We first heard about this place through a friend and fully expected it to be a street food shack. A little bit excited I was too, as I hadn't seen this particular dish available anywhere else in Hanoi. We were a bit gobsmacked to pull up and find that it was a real restaurant, brand spanking new, and a croc restaurant at that. Word has spread quickly about their little specialty, well their other little specialty anyhow, not the croc, the seafood pho. I've been here once before and the pho was great, that's why I'm back.
The menu is pretty extensive, there's a lot of croc - fried, grilled, minced or steaked - pretty much anyway you want to eat 'em you can have 'em, but there's also a lot of other meats and goodies available too, all some kind of variation on Vietnamese style cooking.
The pho hai san or seafood noodle soup is very quick to arrive and from looking around this place it seems to be pretty popular with other diners as well. This bowl is chockablock with seafruit goodies, scallops, clams, prawns, calamari and wide rice noodles that look as though someone has had some fun with the pinking shears before tossing them in. A plate pulls up beside this bowl of brothy seafood goodness, nursing treats such as herbs like mint and coriander, bean shoots, chilli, lime and onion. I skip the onion but the rest mixes seamlessly through adding fantastic hints of flavour and crunch to each mouthful. It's all a bit of a winner I do have to say, the liquid is light and tasty and the fresh seafood has taken on hints of the stock. It's an absolute delight to eat, each bite having exactly the right balance of taste and texture. Think I'll be back for this one more than once, it's a cracker!
Next come the Nem Ca Sau. These are little bits of croc and veges all rolled up into tasty little sacks of spring rolls, then lightly fried. They're pretty tasty and very, very good with the nuoc mam (fish sauce). These are pretty good, but truth be told, most of the difference is that they just taste less oily or greasy than normal Nem Thit. Nem Hai San hit the table next and they are the stock standard seafood spring rolls that you find everywhere around Hanoi, bought frozen by the restaurants, but lipsmackingly good nevertheless and I love 'em.
Last in are the grilled pork ribs in BBQ sauce, but the meat is a little dry and tasteless this time. My lunch buddy is VERY disappointed as he had exactly the same dish last time and thought they were one of the greatest things he had ever eaten, hasn't stopped talking about them and was extremely eager to get back and chomp on some more. This could have to do with the time factor though, as this time we did arrrive at the restaurant at three in the arvo and last time we were here about 12.30pm. Hanoi has very set dining hours, lunch usually starting at around 11.30am and by 1.00pm, especially in the case of street food, it's practically over or you end up with the dregs and leftovers. It can make a big difference to the taste and quality of what you eat, especially as later on the staff are usually trying to catch up on their missed lunchtime snooze. This could explain the reheated in the microwave taste, but I think my eating pal might cry more than crocodile tears next time.
It's worth it, go and have a gander and grab a bowl of pho hai san while you're there. How many times do you get to eat croc in this town? (I don't fancy a crocodile steak myself but think my sticky partner might enjoy chewing on one and I'm sure he will get back to you). We also tried to get out to the backyard to get a look at the swimming, snarling, snapping crocs themselves, but no luck!
Snap this up
Nem hai san, nem ca sau, pho hai san, BBQ pork ribs, steamed rice, 2 beers (Heineken) - 121,000VND (USD$7.63, AUD$10.03)
Nha Toi
194 Nghi Tam, Hanoi
(on the Dyke Rd, look for the big neon croc running up the restaurant front)
Hmmm..sounds great, apart from the croc, that is. Yikes.
Posted by: Preya | 03 October 2005 at 07:55 AM
NASTY ASSES FUCK YOU
Posted by: GHG | 17 November 2009 at 07:16 AM
I like using croc.
Normally I stir fry with ancho chilli paste, green beans, a little coconut and sweet basil.
Also good grilled as cross-cut tail steaks, BBQ medium well over charcoal and sprinkle with vanilla infused salt.
Here in Thailand - normally just whacked into tom yum - nothing special - no character.
I think I'd have a field day at sa specialist croc restaurant.
Why the seafood soup and the pork ribs? Is it the taste or the idea of it that stops you wanting to 'croc around the clock?'
Posted by: Chef Shane | 25 June 2010 at 10:42 AM