Dinner in Hanoi

The Rising Dragon Estate Hotel
(the narrow white building)

I did head out for dinner. I set myself a simple objective: just ask the lovely hotel receptionist/manager, Joy, for a recommendation for a nice close restaurant. I didn't want to explore or adventure and given I have a "street food tour" today (tonight), I felt a conventional restaurant might be best. She pointed me to a district about 10 minutes walk away.

Walking in Hanoi is just like my experience in other third-world, particularly Asian, cities, though on reflection, the actual walking on the streets was most like Cairo (weirdly). Narrow streets, lots of scooters, and other traffic, the sidewalks are completely clogged with parked scooters and people selling goods, or sitting out front of their shop. Crossing the road is a blood-sport that requires nerves of steel and some athleticism when the traffic is actually moving. And as traffic lights are only a guide to scooter-riders here, you can't even rely on controlled crossings for a safe path.

Hanoi streets

I walked past a number of "cafes", many of which were being patronised by tourists, but I kept going aiming at the district of restaurants that Joy had recommended. Eventually, I came to the "Gecko" restaurant and it's set menu board looked enticing. I was sold on it when I read "cheap and cheerful" under the restaurant name. And it was. The food was very nice, the set menu of four courses being sufficient, and it cost me about $25AUD including two glasses of wine and a 10% tip.