Travel

Fancy food with the Midas touch

Published

2 months ago

January 31, 2023

TienphongNews

ALL THAT GLITTERS: The melt-on-your-palate gold jelly puts a perfect end to a wonderful dinner. VNS Photos Mỹ Hà

by Nguyễn Mỹ Hà

I would never have walked into the Dolce at Wyndham Hanoi Golden Lake if it weren’t for a dinner I had planned with extended family. Dubbed the Gold Hotel, the Dolce is famous for its gold-coated walls, if seen from outside, or ornate gold decoration in the lobby and other places, including tableware and other necessities.

There’s no defining line about how much gold is enough to assert wealth and class, but too much certainly seems something for shallow show-off brats.

Showing off was exactly what came to my mind when we entered the lobby, where it seemed there was always someone or some team working on a photo shoot. We sighed in relief when we finally got into a private dining room by the larger hall.

The aura inside was the total opposite of what was outside, these days before the biggest holidays of the year, Tết (Lunar New Year), where traffic jams up even the biggest tree-lined streets in downtown Hà Nội. By Giảng Võ Lake, where the Gold Hotel is located, a recreation centre of the city, it was even more chaotic.

Wyndham has three restaurants on its premises, which besides its expensive gold-sprinkled à la carte menus, also offer lunch (VNĐ550,000) and dinner (VNĐ800,000) buffets.

ITALIAN CLASSIC: The spaghetti bolognese will impress even the pickiest little eaters.

The most famous is the F29 Golden Beef restaurant, where you get served the best steaks money can buy, including Japanese Kobe ribeye or fat Wagyu tomahawks. It’s a place that deserves a review of its own by a gourmet steak expert.

The gold lighting in the limited yet spacious dining area gives a warmer, happier glow than regular light. In fact, both the lighting and gold tableware comforted us. More so did the golden basket of bread on the table. The mini bread made for a great starter with its reddish creamy beetroot butter.

BAKERY BASKET: Fresh crispy bread on the table.

Next came a garden salad, a great mix of crispy lettuces and herbs and dressing, an ideal palate refresher. After that, the waiter brought a large plate with halves of sandwiches filled with rich truffle pâté.

The little sandwich was soft and smooth like velvet, and the strong flavours of the precious fungi stood out with its earthy smell of a vast damp jungle sneaking into the room, and then… gone. Quickly as it came, it vanished.

RED RELISH: The beautiful reddish butter coloured by beetroot and pepper served in gold-rimmed butter bowl.

Other dishes we had, included the classic spaghetti bolognese (VNĐ270,000), which was very good. And the juicy steak we had was a USDA-certified ribeye (VNĐ870,000), with mushroom sauce and assorted vegetables, cooked perfectly medium-rare. My kid wished she could have some mash on the side, or a baked potato even better.

FUNGI FLAVOURED: Truffle pate sandwich was a great meal enhancer after some cold and hot appetizers.

As our talking slowly dwindled toward the end of the meal, we felt great that we had survived dining here without falling for the dubious charms of any of the gold-leafed steaks or gold-sprinkled hakau. We were doing so well, not lavishing on anything tacky like sliced meat coated in gold. The restaurant has a dish on the menu, black hakau shrimp dumplings, listed as 24K gold-wrapped steamed shrimp dumplings at VNĐ116,000 a piece. We didn’t have that either.

But, in the end, our gold moment came with dessert: the 24K black herbal pudding (VNĐ160,000). The jelly looked beautiful with its striking black-gold colours, though you needed to generously pour honey to your liking, as the jelly tasted a little bitter without it.

When you start spooning up the jelly and the gold twinkles in the black water, it gently jiggles as if you’re sitting by a moonlit lake trying to catch the moon’s reflection on a mid-Autumn festival night.

It makes the jelly tastes better, as its bitter-sweet flavours resemble that of real life, as if tasting real lake water, though that would surely send you directly to the doctor.

Wishing a very happy Tết to all! VNS

MEATY GOODNESS: The tender USDA-certified ribeye medium rare tastes as good as it looks.

Source: http://ovietnam.vn/dining/fancy-food-with-the-midas-touch_340960.html

Travel

New tours aim to boost travel and attract international visitors

Published

2 hours ago

March 28, 2023

TienphongNews

Vĩnh Nghiêm Pagoda is a destination on the new tourism route connecting Hà Nội and Bắc Giang Province. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI A new tourism route departing from Hà Nội to many tourist attractions in the northern province of Bắc Giang, including cultural, historical and spiritual heritage sites, natural landscape and craft villages, has been officially opened.

It has been jointly launched by SGO Travel, a member of the SGO Group, and by the Centre for Information and Tourism Promotion of Bắc Giang.

“The opening of the Hà Nội-Bắc Giang cultural tourism route right after the National Tourism Conference on March 15 is a meaningful activity that shows the will and determination of the whole in accelerating recovery, development and creating new successes to heighten Bắc Giang tourism to a new position in the national tourism map,” said Đỗ Tuấn Khoa, deputy director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Bắc Giang.

According to Phùng Quang Thắng, vice chairman of the Board of Directors of SGO Group and permanent vice chairman of the Vietnam Travel Association, the province has great potential for developing agricultural, historical and cultural tourism.

“We hope that the tourist route will be welcomed by a large number of tourists and open new links between other localities with Bắc Giang Province in the future,” he said.

Initially, this new route will include diverse tours, departing daily from Wednesday to Sunday and serving domestic and international tourists under four main themes.

The first theme, Tourism Associated with Cultural and Spiritual Stories, is the core of the programme and includes the one-day tour Hà Nội – Tây Yên Tử: Theo dấu chân Phật Hoàng (Hà Nội – Tây Yên Tử: Following the Footsteps of Buddhist King).

According to Thắng, this distinctive tour takes tourists on King Trần Nhân Tông’s journey of Buddhist practice and enlightenment over 700 years ago.

Departing at Thăng Long Imperial Citadel, visitors will travel to Vĩnh Nghiêm Pagoda, where King Trần Nhân Tông led a religious life as a hermit and founded the Thiền Tông Zen sect.

Visitors can witness 3,050 printing woodblocks from the Nguyễn dynasty (1802-1883) preserved at the pagoda, which have been recognised as World Documentary Heritage by UNESCO, and try their hands at woodblock printing.

Under the theme, Tourism Associated with Preserving Long-Standing Traditional Values, the one-day tour will enable tourists to live a day like singers of quan họ (alternate singing) by donning four-panel traditional dresses, learning to sing a few quan họ verses, visit houses several hundred years old and many other interesting experiences.

In tours themed Tourism Arouses Patriotism and National Pride, visitors review historical traditions and national pride through cultural activities and visit cultural and historical destinations of Bắc Giang.

In the last tours under the theme Tourism Associated with Local Life and Agricultural Development, visitors will be taken to fruit orchards, and craft villages and explore beautiful poetic lakes in the province like Khuôn Thần, Bầu Lầy or Cấm Sơn on inflatable boats.

FAM trip Đà Nẵng – Hội An – Huế organised

Members of Indian travel agencies, press and media participating in the FAM trip are pictured in front of Sun World Bà Nà Hills mountain resort. — Photo courtesy of PYS Travel

Over 20 Indian travel agencies, press and media participated in a four-day FAM trip surveying the tourism services in Đà Nẵng, Hội An and Huế.

The trip has been organised by PYS Travel to promote and introduce Việt Nam as an attractive destination to Indian tourists.

“We hope that our Indian partners can experience the services of PYS Travel themselves and that after this FAM trip, we will be able to serve a 160 per cent increase in Indian visitors compared to 2019,” said Nguyễn Thị Việt Anh, operation director of PYS Travel.

During this trip, the participants visited famous tourist sites in Đà Nẵng, Hội An and Huế, such as Marble Mountains, Bà Nà Hills, or Thiên Mụ Pagoda, while surveying the quality of hotels, restaurants, especially those serving Indian food.

During a meeting with Nguyễn Văn Phúc, director of the Department of Tourism of Thừa Thiên Huế, they were introduced to attractive tourist destinations for Indian tourists, UNESCO-recognised heritages and tourism promotion activities to attract foreign tourists such as the Huế Festival or the Áo Dài Festival.

According to Phúc, the tourism authority of Thừa Thiên Huế has supported and trained staff of restaurants and hotels in the province to meet the needs and tastes of Indian guests.

“I am especially impressed with Bà Nà Hills and the Golden Bridge. I think it is a very prominent and extremely attractive destination for Indian tourists. After this trip, we will decide to promote more tour packages to Đà Nẵng, especially Bà Nà Hills,” Salman Moideen, a representative of Flyland Travel & Tour travel company based in Mumbai.

Another participant, Thottathil Jasim, highly appreciated the FAM trip and the Vietnamese travel agents.

“We are impressed with the professional working style and attentive and dedicated service of Vietnamese travel agents,” he said.

“After this trip, we will coordinate with PYS Travel to build more attractive tours to bring more Indian tourists to Việt Nam.” VNS

Source: http://ovietnam.vn/travel/new-tours-aim-to-boost-travel-and-attract-international-visitors_342540.html

Travel

Binh Thuan ready for opening of Visit Vietnam Year 2023

Published

5 hours ago

March 28, 2023

TienphongNews

The central coastal province of Binh Thuan has completed preparations for the opening of Visit Vietnam Year 2023 with the theme “Binh Thuan – Green convergence,” which will officially be held on March 25 night, heard a meeting held by the provincial People’s Committee on March 20.

Binh Thuan ready for opening of Visit Vietnam Year 2023 hinh anh 1

Rang Beach in Binh Thuan (Photo:dulichbinhthuan.com.vn)

Binh Thuan
(VNA) – The central coastal province of Binh Thuan has completed preparations for
the opening of Visit Vietnam Year 2023 with the theme “Binh Thuan
– Green convergence,” which will officially be held on March 25 night, heard a meeting
held by the provincial People’s Committee on March 20.

According to Director
of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Bui The Nhan, the
province has completed all necessary conditions for the event, including the
stage for the opening ceremony, traffic regulation and security protection
plans, as well as accommodations for visitors, medical and fire rescue
services.

Chairman of the Binh
Thuan People’s Committee Doan Anh Dung asked relevant agencies, departments and
localities to coordinate closely to ensure a successful and safe opening
ceremony of Visit Vietnam Year 2023, leaving a good impression on visitors.

Binh Thuan ready for opening of Visit Vietnam Year 2023 hinh anh 2

Sand dunes in Mui Ne of Binh Thuan (Photo: VNA)

The opening ceremony
of Visit Vietnam Year 2023 will be held at
NovaWorld Phan Thiet in Phan Thiet city of Binh Thuan. Nearly 600
artists, actors, and actresses will perform in an artistic musical show at
the ceremony with the script written by Meritorious Artist Tran Ly Ly, Director
of the Department of Performing Arts under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and writer Hoang Cong Cuong.

The 85-minute show has three parts, namely the “Convergence of earth and sky”,
the “Green Tour”, and the “Green convergence – Binh Thuan
destination of friendship”. The ceremony is expected to draw 5,700 visitors.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Visit
Vietnam Year is a both a national and international cultural, economic, social,
and tourist event. It is also the biggest annual tourism event in Vietnam,
offering opportunities to attract domestic and international tourists through
the promotion of images, tangible and intangible cultural values, natural
resources, as well as the development of linkages between localities.

Binh Thuan ready for opening of Visit Vietnam Year 2023 hinh anh 3

The opening ceremony of the Visit Vietnam Year 2023 is expected to draw 5,700 visitors.(Photo: binhthuan.gov.vn)

Visit Vietnam Year 2023 “Binh Thuan – Green convergence” includes
more than 200 events and activities.

With 192km of coastline, Binh Thuan province is home to islands, islets, coves,
bays, and white sand beaches with clear blue water, which form famous tourist
attractions. The province has many tourism resources with many
historical-cultural relics and traditional festivals. Currently, the province has
nearly 900 accommodation establishments with over 17,000 rooms, including 45
hotels and resorts from three to five stars with nearly 5,000 rooms. The
province has 13 travel agencies, including eight international travel agencies.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2019, Binh Thuan welcomed over 6.4 million
visitors with tourism revenue of 15.2 trillion VND (644.54 million USD). The
province’s tourism sector contributes 10-12% to the GRDP each year.

In 2022, the province welcomed over 5 million visitors, getting tourism revenue
of 12.8 trillion VND. It aims to attract about 6.5 million visitors, including
more than 200,000 international visitors this year./.

Source: https://en.vietnamplus.vn/binh-thuan-ready-for-opening-of-visit-vietnam-year-2023/250182.vnp

Travel

Breakthroughs expected for Binh Thuan during tourism year 2023

Published

13 hours ago

March 28, 2023

TienphongNews

The opening ceremony of the Visit Vietnam Year 2023 with the theme “Binh Thuan – Green convergence” will be held at NovaWorld Phan Thiet in Phan Thiet city in the central province of Binh Thuan on March 25 evening, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

Nearly 600 artists, actors, and actresses will perform in an 85-minute artistic musical show at the ceremony.

Visit Vietnam Year is both a national and international cultural, economic, social, and tourist event. It is also the biggest annual tourism event in Vietnam, offering opportunities to attract domestic and international tourists through the promotion of images, tangible and intangible cultural values, natural resources, as well as the development of linkages between localities.

Visit Vietnam Year 2023 “Binh Thuan – Green convergence” includes more than 200 events and activities.

In 2022, the province welcomed over 5 million visitors. It aims to attract about 6.5 million visitors, including more than 200,000 foreigners, this year./.

Source: https://en.vietnamplus.vn/breakthroughs-expected-for-binh-thuan-during-tourism-year-2023/250215.vnp