Hanoi - Blue Tangerine

19-Nov-2017, Hanoi - One of the things that I research one whenever I come to Vietnam is good and affordable French Restaurant. And Blue Tangerine happens to pop up in my search. I didn't thought much about it, but when I saw the restaurant just opposite from the hotel that we were staying in, I wanted very much to try it. So on our 2nd day, since we have a lot of time to kill before our night train to Sapa, I convinced my husband to go for lunch at this "atas" restaurant. We made reservation via their website, but as I am slowly realising, most places don't check their same-day reservation. Luckily we went around 1 or 2 pm, and it wasn't crowded 

The entrance itself look so enchanting. I love those buildings where it just leads you into magical garden full of good food! It kinda reminded me of Bali as well, another magical place for me. 

There are so many section to a Vietnamese houses. After three photos, we aren't even inside the main restaurant yet! And I love spiral stairs. and garden dining, and at this point, I don't even care how the food would taste like, the ambiance was lovely! Plus, I didn't have high expectation of French food in Vietnam after my two disappointing outing in HCM....

As we entered, there was actually a table of mainland Chinese tourist on the ground floor. Not to be offensive or anything, but I wanted a quiet lunch. Luckily we were lead upstairs, and look at those nicely polished solid wooden stairs to good food! I was still hopeful even if my expectation was not high! So let's start with the food and it's verdict. 

I ordered for startes, some fusion of mango salad. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that this isn't a pure French restaurant, but a fusion of French and Vietnamese. When I took my first taste of this lovely salad, I was happy! It was sour! And I ate everything, including the flour fried basket. I think it's salad with noodles and i dunno! Everything was so delicious! My hope started to rise. 

2nd course I ordered duck with potatoes. The serving was rather light, but still delicious. 

And 3rd course, tangerine sorbet. When they serve it, I was so happy! It look so freaking "atas" looking. The sorbet was served inside a green/black tangerine skin. It was lovely! I felt like this was a fine dining experience. 

I forgot what my husband ordered for starters. Maybe some tomato kind of salad.

But I remembered his main, which was pork ribs. And I remembered it was delicious too! 

If given my way, I would have stayed there whole day eating cheese platter and drinking coffee! Because the whole place was so beautifully decorated. Allow me to share some of my favourite photos with you.

Flowers, fan, and a shelve full of magazine always gets a thumbs up from me.

Transparent curtains with open window and breeze blowing in, also thumbs up. Add in cosy corder, indoor plants and pictures on the wall!

Large flowers in vase plus lamp shades. Always a thumbs up! The above is my favourite photo. If I have  my own place, this is how I would decorate it. Actually, that's what my house look like most of the time whenever someone can afford to buy fresh flowers lol...

Overall, it was a wonderful lunch! This is us walking out from the 1st floor of the restaurant. The damage? Around SGD60 for two person for a 3 course lunch plus 2 glasses of house wine. It was so much cheaper than HCM! And so much better ambiance! And better food too! I would come back here any day! 4 stars experience! Thank you Blue Tangerine!

Ref: 

Blue Tangerine