I have been searching high and low for a good Northern Vietnamese restaurant in Toronto as there aren't many in the city. I was super excited to try Hanoi 3 seasons but it didn't do it for me. I had much better in Vancouver.
We ordered the spring rolls which only comes in vegetarian, I was kinda hoping for a traditional meat spring roll but the taro wasn't so bad. The shrimp with lotus shoot salad was delish, very refreshing. As for my main, I was particularly eager to dig into the grouper with dill noodle soup but the taste fell flat for me. The fish (grouper) was deep fried and the broth wasn't as flavourful as I expected to be. There wasn't any distinct flavours of lemongrass or tamarind. They are very very generous with the amount of fish and noodle though. The prices here are just slightly above your traditional Vietnamese restaurants but it's compensated by the generous portions and a very nice dinning space/decor.
My only complaint is the Vietnamese coffee. I ordered a coffee to go at the cash register and to my surprise, it was instant coffee as oppose to the authentic drip coffee that I'm used to. To make matter even worst, after she poured in the water, she put the cup into the microwave! Did I just paid $5 for instant coffee? I think so. #IThinkIJustGotRippedOff