stir-fry: Vietnam Eats : Part I

You just gotta love Vietnam food! Here is Part One of some of my favorite food finds in Vietnam :)

CHA CA LA VONG
Cha Ca is a special dish, first made by the Hanoi family Doan. Would you believe that they only serve this dish in this restaurant?! And the resto has been in existence since 1871! Imagine the following for this specialty dish! I was at first hesitant to try the resto since I didn't get to have a choice. But Cha Ca is really worth it :) You just order based on how many you are on the table, and they'll be the ones to serve the appropriate portions.

When I first saw the food, I thought to myself, Would this be enough? Surprisingly though, we were full after finishing the whole lot. You have to ask the waiters how to prepare the dish yourself, since there are a couple of things to stir in -- hotpot fish and veggies, noodles, peanuts, more veggies, sauce paste, etc. Plus a kind of naan bread. We found this dish really yummy, and you get to experience a 'real' Vietnamese dish. I highly recommend you try this restaurant when you're in Saigon :)

The meal

All ingredients in a bowl!

STREET FOOD

What's a visit to Vietnam without tasting Banh-Mi? Banh-Mi is their local version of Subway. The bread they use is similar to a baguette and you get to choose your sandwich filling -- meat, veggies, or any combination, should they have it. This, plus a cold coffee should already be a hearty breakfast.

Typical Banh Mi Kiosk

Banh Mi

Now I don't really know what this is, but I got to try it during a rest stop to Mui Ne. These hotdogs (I choose to call them hotdogs) are awesome! And it comes with a hot, zesty sauce (which is definitely not catsup). Couldn't get enough of this!

NHA HANG NGON

This restaurant seems to be a staple for foreigners -- the place was packed when we got there. However, the place was huge, and we were able to get seats on the second floor. On the way to our designated table, I was getting really hungry just by looking at the yummy food! Along the halls and corridors are tables of food and you can actually see them prepare your order.

We ordered A LOT. I cannot even remember the names of all of the food! What I know is I immensely enjoyed dining at this resto and would love to come back and try all the other food we missed!

Salad

Spring Rolls

Chicken Skewers

Meal staple: Saigon Beer

Me & Rob :)

HOA VIEN BRAUHAUS

When we were in Mui Ne, we tried this restaurant which offered Black Beer! I was told there's also a Hoa Vien in Saigon, so that's good news :) The resto was huge and was overlooking the beach. Would have been a fantastic view during daytime. But the night breeze kept us company :) We ordered Spring Rolls, Baked Oysters and Ribs to go with the beer. Our black beer mugs were full to the brim but I managed to down everything. I gotta admit, it was real good :) The food was also great and the serving was h-u-g-e. You'll definitely get your money's worth.

a mug of black beer

Spring Rolls

Baked Oysters

Ribs!

TRUNG NGUYEN COFFEE

Ah, what's Saigon without Vietnam coffee? Trung Nguyen Coffee is widely available around the city. No Starbucks here, but Highlands and Trung Nguyen can be found everywhere. Love, love their coffee :) It's just that I can get really impatient waiting for the coffee to be filtered.. But it's definitely worth the wait. We even bought filters and Coffee #5 to take home with us!