Disney-Nam

Thuan Y ...

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... a restaurant that was highly-recommended, but ultimately disappointing. The waiter (and possibly relative of the owner) was quite clueless and definitely got off on the wrong foot - when he delivered a glass of local wine to us, he commented "I don't like this wine. It's not good." Uh ... ok ... not what you typically want to tell customers. Even worse was this mango salad served with shrimp and a choice of pork or beef. But where were the shrimps? When we pointed out that they were missing, he argued that I had only asked for pork, so he left them out. Well, if the menu clearly states that the salad comes with shrimp, and the only choice to be made is pork or beef, do I really need to say I want shrimp? Do I need to ask for the mango in mango salad as well? Most servers would've just offered to bring some shrimp out, which is pre-cooked anyway and can simply be dumped atop the salad, instead of passing blame. The guy really shouldn't be a server, as he pissed off the table next to us when trying to make change - while he wasn't trying to rip them off, the way he kept handling their money definitely made them think he was.

Fish Grilled in Banana Leaf ...

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... decent, but overcooked, though it still managed to stay juicy.

Calamari w/ Chili and Lemon Grass ...

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... tender, but a bit plain - the dishes at Thuan Y just didn't have the vibrant flavours we've loved so far in Vietnam. A pretty forgettable meal tonight, other than the memorable (for the wrong reasons) server.

Chuoi Chien ...

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... a banana fritter so crispy and so good, that I ended up eating three or four of these. A few of the other food tour members were recovering from food poisoning or were afraid of the street eats, so there was plenty left over for the rest of us!

Noodle Heaven ...

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... multiple types of rice noodles were for sale at this market stall, but the most interesting were the yellow cao lau, a local specialty. The water is taken from the Ba Le well and mixed with some type of ash - the rice is pre-soaked in the mixture, resulting in the unique noodle colour, and also a chewy texture.

Bitter Melon ...

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... one of the most repugnant vegetables in the Chinese culinary repertoire, it's also popular in this part of Vietnam.

Spam Baguette ...

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... a minced meat paste, described as almost being a Vietnamese Spam, is spread on baguette and then deep fried. Salty, greasy, and good, this would make a hell of a drinking snack.

Dau Hu ...

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... a fantastic silken tofu, so rich and smooth ... there were a number of items on the tour that are commonly eaten by the Chinese, so this was a most-welcome dish today. The fragrant ginger syrup was a bit thicker and sweeter than what we are used to.

Darth Vader Loses ...

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... in this battle between two types of kem ong, the Dark Side and the Light Side, the Light Side won. As decadent and delicious as the coffee ice cream pop was, the coconut version was just a little bit better. We also tried a Red Bull version that was more sorbet than ice cream - a bit too artificial-tasting for our liking.

Fresh As Can Be ..

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... the ice cream pops were probably made mere minutes before we sampled them.

Xi Ma ...

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... again, another Chinese specialty that Vietnam also offers - I'm not normally a huge fan of black sesame pudding, but this lady served up some excellent stuff. It was reminiscent of our crab soup experience in Dalat - though I doubt this lady had been selling the stuff on the corner for the past 18 years, as she didn't look old enough.

Banh Mi Again ...

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... this seems to be one of the most widely-available foods in Hoi An, perhaps because it's such a touristy town - this might have even surpassed the excellent ones we tried yesterday.

Getting Full ...

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... it was probably barely 10:00 AM, yet we had sampled so many things already - so it was nice that this bowl of pho was only about a 1/3 portion. Very good compared to the standards back home, but far from the best broth we've had in Vietnam. A unique aspect was that shredded green papaya was an accompaniment, to be used in the same manner as bean sprouts would be.

A First ...

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... never before have I seen the grade of stainless steel so proudly stamped on a cheap dining table!

Dau Viet ...

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... this is where the quality on the tour dipped a little bit, being a restaurant catering to tourists. Clockwise, starting from the front left: Rau muong - turmeric noodles with pork, shrimp, and quail egg. Ca tim - stir fried morning glory. Mi quang - grilled eggplant with shallot oil. Cao lau - noodle soup with pork and salad, one of Hoi An's specialties.

Goi Xoai Xanh ...

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... green mango salad, this time, with actual SHRIMP! Nice when served atop a shrimp chip.

Banh Bao ...

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... white rose, another Hoi An specialty - a sort of shrimp dumpling that was a little too hard for our tastes. A better version would be undoubtedly awesome. Cha gio - a standard spring roll with rice lattice paper. Hoanh thanh chien - fried wonton with pork, shrimp, and a tomato sauce that seemed like a cooked salsa or bruschetta. Interesting, because it felt more Mexican or Italian than Vietnamese!

Vietnamese Randomness ...

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... a bunch of different biscuits, cookies, and candies. Panda bear cookies, peanut and sesame candy, caramelized bananas with coconut juice, toasted shredded coconut biscuits, golden jelly dumpling in banana leaf, dark jelly dumpling in banana leaf, and mung bean cookies, amongst other things. One of the goals of the tour was to show various aspects of Vietnamese cuisine - including junk food and snacks.

Bo Kho ...

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... a traditional Vietnamese beef stew, served with a chunk of baguette for dipping into the rich gravy. Going clockwise - banh thit nuong - grilled BBQ pork (marinated in lemongrass turmeric, honey, and 5-spice powder) with sticky rice. Banh cuon - rice rolls with pork and minced wood ear mushroom. A cloudy fortified rice wine, and a bowl of something I can't remember.