I have to give Sornthong Restaurant points for service. A lone gluten-intolerant foreigner comes in and asks what she can eat in a Chinese-run seafood restaurant. Disaster, right? What should I expect? A feast? Everything has soy sauce. And if it doesn't, it has oyster sauce and … [Read more...] about Sornthong Seafood in Bangkok
Klang Soi Restaurant: Back to Bangkok with a Homestyle Thai Restaurant
You will get lost finding Klang Soi Restaurant. It's seemingly inevitable. Even with a business card with a map and an address on it, I got lost. I asked 5 people for directions. Three pointed me in incorrect directions. One had no idea. The other took me around to as many other … [Read more...] about Klang Soi Restaurant: Back to Bangkok with a Homestyle Thai Restaurant
Hue Cuisine at Dong Pho Quan Hue Restaurant
Is it possible to get sick of caramel chicken? I'm doubtful, but I gave it a rest for a day in Ho Chi Minh City to find out more about Hue cuisine at Dong Pho Quan Hue restaurant. Located next door to mine and Anthony Bourdain's favourite rice-throwing restaurant, Com … [Read more...] about Hue Cuisine at Dong Pho Quan Hue Restaurant
Sore Feet, Pink Toes, and Crossing Your Fingers
My from District 3 home in Ho Chi Minh City I could walk to Ben Thanh Market in about 35 or 40 minutes. I made this trip—there and back with a certain amount of meandering in between—at least five times in the two weeks that I stayed in my Airbnb-rented apartment. I hated the … [Read more...] about Sore Feet, Pink Toes, and Crossing Your Fingers
Homemade Chicken Pho’ Ga: A Step Into Ms. Xuan’s Vietnamese Kitchen
After two months traveling in Asia, the first thing I made when I came home to Canada was Vietnamese chicken pho' ga—a clear, sweet and savoury rice noodle soup flavoured with ginger, shallots, rock sugar and fish sauce. I wasn't planning to make it, as it's a fairly lengthy … [Read more...] about Homemade Chicken Pho’ Ga: A Step Into Ms. Xuan’s Vietnamese Kitchen
Top Ten Foods in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Home to Winter, and One Last Shaved Ice
There are these handy tools here in Vietnam for crushing ice. You hold a huge chunk of ice in your hand (like a 1990ès cellphone size) and then whack it with a flat-bottomed mallet. The ice shatters. Voila, Vietnamese shaved ice. That's what I've been doing with the ice I make, … [Read more...] about Top Ten Foods in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Home to Winter, and One Last Shaved Ice
Throwing Charcoal-Grilled Rice, Caramelizing Fish, and Other Brilliant Food Ideas at Com Nieu Sai Gon Restaurant
If you're going to throw rice in a restaurant, this is how you do it... To give credit where credit is due, Anthony Bourdain hit this place first. He knows the female owner, respects her (and is possibly, sensible afraid of her), and loves sincerely all the food that … [Read more...] about Throwing Charcoal-Grilled Rice, Caramelizing Fish, and Other Brilliant Food Ideas at Com Nieu Sai Gon Restaurant
Home in District Three, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
After a gorgeous weekend in Mui Ne and a stress-inducing bus ride with an awful company (Phuong Nam—never use them! Take Phuong Trang instead), coming back to Ho Chi Minh felt like coming home. All I wanted was my bed in my apartment in residential district 3. I wanted to say hi … [Read more...] about Home in District Three, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Mui Ne, Vietnam: Local Guides and a Feeling of Home
It's about relationships, I think. Not just museums, not just experiences, not just restaurants. History, culture—it's all important, but relationships seem to bring it all together. First, a friend of a friend of a friend first put Malaysia on my travel itinerary, resulting in … [Read more...] about Mui Ne, Vietnam: Local Guides and a Feeling of Home
Coffee, Smoothies, and Shaved Ice in Saigon
The side-of-the-road plastic chair is a coveted piece of furniture in this city. Along every block little street food stalls, mobile coffee, juice, and cold drink carts and pop-up restaurants set up little plastic tables and chairs meant for people with very short legs. And … [Read more...] about Coffee, Smoothies, and Shaved Ice in Saigon