Thang Long fish cake restaurant is located in the middle of the bustling old town, which is a familiar meeting place for local diners. This culinary address has been honored by Michelin twice, for two consecutive years, in the BIB Gourmand category for delicious, affordable eateries.
The Michelin Guide describes the restaurant's specialty as fish marinated with turmeric, cooked at the table in a hot pan with green onions and dill, served with vermicelli, coriander, shrimp paste and peanuts creating an attractive combination.
The menu has 3 main dishes from fish: fish cakes, fish intestines and fish head soup. Fish cakes are usually made from fish and sea bass, dipped in shrimp paste or fish sauce. The patties are pre-fried by the chef. When they arrive at the table, diners just need to stir-fry them until hot, then add onions, dill, a little roasted peanuts and dipping sauce for flavor. In addition, diners can also order fish intestines to eat with them.
Hanoi's fish cake dish is sophisticated from the preparation of flavorings and spices to the processing and marinating so that the fish absorbs the spices but still tastes good when eaten with dipping sauce.
Ms. Trinh Bich Huong, the restaurant's owner, shared that the most important thing is to choose fresh fish: the skin is shiny black, the meat is elastic when pressed with your hand, and the gills are pink. Besides, the chef must also pay attention to the dipping sauce because it is the highlight that creates the unique flavor of the dish.
Another impressive point is the restaurant's architecture, filled with nostalgia for an old Hanoi. The old French villa is over a hundred years old, painted a warm apricot yellow. Details such as the wooden gate, the road on both sides planted with bamboo rows or the vase of fragrant lotus flowers... combine harmoniously with each other.
Each object and flower vase displayed in the restaurant was chosen by Ms. Bich Huong. She said: "It took us nearly 3 years to build and redesign the old villa to make diners feel comfortable and cozy. Customers also have some nostalgia for traditional old houses of the past. Many of my customers are overseas Vietnamese and come here as a familiar place every time they return to their homeland."
After receiving the Michelin award, the restaurant became more and more crowded, especially foreign tourists.
The restaurant received a lot of praise on online platforms. A diner named Jenny Nguyen commented on Tripadvisor: "One of the delicious dishes you must try when coming to Hanoi. It's a pity if you can't eat shrimp paste when using this dish. The restaurant is quite crowded, so book a table before coming."
Nam Do account commented: "I have been in Hanoi many times, every time I definitely visit this restaurant partly because it is so delicious, partly because the food from the North does not suit my taste. The fish here is delicious, the restaurant is clean, the staff is friendly."
