Hanoi: Bun Cha Dac Kim, and We're Off to Sapa

Leaving Hanoi without trying some Bun Cha would have been criminal, we just could not do it. The mere thought of Bun Cha is enough to send me into full blown salivation mode. We decided to go with the highly recommended(by at least a half dozen people) Bun Cha Dac Kim(aka #1 Hang Manh). By watching the constant stream of motorbikes parking and leaving, and the foot traffic, you knew that this was the "right" place.

An SRO(Standing room only) crowd of customers, wedged elbow to elbow, on 4 floors no less, speak to the popularity of the place.

All this activity going on in one small space. Check out the cooking/prep area. Somehow, when I read about restaurant designers discussing "Open Kitchens" I don't think they have this in mind. Check out the heavy duty wristband on the gal manning the "fry station".

You'd better bring your "A" game, when ravenous customers are practically looking over your shoulder!

As good as this Young Lady was, she had nothin' on the gal assembling the Bun Cha.

Twisting, turning, moving, at a high rate of speed within tight quarters, she had more moves than Richard Simmon's stunt double!

After waiting for a short while, we were guided up the narrow stairwell that reminded me of the time I toured a submarine, and ended up on the third floor. They managed to squeeze us in at the end of one of the tables, and I sat; "half cheek" style. We placed our orders, well, this place serves Bun Cha and Nem Cua Bể(Fried Crab and Pork Spring Rolls) so there's not much "ordering" to be done. There was one Woman who ran the floor, with 3 "runners".

And blam-blam-blam, everything arrived in a flash. Fresh herbs and lettuce.

What seemed to be the standard Bun(Rice vermicelli) in Hanoi, mushy and sticky.

A mild fish sauce with pickled papaya.

And the star of our show, the meat! All to complete the ubiquitous Bun Cha, classic street food gone good....

As the grilled ground pork meatballs and thin slices of grilled marinated pork covered in broth arrived, it hit me. Here I was, having what I consider to be one of the 2 or 3 "classic" Northern Vietnamese dishes, what I've often times ordered as "Bun Cha Hanoi" on various menus....in Hanoi! Reality was a bit different. The meat was a total polar opposite of what I'd thought it would be. Going against character, the meatballs were very, very soft, like Mom's best meatloaf, . The slices of pork were much more tender than anticipated as well. The broth and Nuoc Mam Cham(fish sauce based dipping sauce) were very mild, almost borderline bland.

The Nem Cua Bể were nothing like any Cha Gio I've ever had.

The very thin rice paper was light and crisp, and without any hint of oiliness. The filling was light, like an airy crab mousse. The Missus dumped all Her meat into my bowl, and went to work on the Nem Cua Bể......

While eating we noticed something that we saw repeatedly in Vietnam and Cambodia; greens and vegetables were eschewed. More than half the people left all the fresh herbs and lettuce untouched. This was explained to us later; "we are a poor country, most times our standard meal is vegetables and rice. When we go out, we want meat." Duh(smack to my forehead)....I shoulda been able to figure that out myself.

Total for the meal 80,000 VND(approx $5 US). This was the most stuffed I felt in Hanoi.

Off to Sapa we go.....

After a full day visiting the  Museum of Ethnology and Hoa Lo Prison(aka "The Hanoi Hilton"), we had to head off to catch our train to Sapa. Banh My in hand(that's a whole 'nother post) we were dropped off at the train station. As we walked toward the station, the Missus heard me humming:

"What are you humming?"
"He's leaving, on the midnight train to Sapaaaaaa..."
"Ugh"
"How about.... When my Baby, When my Baby smiles at me I go to Sapa..."
"Just stop it, Okay!"

And this is where our next "adventure" began. We entered the train station, and could find no indication of trains headed to Sapa.

I had remembered reading that there was a separate station for destinations North of Hanoi, so I went outside to look around.

And to the right of the main building stood the "Hall of Passengers Before Entering Into Railway Station for Northern Lines"(what a mouthful). So we walked into the waiting area. We had been told that we needed to "exchange" our  tickets for "real" tickets, but couldn't figure out where. Finally, we saw a group of tourists enter, and their Guide (Danny from Saigon) explained the process to us. Before the train leaves, the Ticket Agent will man the "counter" and exchange our tickets for boarding passes, and he told us he'd give us the "high sign" when the time was right. Just as always, after some confusion, everything worked out. (Thanks Danny...) About a half hour before boarding time, we got the sign....but no one was at the counter! Danny pointed at the stairs:

And there She was, motorbike helmet and all, our Ticket Agent, sitting on the stairs handing out boarding passes. Now here's where Beach had really helped us out again; even though reservations were tight, he had arranged for us to have an entire 4  berth cabin (all the 2 berth cabins were sold out) to ourselves. Thank God! It seems that all Vietnamese Males like to chain smoke, drink, and talk really loud. And for some reason, our cabin kind of reminded me of something I saw earlier in the day.

Happily, our cabin did lock from the inside, and I wouldn't have to be worried about getting "shivved" in the night, nor anyone getting "too familiar" with me..... In fact, water was provided, and the bedding smelled like bleach, which in this case, we were happy about. Just be glad none of the photos of the "WC"(No, not that "WC") came out......

Due to the noise factor we didn't get much sleep, so we were ready to go when we arrived and people were being roused at The Gulag Lao Cai at 5am.

As we had experienced before, the arrival was controlled chaos. It was pitch dark at the Lao Cai train station, and we were herded onto mini-vans for the hour-and-a-half drive to Sapa.(30,000 VND, just under $2/ US)

We had not made plans for Sapa, other than what Beach had done for us. And we could see nothing in the darkness as we drove. We would just be dropped off at a destination of our choosing in Sapa. Would things work-out for us?

Would it be worth the effort?

Well, here's the view from our $15/night (versus the $10/night - no view) room in Sapa:

What's the verdict???

Comments

[nhbilly]

Bun cha sounds so good right now for lunch...

[nhbilly]

Don't be deceived its the lard that makes any fried food gooooood ;-)

[Carol]

Hey Kirk, maybe you should come over and we can play American Idol Karaoke Revplution!

[Carol]

Hey Kirk! Maybe you should come over and play Karaoke Revolution with me! ;-)

[Wandering Chopsticks]

Hey, what's wrong with seeing a picture of me? ;) Haha. I well remember squatting over a hole on the train.

I stuffed myself silly on those nem cua be. Oh man, makes me salivate just thinking about it.

[Stephen]

Hi Kirk,
Great pictures. What kind of camera are you using? I am claustrophobic, so I don't think I would have enjoyed that microscopic cabin. Great view from your window in Sapa, totally worth the extra $5. I noticed the sign at the train station separates Ha Noi into 2 words, not 1 like we are used to seeing. =]

[kat]

that was some open kitchen!

[Jeff C]

Kirk,
your travelogues are so much more entertaining than even some of the ones we see on television. What type of camera did you use to get all your gorgeous shots. I noticed quite a few were done in low light conditions and lots of action. Flash use seemed to have quite a range.
Just a photogeek question.

Jeff

[Kirk]

Hi Billy - Believe me, I never said "low-fat"....it just felt "light".

Hi Carol - You really don't want to have the cops called on you, do you???? My singing can be described as "a crime".

Hi WC - LOL! I never even thought of that! I've added a short note to make a distinction. ;o)

Hi Stephen - Many places spell it Ha Noi - even Ha Noi Restaurant in Westminster. From what I've been told Ha means River, and Noi means something like between or within - So Ha Noi = Between Rivers. Or something like that. And many places have is spelled "Viet Nam" as well.

Hi Kat - Yes, you can get up close and personal with your and everyone else's food!

Hi Jeffrey - We both use Fuji Compacts - I use an FX30 which is known for its low-light capabilities(and great battery life), it is also small enough for my pocket. I almost never use the flash, as I find it intrusive. Only one photo was taken with a flash. It is a pretty inexpensive camera - I got mines for $225. The Missus has an orange(of course) Z10FD - cost something like $149. We're not really camera buffs.....I really don't know the first thing about photography....I keep telling myself I need to take some classes or something one day.....

[prayer]

if you'll be back in hanoi, go to Ashima mushroom hotpot. it's the most amazing mushroom-related experience i've ever had in my life (other than in barcelona where they also take their mushrooms seriously)

ask around for where it is. i can't really remember but people will know, because it's where normal people take corrupt politicians to "feast" before asking for a favor of some sort. and it really wasn't expensive by US standards ($20 a piece fills you up warm and good).

[Rachel]

LOL $5 extra definitely won't break the bank and the view is amazing!

That description of the Ben Cha and thenew chua be was mouth watering! I should stop reading your blog late at night! A Qn ... did many people there speak english? Was it hard to pronounce the foods you wanted to order? I even had trouble knowhing that pho was "phr" until recently! Or banh mi was "banh my". Vietnamese is a hard language to pronounce!

[howie]

Those crab spring rolls look so good! I shouldn't look at your blog when I'm hungry :-)

[Kirk]

Hi P - Thanks for the info; I faintly recall Noodlepie mentioning something about this.

Hi Rachel - In Sapa almost everyone understands some English. In Hanoi, many people do, or want to learn English. You can always point.

Hi Howie - Those were outstanding!