We took the door man's recommendation for a local restaurant. Cha Ca Va Long which according to guidebooks is an Hanoi institution. We had tried the original one in Old Quarter for lunch but were too late.
We had spent a wet day shopping after coffee and pain au chocolat at Paris Cafe. Trawled through several art galleries and spent afternoon drinking Tiger and eating spring rolls at a bar across road from Sofitel Metropole (Graham Greene, Somerset Maugham etc).
The fried fish with Vietnamese mint, noodles, chilli, and greens was good and despite claims of "no drinking" one could get Bia Hanoi or Heineken. The guys at the next table shared their Gordon's gin with the falung.
A good end to our sojourn in Hanoi.
We head for home tomorrow.
Cheers to all and see you soon
J
