Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(
Naples' Aeroporto Capodochino (7.8km/
4
3
/
4
miles).
L
$$$
Hotel Excelsior,
Via Partenope
claim the pies are better at nearby
Pizze-
ria Umberto
(via Alabardieri 30;
&
39/81/
41-85-55;
www.umberto.it), family-owned
since 1916 and run today by no less than
the vice-president of the Assoiciazione
Verace Pizza Napoletana, Massimo Di
Porzio. If he can't turn out an authentic
Neapolitan pizza, no one can.
48, Naples (
&
39/81-7640111;
www.
excelsior.it). $$
Hotel Britannique,
Corso
Vittorio Emanuele 133 (
&
39/81-7614145;
www.hotelbritannique.it).
Street Eats
35
Filling Up on Pho
Oodles of Noodles
Hanoi, Vietnam
Eating outdoors in Hanoi isn't just a special-
occasion option; it's where you get the
most authentic local cooking, in small open-
air street-side joints that often serve only
one local specialty. There's no more iconic
Vietnamese dish, of course, than the ubiq-
uitous
pho
noodle soup, born in Hanoi. The
formula is simple: delicious cured beef
(bo),
fresh noodles, and spices—done the same
way, over and over, for years.
All around town, you'll find branches of
the national chain
Pho 24
—try the one at
the south end of Hoam Kien Lake (1 Hang
Kay St.;
&
84/4/936-5259
). Brighter and
cleaner than most independent pho shops,
it's a good starting point for visitors; you
can tick boxes off a list of ingredients to
customize your own bowl of soup. Tour-
ists can also get a taste of
pho
at one of
the replica street stalls surrounding the
central garden of
Brother's Café
(26
Nguyen Thai Hoc;
&
84/4/733-3866;
www.
brothercafe.com).
If you're ready to be more adventurous,
however, head for the
pho
shops where
the locals eat, no-name places where you
order your soup on the way in the door,
claim a spot at one of the communal
tables, and wait for your bowl to be depos-
ited in front of you. A line out the door is
your clue to where the best food is. Need-
less to say, they don't take plastic and you
don't need reservations—most don't even
list a phone number. On the west side of
the Old Quarter, near the old citadel wall,
Gia Thuyen Pho
(49 Bat Dan St.) looks like
a grimy hole-in-the-wall, but it's acknowl-
edged as one of the most serious
pho
shops in Hanoi, and it's exceedingly popu-
lar. Unlike most
pho
joints, this one is self-
service—carry your own bowl to an open
slot at a crowded table, whip out your
chopsticks, and dig in. Things are brighter
and cleaner at the shop at
10 Ly Quoc Su
Street,
where the broth is robust and the
beef good quality; another one of the
more refined places is
Pho Tu Lun
on Au
Trieu Street near St. Joseph's Cathedral.
Family-run
Pho Thin
(13 Lo Duc St.) is
widely admired for its no-nonsense bowls
of flavorful beef noodle soup in the Hai Ba
Trung district. If you prefer chicken
(ga)
in
your soup, try the tiny
pho ga
shop
at
18
Lan Ong,
where the chicken is tender and
noodles plentiful.
(
Noi Bai International, Hanoi (38km/24
miles).
L
$$$
Sofitel Metropole Hanoi,
15
Ngo Quyen St. (
&
800/221-4542
or 84/4/
826-6919; www.accor.com). $$
Zephyr
Hotel,
4-6 Ba Trieu St. (
&
84/4/934-1256;
www.zephyrhotel.com.vn).
