With 2000-year-old bronze drums decorating its walls, Ha Noi’s Dong Son restaurant is a stylish place for a meal. Nguyen My Ha reports the food lives up to the surroundings.

When the Dong Son Drum Restaurant opened three months ago, people weren’t sure what to expect from an eatery filled with 2,000-year-old artefacts in the northwest corner of Ha Noi.
Beyond its ornate decorations and display cases is a highly professional staff and tasty treats from a one-of-a-kind restaurant, located on the second floor of a private museum.
Owner Nguyen Dai Duong, who’s name means the ocean, is the son of a sailor. Also the owner of the New Century Club in downtown Ha Noi, Duong said he opened Dong Son to showcase his collection of bronze drums made about 2,000 years ago in central Viet Nam.
Visitors may have a difficult time figuring what they like best: the fine Chinese and Vietnamese cuisine, made by a chef from Hong Kong, or the ambience created by the ancient drums.
I decided to visit Dong Son with a large group and had no trouble finding a table in the spacious accommodations. Both the dining hall and terrace can sit 300 people at full capacity.
 
Dinner is served

      The first dish we tried was the new Thai-style beef wrapped in la lot leaf appetiser.
Sharing the beef should have been easy, but our spinning tabletop, popular in Chinese restaurants, made wrapping the food difficult.
Next, we ordered the Nom Ba Mien, or three -region salads that cost VND20,000 per person. The dishes use ingredients found in northern, central and southern Viet Nam.
The salad greens were fresh and crisp, but we were unable to distinguish the different flavours in the dressings.
Although the salads were presented uniquely, the chef was unable to make the distinct tastes from each region bloom on my palate.
Usually, northern dressings have a slightly sour flavour, while dressings typically found in Viet Nam’s centre have a salty taste with southern regions boasting a hint of sweetness.
Next, we ordered Goi Cuon Ba Mien (VND20,000 per person), fresh summer spring rolls, also supposed to depict the nation’s three regions.
Each type was so delightful that we finished them before the next dish arrived.
But nothing could compare to the main courses.
To get a good taste of what the chef could do, we ordered both the duck and fish entrees.
The Vit Quay Da Gion, crispy roasted duck, was well worth the hefty VND120,000 price tag. The skin was fired to perfection, much like a Peking-style dish, but was accompanied by a honey sauce, often served with Guangzhou duck, instead.
Everyone at the table agreed the dish was likely an original creation.
Next came the Ca Dieu Hong, white carp fish, steamed in soya sauce and ginger that cost a whopping VND200,000 per plate.
An avid fish lover, whether fried, steamed or raw, I dug in with a gusto and was not disappointed.
The fish’s meat was tender and made succulent by the natural fats and oils it was cooked in. This is a healthy option for people looking to increase the amount of Omega 3 fatty-acids in their diets.
We decided to finish our meal in true Vietnamese fashion with steamed rice and the Ca Tim Om Noi Dat, eggplant with minced pork, in a terra cotta hot pot for VND70,000 per serving.
Finishing our rice, we were graced with another decorative hot pot full of Canh Rau Cai Nau Thit, a kind of Vietnamese cabbage soup with pork, for VND25,000. The blend of flavours warming our stomachs was a great end to a mouth-watering meal as we didn’t have room for desert.
 
Full to the brim

      The attentive waitresses, dressed in traditional costumes, weren’t finished with us yet as they brought out freshly baked cookies they said were on the house.
On our way out, we stopped near the stage used for traditional musical performances every evening from 6.30pm to 9pm. The ornate background featured huge elephant tusks in front of a golden bas relief.
The artefacts are safely displayed in glass boxes and lit as they would be in a real museum. A message above the antiques challenges guests to spot a fake and receive a prize of US$10,000.
On the corner of Tran Dang Ninh and Cau Giay avenues, the Dong Son Drum Restaurant is more than just a place to eat and relax.
The restaurant holds pieces of our history and rich culture for Vietnamese and tourists to enjoy in a traditional setting.
 
Dong Son Drum
 
Address: No. 1 Tran Dang Ninh/316 Cau Giay Ave.
Hours: 10.30am until the last guest leaves and 5.30pm, again until the last guest leaves
Phone: 04-833-9999
Comment: Fine dining in grand style.

Source VNS