Broken rice Trần Quý Cáp - another one in the top three.

Few weeks ago I had a post "In search of the top 3 of the best broken rice in Saigon"and according to one of my friends, who is a big foodie, we already found two and this place - "Broken rice Tran Quy Cap" should be one of that three.
I will not rank these three places in order of preference as I like all of them, but "broken rice Tran Quy Cap" has a special place in my mind, it reminds of my childhood. This place is not very far from my parent's first house and I can't remember whether they had a broken rice business at that time or not, but I'm pretty sure - they did sell home-made dishes for those busy working moms, who couldn't prepare a meal for family and work at the same time. My mom who has been a teacher for several schools at once, from time to time she sent me here to get some foods for family lunch.

               I can smell the five spice powder from grilled pork chop and the meat is not juicy to me...

Let's have coffee!

Talking about this dark, bitter drink is not easy for me.

First, I'm not a big fan of this liquid drug, second, what I know about the coffee life style in Saigon is little. Vietnamese love coffee. Male, female, elder, younger. Morning. Afternoon. Evening. Anytime in a day, raining days, office hours. By weekend some spacious coffee shops with aircon could be a favourite gathering place for family, with kids running around, screaming in joy.

I can't spend hours and hours there, to play with my laptop or Ipad as many people do these days. I also can't sit there just to "tám" (a popular jargon, i.e to chat, to gossip, to blah blah blah...). The word "coffee" doesn't mean a drink to us anymore, it's like a socialised activity, a company of good friends, a romantic date, a business meeting...that we can't live without.

                    Cafe phin - a favorite choice for majority of Vietnamese in Saigon. 

One of the world's 50 most delicious foods in Saigon

Finally I tried Assam Laksa - the 7th in the list of the world's 50 most delicious foods at one of a few Halal eateries in Saigon. It reminds me very much our "bun mam"- rice noodles with fermented fish soup. But I would say "Thousand people, thousand tastes". I don't like Assam Laksa.

It's certainly a good dish but by somehow I didn't like it, personally. Maybe I didn't try the authentic one in Malaysia, or somewhere else to compare. Or maybe today was not my day, so I didn't have a good appetite.

                      Assam laksa - one of the most delicious foods in the world by CNN Go - 2011.

Rice mixed with mussels (cơm hến)

One of my very first posts about Huế specialities is "From the Hell to the Heaven", this review got some encouraged comments, I even received a proposal to cooperate with one travel agency but then I had to refuse, because...I didn't know what to do. Sounds funny? But it's true.

Ok back to the Hell...I'd love to share one of my favorite Hue's flavors: rice mixed with mussels. I don't know since when I fell in love with this "bibimbap" of Vietnamese version. Whenever I'm at any Huế restaurant, I surely ask whether they serve it or not, if they have, I'll order. But it's not always good at every place!

                  A bowl of cơm hến (rice mixed with mussels) at Cố Đô - a Huế restaurant in district 5, Chinatown. 

Rolled noodles Ngũ Xã (phở cuốn Ngũ Xã)

I don't know for how many weeks, my review about "10 Vietnamese street foods we can't live without" has been a big hit and always at the top of the list...in my blog! At the same time I also got comments from some readers that it's not fair, as my 10 dishes are mostly from Saigon. I have to admit they are right.
My last trip to Hanoi was very short, I didn't have enough time to try everything of what I got in my note: I missed a famous beef noodles at Bat Dan as they were closed for very long Tet holiday, I also didn't try another popular Hanoi's flavor "rice noodles with grilled pork" at Ngoc Khanh street or favorite by the youth in Hanoi - the jackfruit yogurt, the yogurt mixed with dark red sticky rice...

I'm sorry but I'm sure I will review it soon "The 10 hawker foods we can't live without in Hanoi".
Today, it's not an excuse, but I'm happy to share one more dish from the North - phở cuốn Ngũ Xã (literally means rolled noodles Ngũ Xã).

                   Similar to some rolls we have in Saigon but here - no oily and the fillings are warm. 

It was my friend's treat for my last night in Hanoi, he took me there and Ngũ Xã turned out a name of the area, fairly far from the old quarter. To be honest, if you ask me how to get there, I would say you better take a cab. It was a Tuesday night, around 8:00pm, not crowded. According to my friend, there are two places in Hanoi, famous for this "rolled noodles Ngũ Xã", where we have been is a bigger place than the other one, not only bigger, but also lighter for my photos. How nice!

Củ Chi - the land of steel, the wall of copper

I've been to Cu Chi few times. It's a suburban district of Saigon and about 30km away from city. Not very far so yesterday with friends we decided to ride on our bicycle to this land of steel. Why we call Củ Chi - the land of steel, the wall of copper? It's surely related to the extremely outstanding tunnel during the war, to the legendary fighting and surviving spirit from the people living in this underground labyrinth.

                  The caoutchouc plantation, seeing such a green I'd love to dive into it to cool off from the summer heat.

Very famous with their tunnel network, especially to the tourists from overseas, I've also been to this site few times, my first time was a big nightmare, when I went there with my Korean colleague. He was convinced by the guide to experience the second level (*) by walking within a distance of around 20m, I followed, but a few seconds later I felt unbreathable, I really wanted to go back. Listening to our guide's instructions, I took a left turn, they continued their way. I realized I was left alone in the tunnel. Absolutely alone. No light. It was hard to breath, to crouch on my knees, to navigate in the dark, even though what I should have done was only to go straight - one way. I didn't go, I ran. Now I'm still so proud of myself as better than anyone I know exactly what's the excitement by seeing "the light at the end of the tunnel". 

                        To experience my feelings please check out this video from Global Nomads Group. 

Our first stop was at the eatery "Bún giò heo" (rice noodles with hog's ham hock). To my surprise, I never heard about this dish before, we have "big noodles" (bánh canh) but with rice noodles? 

               Famous rice noodles with hog's ham hock but My first time to try this dish. 

Something new but actually we have rice noodles with everything and everywhere! The place was very crowded due to the sunday morning but we were able to find a table for four of us.

               The hog's ham hock is huge, the soup is good but with rice noodles?