Food Blogz: Ha Noi Avenue

Hanoi Avenue is Northern-style Vietnamese cuisine. A group of us went there for a late lunch/early dinner. We were a large group and were seated quickly as the service was friendly. I had no idea what to eat but Dao was in charge of ordering all the food.

The Bun Rieu Oc;Vietnamese snail noodle soup with mint, basil, spring onion, beansprouts vermicelli noodles in a tomato base. The broth was tasty, however, the snails were tough.

Bo Luc Lac: Vietnamese Shaking Beef. Luc Lac means “shaking” or tossing of the beef back and forth in the wok after the sirloin is quickly seared. It was served to us on a sizzling cast iron plate with white onions. The beef was seared perfectly making it tender and tasty.

Bun Cha Hanoi: Vietnamese Hanoi-Style rice vermicelli noodles with grilled pork patties. We were each served a bowl of grilled pork and grilled pork patties with pickled carrots and onion slices, vermicelli noodles, sweet nuoc mam cham (Vietnamese dipping fish sauce) and we topped it with fresh herbs which included fish mint, perilla and Vietnamese red perilla. This was my first experience trying fish mint and the name says it all as the mint really smelled like fish. This dish had a nice smokiness to it because the pork was grilled over charcoal.

Fresh Herbs

Fish mint

Cha Ca Thang Long: Grilled catfish marinated in turmeric and galangal served on a sizzling cast iron plate with a bed of grilled onions and fresh dill on top. I'm a fan of catfish and while it was a bit tough it tasted good. I just wished they hadn’t overcooked it.

Ca Kho To: Vietnamese Braised Fish in a pot. The sauce was sweet, spicy and savory. It was garnished with fresh jalapenos, cilantro and green onions. The sauce was caramelized and gooey which I loved. It would have been perfect if they had cooked the fish a bit more to absorb that sauce.

Banh Tom Co Ngu: Fried sweet potatoes and shrimp. The potatoes were crunchy and sweet and the shrimp was tender. I didn’t like having to peel my shrimp as I have not quite gotten used to eating it with the skin on yet.