Located on a relatively quiet street in the northwest of the famous Hoan Kiem Lake, the “Madame Hien” is a well-known traditional Vietnamese restaurant, serving dishes that you’ll be offered as a guest at a Hanoian home.
Set in a restored French colonial villa which used to serve as the Spanish Embassy, Madame Hien Restaurant features a nice setting with a lovely open-air courtyard. The place provides an ideal refuge from the hustle and bustle of the Hanoi’s Old Quarter.
After walking through the Hanoi’s French Quarter and tasting different fusion foods during the neighborhood’s food tour, the four of us decided to meet up again the following day at Madame Hien Restaurant, to try some traditional Vietnamese foods while drinking some French wines.
It was November with pleasant weather, so we reserved a table in the center of the restaurant’s courtyard. As we arrived, behind the deep golden yellow façade, there appeared a charming space with a home-style chic. The two-story house was well renovated, but still nostalgic.
Opened since 2008 by a celebrated French chef, Didier Corlou, the establishment is claimed to be a tribute to his Vietnamese grandmother-in-law. The restaurant itself, as the name suggests, turned out as a skillful blend of Vietnamese and French both in terms of cuisine and decoration.
Its menu features a vast selection of traditional Vietnamese food, available as set menus and a la carte. Tempted by the descriptions, two of us chose to do the 36 Streets of Hanoi to sample the chef’s take on Hanoi’s street foods. They started with a crab soup with noodles, and moved on to an assortment of starters including spring rolls, and skewers.
From there, their two mains were Cha ca Hanoi – grilled fish with dills and spring onions, Bun cha – the ubiquitous barbecued pork with nuoc cham broth served with rice noodles and a lots of fresh herbs, and they were very happy with what they got to try.
The other two of us ate à la carte instead, as we wanted to see as many types of food as we can. We got banana flower salad and summer rolls for starter, then the restaurant’s signature duck-3-ways (our particular highlight), egg plant, and caramelized prawns for main course. Steamed rice came together with the egg plant.
They were all amazingly tasty, perhaps the only tiny gripe I would have was that the fresh rolls could have been packed with a little more the fresh herbs, but apparently, that isn’t always to everybody’s taste. Our partners devoured everything that was put in front of them.
Regarding to the wine, our party drank a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, then their last Torrontes before finishing with an excellent Viognier. So, this was probably one of the best meals our clients had in Vietnam, they said to themselves they would return the following night.
A surprise from the restaurant was that they offered us a Vietnamese chocolate cake with homemade sesame ice cream for dessert. It was such a refreshing end to the meal. The service couldn’t be any better.
The staff spoke good English throughout, they were available when you required anything from them and regularly checked in without being over bearing. The gentleman, who was in charge, was genuinely really care about our experience. He apologized that they were so busy and less attentive, but we couldn’t fault the service.
With such a lovely experience, and it wasn’t the only good dinner we had at Madame Hien as local foodie guides, we would not hesitate to recommend this restaurant for anyone visiting Hanoi. The place is clean with good ambiance, it offers good food and great service.
Especially, when you have enough pho noodle soup and banh mi, this restaurant would be an ideal alternative for change.
- Madame Hien Restaurant (new address)
- 48 Hang Be Street, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
- 024 3938 1588
- 11h00 – 23h00
Join Flavors of Hanoi’s personal foodie tour guide on our daily walking Hanoi food tour, and explore the best of what the city has to offer. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to keep updated on what’s new and what’s interesting in Hanoi.
