With lemon-anchovy vinaigrette.
Incanto, San Francisco CA
Sad. This was probably one of the saddest salads I’ve seen in a while. When I chose it, I wasn’t expected a bunch of limp butter lettuce leaves drenched in caesar dressing. Everyone at our table who ordered this asked for some grated parmesan to at least add some texture. This was sad.
Little kid eating his boogers on the streetcar. LOL!
Pho bo. Sliced beef with flat rice noodles, onions, and chives. Served with basil, greens, limes, and habanero peppers. Regular 65,000 VND
Pho 2000, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM
I think I like beef pho better than chicken pho. The broth has a lot more flavor and I think it’s more fun to eat with chopsticks, especially if you have to try and separate the thin slices of beef. This soup was very tasty and such a great value!
Communist flower bed, Cong Vien 23 Thang 9.
With hard boiled egg, rice, sweet and sour sauce. 180 PHP
Deli Kiosk, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)
I swear I’ll eat almost anything when I’m hungry. I really didn’t even want this plate at the airport, but I was starving during our layover. It wasn’t very good. I do like hard boiled eggs though.
Drag show at Club Red Banana, Malate.
Dragonfruit, papaya, and watermelon.
Pink Tulip Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM
I’m always wary of eating fresh fruit in foreign countries unless it has a peel and I’m the one who peels it myself. But our morning fruit plates were great and we never got sick from them. Phew!
Vietnamese coffee with milk. They also provide hot water in case the coffee is too strong for your taste.
Almost done! I love Vietnamese coffee. I always asked for regular milk instead of the condensed milk.
The hotel guard dog. 🙂
Banana, papaya, and watermelon.
Iced Vietnamese coffee with milk.
With rice, steamed vegetables, carrot and jicama salad, dinner roll, and red wine. Complimentary
Manila (MNL) to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN), Philippine Airlines
Meh, this dish wasn’t very good. The chicken curry tasted ok, but I didn’t like the verging-on-slimy texture of it. The carrot and jicama salad was different, and I think it had pieces of ham in it. It was decent. Thank god for free wine on international legs!
Driving from Manila to San Pablo City.
Assorted salumi served with roasted garlic, pickled radishes and onions, and coarse mustard.
Incanto, San Francisco CA
I LOVE SALUMI! Boccalone (Chris Cosentino’s salumeria) makes some fine cured meats. They have a storefront in the SF Ferry Building, and Incanto also sold some of their products at the restaurant. The meats were SO tender and flavorful. I loved everything on the plate!
California Palace of the Legion of Honor.
Cha gio tom. Served with sweet fish sauce, carrots and lettuce. 65,000 VND
Pho 2000, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM
These crispy spring rolls were really tasty, but I’ve always loved Vietnamese style spring rolls. They had a lot of flavor and were filled with plenty of delicious noodles and vegetables.
Moist towelettes.
Drivers and families wait at international arrivals, SGN.
Siopao with sweet pulled pork filling. 60 PHP
Deli Kiosk, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)
Mmm, I really needed this pork bun during our long layover in Manila on our way to Vietnam. It was quite large and decently priced even for airport food.
Young musician statue, Villa Escudero.
Planter’s Punch: Bacardi light rhum, triple sec, lemon juice, pineapple juice, soda. 220,000 VND
Rex Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM
So this was probably the most we spent for cocktails while in Vietnam. We really wanted to check out the rooftop bar though (and get out of the scorching heat). The Rex hotel is historic and it was quite relaxing up on the roof so I really didn’t mind too much about spending a little more for drinks here. My Planter’s Punch tasted pretty weak and not as sweet and vibrantly colored as those you would find on a Caribbean island.
Gin and tonic. 240,000 VND
Salted peanuts.
Table centerpiece.
View from the Rex Hotel rooftop.
With bacon, hash browns, sauteed mushrooms, tomato, fruit, sweet roll, dinner roll. Complimentary
San Francisco (SFO) to Manila (MNL), Philippine Airlines
Ugh, I was NOT liking this breakfast. The bacon was OK because it’s really hard to mess up bacon, but everything else was a little off. I’ve never been a fan of Asian sausages because of their soft squishy texture so that was already a point off. The eggs weren’t very good either, even by airplane food standards. The sweet rolls was pretty tasty though.
Taal Volcano Island, Tagaytay.
With Sardinian cured tuna heart shavings, egg yolk, and parsley.
Incanto, San Francisco CA
Wow, this pasta was SO good! I’ve never had shaved tuna hearts before, but they tasted mighty fine. For me, they were more a textural component than flavorful. It was fun to mix the egg yolk into the pasta ourselves then portion the dish out.
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2012
Bay Bridge lights!
Served with bread. 35,000 VND
Pink Tulip Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM
So this is what Vietnam considers an omelet. OK, I can live with it. The omelet tasted pretty good, but I’m not quite sure what kind of cheese this was. It looked and tasted like Kraft American cheese singles.
Amazing crusty bread. Ugh, the bread here was SO good. The exterior was flaky and crunchy, and the interior was light and airy. I didn’t want to eat SO many carbs during the trip, but I HAD to eat an entire loaf every morning. 🙂
Butter and strawberry jam.
Street view from our hotel.
Vittle Monster 