stomach for dessert. So we rested for a while to make room.

Room for big desserts with a distinctively European feel. A king size serve of apple strudel came with homemade vanilla ice-cream and cream while the vanilla soufflé contrasted with the raspberry coulis alongside it. Every single mouthful was savoured even though we were both full to bursting.

The Swiss do hospitality well, with the local staff representing them professionally with service that was warm, efficient and hardly noticeable. Movenpick’s venture in Hanoi appears on the way to success if our meal at their classy Mangosteen restaurant is any indication.