Time flies when you're having fun.. it was our last night in Hanoi and we thought, ok it's going to have to be Vietnamese. But something traditional yet trendy and chic. So we try Wild Lotus on Nguyen Du. Not quite on the main drag but near Hoan Kiem Lake, it was quite a ride from the Intercon. But it did look promising when we finally got there. Walking through traditional doors through a garden with water and rock features, up a winding stairway lined with various buddha statuettes, into a modernesque smoking area, then through curtains into the dining hall. Very well set up.
The menu is extensive. If Ngon brought us street food from all over Vietnam, Wild Lotus is the upmarket version. We decided to try things we had never had. The food was definitely competent and tasty enough, even if the Wow! factor wasn't that big.
Rice Paper Spring Rolls with succulent prawns in them were fresh and light. The dip was not the usual fish sauce but a piquant pale orange jam with citrus hints.
Fish broth was an appetising concoction of locally pickled vegetables and tomatoes with river fish fillet. Hearty home-style goodness.
Our main of pork chops with honey was a tad on the dry side (typical as I said of Vietnamese meats) but made better by the honey sauce drizzled around it.
Our stir fried pumpkin leaves were very good even if a boring dish to have but if you must have fiber, it's both tasty and healthy. And pumpkin leaves are not something you get back in Singapore or Hong Kong.
Dessert was very good, with our banana fritter well fried to reveal hardly any trace of oil. The pandanus sauce, although looking like it leaked from the Hulk, was surprisingly fragrantly sweet and a great accompaniment!
A must-do on the finer dining scene in Hanoi.
I can roughly tell which photos u shot with using the SLR. I think its good! Esp KOTO's entry haha. I went there too after bumming around at the Temple of Literature but they seemed semi-closed until dinner and I din't see a point to eat there at 4pm.
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