If you are in Eastern Canada and go to a Vietnamese restaurant, the food is usually bland in taste and mediocre in presentation. Western Canada is a bit better, but never really considered a five star meal. We'd heard for a long time that vietnamese food is really healthy and some of the tastiest in the world... what better place to discover the truth than Hoi An, the culinary capital of Vietnam.
We also made stops at 2 tasting rooms where we sampled dishes picked up from other vendors along the walk. By the end of the tour, we had tasted over 40 of the local dishes. We were full, but the food was so tasty we still wanted to eat more!!
Neville captivated us with his local insight and stories. Here are a few notable things that stuck out:
- Locals believe that restaurants that have refrigerators are "not good" or "not clean". It's funny because it's the opposite of what we westerners might think.. but their logic is that if the restaurant uses a fridge, it means that the foods are not fresh. "Good" vietnamese restaurants go the market and buy their ingredients daily (or even twice daily) - they do not store and reuse old ingredients from the previous day.
- Meat, fish, fruits, and veggies are brought into the market fresh, daily. That is why we, remarkably, never saw any flies around the market, anywhere!
- Locals burn fake money that will be sent to their ancestor in heaven so that they can buy stuff there. They also burn paper suits (since the ancestors need to be clothed), and paper iPhone 5s and iPads… seriously - we're not making this up…
- Vietnamese love SPAM….thats right, America's "SPecial hAM". SPAM was, until recently, the number one item stolen from stores (now they keep it locked up). Why do they love spam so much? Apparently, during the American War (what we in the West call the "Vietnam War"), most of the crops were destroyed and many Vietnamese were starving. To eat, they had to raid the American army supplies... and what was the main staple of these supplies?….SPAM!!. The locals discovered a taste for it that lasted even after the war….. now you can also see local copies/versions of SPAM in the market (ham packaged in a banana leaf wrapping).
- Bahn Mi: Vietnamese sandwich: Dom liked it so much that we went there 5 more times. Be warned, it's not good everywhere - he tried it at other locations and cities but none of them rivals the one made by this sweet old lady who sets up shop just down the street from the White Sail restaurant (115 Tran Cao Van Street , Hoi An).
- Dau Hau - Warm silken tofu with ginger sauce
- Cao Lau - Hoi An specialty noodle soup with pork and salad leaves
- Sinh To Trai Cay - Mixed local Fruit in a cup with sauce and ice
- Hoanh Thanh Chien - Fried wonton with pork, shrimp, and salsa
- Xi Ma - A black sesame pudding, served hot
- Banh Cuon - Thin rice rolls with pork and minced wood ear mushrooms
- Banh Beo - Steamed rice flour discs with dried shrimp
- Banh Xeo - Vietnamese pork, shrimp, bean sprout pancake. In Hoi An they serve this delicious crispy treat wrapped in fresh rice paper with herbs and a dipping sauce that makes it extra amazing. In other cities the pancake is just served with fish sauce so it's a little more ordinary.
- Ca Phe Sua Da - Vietnamese drip coffee (Trung Nguyen #1) with condensed milk and ice. Yummy in Canada.. but even yummier in Hoi An, Vietnam!!
- Eggplant & Pumpkin Claypot at White Sail - so delicious we just had to go back for more!
After the tour, our days in Hoi An largely circled around what and where we wanted to eat next!! If you are a food lover and plan to go to Vietnam, a stop in Hoi An is a must. We highly recommend doing the Last Great Taste of Hoi An as early in your visit as you can so that you can discover all of the great places to eat, and have enough time to keep going back for more!! Neville's tour was definitely one of our biggest highlights in Vietnam - Book early!! The tour is high in demand and limited in space (http://www.tasteofhoian.com/).