Cooking at the Red Bridge

---

Hoi An is an old, formerly major, port town in central Vietnam, known for it's Chinese and Japanese influences on its architecture. Today it is primarily known among tourists as the place to get clothes custom made as well as for its multiple cooking classes. My first afternoon there, I scoped out the many clothing stores (seemed like they were every other storefront). In the end, I didn't have any clothes made. My overall take was that the women's clothes looking interesting, but at least as far as men's dress shirts go, the materials were not particularly exciting. Although it only cost about $10 to have a custom made shirt made, ultimately, it seemed to me that you would end up with a shirt that looks like it cost $10 that fit really well.

Once again, the highlights for me centered around food. The first experience was at the Mango Rooms, right in the middle of the old town area. The place was called "the hippest restaurant between Saigon and Hanoi" by my Frommer's guide book (see Travel Tip below) and I'd have to agree with that assessment. I could easily see it in a city like New York or San Francisco. It had a funky, almost tropical decor that reminded me of places in Puerto Rico. Dishes were Vietnamese with an international twist (see photo). And one of the best parts was that the food came at Vietnamese prices.

My other favorite activity was a cooking class at the Red Bridge Restaurant, which is owned my an Australian, who is a friend of a friend. The half-day course began with a tour of the Hoi An market, where a guide described the different types of fruits, veggies and fresh fish that were on sale. He also explained how do determine how to pick the best quality items. The market tour was followed by a 25 minute boat ride up the river to the restaurant. The next two hours were a combination of cooking demonstrations, followed by some hands on cooking. Everything was set up very professionally. The demo table had a large mirror angled from above so you could see what the chef was doing, and we also had individual cooking stations will most of the ingredients ready to go. It was a great mix of watching and doing. At the end of the lesson, we sat down for a lunch menu of all the things we cooked. Luckily for some of us, I think that the menu was all re-done and prepared by the chef.

During the day, the town was crawling with tourists, you might even say over-run. I was left wondering where they all went at night. There were a few bars in town, but most seemed to be relatively quiet. Maybe I just didnt' know the right places to go, as I had heard about a handful of private bars you could go to. I also missed the beach, which was a few kilometers outside of town. Wasn't a big deal though since the sun was never out the whole time I was there...a similar theme through my Vietnam travels.


Travel tidbits:

* Mango Rooms was one of the best places I ate in Vietnam. Highly recommended.
* Red Bridge Cooknig School was a highlight of my travels. Also highly recommended
* Before & Now was the only bar that seemed to really be busy. Tam Tam cafe was supposed to be the place to go, but it was relatively empty the two nights I was there.
* Thahn Bin 3 was a nice, Chinese decorated, hotel just a short walk from the old town. It was a little pricey for the budget end of hotels at $18/night, but it did have a pool. There are plenty of other less expensive hotels around town. I'd look elsewhere. You could probably find similar accomodations for less. WARNING: do not book travel arrangements other than your next hotel through this hotel. The situation with my train tickets to Sapa has been a nightmare.
* I've noticed that almost everyone traveling through Vietnam is using The Lonely Planet guide book, which seems to be very comprehensive. I prefer Frommer's because its restaurant reviews are usually a couple paragraphs compared to a couple sentences.

---

Photos

Chef's demonstration
(not my work)

Comments

[Cleavon]

With all your dining exploits i'm most certainly looking forward to your first dinner party when you get back :)