liuzhou

Yes, I've eaten the same, both in Thailand and China. Never saw them in a supermarket before, though.

I'm not entirely sure, but I guessed a type of deep fried rice paper. It was very crisp. That is the one described as chả giò Ngon or special Ngon style - i.e. something exclusive to that restaurant, Ngon being its name, but also meaning "Tasty", which it was.

Yeas, There isn't much they don't have. It's a very international city. Right opposite the Daiso is a Domino's Pizza place!

Please see my edit!

Yes then. Pupae. Of what, I don't know. Probably silk worm, though.

No. Pupae, as I said.

All that window shopping make you hungry? OK. I spotted this place very near the Independence Palace. Quán Ngon 138. (Quán ngon means delicious food - 138 is the address) The lovely young lady gave me such a beautiful smile and giggled when I took the picture. OK, I'm a sucker, but I looked at their menu and it was very appealing and not at all expensive considering the beautiful ambience and that it is in the heart of the tourist district. Reader, I bit! I ordered gỏi cuốn + chả giò hải sản + chả giò Ngon + chả giò Truyền thông + gỏi xoài tôm khô fresh spring rolls with prawn and pork + deep fried spring rolls (seafood, special Ngon style, Traditional Vietnamese) + Green mango salad with dried shrimp. Plus the usual heap of greens. And a beer. Very good. They lived up to their name and were all very friendly. Here are their details. I went to the first branch.

The supermarket was 90% the same as in China, but I did see a few (to me) oddities. But first the supermarket. Oddities: Vegetation Fish Thịt hến - Mussel Meat ốc bưu thịt - snail meat nhộng - pupae and, of course, the ubiquitous fish sauce.

Me too.

AKA Microplane

I've mentioned this here before on a similar topic, but I regularly use a pair of scissors bought from a stationery shop to snip herbs, open packages, etc.

Next day, I decided to explore markets. I had visited the famous Bến Thành Market on my previous visits decades earlier, but a few friends urged me to check it out again. I thoroughly recommend a visit if you are the sort of person who likes being hassled by hundreds of people trying to sell you over-priced (no matter how hard you bargain) tourist tat, while being simultaneously harassed by people wanting to clean your shoes, sell you over-priced iced chilled coconuts and drive you on their motor cycles the long way round to some other tourist trap. I hated the place with a vengeance. 99% of what's being offered is garbage you can buy much cheaper anywhere else. Only 1%, shoved into a corner is what remains of the larger food market I remember. Here are a few of the rather sad stalls. Er. that's it. Nearby is this: It may be authentic, and it didn't look bad but again was a lot more expensive than you can get just yards away. Instead, I headed back to my hotel area and explored a couple of the local markets far from tourist land. I say markets, but some are just a couple of street side vendors, some have hole-in-the-wall premises and some are more organised into markets. They all sell food, clothing household items etc. I didn't see a food only market although most had a lot more than the 1% in Bến Thành. In random order as I strolled around. Rice, grains etc. Dried Fish and Vegetables More Seafood Who needs a stall? Use your motorcycle. Flower Girls Even More Seafood Baskets Girls selling Girl Stuff and having fun. The Beef Butchers I do like those tiny white Vietnamese eggplants/aubergines Hoping to catch passing trade. She is selling green mangos. Another green mango stall. Mắm Ruốc is Vietnamese fish sauce which is also on her cart in the red topped jars. Another rice place. I also took some time to visit the local supermarkets and a very special luxury food store. Coming soon, once I get time to sort out the pictures.

I'd say more than a few places. I saw it everywhere - restaurants and street carts. I also saw crispy bánh xèo in other places I ate, although I didn't try them. It wouldn't surprise me if HCMC has taken on regional favourites; after all it is a very cosmopolitan, international city. I saw restaurants from all over although, other than Vietnamese, only ate in the Italian one (which is actually Malaysian owned).

Looking for something else, I just came across this picture I took of the Bánh Xèo place staff. It was later in the evening and the crowd had thinned out somewhat. I got the impression it was a family operation, but not sure. The two women centre (one with face mask and the other with the pink top) spend every evening frying the pancakes. The two women on the left handle the vegetation and drinks while the two men distribute the pancakes and deal with the cash. They were all, like most Vietnamese in my experience, very friendly. The half obscured man in the blue shirt saw me trying to access the internet on my cell phone and immediately offered to connect me to his password protected free wi-fi. Everywhere in HCMC has free wi-fi, even the local buses.

Yes, my father was like that, too. Soup only ever came in cans, and then rarely.

The first time I ate it was in Paris about 30 years ago. At that time London had few if any Vietnamese restaurants. The UK didn't have the historic connection. I certainly never came across any, but I know they are there now. I've eaten it in Hanoi many times, but they served it in a slightly different manner. No rice paper wraps. One just used the lettuce leaves as the wrap. Still delicious. I don't suppose I'll ever get to Canada!

The morning before I had spotted this place near my hotel. It didn't look particularly appealing, but then I found in the evening it was ram-packed with customers, necessitating overspill onto the street outside. This I had to investigate. I managed to get a seat inside and found they only have one dish. you sit down and think you are waiting for a menu, but forget it. You are going to eat Bánh Xèo - no choice. Within seconds this lot appeared in front of me. Bánh xèo is those pancake type things at the front left of the picture, They are made from rice flour, coconut milk and turmeric. The pancakes are filled with pork, shrimp, bean sprouts and fried until crisp. Served with a heap of vegetation. Lettuce, coriander/cilantro, culantro, mint, green mango and more bean sprouts. A side of pickled carrot and daikon radish. a dipping sauce of shrimp paste, sesame and ? Secret recipe, I suspect. And should you desire whole chillis and cloves of raw garlic. As I was taking these pictures, this lovely elderly couple at the next table decided to give me an eating lesson. Or to be more precise, the suggested technique for getting this stuff down your gullet. Also on the table was this pile of rice paper circles. I was instructed to take one, lay on top vegetation of my choice then a piece of pancake (they were halved before serving), then roll the thing as tightly as possible like a cigar, dip into the sauce and insert in the largest hole in my face. I did as I was told. I'm that kind of guy! They were utterly delicious. I thought I would need a second serving, but they were remarkably filling. However, should you need, you can order extra pancakes or vegetables etc. In the 12 days I was in Vietnam, I ate this here three times. And so to bed. To dream

After lunch, I took a short stroll down to the Independence Palace which was the official home of the South Vietnamese presidents during the war years. This is somewhere I remember from my youth, particularly 1975 when a North Vietnamese tank burst through the gates to the palace, effectively ending the Vietnam war, as depicted in this famous photograph. Today, the only things bursting through those gates are tourist coaches. To my surprise the palace offered some culinary insights. This is the state dining room. I'll let them elucidate. Also of interest was One thing confused me here. Were all the Vietnamese presidents incontinent or do they think the tourists are? I have never seen so many toilets in one building. Not requiring their facilities, I headed downstairs where I found this. Well, well. What have we here? In no particular order Fridge Cocktail Table Dish Drainer Gas Oven Ice Cream Maker Coffee Machine Dumb Waiter Mixer I'll let you guess what this is. Here's a closer look. Big Woks Not so big I then headed back to the hotel for a rest and dinner. Coming soon.

Next morning, I had another bánh mì for breakfast, this time from a street cart. It was OK, but not so good as yesterday's. Then I headed down town to play at being a tourist for a day. It was now the weekend and so no work to be done. I last visited HCMC/Saigon in 1988, so it had changed a lot, yet still retains its unique feel despite the modern office blocks and star-wielding hotels. It is the sort of city I like. Unlike almost all Chinese cities, they haven't destroyed the old to build the new. It is a happily confusing mix of new and old, rich and poor. Someone described it to me as "a mess". He was being disparaging. Yes, it's chaotic, but the energy levels are high. I revisited places I remembered. The Old Post Office (built 1886-1891) has now sprouted a McDonald's next door. The post office is a popular tourist destination, but is also still a functioning post office. Outside, I met these lovely ladies. Next to the post office is a wonderful short street full of books, both new and second-hand (including some in English). At the far end of the street, I found a Book Café where I settled down for a nice cup of ice tea. They have shelves of books along one wall which customers are encouraged to browse. As far as I could see they were all in Vietnamese. Opposite the post office is the French built (1863-1880) Cathedral - Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de l'Immaculée Conception. All the materials used in its construction were imported from France. Unfortunately, it is undergoing restoration work, so much of it is covered with scaffolding. All this looking at things had me hungry again. There are all sorts of options in the area, but I decided on a pizza! I had passed this place with a proper wood burning pizza oven earlier in the day, and as I haven't had a decent pizza in decades, thought I'd give it a go. I was at their No. 2 location. From a relatively short menu, I chose this baby. It's a prosciutto and rocket/arugula and very pleasant it was, too. Also the cold beer was welcome in the heat. It was around 35ºC. Also, despite being in the heart of the tourist area, the prices were reasonable. That's the equivalent of $13 for the pizza and $1.75 for the beer. Plus 10% tax.

Yes. That's it. Thanks.

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That evening, I had dinner with some business contacts and it wasn't really appropriate to photograph the dishes. I did however go back the next morning and photograph the menu and the outside of the restaurant. We sat at the table front right. I never saw inside the restaurant. Click on image to enlarge Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the place - Something Club - but This is the “Lý Club” and it is to the west of the Independence Palace and before the War Museum. 143 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, District 3, HCMC. Tel: +84 8 3930 5588 To my amusement, my dinner hosts all went for the western menu, whereas I went for the Vietnamese. I had Mango Catfish, Beef Knuckle and the Rambutan Sweet Soup. It was very good, but the ambience was a bit too much above itself. And anyway, I prefer the street food. I'm cheap. Edited to add the name of the place as supplied by @KennethT

On my travels that morning, I also passed this place which was also offering phở , but for some reason passed this one by. Can't think why?

It had to be done. Having satisfied my breakfast requirements with the bánh mì, I decided to go explore the neighbourhood around the hotel. It was mainly residential and full of small shops. I found two local markets and two large supermarkets, one Vietnamese and the other Japanese. I was beginning to feel peckish again, so I chose the place that looked busiest for a nice bowl of phở - Vietnam's noodle classic. From the extensive menu of two items, I chose phở bò, the most popular beef version. The other was phở gà - chicken. This was GOOD! The broth was deeply flavoured and the accompaniments of bean sprouts, mint, pickled garlic, chilli and lime complemented the dish perfectly. I returned here more than once.

Yes, there is undoubtedly a French influence, but it has been somewhat adapted. I have found good bread most places in Vietnam, not only the major cities. Bread in China is almost non-existent. What they call bread is usually cake, so far as I am concerned. Most of it is also steamed rather than baked. Same in France.