Vietnam Victuals

Last weekend, I went to Vietnam because it was a 3-day weekend here in Hong Kong. Our destination was Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon. It was lovely, though we weren't there for too long and so couldn't have too many eating experiences.

Interestingly, there were coffee shops practically everywhere you looked in the main part of the city. We ate our first meal at one of these near the War Remnants Museum. I had stir-fried beef noodles with peppers, greens, onions and cilantro and a fresh apple juice.

For our next meal, we tried Pho 24, a popular fast-food chain serving Vietnam's signature soup noodles. My chicken pho was delicious, as were the rice paper spring rolls with prawns. Alongside our food, we received a plate of garnishes including lime wedges, bean sprouts, chili, basil and other herbs. Yum!

If we had spotted it sooner, we could have eaten at this pho restaurant instead. Apparently the food is good, and it has hosted none other than President Bill Clinton!

We also ate at a place serving Vietnamese 'broken rice', whatever that may be. I ordered pork and prawn cake wrapped in beancurd with mine, which was very tasty, and my fresh passion fruit juice was amazing. 

The dessert highlight of the trip was a sundae from Baskin Robbins, just because it's a taste of home that we don't get here in Hong Kong. Of course, I would rarely go there in the US ... Nevertheless, I would highly recommend the flavor of the month, movie popcorn, which has swirls of sweet and creamy salted caramel.