A tree grows straight up though the bar in Diva, which may be why I am thinking about a children’s books I’ve read, The Magic Faraway Tree, in this story you can also never see the top of the tree from the ground. Shelves conveniently attached to the sides of its trunk look like the insides of a hobbit house and stock the liquor we all know Sam Gamgee liked to raid when Frodo was passed out in the bath. Hanoi, which is happy to put stools on the street to eat but rarely plants tables in a garden, could learn a lot from the sun dappled courtyard of Diva.
The service here is fast and efficient. The menu is Western and Vietnamese and covers a large range, from sandwiches and spring rolls to steaks and noodles. We order a selection and the drinks arrive icy cold and delicious. A fly takes a suicidal dive into one lemon juice, but this is deftly changed by the staff, unprompted and efficiently. I fear the insect chose poorly because the Tiger draught is icy cold and a far better selection for demise. We sit back and chat while we wait for our food.
Banana flower salad, fresh, juicy and tasty, spring rolls lightly fried, fish in experimentally named “ortendaise” sauce that turns out to be a creamy tomato and vegetable sauce served with delicious slices of potato slapped with melted cheese. The fish in mustard sauce is also a winner served with fresh, buttery prawns. The two pork dishes do more of a dance in the menu than on the plate and both are a little disappointing, lacking moisture, despite the covering of a sweet yet tasteless plum sauce over one. The Pasta Amatriciana, comes with a great hit of chili in its tomato based sauce, tangy yet not enough to push steam out your ears.
Diva is set up for brunch or a long lunch and on the weekends there is apparently a band playing inside, where you can sit in A.C. if the heat really is too much for you. Maybe the search for a beer garden is over. Cheers.
Food: Vietnamese and Western
Atmosphere: Garden relaxation
Drinks: Standard alcoholic drinks, juices, cocktails, mocktails, tea, coffee, etc.
One tiger draught beer 18,000VND
The Rundown: Fried vegetable spring rolls, Breaded sole with mustard sauce, Breaded sole with ortendaise sauce, Pork with plum sauce and rice, Marinated pork on skewers with rice, Banana flower Salad x 2, Penne Matrisana (amatricianna), coca cola (2), lemon juice (2), Orangina, Vanilla milk shake, Tiger draught beers (13). Total: 707 000 VND, $59.22 AUD, $44.53 USD, $37.03 EURO
Ricebowl rating: 3.5
Diva Garden Bar and Restaurant
57 Ly Thai To Hanoi
Phone: 9344 088
Big thanks to Joh for the Diva pics
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