Life & English: “Nostalgia for difficult days of Hanoi”

Mau Dich 37, an eating – house in Hanoi, draws on a surprising nostalgia for those difficult days. It's a recreation of an old, state food store - a "Mau Dich" - where Hanoians once lined up and exchanged coupons for small parcels of rice, pork fat, vegetables and other modest essentials.

The decoration, including the cups, bowls and cutlery, go some way towards recreating the period. But the knives forks and spoons are better than the bent cutlery that was common in Hanoi eateries even in the early 1990s.

Serving staff wear the uniforms of the old state food stores and sell food coupons to diners that are exchanged as dishes arrive. The menu is more extensive than anyone in the 70s and 80s could have dreamed - but it's faithful to the simple delicious basics of northern cuisine.  With nostalgia for past time, many people, young and old, come to Mau Dich 37. Lunches were especially busy. Mau Dich 37's nostalgia for difficult days ofHanoi in the 1970s and 1980s makes for an intriguing and surprisingly tasty dining experience.

Mau Dich 37 is located just back fromTruc Bach Lake (where John McCain's plane was shot down in 1966). It's 5 - 10 minutes by taxi from downtown Hanoi.

Anna N. & T.E