Restaurant 13. Very nice Vietnamese food.

Nicki’s son Jason and his partner Jamie arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday at the beginning of their sojourn into Vietnam and Sth East Asia. They are staying with me for a few days before moving further north. It’s really good to have the company and be able to share a wee bit of “my” city with them. Although in truth it’s a far reaching city with 11.5 million people and my part of it is so small. Rather than doing the Expat Western thing I have taken them out to eat at 2 Vietnamese restaurants. Vietnamese food inside Vietnam is a lot different to Vietnamese food in local restaurants in New Zealand. There are not a lot of veges and food is often presented with a bowl of salad leaves. The Vietnamese take a lettuce leaf and wrap their food in the leaf before dunking it into fish sauce and eating it. I have to say its delectable. I learnt last night that as you travel north the types of food changes in the variety and the way it is cooked. Last night we went over the Saigon River Bridge to District two, to the An Phu area where our main school campus is and dined at Restaurant 13. Restaurant 13 is on the banks of one of the labyrinth of water ways that make up part of the Saigon River. I had invited Tue, one of my teaching assistants to come along and join us so Jason and Jamie had the opportunity to ask questions from a local person. It was nice to share a meal with Tue and as the meal progressed we learnt heaps about Vietnamese food from him.Tue also recommended 2 items from the menu for us to share, which included shrimp and lotus salad, and to follow shrimp and tomato on sugar cane with vermicelli. Very tasty. Tue zoomed off on his motor bike and purchased us each a sugar cane drink from a near by vendor to complete the evening. Its so lovely to experience another culture with a local person making it even more special. Thanks tue.