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Cha Ca La Vong

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susanf
susanf
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4 out of 5
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Editor Pick

No Menu Change in 150 Years

  • July 28, 2008
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Don Ricardo from Hanmer Springs, New Zealand
Fried Fish Street and the Haunt of Concubines
The city of Hanoi boasts something which must be unique in the restaurant world - a restaurant that has not changed its menu for one hundred and fifty years. Not only has Cha Ca La Vong maintained its menu that long, it has become so well established and so famous that they named the street after it. ‘Cha Ca’ is Vietnamese for ‘fried fish’ and the street is now Fried Fish Street. At the front of the restaurant its first owner set up a black statue of a fisherman and this became known locally as ‘La Vong’, hence the name of the restaurant. It has had imitators but they have fallen by the wayside and this must remain Hanoi’s most popular restaurant. Never in your wildest dreams could you call the place ‘up market’. Its appearance is quite the reverse and where I sat upstairs I have to admit to thoughts of the rickety building’s imminent collapse every time someone walked past. The flowers on my table were several days past their prime but the crowded atmosphere, the hubbub of noise, the bustling staff and the time I had to wait for a table were all testament to the place’s popularity, not to mention the quality of its food. No-one proffered a menu and despite the fact I had not ordered it, a passing waiter plonked a large bottle of beer in front of me. Ten minutes later he returned with a charcoal brazier of the type common throughout Vietnam. Shaped like a large terra cotta flower pot and brim full of glowing coals with an aperture at the side to let in air to feed the combustion. Grilling is done on a rack very close to the coals or they are used for cooking on top of, like a gas flame. (One thing of interest is that you will rarely see a wok in Vietnam, despite the strong influence of its close neighbour and former occupier, China. They prefer to use a conventional frying or sauté pan. The Vietnamese have taken from the Chinese, other Asian neighbours, the French and in the south, even the Americans, and have blended all into their own unique fashion of doing things.)
A large bowl of noodles, another of sliced spring onions and another full of mixed fresh herbs all arrived along with an array of dipping sauces. Last, but not least, a large pan full of bite sized pieces of seasoned fish was brought and place atop the coals. The fish was already partially cooked and without saying a thing the waiter picked up the bowl of onions and dumped it in with the fish. He was gone before I could ask him what to do next. I looked around to other tables and saw that people were stirring in the onions and adding herbs so I followed suit. I must say it was one of the most delicious fish meals I have eaten. I tried hard to pick which spices had been used and what flavours predominated but I could not get beyond the fact that one of the fish spices was fresh turmeric and that the herbs included different varieties of basil as well as dill and coriander. The travel guides already warned me not to bother enquiring about the recipe. Apparently it has been a closely guarded secret for all that time.
There are other interesting restaurants in Hanoi, mainly in the busy streets of the colourful Old Quarter and I did my best to try as many of them as I could. At one, they proudly boasted a real French chef and a unique degustation menu of Vietnamese and French fusion food. The food was good but when the chef did the rounds of the tables I made the mistake of having a notebook out and of telling him I had trained as a chef in Paris. "But, you have not cook for Madame Chirac," he said and pointed to a photo of himself with Madame herself as proof of his superiority and stalked off.
"How about the King of Spain," I called after him, but he was gone. I had ruined his night.
My advice to anyone going to Vietnam is to stick with Vietnamese food. It is invariably superior to attempts at western cuisine and very often, the best-of-the-best can be found attempting to squeeze a western-size derriere on to one of those kindergarten-sized sized chairs they place on street corners adjacent to stalls selling Pho Bo (delicious beef noodle
soup) spring rolls, bun cha and a host of other delights, but we will have to look at that another day.
Not long after I returned home, a ninety year old friend who lived in Hanoi as a child was quizzing me about the city wanted to know if Cha Ca la Vong was still there as she had heard. She ate there weekly as a treat when she was a child. She could cook me cha ca, she said, but one could not buy banana fish here, nor the right sort of basil and our springs onions were woeful.
Editor Pick

Cha Ca La Vong

  • September 29, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Composthp from Singapore, Singapore
Cha Ca La Vong

Hailed as the oldest restaurant in Vietnam, it has been serving a traditional Vietnamese fish dish called Cha Ca since 1871. The recipe has been passed on through 5 generations of the family Doan in Hanoi. So popular is this dish that the street in which the original restaurant is located has been named Cha Ca Street in its honour. It has spawned two other branches in Hanoi and HCM city as well as numerous imitators.

Finding the street and the restaurant on foot was challenging. The restaurant is located in the quieter, northern side of the old quarters. We had trouble identifying the restaurant as
a) it was tucked among some dingy shops and
b) there were no clear signage until you look up at the doorway.

Clearly, this was not going to be a fine dining experience. The main restaurant is actually on the 2nd floor via a narrow wooden stairway. Once passed the flimsy doorway, we were hit by the smell of braised fish. The place was small and could perhaps accommodate no more than 40 people comfortably. Dingy seemed an apt description for the décor but as the saying goes, the best food is usually found in the most unimaginable, dingy places.

We seemed to be the only foreigners there and soon drew curious glances from the other diners. Fortunately, we did not have to make our orders other than for drinks, much to our relief since we could not utter a single word of Vietnamese as they serve only 1 dish—Cha Ca. Service was brisk and efficient. We were quickly ushered to a table and we were served the dish within 15 minutes of our order.

The Cha Ca is essentially fish cut into bite size pieces, marinated in saffron powder and deep fried in oil. It was served on a stainless steel saucepan over a charcoal grill together with spring onions, dill, basil, spring onions and a special sauce. This dish is accompanied by Vietnamese rice noodles/vermicelli, roasted peanuts, and mint leaves with a vinegary fish sauce and cut fresh chili. After stealing glances at our neighbours for a quick lesson on how to eat it, we began tucking in by basically mixing everything together.

The fish was fresh and firm (no bones!). A tad too oily for one of our companions but the mint leaves aided digestion and off-set the oiliness. We were given 2 servings of the fish and a generous serving of the vermicelli. In all, this dish did not disappoint and the total bill for the three of us was only VND 235000 or $15 plus drinks. Be prepared to leave this place smelling like your dinner though as the restaurant can be a tad smoky.

The following are the addresses of the other branches serving the original Cha Ca.

Hanoi
107, Nguyen Truong To Street
Tel: 8239875

Ho Chi Minh City
3, Ho Xuan Huong Street, Ward 6, district 3. Tel: 9305674

From journal Vietnam, An Emerging Dragon

Cha Ca La Vong

  • September 14, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by RaquelKato from Metro Manila, Philippines
There was only one dish served here - Cha Ca. You just had to get a table, sit down, and tell the attendant how many orders we wanted. The dish was then served in a sizzling pot together with peanuts, herbs, noodles, and a stinky fish sauce for seasoning. The fish itself was fresh and the whole dish tasted really good. The ambience of the typical Vietnamese house added to the "flavor" of our meal. I would definitely come back here when we visit Hanoi again.

From journal Honeymoon in Hanoi

Cha Ca La Vong

  • April 11, 2005
  • Rated 5 of 5 by sonickboom41 from New York, New York
It might not be the most aesthetically pleasing restaurant in the world, but it is a must. Cha Ca La Vong might have been the best meal I've ever had. They only have one dish: pieces of fried monkfish in a "fondue pot" of peanut oil with basil, cilantro, dill, and scallion. Add some fish sauce, noodles, and peanuts... wow! This restaurant is the grand poobah of fish restaurants, don't be fooled by imitations. It has been around since the 1870s, so go here to try this Hanoi specialty. It's a party for your mouth.

From journal Hanoi--Paris via Asia

Editor Pick

Cha Ca La Vong

  • March 28, 2004
  • Rated 3 of 5 by ShannonBrooke from Somerville, Massachusetts
This restaurant is very historic, supposedly the first to serve barbequed fish in this style. Our Handspan tourguide, Bich, highly recommended it and so did all of our tour books. Located on "Barbeque Fish" street, it isn't too hard to find.

This two-level restaurant is decorated in what can be best be described as school cafeteria style. Plastic tables and chairs are tightly arranged into two not-so-clean rooms.

The place was packed with Vietnamese, and we were the only Westerners there. We did see two Japanese salarymen with their Vietnamese "dates". We were seated next to a table of children, their parents nowhere to be seen. An older girl seemed to be watching over them, somewhat reluctantly. They were relatively well-behaved, if a bit loud.

The signature meal costs 60,000 Dong, the equivalent of US$4. For this, you get barbequed fish, cooked in a hot pot, with bean sprouts thrown in for flavor. A waiter starts you out and then you can cook it as you desire. The meal is expensive by local standards, but a great deal by Western standards.

From journal Asia Sampler: Hanoi Rocks

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