He revealed that visitors should spend their Friday evenings discovering the city centre by walking around the pedestrianised street next to Hoan Kiem lake and then enjoy home-style northern food at the Michelin-starred restaurant Tam Vi.
“The menu offers comforting dishes with a homely feel, such as fried tofu in tomato sauce, braised fish and chả lá lốt - minced pork wrapped in wild betel leaves. The caramelized pork belly with eggs (VND172,000, or about US$7) is particularly soul warming,” he noted.
During the night, the freelance journalist recommendedthat visitors raise a glass at Wong Bar Wine on Hai Ba Trung street by sipping a whisky highball for a price of VND150,000.
On Saturday morning, they should then visit the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long which reveals layers of the past often overlooked by casual visitors.
“Though little remains of the original palace, the main gate, built during the 11th-century Ly Dynasty, stands impressively before a sweeping lawn, and opposite the 108-foot-tall Hanoi Flag Tower,” he described.
After relishing decadent coffee at an old French villa on the charming Chan Cam street, Humphrey suggested that visitors should set their pulses racing by taking a street-food tour on two wheels, organised by Vespa Adventures.
“Ride pillion on a vintage Vespa motorbike as you weave through Hanoi, tasting classic dishes like búnchả (grilled pork patties with rice noodles), bánh mì(Vietnamese baguette) and bò bía ngọt (freshly grated coconut wrapped in rice paper),” he wrote.
The tour also goes past major sights across the capital, including the Opera House, Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace, and Train Street, all of which are places where tourists can sip drinks mere inches from passing trains.
The journalists recommend that they head to Chả CáThăng Long for dinner with fillets of catfish fried over a burner on table. Afterwards, visitors can dream a little dream of jazz at the modest jazz club Long Waits which opened in Hoan Kiem district just last year, before sipping a cocktail by candlelight.
On Sunday, according to Humphrey, visitors should visit the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology and enjoy phởcuốn (beef wrapped in rice rolls) near West Lake. After that, they can contemplate modern art and finish their tour by searching for souvenirs at the famous night market in the heart of the Old Quarter.
