TNH

My initial love affair with this smaller branch of Big C is well and truly over.

The store has gradually been getting more and more frustrating, and today was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Over the past few months, it has been getting harder to get a trolley without traipsing through the bowels of the carpark. Then when you are lucky enough to find one, the minute your back is turned at the checkout, it is swiped from under your nose by another customer. So you have to risk finger amputation by carrying all your shopping bags to the taxi stand.

The suspicious-natured policy of wrapping handbags in plastic before entering the store was a little annoying but tolerable. That is, until they got so tight that they started cutting the plastic bags in half. So if your bag was any larger than a matchbox, it wouldn't into their bags. So you had to go back to the lockers and leave it there, therefore carrying wallet and phone around the store, ripe for the picking.

Today's experience was a clanger. Having a full trolley of groceries, I proceeded to the checkout. I requested some bags to pack my groceries in, and was given some tiny bags that might have fitted a small block of cheese. They didn't have any larger bags on the entire premises, or any of the re-usable bags that I would've happily bought. So I would have had to carry about 89 tiny plastic bags home, each containing 1 item. Simply ludicrous. I abandoned all groceries and trolley at the checkout.

The convenience of having meat and produce under 1 roof is no longer enough incentive to get me here. The upside - my waistline will probably benefit, as I won't be able to pick up my usual half dozen NY Crispy Donuts on my way out.

Well, I went against all the advice on NH and headed off to the smaller Big C on a Saturday afternoon. I was pleasantly surprised - yes it was busy, but buzzing rather than chaos. I actually quite enjoyed myself. The fresh food section was quite a sight after the "fresh" food in Fivimart et al, and I was particulary impressed by the range of meat available. Cost-wise it was cheaper than the supermarkets in town, but you have to balance this on the cost of getting here. I'll definitely go back - but due to distance it won't be regular thing.

Yep, you guessed it, there's another one! Opened a little while ago in The Garden shopping centre out at My Dinh. I can already hear the groans of many a New Hanoian. What's the big deal? Just another large annoying Big C to navigate and frustrate...?

Not quite. For a start, it is obvious that the designers have put a lot more thought into this Big C than the other one. Hopefully, there have been lessons learned and changes made that will improve the shopping experience.

This Big C is a fair bit smaller than its counterpart. Being smaller, it misses out on a lot of the 'stuff' that clogs up the other one, making for a much better and more useful shopping experience. More of a supermarket than a 'get the motorbike to go with the helmet' market... Clearly the owners are catering to an upwardly mobile and emerging middle class who appreciate convenience. A couple of interesting points:

* The bakery is literally on your left as soon as you walk in. And it is very good. Lots of very tempting treats and the usual range of freshly baked bread. Interestingly, there is no mad crush for fresh baguettes that you will find elsewhere. Surprisingly orderly.

* There is a substantial meat section with a large range of pre-packed meats. Good portion sizes and good quality as well. Separate sections for Pork, Beef and Poultry. Large fish section as well.

* Huge pre-prepared food area. Lots of options ranging from take-home meals to deli-type food you would find in other places.

* Large bins of rice and other grains so you can get whatever quantity of these you need and pretty much whatever variety takes your fancy.

* Big range of lollies in large bins as well. Very popular.

* Fruit and veges are plentiful and very fresh. Much better packing, weighing and pricing station than the other place.

* General grocery aisles are well marked in Vietnamese and English with everything you would expect. Do look around a little as special or discount items may not be where you expect them to be!

* If you have a bag with you, security will wrap it in plastic and heat seal it before you go in. There is a security station by the entrance.

Actually, The Garden security are much better than other places. They run this show as well and are pretty observant of all comings and goings. The Garden has a reputation to uphold and grow and I very much doubt they want any riff-raff in Big C.

I wandered in here the first time on opening day, quite accidentally! It was a madhouse!!! Subsequent visits have been much quieter and orderly. Not overly crowded, shoppers just doing their thing and pretty quick through checkout. Given it's location and size, this will easily be my preference over the other place. There is underground parking at The Garden and you can enter Big C directly from the carpark. All very convenient.

Go on, give it a whirl. You know you want to!

After getting tired of the original Big C we decided to go the extra 5 minutes down the road and try the one in the Manor. We can highly recommended it to all.

First thing we noticed was the lack of the crowds, which made for a much more enjoyable shopping experience. As a bonus, we also didn't feel we were an exhibit in the zoo! Our children (2 & 3, blonde and red haired) weren't grabbed and poked continuously. The people were really polite and just said hello to them and talked.

The range of goods in the shop isn't as large but they have a lot of different stuff which is good. Staff are extra helpful and overall it is a far better experience than going to the original Big C. The underground parking is an extra bonus and the security staff are really on the ball so we felt safe leaving the bike there.

As an extra bit of advice : try the food court up on the top level of the building. Normal prices, large range to choose from and never crowded. Food is awesome!!

I also stumbled upon the new Big C on the first day.

It is a lot smaller than the Tran Duy Hung Big C, however there are masses of security! Plus I found the service to be excellent in the store and at the checkout, even receiving a thankyou, which I have never got at the other one. The bag collection girls are very smiley too.

They have these great new wheelie basket things, so it's great if you are just buying a few things but don't want to carry the weight.
The ambience is nicer too, particularly in the fruit section, it's more like a small fruit shop than a huge supermarket chain.

I'm happy as it is a 2 minute walk to my workplace, and I can go there in the middle of the day when there are no crowds/people are napping.

Most NH aren't impressed by Big C, but there are times to go (weekdays in the day) and times not to go (weekends and weekday evenings) so choose carefully and you may just have a decent experience!

UPDATE: Big C have put small Union Jack flag signs on cashier checkouts with employees who speak English.
They have some items that I haven't noticed before at Big C 1 - fresh sushi (ready to eat, with ginger, wasabi and soy), a Belgian chocolate stand (with individual bite size pieces to choose), and some decent duvet covers and other bedding items (not all are great, but it looks like they have a new international brand line of bedding).