Imported red salmon a taste sensation

Idyllic decor: The restaurant is in an open garden full of trees. Flowerpots line every step. Inside, there is a clever mix of bar and restaurant. VNS Photos Truong Vi Tasty dish: Salmon caviar and mayonnaise is a pleasure. It's a must: The salmon hot pot is served with veggies and wasabi. Red Salmon Restaurant Address: 68 Do Duc Duc Street, Ha Noi Phone: 04.37857391 Email: sale@cahoido.com Hours: 6am to 11pm Comments: A rich menu of all-salmon dishes with reasonable price, also offering extra seafood and desserts, bar available during nights.

The chef spent 18 years in Russia and salmon he cooks comes from the cold streams of Norway and Russia. It's a perfect combination as Thanh An reports

The word salmon may be a familiar word to Westerners, but I must admit it conjures up little for a young Vietnamese woman like me. If you start talking fish, I can only think of the times I sat idly by watching Monster Fish programmes on television.

Until a colleague tried some dishes at the Red Salmon Restaurant in Cau Giay District, I had little motivation to find out what this so-called taste sensation was all about. Then, one day, feeling very hungry, I sped to the restaurant, which is maybe 10km away from central of Ha Noi. I was not disappointed.

The restaurant is in an idyllic, open garden full of trees. Flowerpots line every step. Inside, there is a clever mix of bar and restaurant. Shelves full of good wine, white and red, seemed quite inviting - even to a novice.

A small artificial stream next to the door was so attractive, my friend and I sat outside to enjoy the scene. One of my friends had told me that white wine went well with fish, so I ended up trying his suggestion. Yum!

We did not have to wait long to be served the first dish, cream of salmon soup. The gentle taste of sweet cream and rich salmon saturated my taste buds and warmed my whole body. If you like soups, this was a sheer delight - and for only VND55,000 (US$2.50).

After a quick look at the menu, I decided on a dish with a long name indicating it was made of shredded and salted salmon. We both ordered the same dish and slowly sat back to savour the equisite taste of a grilled dish served on toasted bread. I still can smell the perfume rising from the tiny pieces of salmon. The dish apparently contains heaps of nutrition, which is good for young and old.

There were few customers around that day, so as we sat around luxuriating over a small dish of salmon caviar and mayonnaise, I asked the manager if he could describe some of ways of preparing such a wonderful dish.

Pham Manh Cuong, who had been in Russia for 18 years where salmon is a traditional dish, told me the Red Salmon restaurant, which is in Do Duc Duc Street, opened last August. He proudly said all his fish came from Norway and Russia, where the cold streams breed some of the tastiest salmon.

"We can roast or grill the heads," Cuong said. "From the back and stomach, we can make goi, a grated salad made of raw fish and aromatic herb. They even taste great in hot pots. And we can deep fry the skins and fins and eat them with red or white wine."

I decided to take my quest a step further and ordered the salmon and grated salad. We ordered two dishes at a cost of VND125,000 ($5.20) per head. The first taste spun me out a little because it was combined with hot Japanese mustard (wasabi).

Then, believe it or not, we decided to order a salmon hot pot. This is a must if you visit the Red Salmon. It is a delicious combination of salmon, Vietnamese veggies and wasabi. It went down well with a glass of sake.

We left that restaurant glowing for hours in the warmth and tastes of the red flesh filling our bellies.

For the record, there is a variety of other seafood on the menu - plus desserts, fruit, cake and sweet porridge, made by Cuong's mother. — VNS

Imported red salmon a taste sensation

Idyllic decor: The restaurant is in an open garden full of trees. Flowerpots line every step. Inside, there is a clever mix of bar and restaurant. VNS Photos Truong Vi Tasty dish: Salmon caviar and mayonnaise is a pleasure. It's a must: The salmon hot pot is served with veggies and wasabi. Red Salmon Restaurant Address: 68 Do Duc Duc Street, Ha Noi Phone: 04.37857391 Email: sale@cahoido.com Hours: 6am to 11pm Comments: A rich menu of all-salmon dishes with reasonable price, also offering extra seafood and desserts, bar available during nights.

The chef spent 18 years in Russia and salmon he cooks comes from the cold streams of Norway and Russia. It's a perfect combination as Thanh An reports

The word salmon may be a familiar word to Westerners, but I must admit it conjures up little for a young Vietnamese woman like me. If you start talking fish, I can only think of the times I sat idly by watching Monster Fish programmes on television.

Until a colleague tried some dishes at the Red Salmon Restaurant in Cau Giay District, I had little motivation to find out what this so-called taste sensation was all about. Then, one day, feeling very hungry, I sped to the restaurant, which is maybe 10km away from central of Ha Noi. I was not disappointed.

The restaurant is in an idyllic, open garden full of trees. Flowerpots line every step. Inside, there is a clever mix of bar and restaurant. Shelves full of good wine, white and red, seemed quite inviting - even to a novice.

A small artificial stream next to the door was so attractive, my friend and I sat outside to enjoy the scene. One of my friends had told me that white wine went well with fish, so I ended up trying his suggestion. Yum!

We did not have to wait long to be served the first dish, cream of salmon soup. The gentle taste of sweet cream and rich salmon saturated my taste buds and warmed my whole body. If you like soups, this was a sheer delight - and for only VND55,000 (US$2.50).

After a quick look at the menu, I decided on a dish with a long name indicating it was made of shredded and salted salmon. We both ordered the same dish and slowly sat back to savour the equisite taste of a grilled dish served on toasted bread. I still can smell the perfume rising from the tiny pieces of salmon. The dish apparently contains heaps of nutrition, which is good for young and old.

There were few customers around that day, so as we sat around luxuriating over a small dish of salmon caviar and mayonnaise, I asked the manager if he could describe some of ways of preparing such a wonderful dish.

Pham Manh Cuong, who had been in Russia for 18 years where salmon is a traditional dish, told me the Red Salmon restaurant, which is in Do Duc Duc Street, opened last August. He proudly said all his fish came from Norway and Russia, where the cold streams breed some of the tastiest salmon.

"We can roast or grill the heads," Cuong said. "From the back and stomach, we can make goi, a grated salad made of raw fish and aromatic herb. They even taste great in hot pots. And we can deep fry the skins and fins and eat them with red or white wine."

I decided to take my quest a step further and ordered the salmon and grated salad. We ordered two dishes at a cost of VND125,000 ($5.20) per head. The first taste spun me out a little because it was combined with hot Japanese mustard (wasabi).

Then, believe it or not, we decided to order a salmon hot pot. This is a must if you visit the Red Salmon. It is a delicious combination of salmon, Vietnamese veggies and wasabi. It went down well with a glass of sake.

We left that restaurant glowing for hours in the warmth and tastes of the red flesh filling our bellies.

For the record, there is a variety of other seafood on the menu - plus desserts, fruit, cake and sweet porridge, made by Cuong's mother. — VNS