Down The Street and Back Again

I am settled back into the US after a two week detour to Argentina and Antarctica.  That trip could have been a blog in itself.  Several loyal readers of my Vietnamese food adventures have asked what’s next.  I hadn’t really given that much thought until this week. While in Antarctica I realized I’ve been lucky enough […]

Wow.  Here we are.  365 meals.  When I took on this project I remember wondering if I’d indeed be able to find a year’s worth of food worthy of a daily narrative.  I prayed my lofty goal wouldn’t crater about two months in due to a lack of variety.  Somehow the food gods smiled upon me, and this project […]

Phở.  Yes, phở.  Phở is our final stop on this diverse food journey.  What’s that?  You were expecting something a little more exotic like marinated pig bladder or five flavors chicken tongue for the grand finale?  Actually I am not even sure if those are edible parts of our barnyard friends, but I am going […]

As far as almost final Vietnamese meals go, this one is about as unlike anything I will find in America as they come.  And that is a great thing.  I do want to end this food journey with some memorable yet far from whacky selections.  Bún thịt nướng chả giò is a who’s who of […]

A dose of cool, nonhumid air got me out on foot on my last work overnight in Hanoi but hunger stopped short my wanderings on Xuan Dieu Road in the Tay Ho neighborhood.  The trusty old won ton soup joint across from Tracy’s drew me right in, and this basic concrete hut has nourished me enough in […]

This meal represents so much more than a salad of grilled meats, tomatoes, fried shallots, pickled vegetables and raw lemongrass.  Mixing everything together along with a fish sauce based spicy dressing sent me on a taste journey even a year ago I could never have imagined.  That I missed out on so much is mostly my […]

Troi oi!  It’s pronounced choi oi and these two simple words roll out Vietnamese mouths in reaction to just about any situation possibly arising in daily life.  Witness something crazy?  Troi oi!  Almost get hit by a motorbike?  Troi oi as well.  Someone surprise you?  Yes, you guessed it.  Troi oi indeed. Loosely translated as […]

I wish I knew how to tell the friendly ladies at Café 91 I am moving back to the US this week, and that their food the past year has been one of the high points of my time in Vietnam.  My limited vocabulary allows me to explain I am headed home, but learning how to say I […]

Seeing how the Vietnamese kitchen interprets tough chewy chunks of beef with recipes supposedly from other lands is always a feast for the senses. While downtown with a friend on the hunt for the world’s tackiest souvenir, a brief shower of rain just about gave us the world’s biggest soaking. We ducked into Parksons Department Store […]

We won’t pretend this one was any sort of meal, but it was so bizarre it warrants a stop on this meandering food journey.  Let’s just insert it in between 358 and 359. Normally one would expect to walk into a bakery that has been open several hours and find a full selection of tantalizing […]