Restaurant Report: BackYard Bia Hoi in Hanoi

 Pan-fried sweet-potato fritters, with dipping sauce, at BackYard Bia Hoi.

(NY Times) In Vietnamese, “bia hoi” refers to both fresh-brewed beer and the roadside restaurants where locals, perched on plastic stools, gather to consume it. The light brew is typically enjoyed with snacks like roasted peanuts and fermented sausage and simple stir-fries of whatever ingredients happen to be on hand.

BackYard Bia Hoi, which opened in March in Hanoi, offers an elegant spin on the concept. Set in a lush vegetable garden in the increasingly trendy Tay Ho District, the restaurant serves local draft beer alongside Vietnamese-style dishes made with organic produce. While the atmosphere is more countryside than sidewalk, the unpretentious fare echoes the spot’s inspiration.

“I wanted to take the core of the bia hoi experience — sitting on stools with your mates drinking beer and eating chicken legs from the barbecue — and reinvent it,” said Pete Wilkes, the Australian-born owner.

That reinvention comes in the form of small plates like marinated pork ribs and sesame crackers heaped with smoky grilled eggplant. Fresh herbs are plucked from pots scattered around the garden and used abundantly. Banh goi, pork-stuffed fritters that Mr. Wilkes described as “Vietnamese samosas,” come on a bed of crisp shiso leaves; shredded basil garnishes an autumnal pumpkin stir-fry.

Ingredients are grown on site or on the restaurant’s farm just outside the city, so the menu changes with the seasons. In summer, that means crisp, refreshing salads of lotus root, daikon and pomelo; as the nights turn chilly, these give way to more substantial stir-fries and clay pot stews.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/travel/restaurant-report-backyard-bia-hoi-in-hanoi.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw&_r=0)