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

Hanh Cafe

Nguyen Huu Huan is a street full of cafes that I drive along almost every day. It's weird that I've never ever stopped in at any of these cafes to give them a try. But today my favorite cafe was way too busy and a friend recommended that I should taste the coffee at Cafe Hanh which is just a minute around the corner. As it was the weekend, they were busy as well but we landed a spot at the corner where two people had just left. On a bright and hot sunny day, we were lucky to be under the shade of a big old banyan tree.
Cafe culture in Hanoi is way different compared to the south, not necessarily in terms of the quality or quantity, but just about the atmosphere; the people spreading along the footpath, chatting and enjoying their coffee, no matter how busy or dangerous the street is. Having coffee in these kinds of locations is a great way to observe the happenings in the old quarter of Hanoi.

I love looking at the different ways people serve and even drink coffee in the old quarter. No matter if you are rich, famous or poor, everyone sits at the same kind of low tables and chairs. Most cafes in the old quarter use plastic chairs and tables because its very easy to collect them up especially when the police are patroling. Businesses are not supposed to take up the footpath with their goods or chairs and tables so when the police come, it's quite amusing. The customers stand up with their coffees while the staff move these plastic chairs so they will not be confiscated. Of course, it's back to normal after 5 minutes when the police have disappeared.

That's quite a normal part of Hanoi nowadays though I'm sure tourists get really confused if they experience it. But it's something that tourists shouldn't miss - sitting in the old quarter for half an hour, watching the craziness.
Don't forget to say, khong duong (no sugar) or it duong (only a little sugar) because black coffee comes with the sugar already in it. For white coffee, sweet condensed milk is always used. Yum!

Cafe Hạnh
51 Nguyễn Hữu Huân
Hoan Kiem - Hanoi

Cafe Nang

For the last 10 years I've been drinking coffee at the same cafe in the middle the old quarter. It sounds like I'm a creature of habit but I love the coffee here, the people and the customers. I meet other regular customers all the time and sometimes we have a chat. Sometimes they help me to buy produce from the travelling vendors such as flowers, food, meat or sometimes order my lunch.

I would say Cafe Nang, 6 Hang Bac street is one of the oldest cafe in town and is busy for most of the opening time. The owner is an old lady with a very sweet smile who wakes up everyday at about 3am to prepare the coffee before walking around Hoan Kiem lake for exercise before heading up to her favorite Pho shop for breakfast. She gets back to her shop (the house is upstairs)and returns to sleep until 12 or 1 pm. Then she goes down to help her daughter to run the cafe. She makes the best coffee, even better than her daughter. The cafe also serves seasonal juices as well, passion fruit juice being my favorite and the staff know that I like to drink it with the seeds while other customers don't. The cafe's staff changes sometimes but they do remember the customers' choices very well and for me, it's white coffee with lots of condensed milk. Whenever I sit down, my coffee is put on my table instantly and tastes perfect every time. Can't complain at all!!!!

While there are an increasing number of cafes around the old quarter, it doesn't seem to impact on her business. The reputation of Cafe Nang is obviously strong. Customers sit on low wooden chairs at low wooden tables and in the peak times, people have to sit on the other side of the road but nobody seems to worry about that. They come to Cafe Nang to enjoy the coffee and the great atmosphere. observing the tourists walking by. It's probably the best place for people watching in Hanoi.

There have been quite a lot of famous publications that have visited Hanoi and Cafe Nang is often part of their story. I'm sometimes involved in their stories as an interpreter to help the journalists to understand a bit more about the cafe and its proprietor's life. She took over from her father in law after he died and has been running the original Cafe Nang for just over 60 years. She buys her own coffee from the centre of Vietnam, stores it on the forth floor and roasts it herself twice a week. When the coffee is roasting, the area surrounding the cafe is full of the aroma of coffee. She told me she gets a lot of satisfaction from making coffee but she just cant do it all the time as she's getting old. She has transferred her experience to her children and they have since opened two other Cafe Nangs in town but they aren't as popular as the original.

If you are visiting Hanoi, come and enjoy the great coffee here. The price is the same for both tourists and locals. There is no need to worry about being ripped off here at Cafe Nang.

For a good coffee every time, you can't beat Cafe Nang.

Cafe Nang

6 Hang Bac

Hanoi Scams

Pickpockets and other kinds of scams are common-place in Hanoi these days. One of the most prevalent scams in Hanoi is the professional charity collectors. This is what happens; there are two people, the girl dresses up nicely and speak English quite well, and the man rides the motorbike. They always look for single middle aged tourists.

They carry a book with a long list of western tourists and the number of dollars they have donated, of course with signatures. They have cheated so many tourists in Hanoi. Last year, I met an American woman in Siem Riep who told me about a young girl who approached her while she was in Hanoi, using the same story. When I told her that it was a scam, she was horrified.

I've witnessed the scam myself. Yesterday, when I was buying some food for my dog near the Dong Xuan market, I saw a girl speaking with a young male tourist. Finally, she got what she wanted but further drama followed. The tourist gave her some US dollars and there was a $1 note which was a bit old and she refused to take it, asking him to change the note. He didn't have another note and she tried and tried for about 10 mintues but the guy refused to give her a better note. She actually got angry with him, jumped on the back of the motorbike and took off. Today again, when I was having my regular coffee at Cafe Nang in Hang Bac street, I saw a very young, pretty girl doing the same thing to a young guy but after 10 minutes trying he kept refusing. She was very mad, said something in Vietnamese which I couldn't hear then sped away.

Fruit sellers in the old town are another annoying night mare to tourists. There is a group of young women who carry small amounts of pineapples and bananas. They try to put their baskets on the shoulders of tourists, thinking it would be a good photo, then force them to buy their fruit at an exhorbitant price. They often charge $3 for a small bag of pineapple instead of 50 cents. Sometimes, these women shout at the tourists when they don't get their own way. Occasioanlly, other old quarter residents shout at these scammers to leave the tourists alone, some even threatening to call the police.

Everybody needs to work to earn money but these kinds of scams give Hanoi and Vietnam a bad name. The local authority really should do something about it.