a seven-course meal

Marie, my darling sister, was in Vietnam with her brother Dave earlier this year, and she had a recommendation or two to share.  One of those was for a Hanoi restaurant, Maison 1929.  

Have the pomelo salad, she said.  And so we did.

It was a relatively easy walk to the restaurant.  I say that to mean that one block from the hotel we turned left and headed in a straight line.  The sidewalks were cluttered with scooters, the city was livelier than earlier in the day, and we had to walk in the street at points.  Just like everyone else, no big deal.

6:00 seems to be an early dinner time here, and maybe we can blame that choice of time on jet lag.  We’re actually doing not badly on sleep even if it is just before 6AM as I start writing this.  But no, we opted for an early meal, and as such, for a goodly part of the time at dinner we were the only ones on their small balcony overlooking a five-way intersection.

The restaurant had à la carte options, but we opted for the discovery menu, seven courses.  We each had wine - cocktail choices were very limited - and I thank Conrad for having the red wine first so that I knew to ask for the white wine instead.  

That was a small point against the meal, one of the only ones.  Otherwise, it was terrific.  Yes, we were warm sitting outside, but there was a fan keeping the air moving, and we settled in to watch the traffic below and enjoy our company before having a week or so with a larger group.

But on to the food, right?  In order of courses:

Fried clams.  Squeeze lime on the clams, mix, scoop on to the crackers.  Tasty, light, a good way to start.

Pomelo with fresh and dried shrimp.  Marie was right, this was a star on the menu.  Loved it!  My second favourite course.

Spring rolls, a trio that included crab, pork and mushroom, and beef.  All of them were good, but I liked the pork and mushroom best.

Squid stuffed with sausage and served with a turmeric sauce.  My favourite.  That sauce was so good!  Tender squid, too.

Sautéed duck.  Another one I loved.  I enjoy duck but all too often I find it cooked as a breast, sliced, and so chewy and kind of cold.  This was very tender.

Pork ribs.  Tasty and tender.  I took the meat of the bones and use the lettuce and herbs as a wrap.

Oh, we also had rice to go on the side for the three entrees.

Banana cake with coconut ice cream.  Nice, not too sweet, a little mundane after the previous courses, but fine.

Filling but not too filling, the meal was a good one.  We walked back, wound down, and got into bed before ten.  Now I want some breakfast and maybe some postcard writing!