Over the past 2 months, Eva and I have been hopping around the country, exploring new cities and learning more about ourselves and Vietnam in general. We had been told in Dalat that we needed to go to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) to get our Visa renewed again and then decided to move to Ha Long the day we got our passports back. Here are some observations.
First, a caveat… On our trip so far, I’ve been willing to try some new things. And by try, I don’t mean adopt into my preferred meal rotation. I’m still leaning very much toward beef & chicken, potatoes & pasta. That said, options are limited in Vietnam.
Dalat
We were excited at first to find that we had a grocery store on the ground floor of our apartment in Dalat. That was until we found they didn’t have bread or beef or chicken or pasta at all. We walked back to our apartment with bags of Oreos, Ritz crackers, coke and water.
Truth be told, we never got in a good groove in Dalat. We found the Big C SuperCenter where we found people mobbing the bakery for bread. It was a fight when baguettes came out of the oven and when there weren’t people guarding the bread rack, you’d watch several people take the unwrapped bread in their hands, squeeze and poke it and put it back, which didn’t seem very appealing ever, let alone during COVID. But Big C had all of our essential needs, so we’d take a taxi from the grocery store to our grocery store apartment. We ate at home a lot.
A couple things I consumed for the first time: Pho Bo (7/10), goat (1/10), persimmon (3/10), Weasel Coffee (2/10), rice moonshine (3/10)
A couple GREAT highlights in Dalat:
German House and Biergarten: My personal favorite, great beer options, we both loved the amazing grilled chicken w/ mushroom sauce. We discovered this while visiting the amazing XQ Dalat Historical Village and returned to see TTC World: Valley of Love across the street.
The Dalat Train Café: This place was just a cool, quiet themed restaurant where you can chill out and enjoy the view and listen to train songs. The owner king Curtis was very friendly and interesting and explained his love for the old train and how he had this particular car moved to his property. I had pizza and wine both times I went.
Ganesh Indian Restaurant: It’s a travesty that we didn’t discover this restaurant earlier. We found it 3 days before we left and ate there twice. Especially during Night Market on the weekends, this offers a fantastic view over the city. I loved the chicken Tikka, and Eva particularly enjoyed naan.
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City):
We were in Saigon for about 3 weeks. I’m not ashamed to say that I was ecstatic to be in a large city with a McDonalds again. I don’t know if I’ve gone 4 months without McDonalds since I was too young to eat McDonalds. And I’m not saying that if I had more options that it’s the first place I’d go, but first thing we ordered in Saigon was McDonalds. After 2 months of largely cooking for ourselves, this apartment wasn’t stocked to allow that. BUT, we were surrounded by different and great options.
Highlights in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City):
Chickita Flame Grilled Chicken: I was super excited to discover Green Chili Chicken wings on a menu in Vietnam and with a great variety of other sauces, grab a beer and dig in!
Shamoji: This restaurant was on the first floor of our apartment. It was quaint and romantic, we were greeted with a group pronouncement of our arrival. The food was less impressive than the atmosphere, but the beef kabobs were good.
McDonalds: I was just so excited to have McDonalds again. I’ll tweak the quote because for me familiarity breeds content.
Ha Long Bay:
We’ve been in Ha Long Bay for 4 weeks. This has been the most difficult stop of our location independence so far. While we really love the aesthetic of the area and the mostly empty roads, this city has been rough for eating. There are few decent places to eat lunch, and it’s nearly impossible to get food delivery. The best restaurants open after 5pm, when I’ve got professional commitments. About once a week we can get Pizza Hut or KFC to deliver to our apartment. The rest of the tries fail… no available Grab Drivers or they won’t deliver without a Vietnamese phone number. There really are no decent restaurants with air conditioning in a reasonable walking distance from where we’re staying (the Sapphire). Many that we’ve gone out of our way to visit are closed due to COVID. The local mall, however, does have a decent grocery store, so we have good food we can make at home. Strangely, our two favorite restaurants in Vietnam are in Ha Long, but again, they open at 5pm which means we can only visit on weekends.
Highlights in Ha Long Bay:
Papa’s BBQ: Consistently AMAZING steak and they have Caipirinhas! Located in a great, mostly abandoned party strip, it’s a beautiful quiet night, with fantastic food and the host is a friendly, attentive German fellow who always has a table of friends on the patio.
Red Lion Pub: Another great European host, this is another great friendly establishment with great food. I’ve been going for the chicken sandwich, but Eva raves about the steak pie. Mostly an expat crowd.
Eco Cafe: Atmosphere is better than the food. Burgers and beers in a lush garden.
The consistent thing in Vietnam is the inundation of Cafes, from the fanciest storefronts to a table setup in front of somebody’s apartment. These people LOVE their coffee. It’s a part of their social culture that we’re missing out on.
I know, if you’re looking for a true Vietnamese experience, these are not the recommendations for you. BUT, if you’re travelling and you want to eat like a picky eater from the US, these are my recommendations. Eat safe, travel safe!