I think it is nem chua
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Yes, that’s it.
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Google translate has mad for some very funny Translations on Menus all over the World 
[quote=“medgirl, post:18, topic:44086”]
Crispy pork greaves
[/quote]
Fried Pork Skin with some Meat attached/ Chicharrons
Fried Sweet Potato Fritters
Yep Sparrow 
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Thank you for the wonderful read!
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Was back in Hanoi for a very short stint of teaching a couple of life support courses. Breakfast was the hotel buffet (nothing fancy, a solid 3-star). Lunch was brought into the hospital and eaten during faculty meetings.
A member of the faculty had come all the way from Moc Chau (a district in the northern mountainous area, right near the border with Laos, about a 5 hour journey by road from Hanoi) and had brought with her several insulated boxes with pots of a local yogurt variety. We had these for dessert the first day:
You can see there is a black layer at the bottom - that is fermented sticky black rice, which is meant to be mixed with the yogurt before eating. It was different and nice.
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Hanoi House Bar
47A P. Lý Quốc Sư, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
https://www.instagram.com/hanoihousebar/?hl=en
A bar in a crumbling old house - dark and atmospheric with a balcony and mezzanine seating area.
We sat in the mezzanine, which had a slightly alarming sign:
I tried to post the cocktail menu but the file is too big. I had a Pomerol Spritz:
It was very good - totally refreshing and not too sweet. The bar staff are young and enthusiastic. The music was a bit loud and cheesy (example: Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira) and didn’t suit the atmosphere.
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Aw. I get the no sex sign, but no flower? 
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Huyền Hương Chicken Phở
20 P. Báo Khánh, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
I really wanted some pho tron (dry pho) and went here on a recommendation but they were out of chicken and irritated as it was closing time (9pm, come on!) and they wanted to clean the restaurant. They reluctantly offered me a beef version:
It was good but beef was a bit overdone and chewy. Didn’t get a chance to go back to try the chicken version.
Warning: The pho here is pretty expensive as it’s right in the tourist quarter and also has a reputation for being one of the best chicken pho restaurants in Hanoi. They have a air-conditioned dining room (we didn’t sit there - I chose to sit by the cash register).
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Back to Laca 24 for a ice cold glass of bia hoi Hanoi
I came here a few times with my UK colleagues - we ordered beer towers and snacks and chatted about our day. They were astonished by how cheap the beer is at this place. Bia Saigon is twice the price of Hanoi though.
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no sex no drugs, no rock and roll?!?! 
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Right? Silly.
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These trips sound interesting (and sometimes very tasty!) but also grueling. Please tell us they are fully voluntary!
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I’ve been working with the charity Newborns Vietnam (So Sinh Viet Nam) since 2019.
It does great work helping improve standards of neonatal care across the country, specifically targeting training of Vietnamese medical and nursing staff (rather than foreign volunteers providing the care).
The trips are grueling in some aspects (flights have to be the cheapest possible) but the people involved are so friendly and hardworking that it is totally worth any minor travel hiccups.
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Clearly a worthwhile endeavor! And equally clearly my outlook is a bit warped by working for capitalists.
Look forward to hearing more about these trips and your adventures.
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Thank you for what you do!
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The only real dud of this trip. I was on my own (colleagues had gone on a motorbike tour, which is not my bag) and looking for a light dinner. Tried this dim sum joint on a side street and came away with the take home message: don’t try dim sum unless the restaurant is definitely run by Cantonese folks.
Har kau: wrappers were thick and falling apart. Filling was ok.
This siu mai had aubergine listed as an ingredient. I thought it would be incorporated in the filling as the photo on the menu did not at all resemble what was served:
The filling was steamed inside cups made of hollowed out aubergine. The aubergine was not cooked well and was completely unseasoned. This was a total miss.
Prawn spring rolls: over-fried, too greasy and with a strange sweet filling.
Char siu bao: OK but bao to filling ratio too high and the filling did not have enough pork in it.
I didn’t finish any of these dishes. Avoid.
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Such a bummer!
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On one of the teaching days, the director of the education centre orders in a special vegetarian/vegan lunch for us:
Fantastic food, including fried vegetable wontons, fried banana chunks, a mushroom and lotus root stir fry, a cauliflower curry, rice cooked in mushroom stock, Russian salad, selection of small cakes.
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Pasteur Street Craft Beer
1 P. Ấu Triệu, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 10000
A couple of colleagues and I went here for dinner on a a night they said there was live music.
An extensive menu of drinks and food. I chose a small tropical spritzer (one of the varieties of beer on the menu).
I ordered a platter of bar snacks (forgot to take a photo) which included some spiced cashews, olives, cherry tomatoes, fried chicken bites, lotus root crisps and smoked buffalo jerky.
I ordered pork pâté with crackers - very nice. Served in a very hot skillet, so there was some crispy bits to dig out which were really good.
One of my colleagues had a burger, the other thought she was ordering grilled pork but ended up with a huge platter of raw vegetables with a dip 
- this was clearly a service fail but the server was not very helpful and refused to change it.
Prices are moderately expensive. The live music was ho hum.
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