HANOI — Covering the Asian Cup finals is proving to be thirsty work for the many soccer journalists in hot and humid Hanoi.
So what better after working late into the evening on a match report than heading to a local watering hole to wet the whistle and have a bite to eat before a trip to a local nightclub to get to know the locals better?
Sounds great. Unfortunately, easier said than done.
The fun police in Hanoi have recently been cracking down on the bar and club scene, which means it's almost impossible to find a decent meal after 10 p.m., while the bars and clubs close down by midnight during the week and not long after on the weekend.
There are a lot of rumors flying about why this is so. One journalist heard through the grapevine that the most famous club in Hanoi — a bacchanalian paradise according to Hanoi veterans — played host to a double-knife murder just weeks prior to the tournament, while one of the ritzier establishments was turned inside out by a police raid recently — not sure what they were searching for — and is now closed for business.
So pity the journalists who after a day slaving away in team hotel lobbies and the stadium media center are left with nowhere to go apres-match.
Help, though, may be at hand. A meeting of minds among the sports scribes on such drastic matters has unearthed a couple of potential places for some much-needed R&R.
One of the places — Ride — has been earmarked as Saturday evening's port of call. Countless journalists are hoping it will prove to be the oasis of calm among the hustle and bustle of Hanoi and the place at which to sink a few Bia Hois — the "world's cheapest beer" — according to local lore — without the worry of being kicked out before things get going.
On a night when there wasn't a match on, a rival sports scribe and I decided to dine at what we were reliably informed to be was one of the best restaurants in Hanoi.
Overlooking Hoam Kiem Lake and situated on the edge of the Old Quarter, Bobby Chinn restaurant certainly had the perfect location, and the Californian-Asian fusion cuisine was top-notch — and made me rethink my usual rule of avoiding any restaurant that boasts — "fusion" food.
Unfortunately, the place was a little bit too snooty for our liking. Things started badly as we had the temerity of arriving without a reservation — even though the restaurant was almost empty.
After we asked politely if slightly sarcastically whether they could squeeze us in, they reluctantly guided us to a table and then did their best over the next two hours to make us eat our dinner as quickly as possible.
Starters and mains were ordered and delivered in the blink of an eye, despite our protestations that we wanted to take things a little bit slower.
By the time they plunked the dessert menus on the table and asked us three times in as many minutes whether we were ready to order, we realized they perhaps didn't really want our sort in the restaurant.
In the end, the maitre d' gave up all pretense of simply wanting to take our dessert order by coming over and brazenly asking if we could move to the back of the restaurant, where there was a lounge bar, even though no one was waiting for our table.
Being the decent chaps we are, we demurred to her request — but not until we wangled free coffee, dessert and cigarettes from the haughty host.
Suffice to say, we didn't tip. But here's one now: don't go there.