More on food

My last food posting was roundly evaluated as lacking in pictures. So to that end, we have made even greater tourists of ourselves by taking pictures of almost everything we order and eat. This post shows some of the really great Vietnamese food we've had since arriving here on Wednesday, but it misses some other important highlights:

In Ho Chi Minh City, we went to this great (and locals-filled) place Gwynne selected based on the recommendations of her guidebook -- and our favorite pedicurist at Dupont Nails. It was amazing, and it was clearly the kind of place Saigon residents would do well to keep to themselves. The picture of che below is from that meal.

In Nha Trang, after visiting a couple local photography galleries, Amy and I went to this hole in the wall vegetarian place, which shocked and dazzled us with a variety of vegetarian treats. I also put back two large mugs of jasmine tea -- so good. The total bill came to a 50,000 dong - about $3 for the both of us.

And Gwynne finally found a couple good cups of coffee, just in case you thought it would never happen. It's touch and go, but when it's good, it's really good.

I don't have pictures of what was perhaps our best meal of the trip, at Lac Canh in Nha Trang, but Gwynne has included information and a picture of that below in her most recent post. Now onto the things I do have pictures of:

In Hoi An, a "foodie heaven" according to Lonely Planet, there are a variety of local specialties. One of my favorites is this, cao lau noodles. The noodles have to be prepared with water from a particular well in Hoi An (which means that the dish anywhere else isn't the real thing). They are served with fresh greens and herbs, croutons, fried onions and garlic, and for Nick's and mine, topped with grilled pork (vegetarians miss out on this portion). Sooo good. Other Hoi An specialties include a shrimp dumpling (a white rose) and fried wontons.

Vietnamese desserts are a unique treat. Che (which I think should have an accent on the e) is a warm soup, often containing coconut milk, rice or tapioca. Gwynne's was made with black sticky rice. Nick's had cooked banana and the same kind of crispity bits used in the mango dessert we had in Thailand. Mine, pictured here, was called "floating cake" which had little doughy dumplings floating in a very sweet, rice/coconut stew. Mmm.


Even the drinks have been amazing (and photogenic). This is a carrot sinh, a traditional Vietnamese drink made with fruits, vegetables, ice, and sweetened condensed milk (making an appearance in many, many drinks here). We tried out the sinh at Nha Trang when a large and persistent rainstorm interrupted our diligent relaxation on the beach.


And a prettily named, dragonfruit-flavored Capri Sun. Our soccer games would never have been the same.









And we also discovered that Vietnam even offers world-class tiramisu. For the record, by far the most common Western food along our trip has been Italian. Pizza is everywhere, and pasta is almost as ubiquitous. So it seems almost normal to find such a fabulous tiramisu.