Not every day after the Pandemic struck, we think of going out for a meal. It isn't as common or usual as it used to be, not at least at this point. Trying out different foods and cuisines and writing about it, used to be our weekly adventure and we have slowly started to embark on it bit by bit. This time we started by exploring a Vietnamese restaurant in Indira Nagar,  Bangalore, cause honestly, we were craving some Pho!

Hanoi - a Vietnamese casual dining restaurant, is located in the bustling area packed with many other great restaurants of Indiranagar. Easily reachable by a cab or bus, if you are willing to walk for 5 minutes from the nearest bus stop. 

We had been watching a lot of the "best ever food review show" videos during the lockdown and built up quite an intense craving for various Vietnamese street foods. Even though we knew that we cannot expect to get most of the food shown on the YouTube channel, we thought at least some of the most famous or commonly available dishes will be enough to satisfy us. And on top of that, it was Rudra's birthday, so we wanted to celebrate at a swanky new place. 

The overall vibe of the place is very modern and c

We ate very few things, as per our standards, but we wanted to have a light lunch. So, here is what we tried and what we felt about them.

Prawn pumpkin soup - Sup Tom Bi Do - 5/5

Perfect consistency. Bold flavors complement the sweetness of the prawns and pumpkin. A MUST have! Not gonna talk much about it here, go to Hanoi for the pumpkin soup! 

I'd say this was the best thing we had for lunch that day. More so, because it was quite unexpected. As I am a pumpkin lover, I kind of expected it to taste great, but Rudra was pleasantly surprised and asked for more. a good reaction from someone who hates pumpkin 

Prawn Vietnamese rice paper rolls - Nem Cuon - 4/5 

A refreshing snack is very commonly found all around the country as street food. A very thin rice paper wraps an assortment of veggies and meat. and comes with fish sauce and other condiments. 

At the restaurant in Indiranagar, Hanoi, we ordered the one with prawns as the choice of meat. I think they also have a vegetarian option. We received these with Fish sauce and soy sauce. 

The ratio of meat to the veggies was a bit disappointing since the number of veggies completely canceled the meat out. But in any case, was a very light and refreshing snack to begin the lunch with. If we have it next time, the only thing we'd ask them is to increase a few more prawns in each roll so that they don't get lost and this turns to a veggies rice paper roll. 

We'd definitely get this though. 

Chicken Half moon dumplings - Bahn Goi - 4.5/5 

The half-moon dumplings are savory Vietnamese dumplings stuffed with mildly flavored and herbed minced chicken stuffing. We loved the sesame and peanut sauce this is accompanied with, as those actually bring out the essence of the dumplings. 

The crispy encasing of the dumplings is just the right thickness, think thinly wrapped momo wrapper of a fried momo, but more thoroughly fried to make a stiff yet crispy exterior.

A must-have!

Pho - 3/5

The famed brothy, soupy noodle dish, from Vietnam. Most likely if you have heard about Vietnamese food, you have heard about Pho, usually pronounced as "FUH".  We ordered the Buffalo version of the Pho at Hanoi. They also have vegetarian and chicken versions for the same. 

Pho usually comes with a light or clear-ish broth, packed with flavors. This one we got was a nice mellow broth, with flat noodles, and was presented with an assortment of chilies basil, lemon, and bean sprouts. The disappointment was a bit too much cinnamon in the broth and the meat being overcooked. 

Overall a good option in terms of quantity. But, the contrasting flavors were all over the place. so maybe I will skip this for the time being. and go for another rice paper roll. 

Bun Nuoc with seafood - 2/5 

This was the first time I heard about the dish and like I usually am, went for it. On top of everything this was listed as a spicy broth-based noodle, so had to opt for it. 

The thing with broth-based noodles is that when it gets a bit cold the flavors tend to change and shine through more and if they are not balanced the whole experience goes downhill. This noodle dish comes with thin noodles, soooo it was a bit all over the place since the noodles had to compliment bold flavors. 

The base of the broth has Sriracha sauce, unfortunately, it felt like the soup had mostly the sauce just mixed with a very flat broth. Hence after some time, it felt like eating thinned-out sauce. The quantity of the meat was pretty good and that is why the 2. Else this was a very unpleasant dish to have. 

We also had two drinks - Lemon iced tea and a very interesting Ginger Chili Punch. They do not serve alcohol at this point, and I am not sure if they will in the future. 

and an Iced tea. Would definitely recommend the Punch. The ice tea was a sweet standard tea, nothing special or wrong there.

SO that was a break up of each item and what we felt about them. 

I hope this helps you in deciding what to have at Hanoi, Bangalore if you are searching for Vietnamese food.

Bon appetite, 

Priyanjana