Cha Ca La Vong: Eating Hanoi Fried Fish

We went to visit Hanoi since year 2008 but we didn't really impress much with the city. This is probably we were ripped off by the local travel agency. Because we are tourists who travelled in this city by ourselves, we ended up paying higher price for the same thing that local people paid such as Holong bay tour, taxi fare, etc. This is our lesson learned for travelling to the place we went there for the first time. You should compare prices from different places if you plan to buy a local tour before making a final decision.



Besides all those bad experiences, there is one restaurant that I should mention about since it was listed in "1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List" by Patricia Schultz. This is the main reason we went to this restaurant.

The restaurant is located at 14 Cha Ca Street in Hanoi. The place is not difficult to find. The easiest way to go there is by taking a taxi.

This restaurant is always pack with tourists and local people. Therefore, you can expect to wait in a queue if you arrive at the restaurant during regular dinner time (around 18:30-19:00 p.m.).

We waited around 20 minutes for a table. The waiter told us that we have only one hour to finish our meal. We don't have problems with that since this eatery is not a kind of place you want to sit there for a very long times. This restaurant was in business for quite long times ago. Do not expect a nice decorated restaurant. I heard there is another branch of Cha Ca Lo Vong in Saigon, where the decoration is nicer.

We ordered a fried fish like everybody else who come to this place. The fish was served on a frying pan over a burning charcoal stove sat upon the dining table. The fried fish will be served with bowl of vegetables such as dill, green onion, cilantro, etc., roasted peanuts, special sauce, and vermicelli (rice thin noodles). To eat this dish, you will need to add fresh vegetables to the frying pan until they are cooked. Then, you eat the fish together with vermicelli and roasted peanuts on top.



The fried fish does have a nice smell of turmeric and cooked vegetables. The meat itself is very tasty. However, the fish may be a little bit overcooked and oily since they were frying in a pan the whole time you are eating.