Lunch was taken at ‘the oldest restaurant in Vietnam, open since 1871’ at Cha Ca La Vong, 14 Pho Cha Ca. R & Y wanted me to try the local speciality of Cha Ca, truly delicious crispy pieces of firm white fish, fried with spring onions, shallots, yellow onions, parsley and sweet dill. We climbed a steep, creaky wooden staircase to find a room full of local families eating together with gusto. I knew I was in for a treat! As soon as we sat down, a bowl of rice vermicelli arrived, followed by a clay-pot full of burning coals. A huge plate of fresh herbs and various dipping sauces were added to the table before a sizzling pan of golden yellow fish was brought through from the kitchen. Help yourself and keep adding fresh herbs to the pan until all is eaten.
At that very moment I realised why I love eating Vietnamese food so much; in England we are accustomed to having one dish with our ‘meat and three veg’ in one go. Part of the enjoyment of eating out here is that you can play around with your food, adding fresh ingredients to every bite, dipping, wrapping, and slurping, to create a different mouthful each time, with the simplest yet finest ingredients. Every meal is a different experience, a new ritual and a shared enjoyment of food. As I near the end of my trip I begin to feel fearful that I haven’t tasted enough, and this is really the only country in the world that I have discovered that I could eat day in, day out.
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