We also added some miles on HCMC's streets today, as we had to cross town to District 10 to buy a ticket for the bus to Chau Doc we will be taking at the beginning of November. We broke the journey for breakfast at a simple cơm chay (vegetarian) cafeteria where we hoped to sample the local rice porridge dish, cháo (similar to Chinese congee), which is eaten in the mornings (or by the sick). Normally made using a meat stock and often featuring chicken, squid or even pig's kidneys, we were in search of a vegetarian version.
Disappointingly, the place we were looking for, Hương Viên (at 101 Vườn Chuối), seemed to have changed hands and become Thiện Tâm. While still offering vegetarian food, the menu seemed to be predominantly meat based - including the cháo. Our very limited Vietnamese capabilities met with the owner's similarly lacking English knowledge and resulted in gestures and sign language. The product of this was a plate of cơm chay - an assortment of vegetables and mock meats on rice - one of the two chay items on the menu.
We also attempted to order the các thực phẩm chay, but this may have been lost in translation and I'm still not clear what it means. Google tells me it just means 'vegetarian food'. Nevertheless, the rice dish was tasty and filling, with contrasting flavours and textures.
Aside the first: While chay means vegetarian, the tones are important in the Vietnamese language. Don't mix up chay with cháy (fire).
In fact, cơm cháy (rising tone) literally means 'scorched rice' and is the burnt bit of rice that forms at the bottom of the pan, while cơm chay (flat tone) means vegetarian meal or, more specifically, rice topped with an assortment of vegetarian things (cơm means both meal and rice, like the Japanese word gohan).
Having made the pilgrimage to book the bus ticket, we resolved to rest our weary feet. Among the dusty shop fronts and pavements littered with food stalls, parked motorbikes (gửi xe) and people sitting on small chairs as though at a children's tea party, I spied a cool-looking oasis.
Reached by means of a set of stepping stones, past a waterfall full of strange cartoon animals, Đà Lạt Phố is a multi-tiered café tucked away in District 3. Shrouded by a cooling mist and set back from the busy street, we almost walked by the unobtrusive frontage.
Aside the second: As I have mentioned before, phở is often mispronounced as 'foh' instead of 'fuh'. The phố in Đà Lạt Phố is pronounced 'foh' and is a different word (in this instance, I believe it means 'house', as the café is set out as a number of rooms). Those seeing the Phố sign and expecting Phở may well leave disappointed.
The theme of running water continues inside the deceptively large café, as it runs decoratively down one of the walls. The enormous 'house' comprises a series of cosy rooms furnished with comfortable chairs and sofas. This seemed to be a place for the Vietnamese middle class to socialise over coffee, smoothies or the ever-popular yoghurt drinks.
We joined them and sank a couple of hours. With endless iced tea arriving unbidden, it was easy to lose track of time in the air-conditioned haven. I discovered the 'crack' version of iced coffee, bạc xỉu, which is made with double the amount of sticky condensed milk and satisfied my sweet tooth.
In an afternoon of decadence, and as the shadows became long, we switched venues to a local bia hơi (fresh beer) establishment. Near the Independence Palace, it was less spit-and-sawdust than the venue on Thi Sach we had visited last week. In fact, it was entirely empty save for the staff and a couple of tiny (and identical) cats.
Huy Béo is a bar serving Hà Nội bia hơi. As well as being more salubrious, but ultimately more sterile and less fun, than the old guys' club in District 1, the draught beer is more expensive at 13,000 dong for a small glass. The beer has a slightly spicy, vegetal taste and was very refreshing.
Huy Béo is also a restaurant and seems to translate as 'Promoting Fat'. I'm not sure what this says about the Hanoi cuisine it serves, but a Google translation of the menu on the website reads like a bizarre shipping forecast: "puff rolls, spring rolls ears, molded eggs meat, sausages ham / corn bundles salt, galangal warehouse carp, perch fry, Hanoi Spring Flies , fried squid Halong Russian Barbecue, Car Crush cigarettes pork dishes, pork cooking fake mongoose, dog meat dishes tight."
I followed the draught with a bottle of Saigon Special (4.9%) as there was little price difference and I was intrigued to see whether this premium lager could add anything to the bland flagship product. It had slightly more body than the watery regular variety but it ultimately doesn't deliver any surprises.
After a couple of beers, we needed some stodge. As we were not far from home, we returned and made a lazy dinner of little fried spring rolls, which came in a packet labelled bánh rế, although I believe they are also known as chả giò rế and differ from the standard rolls by having a wrapper made of rice vermicelli woven into a sheet (bánh hỏi). A dipping sauce of lime juice, veg. fish sauce and sugar was a perfect foil to the fried spring rolls. With rice we had more pak choi and some vegan xíu mại ('pork' meatballs) sốt cà (in a tomato sauce). Not to be confused with shumai dumplings, these were straightforward meatballs and the whole meal soaked up some of the alcohol.
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