Comfort at Hanoi

The storm changed our plans Sunday night, so my lovely companion and I instead went close to home for some comforting Vietnamese. Hanoi on 9th street above 7th avenue is one of our two main stops for Banh Mi, (the other being Hancos, for their frequent sandwich card and proximity to the subway.)

Tonight we both ordered Vietnamese iced coffees, and split the fried pork dumplings. The iced coffee here is the best kind of too-string instant mixed with sweetened condensed milk. (We've ordered it as delivery, though, and it was too milky.) Pork dumplings were crispy outside and meaty with scallions inside, but a little pink. Still delicious with the sweet soy and rice vinegar dipping sauce.

My lovely companion's usual, the grilled chicken Banh Mi, was too heavy in the spicy mayo this time, but in the past we've thought they nailed it. Shredded carrots, cucumber, and cilantro had a cooling effect on the medium-spicy sandwich. The grilled chicken here has a frozen-and-reheated texture, but lots of grill flavor.

Crispy pan-fried rice noodles with seafood were a new dish for me here, and with the extremely vague menu description, I was curious to see what it entailed.

Some kind of crab or lobster substitute was featured with scallops that had obviously been frozen and were chewy because of it.

The rest of the dish was pretty great though. Perfectly plump shrimp, crisp snap peas, bok choi and savoy cabbage. Carrots and baby corn were even firm and crunchy. The highlight was the salty and addictive broth that all of these were coated in and which soaked the crunchy rice noodles. We couldn't get enough of the noodles and cleaned the plate. A vegetarian version of this dish would be perfect, actually.

-SdJ

Grilled Chicken Banh Mi.

Fried Pork Dumplings

Hanoi

Crispy Pan Fried Noodles

Iced Coffee