“It’s not easy to find a convenient cheap restaurant in such a far-flung area of Hanoi as Cau Giay District, but there is. Dep (Beautiful) Restaurant, near the Daewoo Hotel, and it guarantees to satisfy your hunger within 45 minutes.
As pho is the dish of Vietnam’s “national soul”, the creation of a new taste may not be welcomed. However, one Cham gentleman braved the challenge when he opened an ostrich noodle restaurant in Saigon.
We live in a part of Hanoi euphemistically called the Old French Quarter and we often see bewildered westerners, maps in hand, searching for vestiges of colonial grandeur. Many old villas remain but a lot are hidden behind tacked-on shop fronts. Some have been turned into glitzy restaurants, and there are crumbling gems that need skilled restoration.
