In Hanoi, soup is a way of life — the connective tissue of Vietnamese culture. With noodles, herbs and sinew, it strings together twisting streets and varied lifestyles.
I came here in December, largely because of Hanoi's growing reputation as a culinary capital. In 2010, the website Sherman's Travel (www.shermanstravel.com) ranked Hanoi, Vietnam's second-largest city after Ho Chi Minh City, as the No 2 foodie destination in the world, behind Barcelona, Spain, and ahead of Rome and Tokyo. Pho — rice noodles in savoury broth with a variety of meat and herbs — is Vietnam's national dish. Besides this belly-warming staple, you can satisfy your appetite with all manner of noodle soups for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The abundance of options makes looking for the perfect bowl of noodles in Hanoi tricky. It's a quest that will lead you through the city's back alleys, French-influenced boulevards and tucked-away neighbourhoods.
A bowl of soup on the street in Hanoi usually sells for 15,000 to 25,000 Vietnamese dong (Dh3-Dh4), so eating this way here is a steal. By contrast, a bowl of pho ga (chicken pho) or pho bo (beef pho) at the elegant French colonial Hotel Metropole goes for about $12.50 (Dh46). To help me gauge which street stalls were superior, I enlisted the help of Mai Thi Thu Trang, who manages the Arriba Mexican Restaurant & Grill, one of Hanoi's few (and maybe only) Mexican restaurants. Trang gave me a bit of advice that guided my quest. "Places that are good are normally places that old people come to eat. Because they believe in the quality."
Early the next morning, she took me to a stall that she said served some of the best breakfast noodles in the city. It was deep in the Old Quarter, a collection of 36 streets that retain the layout and much of the architecture of early-20th-century Hanoi, with roots stretching as far back as the 11th century, when the city was established by King Ly Thai To.
Trang led me through the chaos of these streets, turning off Hang Buom into tiny Ta Hien Street. There she pointed out a small shop (No 2C) where an old woman in a traditional dress sat eating on the high stoop (a good sign). She beckoned me to sit on a knee-high plastic stool at a similarly doll-sized table. A younger woman sat on another stool above two steaming pots. One pot was filled with broth into which she put noodles plucked from inside a glass case that held bowls of brown eggs, salt and chopped green onions and raw meatballs. I didn't order; she just made a bowl of noodles, broth, a dash of salt, a sprinkling of herbs, pickled garlic and meatballs and handed it to me. The dish was a revelation: The broth was rich and fragrant, the meatballs light and redolent of spices. The soup sustained me well past lunch as I wandered south to Hoan Kiem Lake and stopped at Ngoc Son Temple, which is on a little island. Then, with a renewed sense of Zen, I headed to the French Quarter.
I walked to the Hanoi Opera House and ate my second-favourite bowl of soup at a stall marked No 9 in an alley called Ngo Trang Tien. Called bun dau, it was a lovely, light noodle soup with a tomato-based broth, dry red chilli paste, crunchy greens and fried tofu. Then I headed northeast to the Ho Chi Minh Museum.
As the Sun set, I was hungry again. At the corner of Hang Bo and Hang Can, I happened on a stall where teenagers waited to eat fried chicken feet, dipped in salt and lime juice, and a noodle-based soup in a broth in which pieces of chicken and liver floated. The soup was good but no match for the bowl of noodles I'd eaten that morning on Ta Hien Street, where the old woman had beckoned to me.
IF YOU GO
The easiest way to apply for a visa is through www.myvietnamvisa.com. The online site arranges for your documents to be waiting for you at the Hanoi airport, where an additional stamping fee is required.
WHERE TO EAT
The following are street stalls with no phones or websites.
- 2C Ta Hien St, Hanoi. A tiny room with an open front that serves delicious breakfast noodles made with meatballs herbs and noodles.
- 9 Ngo Trang Tien St, Hanoi. A stall in an alley across from the Hanoi Opera specialising in fried tofu soups called bun dau.
- Corner of Hang Bo and Hang Can streets, Hanoi. A makeshift shop that sets up at night and caters to a young crowd that loves its fried chicken feet dipped in salt and lime, and its noodle-based soups with chicken and liver.
WHERE TO STAY:
- Sofitel Hotel Metropole, 15 Ngo Quyen St, Hanoi (3826-6919, www.sofitel.com): One of Vietnam's most historic hotels, built in 1901, with a gorgeous spa, heated pool and flatscreen TVs. Doubles from $271 (Dh995).
- Zephyr Hotel, No 4-6 Ba Trieu St, Hanoi (3934-1256, www.zephyrhotel.com.vn): This sleek boutique hotel is in the middle of the Old Quarter. Top-floor bar has beautiful views. Doubles from $87 (Dh320).
FLY... Cathay Pacific
From Dubai via Hong Kong Dh2,620. Or try Thai Airways via Bangkok Dh2,620
Emirates will fly to Ho Chi Minh City from June 4
— Information courtesy the Holiday Lounge by Dnata. Ph: 04 3492886
Hanoi, Vietnam
