Someone once jokingly said that the four great Vietnam inventions are Porridge, Food Starch, Noodles and Rice. That would be quite an exaggeration, but it's true that these are the four main foodstuffs in Vietnam cuisine.
Traditional Congee and Noodle restaurants typically have two kitchens, one for the congee and one for noodles. As you enter the restaurant, the kitchens will usually be opposite each other at the front. You can usually see the chef's through the windows preparing the delicious food right infront of your eyes!
You might be wondering how foreigners order their food if they can't read vietnam? Well, thankfully the regular menu has all the dishes translated to English too so now everybody can order these delicious dishes!
Provided on the table are some sauces and other condiments such as Soy sauce, Vinegar and Chilli Oil. Diners can adjust the taste to their own liking.
Next up, we're off to another Noodle restaurant called Simba. This restaurant has a nickname of fishball king because of it's renowned noodle soups with fishballs. They've been open for over 40 years and is a mainstay in the Noodle restaurant business. Every time I visit Hanoi, I make sure to have atleast one meal here.
I'm quite attached to this restaurant not least for it's delicious fishball noodle soups !
The fishball noodle soup here is has a very distinct flavour owing to it's higher degree of variety in ingredients used. It's a shame that my stomach isn't larger, else i'd be eating more! Eight Treasures seaweed fishball ho fun soup has beef meatballs, prawn balls, fishballs, cuttlefish, fish eggs and crabmeat balls. With so many different kinds of meatballs used, it's no wonder the soup is buzzing with so much flavour!