HANOI, Vietnam — Flavors from around the world started rotating through the Press Club Oct. 1 as the new chef at one of Hanoi’s most venerable dining establishments rolled out his new lunchtime series.
Each day, from Monday to Friday, the lunchtime buffet offers up either a new cuisine or a new culinary theme as a lure to diners in the capital’s downtown district. Developed by Executive Chef Guillaume Guertin, the cuisines and themes look like this:
• French Bistro. For mains, there’s Beef Bourguignon, Chicken Basquaise and boneless leg of lamb at a carving station, as well as a half-dozen other features.
• Italian Buffet. Starts with such options as cold cut platters, shifts gears for minestrone soup and features lasagna, fish saltimbocca and eggplant cannelloni before finishing with such classics as tiramisu, cheesecake and lemon mousse.
• Asian Buffet. Guertin is all over Asia with this menu. Tom Yum soup from Thailand; pho from Vietnam; stir-fry from China; curry from India; and vegetables from Russia!
• Chef’s Buffet. Think of this as Guertin’s greatest hits: Pork Cordon Blue, barramundi with sun-dried tomato sauce and a carving station with roasted beef strip-loin.
• Ocean Buffet. Shrimp, clams, clear crab soup, grilled barramundi. Need we say more?
The lunch deal is priced at VND 288,000++ per person and includes a soft drink, mineral water or beer.
