14 Oct 2019 - Hanoi Day 3: Lunch at Hanoi Cafe and Ho Van

Before venturing into our next destination, we decided to have our lunch around Temple of Literature.  There were many food outlets across the road from the temple.  We went into an outlet called Hanoi Cafe hoping to have some traditional Vietnamese food and beverages.

As there was no available seat on the ground floor, we walked up to a loft with very low ceiling.

We sat on low wooden benches and stools with small tables, which were just enough for our food and drinks.

Below were what we ordered.
1)  Vietnamese Fried Beef Noodle

2)  Vietnamese Beef Soup Noodle (Pho)

3)  Red Velvet Cake

4)  Water Melon Smoothie

5)  Caramel Coffee Milk Shake

6)  Traditional Vietnamese Coffee, which is very strong.

7)  Vietnamese Egg Coffee, which exploded in popularity in the 1980s.

After lunch, we walked over to Ho Van - Van Lake.

Once we stepped in, we were greeted with all the hanging lanterns.

We then arrived at the lake where we saw several artificial lotus flowers.  There are shops and cafes around the lake where we need to pay a fee to enter but we decided to skip it.

My original plan was to pay a visit to Hanoi Train Street from here.  However, just few days prior to our Hanoi trip, the Vietnamese government had issued a "train street" ban with immediate effect.  You may read about it here.  As such, we moved on to our next destination.

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