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 […]
Long ago I threw up the white flag of surrender in finding Hanoi style bún chả here in Saigon. Perhaps a bowl of succulent pork belly and soft ground pork medallions just doesn’t exist south of the 17th Parallel mid Vietnam. My never ending hunt for a decent plate of food led me to a new dish supposedly coming from a […]
How could anyone not want to eat here? A basic black and white tattered piece of paper straight off a printer advertising what’s on offer…a woman crammed in between a boiling cauldron and her food preparation table…squat stools lining the sidewalk between the muddy street and a rundown concrete building…a steady flow of people who […]
Thinking back to all my trips to Thailand, I can’t say that I ever had pad Thai in its native habitat. I’ve had it coast to coast in the US of course and have even attempted to make it at home from a boxed mix and some frozen chicken breasts. The sauce in my prefab version […]
Yes, we’ve stopped along the way already to sample this broth and noodle dish popularly known as mì Quảng. One at Binh Thanh Market was passable; another attempt from a restaurant in town was truly deplorable. Much like my quest for bun cha, finding the perfect bowl of mì Quảng in Saigon has been quite […]
One final bowl of bún chả and finally some success after all those failed attempts in Saigon! Of course I had to travel to Hanoi for a decent meal, but that’s ok. Since I had to spend the night in Hanoi for work anyhow, I figured why not make the best of it and have […]
The Lunch Lady made famous by Anthony Bourdain serves a day of the week specific meal deep in a residential neighborhood off Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street on the fringes of District 1. Almost six months have passed since one of her soups has passed between my lips. My how time flies. Suddenly I realized […]
Mì Vịt Tiềm In Saigon a metal serving cart with skinned ducks hanging upside down is nothing worthy of stopping traffic. This scene plays out anywhere and everywhere but my dinner plate. That is until this meal in Binh Thanh District at 84 Nguyen Van Loc Street landed duck right before me. I worked up the […]
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein had this concept figured out nicely in his quote there. Why can’t I seem to learn what he found to be so evident? A decent bún chả just does not exist in Saigon so why do I subject myself to […]
Down The Street and Back Again 