The Cantina Cuisine – food talk, recipes and more

Lindt is the top brand you can get around here, when it comes to quality Easter or Xmas chocolate. It’s the only one we buy for those days. Enjoy!

 

Star Dude’s Food Adventures – Part III

On the next evening, I was too lazy to leave the Hotel, so took an investigation into the in-house ‘all you can eat’ buffet, which was advertised with posters all over the place.


You can’t do anything wrong with Sushi for starters.


The second round then consisted of some fried pork, mini spring role and shellfish: Thai style steamed clam, sautéed horn shells with coconut, sautéed razor shells with sate among others.


Then I strolled around a bit more and discovered the ‘build-it-yourself’ noodle soup section, where you could select from a huge amount of ingredients ()Octopus, shrimps, fish, chicken, etc. plus all kinds of veggies) and thee different styles of broth to finish it. But because of the incredible amount of other food, I passed on this option.




I found those fellows that still crawled around more of interest…


… before them getting a hot water bath and a grill on demand. Thanks to the nutcracker tool at the table it was easy to get all the meat from the legs and the pincers.


Unfortunately, the exposed intestines, when cracking the carapace open, reminded me too much of my anatomy course and the dissection table from my studies, prevented me to shovel the contents of the crab into my mouth with a big spoon, as the others did around me, with appetite.

So I was off for another round: Fried rice, steamed fish in black bean sauce and of course more sea food.


Coming to the end, I tried the European style beef with garlic bread, and a last pick of the clams and sushi I liked best that evening.


I totally skipped the cheese bar, the salad bar and all the additional options they had, like Spaghetti with basil pesto.

Instead, before rolling back to my room, I had to pay my respect to the dessert section (again, I skipped all the fresh fruits also offered there.

But they also offered this…


…this…


…this…


…this…


… and of course, this.


I choose Crème brûlée, Crème Caramel, blueberry cheesecake and passion fruit cheese cake.


It was one of those evenings, were you can faintly hear that Maître d's voice: “A wafer-thin mint for Monsieur – a tiny little thin one – just one”

Next morning, a lean breakfast was in order. So I was taken by two colleagues to a very classic, back alley Phô place, which is offering the national dish as authentic as it can get, in Saigon.


The natives eat this noodle soup at every time of the day, including the chilis and Siracha sauce.


We were going for the beef variant, while I received as a special extra offer, one additional small bowl of hot broth with an raw egg dropped it. Also, the puff pastries served were delicious, containing minced meat and spices.



Star Dude will return in ‘Star Dudes Food Adventures – Part IV’

 

I think it’s a trick of the light on that picture. Those live crabs had a solid metal floor, but I’ve to admit that because of the wet surface, it really looks like ice!

 

Yep, they hog tied the poor fellas for easy handling.

I LOVE the combination of lamb, rosemary and garlic!

Mashed potatoes with Parmesan, deffinitly something I’ve to try out soon!

 

Ah, Japanese food - always a pleasure!


Which reminds me off…


Star Dude’s Food Adventures – Part IV

Close at the end of my late trip, I took the chance to visit a special ethnic neighborhood in Saigon: Little Japan. This illustrious area is located near downtown in district 1 and boasts of little alleys, cluttered with parked scooters and flogs of Ladies, waiting outside the countless SPA’s and massage parlors for customers. The average travelling Japanese businessman seems to have quite a big consumption of health-promoting measures.





There were also bars and restaurants scattered thru out.



At one point, I made the mistake to take a picture of an alley sporting those Ladies, but suddenly I was made aware by gestures containing fingers sliding over throats NOT to take pictures of the working girls if I don’t want to get into serious trouble.



Because I wanted to have a Ramen noodle soup as authentic as it gets outside Japan, we headed for a reputable restaurant.



Although, in front of it a pair of schoolgirls (?!?) were waiting for a special guest (this time I was allowed to take that picture). Some minutes later, an elderly Japanese gentleman arrived, and was escorted by the two to the special Karaoke backroom behind a solid door (although you could hear some singing coming through at one point or another).



The interior consisted classically of a bar only, no extra tables.



So we were seated directly next to the kitchen, with free literature, waving cat and WiFi.



We started with Gyōza, pan fried dumplings.


And then I had to experience something new (to me): Japanese Curry. It never crossed my mind that they have their own (delicious!) variants. So the three of us shared a plate of Curry daiichi A (including Korokke, Ebi and Tonkatsu).



Finally, I got my noodle soup: Special Tonkotsu Shio Ramen with Beef. It had a very rich flavor, enhanced by the roasted sesame, seaweed and other ingredients. It was a big bowl indeed.



On the next evening, my trip came to an end, time to say goodbye.
I was heading to the Saigon airport while the nightlife was about to start again in this bustling, never sleeping metropolis of 8.6 million people.