The only drawback he says is the coke for breakfast..
As a contrast, here's what the street where this cafe looked like when I was there, 1968
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Breakfast in Saigon
I have a friend, the cook down the street for those that have followed me for some years, who's spending a couple months in Vietnam. He's sent emails showing mostly the food, very inexpensive food, that's he's having daily. This is breakfast, a block from his hotel in Saigon, price was around 2$ american.
The only drawback he says is the coke for breakfast..
As a contrast, here's what the street where this cafe looked like when I was there, 1968
The only drawback he says is the coke for breakfast..
As a contrast, here's what the street where this cafe looked like when I was there, 1968
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I wouldn't mind coke for breakfast. In fact, I often have it after coffee and breakfast.
ReplyDeleteNot sure the last time I had a coke, could be decades.
DeleteThat dish, an iron... cow? Fifty years ago so much change.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to ask for tea.
I think Vietnam might have been at this stage 20 or more years ago had we not been on the side of the corrupt south VN government. I'm surprised they didn't have the iced coffee they have, it's delicious.
DeleteDylan wrote a paper on Ho Chi Min, quite a character, and chef.
DeleteWhen I was there, '67-8, in south VN once you got away from the big cities into the hamlets and villages, every house would have a picture of Ho on the wall, and couldn't tell you who the current president of south Vietnam was...
DeleteI think my stomach would revolt. Those eggs are swimming in fat. Hard to swallow. The little fly is admiring the view Ubiquitous, aren't they.
ReplyDeleteJoanne...actually they are swimming in Pho broth, it's kind of a beef Pho with two sunny side eggs up.
DeleteI never had problem finding coffee in Vietnam, but it was often expresso. They always had great bread. When I was in Hanoi, I found a restaurant that ate at regularly and for about $1.50 I enjoyed a huge bowl of Pho along with a large (16 oz) bottle of Hanoi beer.
ReplyDelete-Sage
When I was in Vietnam and traveled around SE Asia was the first time I had espresso. American-style drip coffee was only on the military bases. Liked it better than drip ever since.
DeleteOh, and I think the bread thing is from the long French colonial experience, and the number of French restaurants and French cooks that stayed after they were overthrown.
DeleteThat's a real day starter! Heavy breakfast indeed-but with a salad.
ReplyDeleteAgree, Tom. Not sure if this size breakfast is to cater to tourists or not. They get more European and other Asian countries visiting than the US.
DeleteGrandgirl was there for quite a while and described such - ahem - delicacies. She was always a finicky eater but India and SE Asia kicked all that out of her. Crickets!!!
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
I was a meat and potatoes kid like my kin until I spent a couple years in SE Asia.
DeleteToo bad he could not get tea. I gave up sodas a long time ago due to their cautions. Love the contrast of the photo. That old one is marvelous!!
ReplyDeleteI imagine he could have, tea is ubiquitous there like most Asian countries.
DeleteCorrupt government indeed. I was in my ignorance, on board for that war until my cousin, Terry, a Michigan Tech civil engineer came home for the huge Christmas gathering of our extended family. He was one of the lead people I the rebuilding of Saigon waterworks. "Listen Ray everything you hear on the news here is a lie. To get anything done I have to bribe the government. The vast majority the Buddhist hate us as the new colonialist, the Catholic minority is despised lackeys first of the French. This war cannot be won. Its based on our ignorance of a far away country..." From my cousin in his eighties now living in Idaho and now trout fishing with live bait and a canepole near the Montana boarder..:)
ReplyDeleteHey Ray
DeleteIt took me about 3 months after arriving to realize we were in a civil war, and on the wrong side. And any of the VN vets who keep saying "we coulda won if the government let us." are full of BS
Well, actually we could have won: if we dropped nuclear bombs on most of North Vietnam we would have defeated them, and started WW3, and be standing on radioactive ground now.
DeleteBack when I was young and drank a lot at night, I'd start my day with a Coke and a Hershey bar.
ReplyDeleteBreakfast of champions, Bruce.
Delete