Food: The Good, The Bad, and The Possibly Infectious
Even though it’s only day four, our group has had plenty of experience with food. It might be the whole three-meals-a-day thing at work. It might be that we’re college students. Regardless, the high point is that none of us have ended up bound to our rooms by explosive diarreah yet. The low point is that it was a distinct possibility more than once.
I have tried to make it a point to take pictures of every meal I’ve eaten so far here in Vietnam, although a few times my anticipation/gnawing hunger has gotten the better of me. Some of the high points have been: The Lemongrass Cafe (day 1). It was traditional Vietnamese cuisine. They served pho, which is probably Vietnam’s most well-renowned dish, which our English professor ordered and spoke very highly of. It was also one of few restaurants where eating the freshly washed vegetables was probably not deadly. Because our American bodies aren’t prepared for the microbes in Vietnam’s (otherwise potable) water supply, we have been discouraged from drinking tap water, drinking from glasses filled with ice, or eating raw vegetables that have been washed in tap water. It’s been a little taxing, as not every restaurant serves bottled water. For the most part, however, bottled water has been available everywhere we’ve gone.
Another high point was a hole-on-the-wall Korean restaurant right across the street from our hotel. It looked pretty questionable, but it was a gigantic surprise. The menu was very horribly misspelled (I ordered Barbeque Beep Rips hoping I was indeed in for Ribs, and not some unknown part of the cow), but the food was perfect. My beep rips were delightful, and the entire experience was far less life-threatening than I expected. Oh, and I’m getting pretty good with chopsticks!
A few down sides to dining mostly include the fact that we do not speak Vietnamese, so sometimes communicating with our servers seems impossible. Although many servers are fluent in English to a point that we can point to menu items and get the right thing, there have been a few rough spots. One such night was with a girl named Vy at a restaurant called The Lion. First of all, The Lion looks like every German Stereotype crammed into a room the size of a football field with a slight Harry Potter theme. The menu, however, is as far from Germany as you can get. I got sweet & sour pork (which was delicious), and everyone else got a fairly “Asian” meal. They did have several beers on tap, though, so there’s Germany. Vy, though she tried her best, was a train wreck of a server. Our drink orders went in immediately, but took half an hour to come (meanwhile, kegs of beer were delivered to other tables like it was free). Vy also decided to ignore us by texting in the corner. Of course, the same thing happens at many American Restaurants, but the problem was amplified by the fact that every time we tried to speak with her, she could not understand us. At one point, she spoke to me in rapidfire Vietnamese, but since I really barely grasp “hello,” “thank you,” and “good night,” it was lost on me. Finally, we started asking other servers for things like our meal, drinks, and the check. They were quite a bit more competent than Vy, and our meal ended up being pretty much a success. I’m going to chalk it up as Vy’s first week at The Lion, and wish her well.
Another dangerous encounter was a coffee shop called Bittersweet. A small group of us had gone to market, which was stressful in so many ways I’m surprised I still have all my hair. (Although we all got some pretty sweet deals, we also got heckled, manhandled and swindled. It was exciting and terrifying.) We were hot, sweaty, and almost ready to kill each other, so a relaxing cup of coffee sounded nice. Bittersweet looked extraordinarily promising. It was clean, air conditioned, and the staff of bright, bubbly girls were so nice. As we were decompressing, sipping our iced lattes and mochas, however, we noticed the ice chest. Simply put, this baby was encrusted with dirt and probably leaking on the floor. So much for drinks without ice. Worried as we were, however, we were willing to face diarreah for prolonged ice cold refreshment. On our way out, however, we were extra terrified because we witnessed an ice delivery. This basically consisted of a green canvas bag filled with ice being driven up to the shop on the back of a motorbike. The walk home was mostly filled with worry that we would spend the night locked in our hotel rooms fighting over pepto bismol and immodium. Luckily, we all made it through the day.
Overall, food in Vietnam has been delicious, and I can honestly say I’ve tried things I never anticipated trying before. I’m loving the wide variety of foods available to us, and I can’t wait to see what happens as we start traveling North.
