Nested in a narrow street in the northwest of the famous Hoan Kiem Lake, Duong’s Restaurant is within 5-minute walk from the historic St. Joseph’s Cathedral of Hanoi. This Vietnamese restaurant was opened and managed by Hoang Duong, one of Vietnam’s Top Chefs in 2014.
From the food passion inspired by his father – who Duong regards as “the master in the kitchen”, he grew up with the motto of using only fresh ingredients for the cooking. After competing at the Top Chef Vietnam, Duong channeled his cooking passion down to his solo venture of opening his own restaurant.
Over the years, Duong’s restaurant happens to be one of a few restaurants in Hanoi’s Old Quarter that our travelers kept coming back after their first meals, many of them even dined at Duong’s Restaurant three evenings in a row and still satisfied with the food and service each visit!
Unlike other restaurants in the city, Duong’s is tucked away in the middle of Ngo Huyen Street. Though the place doesn’t look large or fancy from the outside, it owns a couple floors inside so no one should be misled by its humble façade.
Occasionally, we visit Duong’s Restaurant with our colleagues from boutique hotels in the Old Quarter. Regardless it’s not a traditional Vietnamese restaurant, its menu offers variations of Vietnamese cuisine and Western fusions with creative decorations.
Recalling our most recent visit; we got a table on the ground floor of the house. The décor was quite simple, but nicely fit the architecture of the old town’s typical tube-house. For starter, with a great assistance from our server Tina, we had red pumpkin soup and the smoked duck breast salad. They were both tasted amazing!
For the main, we had a Banh Xeo (Vietnamese sizzling pancake) and Roasted Duck breast with orange sauce, which was a ‘twist’ on the French ‘Duck a l’orange’ featuring a fantastic flavor. The duck breast was cooked to perfection.
Followed by fresh water fish with scallops, some renowned Vietnamese spring rolls, a nicely plated variety of pan seared tuna, prawns, oysters and vegetables, and we absolutely loved all of it. For drink, we made it easy with just cold bottles of premium Hanoi beer.
To finish the meal, we selected a passion fruit pudding, while our partners got chocolate fondant and crème brûlée, they were wonderful. We strongly recommend both of them.
Speaking of the quality; everything we ordered was fresh, delicious, and plated beautifully. No taste was lost in the elevation of the cuisine, the flavors was even better than presentation – which you may think it’s impossible.
The staff did a great job explaining all the dishes and ingredients. Our waitress spoke good English, and adapted to our requests well. The establishment was very clean, and hygienic. Super highly recommend Duong’s restaurant when you had enough pho noodle soup, banh mi, or bun cha.
Make sure you reserve a table if you come during high tourist season, between October and April, as a few people got to turn away as the place was full when we were there.
- Duong’s Restaurant
- 27 Ngo Huyen, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
- 024 3636 4567
- 11h00 – 22h00
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