Wild Rice

A white, art-deco style building houses Wild Rice. Water flows silently down modern, rusted chain and slate fountains as we are greeted at the door. And it's a warm welcome to one of Hanoi's finest Vietnamese restaurants.

Wild Rice's interior is striking no matter where you are seated. The downstairs bamboo bar features more contemporary design. A big, white, airy room, it has bamboo rock gardens at both ends, dark slate tiled floors, stark realist green-white artwork and a focus fireplace of old stone - none of which takes away from the still minimalist feel.

Upstairs, where we are dining for lunch, the walls are young rice green and the design more classical. Subtly lit wall boxes contain clear glass ornaments of various rice grains. The floral artistry throughout the restaurant deserves special mention. Arranged by the managing director, Mr Thinh, the flowers perfectly augment the interior design in an intricate yet understated way.

The menu is modern Vietnamese with little influence from elsewhere, perhaps just a touch of China. Vietnam, in the form of claypots, wrappings of banana leaves, green papaya, pickled apricot sauce and all of its zingy herbs, is championed at Wild Rice. The big white plates are the perfect canvas for the magnificently presented fare.

Even though the restaurant is practically full for our visit, the entrees arrive promptly. The fresh spring rolls of river fish, noodles and herbs are a simple, classic way to start, the balanced flavours of the dipping sauce an ideal condiment. Our salad is beef, carrot and celery, a crunchy and satisfying combination.

For the main course, our waiter delivers grilled chicken with spicy sesame sauce, steamed Barramundi with lime sauce and stir-fried bok choy with tofu. Accompanied by steamed rice, each bite is savoured. The chicken is grilled handsomely, barbequed edges contrasting with shiny specks of red capsicum and the seeds. The fish is virtually boneless, moist, white flakes topped with mushrooms, the lime sauce not overly tangy. The cream-white, luscious discs of tofu on the bok choy are set against dark brown Asian mushrooms full of flavour.

We are left with no room for dessert! However, on a previous visit, I sampled from the sweets list a warm compote of young corn (compote is che in Vietnamese), elegantly garnished with a single red rose.

Wild Rice is much like this dish: all class!

Price Range
Soups: 30-35,000VND (USD$1.90-2.20, AUD$2.50-2.90), Entrees: 50-85,000VND (USD$3.15-5.35, AUD$4.15-7.05), Mains: 70-180,000VND (USD$4.40-11.30, AUD$5.80-14.95), Desserts: 20-30,000VND (USD$1.25-1.90, AUD$1.65-2.50)

Wild Rice
6 Ngo Thi Nham St, Hanoi
Tel: (04)943-8896

Comments

[gemma]

What a fantastic looking place! The warm compote of young corn looks especially delicious.

[Sticky]

Gemma
Some places are hard to do justice to in words. When you get here, just go! Difficult to find fault with the food at Wild Rice. We love it. We were back there again tonight, actually.

[Nicole]

Oh I loved the service there.
I had the chicken and mushroom soup to start, delicious!
Then for my main I had the braised duck with orange sauce, Devine!
A very calm interior with the gardens behind the glass and pleasentries of the staff.
Will eat there again when I am next in Hanoi

[Mindarrange]

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[Air Jordans]

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