Desirable Street Food

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Sitting on the corner of D Le Thanh Ton & DL Hai Ba Trung is a street side restaurant with five tables spread out along the vacant wall. Each table has five to six twelve-inch children stools beside them. If we were in a restaurant there wouldn't be chairs, we'd be sitting on the floor. It looks familiar but the sounds, smells and aroma pull us towards the tables. Earlier in the day we spied the three main dishes served.

Fried rice with two eggs and a pile of meat, probably pork.
A bowl of noodles topped with vegetables and meat.
A skillet of fried potato, meat and egg.
All served with a plate of tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce.
Each person is given a baguette, chili's and limes, too.

We've watched others exchange small dollar bills for their plates of food. We are inspired by the many local name tags from the restaurants and shops lining the street. We cannot help but sit down and try this. Shauna and I, look at the only empty space on an extremely long set of tables lined up next to each other. We sit down. The proprietor walks over. He doesn't speak English. We resort to pointing and using finger gestures.

We order one bowl of noodles and one fried rice. We decline having anything to drink. We smile and talk gingerly about what is going to happen. We discuss the potential of what we will be charged. I opt to pay, if she opts to pay for desert and water for tomorrows journey. She agrees. Ten minutes later, her plate of fried rice with egg, meat and vegetables arrives. We stare at the mound of food. Neither of us budges.

The man arrives a second time with two plates of cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce. He sets this down along with the plate of chili's, and limes. He shuffles away and back with a baguette and another bowl of fresh greens. He smiles. Then retreats to the makeshift kitchen receiving a lime green bowl from an older woman. Walking back he leans down the musty smell of a hard days work on the street wafts in front of me, as he sets the bowl down. I thank him. And look at the meal.

It astonishes me. My face moves closer as I take in a long breath through the nose, smelling the aromas wafting out of the bowl. It has a strong red pepper scent. I smile breaking apart the baguette and dipping it into the broth. It's heaven. I look at Shauna, she is starring at me while I crack bread onto the broth. She doesn't seem happy. "How is the food?" She takes five minutes to respond. "The meats a bit chewy and not really all that appealing. How's yours?" "Grab your spoon and try it." I'm excited. It has kabocha squash, green pepper, tomatoes and a smoked meat. The meat must have been smoked then cooked and possibly marinated at some point. "Try the meat. I'll try yours." I smile handing her a bite. She smiles. Afraid to try it. She's correct, hers tastes awful in comparison. "Wow! Yours is amazing." "Soup," that's all I can reply with.

The meal comes to an end. Not certain what we are about to pay. We stand up. Watch two different interactions between the food seller and patrons. He charges them in a blink of an eye. It appears to be 30,000 dong. There's no way he'll charge us the same. He says, "Sixty." I smile. Then shrug my shoulders. He peels back a 50 and 10 thousand bank notes to explain what we owe. I smile again. And pay the man his money. After all it's only $3. We round the corner. I am smiling from the desirable street food and hope all street food tastes this great.

"Not even Kimbap Chongu is this cheap," I state as we enter the convenience store. "Yep. But at least in South Korea, I'm not afraid of what might be served on my plate," she retorts. We both start laughing. "Didn't think we'd miss Korean food, so quickly, huh?" "Nope. But hopefully we wont be eating on tiny chairs, too much this trip," she smiles pulling open the refrigerator door. "How many should be get?" "Two for now. Two for the road trip tomorrow." "Sounds good. Anything else?" "Nope. Let's go get that coffee," I smile as we head for the check out counter.

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