Vietnam Great Eats

Well, I heard this one’s really highly raved. Famous for being gravity defying, but I didn’t overturn it to check. It certainly feels solid when I took it from the server. Good serving size, charcoal cheese ice cream, but a tad bit expensive if you’re on a budget (costs $5.50 for this soft serve). I did however really enjoy it. It’s creamy, rich, can totally taste the cheese. Lasted me for a good 20 mins, without easily melting. I would say good money spent, just that the portion may be a bit too much for one. I would prefer sharing this, but I was out alone. Would splurge on this again if I am feeling it. 👍🏼 overall!

Hoi An is well known for their Banh My sandwiches. I did a lot of research on the Banh My before I went. Apparently there’s another place that Anthony Bourdain went before about a decade ago, but this... a review caught my eye about how this Banh My is simple, yet flavourful and it’s spicy. I told my friend, this is it, we have to visit. We were not disappointed. We packed a mixed banh my to go for dinner. It costs maybe around 20,000 vnd (S$1.20), and we shared it because we were pretty full from the egg drinks (yes quite filling, it’s good to fill you up mid-meal as a dessert snack). Oh my... quote my friend it’s legit good, even though it was cold by the time we got to it. I can only imagine it when it’s freshly done up. No pics of the banh my, it was in our tummies before we could think about snapping a pic. That good. I’ll hunt for this again if ever I am back in Hoi An. The shop’s pretty crowded with locals and tourists alike, so it’s defo legit good. Go and try for yourself!

One thing my friend and I do overseas was to try hot chocolate. The egg sip coffee was good so we ventured to try the egg chocolate. Didn’t get it hot, because the weather outside was too hot. Iced it is. One word of advice: stir, stir, stir like your life depended on it. Stir very very well. Same thing like the coffee, there a pool of condensed milk right at the bottom. Friend didn’t stir that well, I had a mouthful of it. 😖 After the sugar shock, I stirred really well and it was quite good. Friend said it tasted like ovaltine... eh... I think it kinda does? Perhaps try it hot next time.

My sis told me about egg sip coffee, and to be honest the first time I heard they add egg to coffee I had that 🤢 feeling about it. I mean, egg has a smell and taste to it right? The staler the egg, the more eggy it is. To put egg in coffee, O was seriously thinking twice about it. This cafe was a random find while walking along the Hoi An streets in the blazing hot afternoon sun. It was quaint and tucked away, inconspicuous but we decided, what the heck, just go in anyway since we saw the sign advertising what they offer outside. So, egg sip coffee it is, oh my.... it was quite good! The yellow custardy stuff on top was egg, with a sprinkle of cocoa powder. It was like aerated thick foam, almost custardy but not quite. We had it hot, but please stir your coffee very very well. There’s a layer of sweet (very) condensed milk pooling at the bottom, you don’t want to make that mistake of drinking that neat (🤭). Overall, the sweet condensed milk balanced the bitterness of the coffee and the egg foam/custard thing just thickens the whole thing, making it almost smoothie like. My non-coffee drinker friend gave it a stamp of approval, I think it’s worth a mention and I would go back for that laid back ambience. Honestly, there isn’t short of drink stops in Hoi An but this place has good vibes and free wifi too. So, stop by. 😊

First saw this at a night market near the Dragon Bridge. Was quite intrigued by it, decided to order this appetiser at Morning Glory. It totally surprised me with the crispiness. It was filled with meat, bean sprouts and some other stuff (not sure what). You can stuff more things into it, like the typical Viet fresh herbs, mint and what have you on the side. Dip it with the sweet chilli sauce... taste and texture explosion in your mouth. Worth a try but not wow enough to have me going back like Cao Lau Hoi An. Costs 85,000 vnd ($5.10). Just go for the Cao Lau...

I was super intrigued by this unique noodle (Cao Lau) of Vietnam, so I was on the active lookout for this dish. Went to Hoi An and heard many great things about Morning Glory by Ms Vy, who turned street food offerings into a nice little restaurant. Oh wow, I love this dish soooo much, totally unexpected. The yellow flat noodle had a very good bite to it, was al dante and not like the soft yellow noodles we have back home. The sauce coating the noodles was light and tasted like lor mee without all the starchiness. Marinated pork was totally delightful, nice caramel taste without the porky aftertaste and generous helping of pork lard croutons. At the background, thin rice cracker keropok. Oh. My. Goodness. Great dish to try. This one is slightly more expensive because it’s in Hoi An (very touristy) but at 75,000 vnd (S$4.50), it’s still decent and below food court prices. Makes you very full and awesome if you need to last an afternoon’s walk about the ancient town.

First time trying this dish and was a great delight. Heard that it’s a popular Danang street food and decided to go hunting for it. The broth was clean with a slightly tangy sourish hint, thanks to the pineapple core strips that went into cooking it. Add in some red chilli to spice up the soup, some beansprouts and Viet fresh herbs to bring up the crunch, it’s a delightful twist on Singapore’s fishball soup noodles. I ordered the large bowl and it came with a super generous helping of fish cakes with pork pate with ground black pepper. The place was packed with locals and the price point, wow. Mine was 30,000 vnd (S$1.80), super comfort food and filling too. Go try this when you’re out and about in Danang!