Cha Ca La Vong Restaurant in Hanoi

Cha Ca La Vong Restaurant in Hanoi is one of the must visit places if you are the foodie type of traveler. Located along the famed Cha Ca Road in Hanoi's Old Quarter, you will find this 104 year old business along one of the shabby shoplots on this busy street. There are two Cha Ca La Vong Restaurants in Hanoi. One of is rip off of the original while the other is the real deal. To tell the difference, the real one has 'Charcoal Stoves' and dining is only on the first floor of the restaurant while the fake one uses an electrical stove and you can dine on both floors. Visiting the original restaurant was an adventure by itself as once there, you needed to climb a 45 degree wooden staircase to get to the first floor. The restaurant up top was no larger that a deluxe hotel room with about 8 dining tables. It looked more like an antique store with heavy wooden floorboards and a huge prayer alter mounted on one wall.The green colour on the walls make the place look like some sort of bar from twenty years ago.

So, what is Cha Ca La Vong? It is actually a fish and vegetable dish that was handed down from generation to generation. The art of preparation is done by the chefs and a waiter or waitress brings the raw dish to your table and cooks it on the spot showing you how its done before attempting to do-it-yourself. Mind you that there is only one dish and this is it. People come here for the experience so do not expect much. As a travel foodie.

Grilled Fish with herbs and vegetables dish at the restaurant

The unique dish is prepared with a hot coal stove brought to your table while bowls of raw food and condiments are accompanied. Whitefish pieces, local vegetables, turmeric, herbs, Pho (Vietnamese Noodles), Onions and Peanuts with a local sauce and oil is placed on your table. As the person cooks it in front of you, the strong aroma of the fish and vegetables fill the entire room while the condiments are slowly placed in. Finally after about 3-5 minutes, the dish is ready and served to you in a little bowl with the Pho noodles. You then attempt to do the next round yourself which can be an exciting adventure all together.

While doing a search on the internet, you will find a lot of reviews and comments about Cha Ca La Vong and about 80% of them claim that this place is a rip off, cheat or nothing great. Well, to be very honest, I doubt these people have really traveled much to be able to pass such opinions. So what if the experience was expensive, that's what you pay for when you want to try something authentic in another country. The funny thing is travelers nowadays are very opinionated and sometimes for all the wrong reasons.

                                   Cha Ca La Vong Restaurant - Preparing the meal video

                            Video of Cha Ca La Vong Restaurant in Hanoi

Cha Ca La Vong Restaurant Address
14 Chả Cá, Hoan Kiem
Hanoi, Vietnam
Telephone Number: 84-4/825-3929 
Price: VND120,000 per person