Almost people who was born and grew up in Hanoi or just had chance to enjoy shellfish soup and vermicelli at Tay Ho palace find it hard to forget the sophisticatedly delicious taste of this dish.

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Formally, the shellfish used to make the dish was gotten from West Lake, because of the huge number of shellfish in the lake at that time. But now, people have to buy shellfish from other places and most of them are yellow snails or big shellfish.

To make the shellfish soup and vermicelli fresher, the owners of the restaurants always choose shellfish very carefully. Shellfish must be fat and not mashed too much time. The same to rice noodle, all restaurants at Tay Ho palace order shellfish of Phu Do craft village in Tu Liem district because the noodles are small, not flaccid even after being served with soup. Moreover, the noodle is white and made hygienically. Many owners specially order the producers to make their products of tam thom (tám thơm) rice mixed with some nep cai hoa vang (nếp cái hoa vàng) rice to make the noodle tastier. Spice used in cooking the noodle includes many such as tomato, tai chua (a kind of fruit which very sour), vinegar made from distiller's grains, fat, pepper, glutamate, salt, sugar, chili… and some kinds of fresh vegetables, spice to serve with such as snack, perilla, king-guy-soy, basil, coriander, thin-sliced young banana tree.

Like shellfish soup and vermicelli in other places, the one at Tay Ho palace is cooked: after being spoiled, shellfish is extracted to obtain the intestine then sautéed with fat, spice, salted fish and glutamate. The soup that includes tomato and featured spice is over stewed. People also stew shank for the soup to make it fresher. Of course, there are some tips kept secretly that create the unique of the noodle here.  

When the customers order the noodle, the owners just have to put shellfish, rarely-boiled noodle into the bowl then irrigate the soup to finish the dish. A dish of fresh vegetables, a dish of boiled down chili putted on the table will increase the tasty feeling of the noodle but don’t take much chili unless the noodle will become spicy enough to burn you tongue.

There are many restaurants selling shellfish soup and vermicelli along the small road to Tay Ho palace and all of them always in a rush. Hanoians, visitors almost want to enjoy the noodle. Maybe not only the special taste of the noodle but also the wild kiosks with the charming scene of West Lake make the guests feel excited, attached and unforgettable.