I am not a coffee snob. I drink folgers. Instant. Walmart. Basically I drink coffee for the caffeine and not much else. I like the delicious creamer and that is about it. No more. My trip to Vietnam has made me a Vietamese Ca Phe snob! Vietnamese coffee is all spicy and rich and smooth and delicious and then they mix it with a spoonful of sweetened condensed milk and I die a million dies!! If you have never tried one, I don’t even know how to tell you how delicious it is other than maybe like a Chai Tea with a delicious dark roast coffee… maybe? I drank so many coffees. They have an Egg Coffee with is SCM whipped with an egg an put on a coffee, so freaking good. But just the regular old coffees were so good. Hot, iced, instant. All so good. Coffee Coke. They say Italy or France is the land of coffees, lies. It is Vietnam. I brought some Ca Phe home and now I will only buy VN coffee. I am a coffee snob. How will I live?? Coffee houses also became a great refuge for us as they were air conditioned and when we were thinking we might die of heat exhaustion, we would go sit in a coffee house and order an iced or frozen drink and just sit and cool off. Now, their AC is by no means our AC. Think of an outdoor restaurant that is kinda cool when you first walk in but you are still sweating as you eat, that is how the AC there works, but compared to the 97 degrees 95% humidity outside, it seemed like a deep freeze at the mall in Vegas to us. A ton of Mormon Moms and me finding our bliss in coffee houses around Vietnam. A story to go down in history.
I loved VN cuisine before I left. Husbits and I were engaged at Mi La Cai Noodle House, so it has been in my soul, but after being there, I am not sick of it and I love it even more. First big win is that I learned to eat with Chopsticks. It has been 40 years in the making, but I can finally do it! I mean, I am no 1 grain of rice at a time, but I am not starving!!
The food isn’t spicy, that is the most asked question that I get. Nothing ever was really spicy. But it is flavorful and fresh and delicious. We had hot Pho for breakfast everyday. That was not my favorite. It was really, really hot and I did not love have hot soup when I felt like I was dying. But it was very flavorful. Lunch and dinner was usually rice, some meat, and veggies, and soup to pour over the rice and meat. The veggies were not our usual veg but things like bamboo and banana flowers and boiled greens, and eggs (yes that wasn’t meat so it was a veg), tofu, and peanuts. Sometimes we have carrots or sweet potato tots or bean sprouts. Mostly the flavor was from the soup broth and the course salt and lime or the chutneys on the table you could add if you wanted. Some people complained about having too little of veg whilst we were there, but it was all good for me, I thought everything was good. I did have massive sugar cravings at first, there just aren’t the same sweets everywhere, but then I found choco pies, and everything was fine.
The food isn’t spicy, that is the most asked question that I get. Nothing ever was really spicy. But it is flavorful and fresh and delicious. We had hot Pho for breakfast everyday. That was not my favorite. It was really, really hot and I did not love have hot soup when I felt like I was dying. But it was very flavorful. Lunch and dinner was usually rice, some meat, and veggies, and soup to pour over the rice and meat. The veggies were not our usual veg but things like bamboo and banana flowers and boiled greens, and eggs (yes that wasn’t meat so it was a veg), tofu, and peanuts. Sometimes we have carrots or sweet potato tots or bean sprouts. Mostly the flavor was from the soup broth and the course salt and lime or the chutneys on the table you could add if you wanted. Some people complained about having too little of veg whilst we were there, but it was all good for me, I thought everything was good. I did have massive sugar cravings at first, there just aren’t the same sweets everywhere, but then I found choco pies, and everything was fine.
We had to buy water the whole time, even to brush our teeth, so it was hard to remember at times, but because it was so, so hot and I have never sweated so much in all of my life, it was easy to remember to drink and drink and drink some more. We had to plan ahead and buy bottles of water to have at night and the next morning because all the places didn’t just have 7-11 or Circle Ks. I mean, those places exist, but in the big cities and not just conveniently and we didn’t have a car or means to carry bit things of water. Just a different lifestyle.
The sweet people would give us their delicassis and sometimes, we weren’t the most grateful. Chicken feet with toenails may have been one of these times. A Dinner with a chicken head battered and fried may have been one of these times.
Also, the french colonial influence in the food is interesting. I am sure that is where the sweetened condensed milk comes in; but there are croissants and baguettes and SCM on buns and waffles and it was all delicious, even if not very prevalent.
There was a McDonalds, ONE, in Hanoi and they had regional food and treats. Matcha smoothies and coffees and cheesecakes. They also had food that wasn’t so American, but I didn’t go all the way to Vietnam to eat at McDonalds, so I didn’t try anything.
There was a McDonalds, ONE, in Hanoi and they had regional food and treats. Matcha smoothies and coffees and cheesecakes. They also had food that wasn’t so American, but I didn’t go all the way to Vietnam to eat at McDonalds, so I didn’t try anything.