Groupons, it’s the key to trying new places.  I’ve said it again and again.  So here we were, with a $20 voucher for Ha Nôi Restaurant at the new 100AM mall at the Amara Hotel in Tanjong Pagar.  We wanted Viet food, and we got it1

We decided to go for some traditional food and use our voucher.

We started with chả lá lốt, or Los Leaf Rolls.  This is minced pork wrapped with the fragrant Lot leaf.

Quite tasty, real good fragrance and a very nice start.

But one of the signature dishes of this restaurant, and if you go to Hanoi, is the Hanoi Grilled Fish, better known as Chả cá thăng long.

This is a specialty in Hanoi, as it is usually grilled catfish with green onions and dill.  Dill is very uncommon in southern Vietnam, so this is something special in Northern Vietnam.

The fish is fried up in oil with tumeric powder for a while until done.

The whole setup before combining.

The green onions and dill are added to the pan and fried up.  Then the vermicelli is tossed with the peanuts and fish paste/chili.

The finished product.  You can see how lovely the dill and green onions have made the dish.

You then scoop onto the vermicelli and eat away!

Honestly, the vermicelli was a little bland, but the fish with the herbs was very, very fragrant and nice.

I can’t wait for my trip to Hanoi in December to try the real thing!