Hellooooo lovers, I’m baaack! Thank you for all the well wishes while I was on hiatus – it’s nice to be home 🙂 (and back on the interwebs).

As most of you know, I’ve been eating myself silly the past 15 days — I know, what’s new. But no, this has been a really special kind of silly. The eating-my-way-through Vietnam kind of silly!

Well, to be more specific, not quite all of Vietnam, since an unexpected detour to Hong Kong for a roundtrip price of $150 proved too tempting to pass up, but for sure, through a majority of Hồ Chí Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon). Don’t worry, you’ll hear all about HK feasting as well, all in due time. First things first though…Viet Eats! Wooop wooop!!

There is a good reason why even hardened eaters like Anthony Bourdain have fallen so in love with the cuisine of Vietnam. It’s fresh, vibrant, varied, and satisfying without feeling gluttonously heavy.

And, most often, it is cooked on the spot, right before your eyes, on the street, by someone who has been making that one particular dish over and over, for years, decades, quite possibly, generations.

Since Hua’s father and uncles are locals, we had the benefit of zipping about on the back of their motorbikes (amongst the unimaginable number of other motorbikes on the road), being led by the nose to some of the most delicious food I have ever tasted.

That’s a big statement, I know, but I stand by it. These local favorites are something special. Purveyors of food so good, so exciting, so complex in flavor yet simple in execution, I ate like I was starved (which is absurd because I don’t think I once felt the sensation of “hunger” the entire trip). I now pass this joy to you. Go seek these places/dishes out…