Vietnamese meets Venice
It's not every day that you find Vietnamese culinary delights inside an intimate French-Italian style cafe. but that's just what the folks at the Club Opera restaurant have to offer
Now don't get me wrong-sometimes it's quite nice to enjoy the local cuisine amid the full regalia of a traditional-styled establishment. but sampling local treats whilst tucked into a cozy corner of a plush cafe is a unique experience in these parts, and certainly one not be missed.
so, snuggled comfortable around our little table, we soaked up the ambience and sipped on a couple glasses of the Gustave Lorentz Sylvaner from France's Alsace region, a smooth, fruity white wine which was quick to soothe and would go well with our seafood dishes to come.
The dining extravaganza soon got off to a good start with the Lotus Rhizome Salad. This delicious dish of lotus roots and fresh shrimp was served both elegantly and appropriately in a lotus blossom and matched the very flower in which it came in terms of flavor, which the wine accented nicely.
But although the salad was fabulous, it had to make way for the best and most unusual dish of the night - the seafood filled Hue Spring Rolls. this dish upon first sight was a complete surprise. With spring rolls impaled on tooth-picks and protruding branch-like from a pineapple, which itself had been hollowed out and candle-lit jacko-lantern style, the dish was a veritable feast for the senses. but what made these spring rolls unique to sight, taste and touch was not only the fresh, tasty seafood inside but their crisp, noodle-like outer wrapping, something I'd never seen let alone tasted before. These were simply delicious and with their fabulous dipping sauce on the side, the Hue Spring Rolls won the day. But it was then on to heartier dishes like Soft Shell Crab. Fried and cooked with heaps of onions, they proved absolutely scrumptious. Meanwhile the Sylvaner continued to accent each dish in style.
The crabs were followed by the heavy but tasty Fried Seabass with Mango, an interesting dish which featured large chunks of fish breaded, fried and swimming in one of the country's finest fruits.
Rather than going for the standard steamed rice on the side we went in for a couple of unusual options - Pineapple Steamed rice and Lotus Steamed rice. My vote went to the former, as the pineapple flavors had soaked into the rice and accompanying pieces of vegetable and shrimp to make for a sweet and interesting side. This coupled with the mango dish could be a bit sweet for some but is surely worth a try.
So, again - if you're looking for exotic Vietnamese cuisine wrapped in European elegance, Club Opera in Hanoi is your place.
By Bill Badger