Last lunch in Hanoi was here. A weekday. Lunch time. Place was teeming with yuppies, expats and tourists. Looks like we've come to the right place. What's even better was we got a table in the al fresco dining area surrounded by stalls where popular dishes are being cooked and readied to be served.

It helps we have an expat with us to help us choose our lunch. I particularly liked the papaya salad, the grilled pork wrap and the squid.

A good excuse to eat as much as we like without feeling the "fat" guilt. We purposely missed the pho this lunch as we had it with every meal. Yes, t'was a fav dish too. But this lunch in this place, I highly recommend. Even their tofu wrapped in basil and dipped in shrimp paste was good!

The pancake roll was good too, along with the other dishes. What I really love about Vietnamese cuisine is the abundance of greens and dips/sauces. Almost anything comes with mint, which I like.

A hotpot or shabu shabu meal is meant for sharing. As such, your choices must consider the preferences of others dining with you. Right? Not so when you dine in KICHI KICHI inside Hanoi's newly-opened Royal City Mall.

I'm used to seeing sushi & sashimi weaving through the bar on a conveyor belt, ready to be plucked by diners seated around the bar. But here in Kichi Kichi, you get a steaming hotpot in front of you while you choose what gets into your brewing broth.

The choices will draw out either the carnivore or pescetarian in you. Thin slices of prime beef? Or a hot stew of clams, salmon, stinky tofu, shrimps, squid, etc? Throw in those veggies and slurp away!

Kichi Kichi is inside the Royal City in Vincom Plaza Mall. Not sure if it's 3rd or 4th floor. Would love to head back and explore the 7 underground storeys!

Drafted? Yes. How else do you explain dinners here for two consecutive nights? And ordering the same food, mind you!

The mojito is a big comeon. Especially after a long day. Sweaty and tired, a glass of this minty bev is just heavenly.

Then there's the creamy Penne with zucchini,pesto, sundried tomatoes served in a big bowl. Good for sharing too!

Mac & Cheese is good comfort food too when one is feeling down, hot and out. But if you have a hearty appetite and longing for your rice dish, order corned beef with egg and garlic rice. An all day breakfast item.

Postscript: lunch and dinner in DRAFT in a day? Yes, it happened. These elves just couldn't have enough of it. That makes it 4 visits in a week! And Mamu? Another mojito won't hurt 😄

So, how many mojitos can you down over dinner?

We tried DRAFT GASTROPUB both in Rockwell and Greenbelt 2.

It was my teens who egged me to treat them here on this Typhoon Ruby day. No classes and we happened to hear December 8 mass in Don Bosco Church. Right by the corner across the church is this Pasay Branch of Nihonbashitei.

The private rooms with ceiling to floor glass windows are for smokers. Darn. Why do they get that privilege? No room at the bar so we chose a middle table instead. The menu offered many choices from sushi to sashimi, teppanyaki, shabu shabu etc.

Apo claims the salmon sushi Is fresh and tasted really good, albeit so thinly sliced. As for the california maki, it's bigger than usual and thus harder to stuff into the mouth in one piece.

Creatures of habit that we are, we ordered salmon sushi and california maki as starters. Before long, we were ordering our 'typical' Japanese lunch sets. Katsu meals for the teens and fish for moí.

Our lunch sets included miso soup, rice and a choice of hot coffee, iced coffee or dessert. Not bad for a price under P300. Including our appetizers, lunch for the 3 of us was P1,400. With the extensive menu, it looks like we'd make more trips here. 😄