Ngõ Nooks: In a 95-Year-Old House, Mết Coffee Sells Drinks, Cozy Conversations
It was a drizzly day. The chilliness and the weepy mood of Hanoi weather drenched me in an unnamed melancholy. I was ambling aimlessly on the street when I came across Mết, a coffee shop in ngõ Yên Th...
The Rich History Behind One of Hanoi's 2 Remaining Chinese Guild Halls
With the changing gears of history, at times even the oldest layers of a thousand-year-old town must evolve to house new meanings.
Ngõ Nooks: Hanoi's Phố Vũ Thạnh Offers a Nice Egg in This Trying Time
“Is there any food we can eat for breakfast, afternoon snack and supper?”
The History of Hanoi's Lost Tramway Network
When they first drew up plans for a citywide tramway network in 1894, it seemed as though the Hanoi authorities would follow Saigon’s example by opting for steam traction. Yet, by the time government ...
Ngõ Nooks: Căng Tin Cafe, a Gateway to the Past for the City's New Youth
Hanoi’s café scene is saturated with cafés selling a vision of the past.
Ngõ Nooks: Blue Crab and Beer for a Bodacious Snack on the Hanoi Sidewalk
Of all seafood in Vietnam, ghẹ (blue crab) is among the most expensive. Even at wholesale markets, these crustaceans can fetch from VND300,000 to 400,000 a kilogram and any buffet deal that boasts the...
Wander Through the Streets of the Old Quarter in 1995 Hanoi
What do you miss most about the 1990s?
The Unbearable Delight of Watching a Live Football Match at Hàng Đẫy Stadium
“The government sells it for VND100,000. Just give me VND150,000. Gate 3, right in the center.”
Ngõ Nooks: A Classic Thanh Trì-Style Bánh Cuốn That Took a Century to Perfect
Bánh Cuốn Bà Hoành is nearly a century old, and both the eatery’s name and the authenticity of the food they serve stem from the same source: the culinary wisdom of Grandma Hồng.
[Photos] Black-and-White Shots of Hanoi Street Scenes From 1940
For thousands of years, streets have served a multitude of purposes.
Street Cred: Pháo Đài Láng, Home of Ông Voi and Where the War Began
More often than not, a country’s independence is won with guns. The location where the first shots were fired for Vietnam is memorialized to this day.