Entertainment in Vietnam
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Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre
You can't leave Hanoi without seeing a traditional water-puppet show. The shows, which appeal to all ages, are charming, picaresque entertainments accompanied by a traditional Vietnamese pit orchestra. Order your tickets early in the day for the best seats. Your hotel can probably help.
reviewed
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B
Acoustic Bar
The leading live-music venue in town, Acoustic pays homage to Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and other rock ’n’ roll legends. Vietnam’s leading musicians flock here for cameo cover versions and, judging by the numbers that turn up nightly, the crowd just can’t get enough.
reviewed
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C
Before & Now
An energetic bar that’s good for its pop-rock-funk playlist, Milan-trained chef and buzzing crowd. If you run out of conversation topics, contemplate the ramifications of Bono-as-Superman, as depicted on one of local artist Tran Trung Linh’s pop-art portraits on the walls (the eclectic mix includes Lenin, Mao, Che, Marilyn and Gandhi).
reviewed
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D
Bobby Brewers
This is a contemporary cafe set over three floors, and the range of coffees here is professional. There are also juices, sandwiches, pastas and salads, plus movies upstairs.
reviewed
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E
Crazy Kim Bar
Run by local personality Kimmy Le, this busy bar is home base for her commendable ‘Hands off the Kids!’ campaign, which works to prevent paedophilia. She’s now set up a permanent classroom for vulnerable street kids on the premises. Part of the proceeds from the food, booze and T-shirt sales go towards the cause. Sign up at the bar if you’re interested in volunteering to teach English. Crazy Kim’s has regular themed party nights, great music, devilish cocktail buckets and free wi-fi. Crazy (happy) hours run pretty much nonstop from noon to midnight.
reviewed
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F
Guava
A hip lounge bar, Guava is the place to come if you are seeking some style while you drink. Choose from sunken sofas inside or a leafy garden patio outside. Regular drink promotions include two-for-one surprises most days, such as Bloody Marys to accompany the Sunday ‘hangover breakfast’.
reviewed
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G
Jazz Club Minh
This is the grown-up, late-night side of Hanoi you probably never thought existed. Cool, mustachioed Quyen Van Minh is Hanoi's sax maestro - a cool cat who blows a mean horn. He holds court in his smoky jazz club nightly, often playing host to guest performers from around the world.
reviewed
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Christie’s Cool Spot
The bar downstairs is where US war veterans hold forth about ongoing American politics vis-à-vis the American War in Vietnam. These days they’re joined by Western expats in search of an ice-cold beer or the comfort food available in the restaurant upstairs.
reviewed
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Carmen
One of HCMC's rarer breeds, Carmen has a stone wall exterior and a cosy wine cellar-like interior (duck your head when you enter) with live music nightly (from 19:00-21:00) - often Flamenco, hence the name.
reviewed
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Eden
A popular bar-restaurant with red lanterns over the bar (no, not those sort of red lights), the friendly staff are dressed in traditional ao dai. Late drinks, plus a huge food menu.
reviewed
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Bamboo 2 Bar
This is the kind of comfortable hole-in-the-wall joint where the walls are covered in customers’ drunken scribbles. There’s a busy pool table in the back and a Western food menu.
reviewed
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Alibi
A happening lounge-bar with Latin grooves, Alibi (ala-bee for French speakers) is reasonably priced for the style factor. Regular late-night events, plus a French bistro menu.
reviewed
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DMZ Bar & Cafe
Long the leading late-night spot, the beer flows into the night, the tunes match the mood and there is a popular pool table in the middle of things.
reviewed
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Treat’s Café
The backpacker bar of old Hoi An, this place is regularly full to bursting, particularly during its generous 4pm to 9pm happy hour.
reviewed
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O
Java Coffee Bar
This stylish corner cafe has hard-hitting espressos and silken smoothies, not forgetting some of the comfiest lounge chairs around.
reviewed
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The Refinery
The Refinery is more of a bistro-bar with good cocktails and appetising snacks.
reviewed
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Jibes
Unofficial HQ of the kitesurfing brigade, this beachside cafe-bar is a relaxing place for a drink, but it quietens down by night when the party crowd is elsewhere. It also offers surf lessons and rents out state-of-the-art gear like windsurfers (one hour/half-day/full-day US$12/30/45), surfboards (one hour/half-day/full-day US$7.50/15/25), kitesurfers (one hour/half-day/full-day US$50/100/140) and kayaks (one hour/half-day/full-day US$5/13/25). Insurance is extra.
reviewed
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Hanoi Opera House
This magnificent 900-seat venue, dating back to 1911 and built in wonderfully elaborate French-colonial style, has been restored to its former glory. On 16 August 1945 the Viet Minh–run Citizens’ Committee announced that it had taken over the city from a balcony on this building. Performances of classical music and opera are periodically held here in the evenings – a wonderful experience. The theatre’s Vietnamese name appropriately translates to ‘House Sing Big’.
reviewed
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S
Ho Guom Xanh
No place better represents the slick, contemporary side of Hanoi's nightlife. The cheerily uniformed bar staff peddle steeply priced bottles of Johnny Walker Black with the persistence of used car salesmen, and the wildly gyrating go-go dancers are a throwback to Paris revues - naughty, but not X-rated. When the singers come out, however, it's plain that Hanoians are as sentimental as ever.
reviewed
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Le Club
With its twirling ceiling fans and 'Champagne bar' billing, Le Club, in the Metropole Hotel, harks back to the leisurely French period, as does its signature drink, the ruby-hued Graham Greene Martini. (Greene stayed at the hotel and doubtless drank at this bar.) Le Club's appeal broadens significantly at tea time (15:00 to 17:30) when it offers its irresistibly decadent chocolate buffet.
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Lan Chin
This pavement beer hall has dozens of tables lined up beneath a corrugated tin arcade. It's just outside the Museum of the Vietnamese Revolution. The draughts are decidedly superior to the swill sold on Bia Hoi Corner, and you can also get decent food - hot pots, fried fish dishes and such. If you're travelling with friends and you like beer, you'll have a raucous time here.
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Cheeky Quarter
Quirky, sociable little bar owned by a Vietnamese–English couple, that comes complete with patterned wallpaper and intriguing framed portraits (that look vaguely like they’re depicting some eccentric titled family). Table footy (foosball) is taken very seriously here and the tunes are contemporary: drum ’n’ bass or house music. It’s at the top end of the Ta Hien strip.
reviewed
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Municipal Theatre
Each week the theatre has a different programme, such as Eastern European-style gymnastics, classical music or traditional Vietnamese theatre. Performances typically begin at 20:00; inquire at the theatre or ask at your hotel. And if there's nothing happening when you're in town, you can at least pop into the stylish Q Bar, around the side of the building, for a drink.
reviewed
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Studio
Quite possibly the most beautiful space in Hanoi, this sleek and sexy new lounge bar-cum-restaurant has a Le Corbusier–influenced modernist design with subtle lighting and soaring white walls that form a blank canvas for the statement art. The cocktails are wonderful, the music is chilled and contemporary, there’s a fine food menu and prices are relatively moderate.
reviewed
