Chả Ká - A wide range of choices for fish lovers

By Minh Thu

In the cosy atmosphere of Cha Ka Restaurant, we sat listening to the sizzle of fish being fried as we waited for our food to arrive.

Cha Ka Restaurant is located in downtown Ha Noi. The interior is decorated with fishing nets, bamboo fish traps and lights twinkling inside, along with black-and-white photos of farmers in the northern countryside.

The restaurant is immaculate, providing diners with a cosy, elegant and clean space. It’s not luxurious or showy; more modest.

The menu offers a wide range of fish dishes. The catfish served up is tasty and succulent, and garnished with subtle style.

We started the meal with catfish grilled with chili and salt; catfish grilled with galangal and fermented rice and grilled fish with piper lolot.

Each dish offered different tastes and scents thanks to the spices and ingredients accompanying the fish.

The catfish fillets are marinated in these spices before being grilled over charcoal.

Another option for the starter also included spring rolls with fish (normally it’s made with pork as the main ingredient) and fish salad.

For hot dishes, I recommend porridge with century egg and ca om chuoi dau (fish stewed with tofu and green banana).

These dishes are served in big bowls for two or four people. The waitress presented the bowl in front of us then divided it into small portions.

On top of the porridge, the century egg was divided into six pieces like a crescent moon.

The dish has a special smell that some may not like, but we enjoyed the flavour of the jelly-like egg, which had a brown, green and navy yolk. Its taste was surprisingly creamy, velvety and succulent.