So it has been a while since I posted. I was trying to think of something I thought people would be interested in. I was getting quite a few questions about what I was eating so I decided that would be my topic. I hope you like food because that is what this article is all about. (I know I am not in Japan but I am kind of close. The title is a nod to Godzilla in case your mind doesn’t work like the goofiness that goes on in mine)
Hanoi is a place that has all kinds of food. You can find some very bizarre things or you can get a pizza from Pizza Hut if you want. It is not exactly the same as you might find in the United States but it is fairly close. Since I have been here I have eaten from several chains from the USA. I have had Pizza Hut, KFC and a few days ago I had Popeyes chicken. #Popeyes was by far the best. (Yes Popeyes Restaurant Group, you can pay me for the endorsement if you want. I do have quite a few readers. buhahahaha)
Now I did not take pictures of the fast food. You can do that for yourself. I did however take some photos of common food I eat that is more traditional. I even included a snap of one I do not eat. There are several of those things but I only included one photo. And before you ask, yes it is true that some people over here eat dogs and even cats. I don’t eat most street food since I don’t know for sure where it comes from. This article is not meant to show you all of the things you can eat here but what I eat on a regular basis.
Let’s start with a very common lunch for me. There is a place called Hotto. It is in the mall which is a few steps away from my home and my office. Their main dishes are a selection of vegetables, rice or noodles and a small amount of meat or fish. It is served on a very hot place which is how you finish cooking the food. It is very good and quite healthy if you don’t eat all of your rice. The meal pictured below is my favorite. It includes rice, shredded cabbage and carrots, corn, green beans and about 2 oz of thin sliced beef. By the way, this is considered quite a large meal; especially for lunch.
Another place that is close by is a Dim Sum place. It has some good food…and some things I don’t particularly care for. This first picture is of the standard dumplings. These had chicken and some type of bean in them.
Now this next picture is of a very common dish served here in Vietnam, chicken feet. I don’t eat them. There is very little meat on them obviously and they just don’t look that appetizing to me. There are too many other things better to eat in my opinion.
I will assume I still have some of you reading even after the chicken feet so I will continue.
Next on the list is some noodle soup with dumplings from a fantastic Taiwanese place near one of our offices. I like it quite a lot and I eat there frequently. They also make a killer oolong milk tea and fried chicken strips, also in the picture.
Hanoi has people from all over the world living here. Two big sub-cultures here are Japanese and Korean. Where I live in work happens to be in the middle of the Korean area. Kwon jang nim you should be proud. (even though you don’t read my blog…maybe this will get you to. If anyone doesn’t know that is what we call our Taekwondo Grand Master). Back on topic. Many of the dinners I eat are influenced by Korean dishes. These next dishes show a few of eating at a Korean BBQ place and a seafood pancake from different place in my building. The pancake is one of my favorite dishes. The third picture here is a Korean rice dish served in a very hot bowl with rice cake in kimchi sauce and some kind of pickled vegetable. Come to think of it…I eat quite a bit of kimchi now.
For some reason over here, cooking your own food is popular. My friends here give me a hard time because I am always complaining about having to cook my food that I have paid others for. Now the lady that hangs out with us cooks for me. The three of us that hang out together, since we work in the same office and live in the same building, eat dinner most nights. It has come to the point now that I just sit down and they order and I just eat whatever shows up. This next photo shows a hotpot restaurant we eat at frequently. You choose 1 or 2 broth types that boils within the table and you cook the meat, fish, shrimp, vegetables and such that they wheel to your table on a cart in the broth. It is quite good. The broth on the left is a Thai based broth and the one on the right is about 50% chili oil and I don’t know what else because the chili oil is so hot, but sooo good. Also, pictured is my friend Deanne. She is the one that orders because she is pushy…I mean kind enough to order and cook for me so I don’t complain.
…ok I have to include a funny story; at least it was funny to my friend John and I. As I stated above I live in Korean town. One night we went to a Korean BBQ place and Deanne started ordering. I could tell that Deanne and the waitress was having quite a hard time communicating. I don’t speak any Vietnamese nor Korean, BUT I DO KNOW ENGLISH. John and I were trying to interrupt Deanne multiple times to tell her that the waitress was speaking English but she just kept on speaking Vietnamese. At one point Deanne, while talking in Vietnamese to the poor girl, just shushed John by giving him the hand without even looking at him. :). It was obvious that the girl did not understand Vietnamese. Finally, the girl called another waiter over to help who spoke Vietnamese. We still give Deanne a hard time about speaking Vietnamese to a Korean speaking English.
One night we went out for steak at a place that served one of the best appetizers. It was flame grilled Octopus. It was very good, better than the steak in my opinion.
I journeyed over to West Lake or Tay Ho depending on who you talk to one sunny afternoon for some Mexican food. Mexican is my favorite and I hadn’t had any in months so I took the 40 minute cab ride to the other side of Hanoi to a place called Anita’s Cantina. It was ok. At least they had SALSA. I was very happy to get that even though it was not on par with Whitney’s salsa. Pictured here is a burrito.
At the end of a meal sometimes there is desert. I will serve that now. haha
A bakery opened right next to my apartment building. It serves all kinds of breads and cakes like most bakeries. Large portions are not common here and at this bakery it is no different. The first picture shows a cake we ordered for new years eve dinner. It was the largest cake there. As you can see there are candles. That it is a running joke with us who hang out together. Everywhere we go it is someone’s birthday. The second picture is obvious what it is. It was ok, not fantastic.
Well i’m hungry now. How about you? I think I will go grab something to eat.
Thanks again for reading and for your comments.
Happy New Year!
Doug
