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
