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Archive for Hoi An

Adventures in Street Food

Apr18

Restaurant: Morning Glory Street Food Restaurant

Location: Hoi An

Date: March 25, 2014

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Rating: Super Yum

_

Everyone always talks about how great the street food is in Vietnam.


Things like crab fritters that have been sitting out for hours in the heat and humidity.


Or miscellaneous stuff waiting to assemble.


Our tasty maggot air dried meats.


Well, those of us who aren’t quite THAT adventurous (or don’t fancy a reasonable chance at several days glued to the toilet) might consider stepping up to $10-15 a person and the glory that is Morning Glory Street Food, a more “upscale” rendering of the classics.







The local beer. They don’t really like to sell you anything else. You can ask, but you’ll earn a snarl.


White Rose Dumplings. Famous soft steamed rice flour dumplings filled with ground shrimp. As promised, these are lighter than the traditional Chinese (Har Gow) variety.


Barbecued Pork with Rice Paper. Marinated BBQ pork with peanut sauce, fresh herbs, star fruit, and green banana.


As usual with these dishes, you roll up a spring roll.


Cao Lau noodles with marinated pork. The “classic” Hoi An dish with Japanese, Chinese, and French influences. Thick, homemade rice noodles with tender marinated pork, fresh herbs, and croutons in a light brother.

Not quite as good as the version we had the night before, but still delicious.


Banh Mi with Hoi An Sausage and marinated pork. A local version of the classic Vietnamese sandwich.


Fresh Mackerel in Banana Leaf. Cubes of marinated fresh mackerel with chopped wood-ear mushrooms, mung bean vermicelli, fresh turmeric and spices wrapped in banana leaves and chargrilled.

Very interesting AND tasty.


Chicken with ginger sauce. Stir fried chicken with ginger, onions and celery. Sort of like a Chinese American dish.


Papaya Salad with Sesame Beef. Shredded green papaya and fresh herbs topped with crispy dried roasted sesame beef. These “salads” the Vietnamese make are amazing.


Roast Duck Leg served with five space and shallot dressing and sticky rice. Yum!


Smoky eggplant with minced pork. I’m not usually a big fan of this kind of “mushy” eggplant, but this was great.

Prawn Curry. Five elements: sweet, sour, hot, bitter, and salty. Prawns, eggplant, poatoes, onions, lime leaves, lemongrass, and coconut milk.

Overall, this might have been the best meal we had in Vietnam, certainly in the top 2-3. While the cuisine isn’t “fancy” the combination of ingredients and fresh flavors came together in a spectacular way.

For more Vietnam dining reviews, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Apocalypse Dhou
  2. Eating Hoi An – Brothers Cafe
  3. Eating Saigon – Hoa Tuc
  4. Maximum Weird – Perdido Street Station
  5. Food as Art: Ping Pong
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: dumpling, eating-vietnam, Hoi An, Street Food, Vietnam

Eating Hoi An – Riverside

Apr15

Restaurant: Anantara Hotel

Location: Hoi An

Date: March 25, 2014

Cuisine: International

Rating: Great Location

_

Our second hotel, in the scenic “ancient city” of Hoi An is the Anantara Hotel (a great hotel in general). Like most resort hotels, it features a buffet breakfast.


The second floor setting is amazing. A lovely breeze blows off the river beyond.


Various (semi) exotic juices.


Including this one I’ve never tried.


Lots of fresh fruit. Vietnam is a very wet and green place, and full of silty rivers, which means its fabulous farmland.


Fresh rambutans.

And Dragonfruit!


Not your everyday fruit salad.

The bananas here are little, but tasty.


Fresh yogurts.


Salad.


Cheese.


Cold cuts.

Packaged yogurts.


Cereal.

Pad Thai. On different days, this was different noodles and the like.


Congee again, and the requisite toppings.


Chicken.


bacon (two kinds).

Baked beans again, I guess for the Brits. And chicken sausage.


Pork sausage and pancakes.


An omelet bar.

Pickled vegetables (very good actually).


The Pho station! It’s never too early for Pho.


Here is the result.


Oh, and being a former French colony, Vietnam has great pastries.


And coffee.

Overall, this was a pleasant breakfast. If we hadn’t just come from the amazing Saigon Intercontinental one, it might even be great.

For more Vietnam dining reviews, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Modena – Real Fini Breakfast
  2. Good Morning Vietnam
  3. Eating Saigon – Hoa Tuc
  4. Eating Santa Margherita – Miramare Breakfast
  5. Eating Hoi An – Brothers Cafe
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Asia, eating-vietnam, Hoi An, Travel and Tourism, Vietnam

Eating Hoi An – Brothers Cafe

Apr05

Restaurant: Brother’s Cafe

Location: Hoi An

Date: March 24, 2014

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Rating: Great setting, Great food

_

We move on from Saigon to Hoi An, a small “ancient” city in the middle of Vietnam’s long coast. Hoi An is know for, among other things, its excellent food.


The oddly named Brother’s Cafe isn’t really a cafe, but a large riverside restaurant located in this scenic colonial style building.


With a rather picturesque garden and riverside seating.














The menu, like most in Vietnam, is epic.


Cao Lou. This is the quintessential Hoi An dish, noodles with a bit of saffron, pork, various vegetables, and a delicious savory “sauce.” This was the best version of this spectacular dish we had on the trip. Apparently you can only really get it in Hoi An, as unless the sauce is made from the local well water, it isn’t “real Cao Lou.”


Hoi An deep fried spring rolls. Delicious and crispy.


Vietnamese pancake with shrimp and pork. Sort of like a Vietnamese omelet.


As  you can see, it was eaten rolled with vegetables in rice paper.


Tofu with minced pork in spicy sauce. This is the Vietnamese version of Ma Po tofu, one of my favorite Chinese dishes. It was good, although not terribly spicy like this amazing version. The Chinese have been in Vietnam for over a thousand years and certainly left their mark.


Roasted boneless duck. Yum.


Roasted boneless duck. Yum.


Prawn curry, lemongrass, eggplant, and coconut milk. Very tasty, but not enough shrimp.


Red snapper steamed with ginger and vegetables.


Banana flambé with chocolate sauce. I don’t do bananas, but I was told they were good.


Creme Caramel. Mysteriously, this seems to be a popular (in fact omnipresent) Vietnamese dessert. No complaints here as I love the stuff.

Brother’s was an upscale place, kinda “expensive” for Vietnam (maybe $30 a person). The food, however, was great, as was the atmosphere. Certainly a great start to our couple of days in Hoi An.

For more Vietnam dining reviews, click here.

This pond came with a very loud (and charming) invisible frog

Related posts:

  1. Eating Saigon – Hoa Tuc
  2. Apocalypse Dhou
  3. Enter the Mandarin
  4. Taking back Little Saigon
  5. Eating Siena – Trattoria Pepei
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Brother's Cafe, eating-vietnam, Hoi An, Vietnam, Vietnamese cuisine
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