On this night we were on West Broadway looking for dinner before a night of dancing. Wanting something comforting, but not heavy enough to weight our bodies down, we ventured into Hanoi Old Quarter for their Vietnamese cuisine.
They are sister to Mr. Red Cafe on Hastings and this is now their only location, after their original on Victoria Drive closed now.
Having been to the others, the decor here is more bright and whimsical with hanging green plants and colourful lanterns on the ceiling.
We came in wanting Egg Coffee, both having had it from their first location and remembering how good it was. Sadly, it was not available here, so we shared a regular Vietnamese coffee instead. To our surprise it came out already dripped. Served with a tray of ice and an empty glass, we then had to stir in the condense milk and pour the completed drink over the desired amount of ice.
We also tried a couple of their cocktails, as recommended by their bar manager. He made one for us each based on our preferences. For me it was a bolder more savoury cocktail and for my guest a lighter and sweeter spritz. Booze forward it put us in good spirits (intentional pun).
As for food we shared a few dishes in order to best explore the menu. The Salt & Pepper Chicken Wings were fried with garlic, and salt & pepper, as its name suggested. They were as crispy as they looked, but we found them bland. We felt it needed a dip or sauce to make it finger licking good. Perhaps a side dish of fish sauce to add a familiar umami tang, which is was what we were expecting, but didn’t get. Thankful we had a pot provided with the rice rolls below.
My guest is a fan of thin slices of beef so we also got the Vietnamese Beef Carpaccio. AAA Beef Tenderloin in a tamarind dressing with basil, cilantro, and fried shallots. This had plenty of bold and garlicky flavours and crispy bits to mask any would be unappealing gummy raw texture , which I am not a big fan of.
I really enjoyed the Egg Steamed Rice Rolls wrapping pork, shrimp, and a whole egg with runny yolk. The latter was a nice surprise and added a lovely lushness to the gummy wrap. I was also impressed by how much meat there was unsuspectingly hiding within this. It ate like a dumpling in a different format and there was plenty of fish sauce to soak it in. This was where it got most of its flavour from.
And we also had to try their pho, and given the name of the restaurant it had to be the Hanoi Beef Pho. Classic beef flank, beef meatball, and sliced rare beef with cilantro, onions, rice noodles. This was exactly what we wanted and it hit on every level as a comforting soup to warm you inside and out. Delicious and meaty with no notes.
We enjoyed everything we had and left full and satisfied. No complaints, this one we would visit again if hungry in the area.
Hanoi Old Quarter
3105 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6K 2G9
604) 327-6789
hanoioldquarter.ca
