This is the first seafood I patronized. It is located at Pham Ngu Lao area in District 1 and is near to a pub named 17 Saloon that features Filipino band. It is close to midnight and there were still many customers. I simply love the outdoor setting with those low tables and chairs. It some how felt more relax and chill.

I’ve so far been to 2 road side restaurant serving seafood. It is definitely a MUST DO when you come visit Ho Chi Minh. A party of 5-6 person would be the most ideal. The more people in your group, the more you get to order different types of food that are offered in the menu. Drinking the local beer like “333” ( known as in Ba Ba Ba in Vietnamese ) or Saigon beer while enjoying your dishes are highly recommended. When is time to pay, you will be surprise that it will be around USD7-8 per person for a meal fit for the kings!

I have no idea what the shell looks like in it’s original form but I am guessing it must be a big ass shell. The shell is most likely boiled and then the meat is cut to small pieces. Dried chili with oil are being sauteed with salt and probably some other type of seasoning, then poured  top of the boiled shell. Texture is rubbery like calamari and is not tough at all. Super tasty with those fried chili oil.

Some sort of shell that looks like bamboo. Pretty common seafood fare in South East Asia and normally stir fried with chili and minced garlic.

Super big giant cockles with peanuts. I have no idea how it was being prepared but it tasted really good.

Tasty scallops served with peanuts and thinly chopped chives.

Giant snails cooked with lemon grass. I’ve always love to eat food that is being cook and serve to you at the same time. Big flames from the stove heating up the plate of giant snails and getting the flavor from the lemon grass.

Clam soup with lemon grass in hot pot

Grill fish Vietnamese style. The dipping for most seafood in Vietnam is mixture of salt, pepper and lime. But for my own personal preference, dipping it with sambal belacan or Namprik Kapi would suit me better.

Fried chicken wings in fish sauce. A good dish to order to include some meaty texture in a seafood dinner. Those onion are super tasty and so is the deep fried chicken. Crispy on the outside, moist and juicy in the inside. Winning!

Stir fry pork intestine in some sweet and sour sauce.

Plain boiled vegetables that is super healthy if you just eat it by itself, but nobody is going to do that when you can dip into a special kind of dipping sauce which I think is uniquely Vietnamese.

Special dipping sauce that contains bits of crunchy fried pork lard, dried shrimp, fish sauce and some other stuff that I couldn’t figure out with my taste bud. Dipping those boil vegetables into this sauce will surely fire up your appetite for more food whacking obscenity.

Morning glory or kangkung got to be one of the most popular vegetable in South East Asia. Simple stir fry with garlic and no presence of chili and belacan, still tasted super good.

Vietnamese mango salad with dried/salted fish. Pretty close to Thai version of mango salad.

Vietnamese coconut salad. I have no idea which part of the coconut they using, but I know is definitely not from the coconut itself. I am suspecting it is from the branch or young coconut bark.

Lastly, a salted fish fried rice with crab meat to complete the whole seafood orgy outing.

The pictures of this post were taken from my 2 eating session. If you happen to come visit Ho Chi Minh, these are the 2 restaurant that I highly recommend you to go.

Phuc Oc ( Restaurant Name ) – 136, Nguyen Thai Hoc, Pham Ngu Lao

and

Vy Da ( Restaurant Name ), in the corner of Ly Tu Trong and Nguyen Trung Truc Street. You can never missed it as you will see many people dining in the open air.

I would suggest you download the pictures of the food in this post, that makes it easier for you to order your food if you do not speak or read Vietnamese.

]]> http://spicegasm.com/2012/03/seafood-orgy-in-the-streets-of-ho-chi-minh/feed/ 1 http://spicegasm.com/2012/03/i-finally-know-what-com-really-means/ http://spicegasm.com/2012/03/i-finally-know-what-com-really-means/#comments Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:08:33 +0000 Alex http://spicegasm.com/?p=1206 Everywhere I walk, the word COM is everywhere in Saigon. I see it on the food stalls and restaurants. Just outside of my hotel, there’s a non air conditioned restaurant bearing a big signboard with the word “COM” on it.  I am smart enough to know that it’s not Internet related though. I decided to eat lunch there as my “FOODAR” told me that this restaurant will be all right. I was eager to find out the meaning of COM once and for all too. For those of you who are wondering what FOODAR means, is just a word I made up. It stands for “Good Food Radar”. Is not an I-Phone aps but is something I developed over the years hunting down the best eating joint.

The Com Tam restaurant located near my hotel

I sat down, the friendly waitress came and gave me the menu. The menu has pictures and it’s in Vietnamese and English language. Sweet! I browsed the menu for a bit and I see the word “COM TAM” a lot. You have the choice of COM TAM with chicken, beef or pork BBQ. I noticed on the menu it has the translation for the word “COM TAM”. It is being described as Broken Rice. Sounds interesting! So I ordered Com Tam with chicken BBQ Vietnamese style.

A few customers enjoying their Com Tam. I love how Vietnam has all this low stools and tables. Just seem more relaxing and not so formal like normal size dining chairs and tables.

This is where your meat is being grilled.

While waiting for my food to arrive, I went to get some pictures of the restaurant and glancing quickly at other customers orders. I love to see what they eat. After I am satisfied with my pictures taking, I went back to my seat and ordered a soup dish, saw someone having having the some what yummy looking soup. From my quick glance, I am guessing the soup would be beef tendon with tomatoes and pickled cabbage soup. Am really excited to see how the rice is being prepared. How often you get to eat broken rice? I then start to guess how the rice will look like, the texture and so on. I was pretty convinced that my rice would come in the form of paste or rice cakes.

Just look at the lovely grilled chicken. After the meal, I read on wikipedia that the rice are broken during the process of cleaning. These broken rice are then separated from the good ones and sold at a lower price. Initially Com Tam is food meant for poor people but some how it became favorite food of many people in Vietnam.

When my Com Tam finally arrived, the rice look like normal rice to me. Nothing broken or beaten about it. Only when I start taking picture of my plate of Com Tam with chicken BBQ, I realized that every single grain of my rice is broken. This seems pretty odd as long grain rice fetch higher price as it always taste better. Along with my Com Tam, there’s a small bowl of dipping sauce that doesn’t look like the normal soya sauce or fish sauce that I am accustomed to. The color of the sauce looked like lemon juice but when I tasted it, it is no where near the taste of lemon juice. I just added finely chopped fresh chili into the sauce.

Tasty beef tendon with tomatoes and picked cabbage soup. Perfect pairing as Com Tam does not have much gravy.

I liked the taste of the chicken BBQ, which has a sweet taste to it. It goes really well with the sauce that I just added chili into it. Everybody will like this food at the first try. It is for sure comfort food for the Vietnamese I am guessing. The steamed broken rice was all right too. To my surprise, it didn’t lack the same texture as the expensive long grain rice like Basmathi or Jasmine. The soup came in a small bowl and tasted really good too. It has a little bit of beef tendon, the portion of the pickled cabbage was just right.

I always take pictures of menu so I can remember the name of the food I’ve eaten. Not really meant to post it in my blog but I guess this particular picture is clear enough for you to check out the prices.

Feeling satisfied after the meal, I asked the waitress what Com means? She told me Com means rice and Tam means broken. I am happy with the information as suddenly all the images of food stalls and restaurant bearing the word Com rushed to my mind. I know now that those stalls are definitely serving dishes that is rice based. I can now avoid looking like an idiot going to the Com food stall and confidently ordering “One Pho Please!”

Early morning traffic in Ho Chi Minh City, near Ben Thanh market

I have to admit it wasn’t that dangerous at all. I would guess it is easier if you do sports, dancing and play certain musical instruments all the time. It just requires timing and coordination. So on my second attempt; I purposely waited for heavier traffic passing my way before I crossed the road. I timed myself, imagined that I am doing ballroom dancing ( not that I’ve done ballroom dancing before but watching Dancing With The Stars now seems to be quite rewarding ) and I made sure to look at the motorbike riders. This is to make sure that they are looking at you too. At times you are required to stop and the motorbikes will swerve past you. Is like playing the video game Frogger and you are the frog this time around, in real life.

Traffic is building up but I am waiting for heavier traffic before I cross the road

This flow of traffic is perfect for beginners. TIPS : Take a deep breath, clench your butt and walk at a timely speed. Important : NEVER RUN

So if you are going to Ho Chi Minh for your holidays, this is one activity that I highly recommend you to do. Is FREE and has the elements of courage building, extreme sports and even a little bit of spiritual. I feel like Superman, Moses or even Jesus Christ when I crossed the street of Ho Chi Minh. Below are some really cool videos that I found from YouTube. See the videos and you will understand what I mean.

Before coming to Vietnam, one of my goals was to have breakfast on the road side just like most Saigonese do every morning. I want to drink Vietnamese coffee and eat whatever they are serving, as long as it’s on the road side. And it has to be a road side stall with exceptionally low stools and tables. This image has been stuck in my mind for many years after watching some travel documentaries on TV. I find it really cool and it’s almost like an art, to be able to sit on those low stools on the road side, watching all the heavy morning traffic passing you by while enjoying your Vietnamese coffee. I hope I can blend in like those old Vietnamese folk and contain my excitement. You need to have that cool look that is almost like you don’t @#$% care what is going around you. Is not the Fonzy cool or the hip Japanese actor Joe Odagiri cool. It has to be “Vietnamese old man drinking coffee on the road side cool”

Restaurant serving the famous Vietnamese beef noodles, Pho. Not ready for Pho yet as I’ve eaten it countless of times in Vietnamese restaurant all over the world.

So I woke up at 6.0o am and my first step is to look for the coolest looking road side stall that serves coffee. I walked to the main road and the open air market right outside the alley of hotel was already doing business at full swing. I walked along Pham Ngu Lao Street and headed towards the direction of Ben Thanh market. Since I am staying in the backpackers’ area, I can see a lot of decent looking restaurant serving Pho and Western breakfast. I walked past all that as I am very determined to have my first breakfast in Vietnam the “cool” way.

Look how cool those guys are. I continued searching for another stall as I was afraid I couldn’t blend in.

This was the stall I really wanted to try but was afraid that I might not be able to order the right kind of noodles I wanted. But before I proceed to look for a better joint, I stole a shot while the customers’ back was facing my camera, NOT COOL Alex!

During the first 1o minutes of my walk, I saw a lot of road side stalls serving coffee but it just doesn’t seem right. I am in the area where there’s too many tourist walking around, hotels and tour agencies. I want to look for a stall that is away from all that and it is operating right outside of an old building. I kept walking and I saw some really nice ones but it was too crowded. I was worried also that I might not be able to order the stuff that I wanted. But I think the main reason is I was feeling a little bit nervous. I am like the new student going to my new school and the cool kids might not accept me as one of the cool guys. I just took some pictures and continue to walk more to find nicer coffee stalls and to build courage as well.

Finally settled for this stall. That’s the one and only table she has and is available at that time.

After one hour of walking and I am getting really hungry. I saw a lady selling Banh Mi and there’s only one table, and it is available. No cool old dudes drinking coffee there and I just decided to eat here instead. So I am sad to say that my mission of blending with the cool Saigonese folks today is a total disaster. I just told myself that I will be here for quite a while and lets just settle for this at the moment. I sat down and ordered my Banh Mi ( 15,000 VND ) and ice coffee. She told me she doesn’t sell coffee but she can order from the shop opposite of her stall. I did feel a little bit defeated when she said she does not sell coffee but I still insisted on having one from the shop opposite of her stall. She just shouted to the lady across the road in Vietnamese and minutes later my coffee arrived. Paid 9000 VND for my coffee and I bite into my Banh Mi. After the first bite, it did make me feel better. As I was chomping down my Banh Mi, I vowed to myself that I will drink coffee among the cool old men of Ho Chi Minh city before I leave Vietnam.

The vendor is seen busy preparing the Banh Mi that I ordered.

My Vietnamese Ice Coffee on it’s way from the opposite side of the road – efficient delivery!

Delicious tasting Banh Mi, French loaf with meat, pickled carrots and thick slice of cucumber that is cut vertically. Some chili sauce and maybe mayonaise ( not sure ) or some special sauce. The combination of crunchiness ( cucumber and pickled carrot ), fluffiness ( french loaf ) and meatiness ( meat ) is to perfection when you take a big bite out of the Banh Mi. Don’t need to eat Subway when you can have this Banh Mi for 0.70 USD.

As you have suspected, I got lost again and have to resort to the motorbike taxi dude to bring me to Ben Thanh. I was 30 minutes late and my Vietnamese friend ( her name is Tien ) was graceful and did not feel a bit irritated. Tien brought another of her fellow classmate as well. We shook hands, did the customary short introduction and she then proceed to ask me what I would like to eat. I told her some street food would be cool but she suggested that the street food in Ben Thanh market is kinda pricey. Not surprise there as it is a tourist area. So she suggested a Hue restaurant instead. I like the sound of it as I have no idea what “Hue” is and this gives me a chance to learn more about Vietnamese cuisine.

My tasty rice noodles with fried spring rolls with crab stuffing

It is just walking distance from Ben Thanh market to the Hue Restaurant. The restaurant is air conditioned and looks pretty trendy. So, street food gotta take the back seat for today and I like the idea of eating dinner at a fancy Vietnamese restaurant for the first time. We decided to sit upstairs and the seating is more traditional where we sat on the floor. There’s a low table and is not a problem for me at all as I can sit comfortably while folding my legs. We went through the menu and I let Tien pick a dish for me. I asked them to order whatever they like and dinner is on me, since I’m late and she is a student.

This how my noodles looks like when it was mixed with chili oil and the sauce. My mouth watered while uploading this picture.

They told me that they have already eaten and I insisted that order some kind of food that is not that heavy. Those transparent spring rolls with lots of vegetables stuffed in it looks pretty light, I said. She gave in and ordered the spring rolls and a bowl of noodles for me. While waiting for the food, she explained to me about Hue cuisine. According to her, Hue cuisine is the locals favorite. I am guessing is how Isaan food in Thailand is the favorite of Thai people and Hue food is to Vietnamese folks.

When the food finally arrived, the food looks pretty. Hue cuisine is famous for this, as the chefs are required to make the food tasty and visually appealing. Looks like Tien order a rice noodles dish for me with some fried spring rolls with crab meat in it. It has a bowl of sauce where I am supposed to drench it on my noodles. It is not a soupy dish and it tasted kinda like some sort of special salad to me. I asked her how can I make the noodles spicy and she suggested that I put some chili oil. I mixed the noodles with chili oil and the sauce and took my first bite. I like it and when I took a bite on those tiny fried spring rolls, YUMMY!

The waiter sitting there waiting to serve us when he is required

I am guessing that the spring rolls are coated with a little bit of sugar that’s caramelized together with some sesame seed. The stuffing of the crab meat is very tasty too. Since I am very hungry, I finished my noodles pretty fast. My first meal in a fancy Vietnamese restaurant and Tien did a good job by ordering that particular noodle for me. Oh and I was offered the last piece of the transparent looking spring roll and it is good too. I like how the wrapping is thin and not thick like the ones I had before in Vietnamese restaurant that is not in Vietnam. I thanked Tien for bringing me to this restaurant.

Took the entrance of the restaurant when we were leaving

Chilling in the park opposite of Ben Thanh market with the locals

My food guide for the night, Tien and her friend.

I paid the bill which I can’t remember the exact price but I do know it was not expensive at all. Maybe not more than 10 USD, pretty cheap for a fancy looking restaurant. After dinner, Tien suggested that we go to a park opposite of Ben Thanh market to chill and chit chat. According to her this is a favorite past time among low and middle income Vietnamese. I love the idea of doing the same thing as the locals of the countries that I’ve visited and going to visit. We sat down and chit chat about everything and anything that comes to mind. Sometimes we paused to observed the people in the park. There are young couples on a date, families with their kids playing soccer, some sporty couples playing badminton and also group of Vietnamese just hanging out and chit chat. I can’t help but to feel really satisfied and happy deep inside. I just sat there amongst the locals and absorbing the atmosphere of Ho Chi Minh at night time.

Outside of Saigon International Airport

Touched down in Saigon airport at 9.30am, March 14 2012. I decided to take the bus and not go to the easy route of using taxis which is more comfortable and faster. By taking the bus in a country that I am visiting for the first time gives me the right to brag a little to my friends. The fare with bus 152 to the city is only 4000 VND ( 0.20 USD ). Taxi to the city will cost around 10 USD according to some travel forums.

I board on Bus 152 right in front of the domestic airport, which is like a 10 minutes walk from the International Airport. I have to admit I was tempted to just get a taxi, especially when you are carrying luggage and the hot weather is not helping too. But I am happy that I stuck with my decision to take the bus and enjoyed the view of Ho Chi Minh City. After 45 minutes, the bus stopped at the station and it is just opposite of the famous Ben Tanh Market.

As I got down from the bus, many motorbike taxi dudes were offering their services. I booked my hotel few days ago and checked in some forums to get directions to my hotel. So no motorbike taxi for me and I will just try to find my hotel on my own. I figured that this is probably a good way to see the city and get familiar with my surroundings.

After 45 minutes of walking aimlessly, I just remembered that my sense of direction is as good as Mike Tyson singing in Hang Over 2. After asking so many people for directions, locals and foreigners, I still can’t figure out where the heck is my hotel. Finally I threw in the towel and get a motorbike taxi. He wanted 40,000 VND but I know the fare is not more than 10,000 VND. I offered him 20,000 VND as I am in no mood to haggle over a few cents extra.

My “adventurous” bus ride from the airport

Hopped on to his bike and was in my hotel in 5 minutes time. Made a mental note to myself that sometimes trying to be adventurous is a complete waste of time! Checked into my hotel with no problem and the receptionist speaks fluent English and very friendly. For 22 USD a night, I think my room is pretty good. Everything is new and most importantly it has free Internet.

Hello Hotel in District 1, near Pham Nga Lao Street

Believe it or not, this is kinda like one of the main entrance to my hotel. Along this tiny alley, there’s a few other hotels similar to mine. I wonder if any of the residents of this alley has cars and where do they park them.

After settling all my stuff in my room, is time to go lunch. I walked to the streets near my hotel and there’s plenty of restaurants and street food to go around. After walking for quite a bit, I decided to eat in a non air condition restaurant with quite a bit of crowd. As I walked in, I saw a familiar face waving at me asking me to join her. It was the receptionist of my hotel, awesome!

My first meal in Vietnam and there’s a local who will most likely shed some knowledge about their food. She told me that this restaurant specializes on fares from middle of Vietnam, near Na Thrang ( Ho Chi Minh is south and Hanoi is the north ). I ordered a rice noodle dish with soup and tuna. Name of the dish is Bun Ca Ngu and I kinda tasted like the Penang Assam Laksa but milder. The price of my dish is 35,000 VND ( 1.65 USD ), which is pretty standard Asian price like Thailand or Malaysia.

My first Vietnamese restaurant

Bun Cha Ngu – rice noodles with a slice of tuna. Soup slightly sourish and not spicy at all.

After lunch the receptionist brought me to a shop to get a local SIM card. Cost me around 85,000 VND and has some credits in it. I thanked her and she went back to the hotel and I decided to stroll for a bit to get more familiarized with my surroundings. Saw a lot of street vendors and restaurants which I would definitely visit in the next few days.

Street near my hotel and is a very hot afternoon.

Motorbike taxi guy reading newspaper while waiting for customer

Sugar cane vendor attending to a customer. Really cool when you can stop as you please and buy your daily fix of sugar cane.

Another alley leading to my hotel. The sign says “Khu Pho 4″ and I have no idea what it means.

I was feeling a bit tired as the night before I didn’t sleep much and my flight was pretty early ( 7.50am ). So I decided to go back to my hotel and take a nap. Before crashing I texted to some friends that I met online and make plans for dinner. So stay tune for more pictures and stories of my first visit to Vietnam. ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

Like any other South East Asian countries, Philippines has a large community of Chinese too. Chinese food is common and you don’t need to go to China town in Binondo or Ongpin just to eat your favorite Chinese cuisine. This hot pot restaurant by the name of “Little Lamb” however is a franchise from China. You can either order ala-carte or opt for the buffet style. I prefer the buffet style ( 599 pesos per head ) as I don’t want to have the dilemma of what to order.

Thin sliced lamb met eat all you can

There are quite a few hot pot restaurant in Manila but I have to say this is my favorite. The variety of dishes is way more from those others that I’ve eaten before. I like the fact that they have my favorite hot pot items like fried bean curd skin ( Foo Chook ) and those grass jelly like noodles. I’ve never come across any other hot pot places in Manila that serve the fried bean curd skin. Another plus point for this restaurant is that finding parking space is such a breeze.

Restaurant is fully air condition, clean and spacious

The glass jelly like noodles that I’ve eaten for the first time in China. Never really see other places in Manila offering this.

Quite a big selection of hot pot items

More hot pot items

The bull frog is kinda small but is all right I guess

There are few types of soup but I ordered the chicken and spicy soup made of Szechuan pepper corn.

Cooked dishes like fried pork ribs and intestine were also available. There are actually more items I didn’t get to snap the pictures like the dried bean curd skin, vegetables and wide array of innards of all animals.  I guess I was too busy eating and explaining to my Filipino friends about the hot pot items. My friend love the pig’s brain especially and his wife loves the dried bean curd skin. Both of them told me that they really love the food here and will definitely bring family and friends back her.

Little Lamb Hot Pot Restaurant
La Marina, South Drive, Area 2, Rizal Park
Ermita, Manila ( Tel : 02-5163886.

]]> http://spicegasm.com/2012/01/china-style-lamb-hot-pot-in-manila-xiao-fei-yang/feed/ 3 http://spicegasm.com/2012/01/welcoming-new-year-2012-in-the-philippines/ http://spicegasm.com/2012/01/welcoming-new-year-2012-in-the-philippines/#comments Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:19:43 +0000 Alex http://spicegasm.com/?p=1107 After Thailand, I head on to the Philippines for an unplanned trip. I was kinda coaxed by my friend Zach to travel together with him. He bought his ticket a few months ago for a very good deal with Cebu Pacific. Me on the other hand paid a pretty high price for my ticket as it is last minute booking and most likely is the high season. Nevertheless, I decided to go with him as the idea of meeting up with my Filipino friends during New Year is always a fun thing to do.

Food vendors offering their goodies in Baclaran

New Year in the Philippines is celebrated in a very unique way. It has the combination of Chinese culture influence and the local tradition. Firecrackers or “paputok” is an essential part of New Year celebration here. The sound of loud firecrackers could be heard when the month of December begins and it gets heavier during Christmas eve and of course New Year’s Eve. I was told that loud firecrackers will keep the bad spirits away. This will bring good luck to the household. The louder the sound of the fireworks, the better luck you will get in the coming year.

More Filipino food offered by vendors near the Baclaran church area

While is not only the paputok that can chase the bad spirit away, singing out loud with your Karaoke machine with your family members can also get the job done. Being Filipino, singing comes as a second nature and for sure you will hear the latest hits being belted out. Occasionally oldies like “My Way” will be part of the repertoire especially when you have sporting Lolo and Lola ( grandfather and grandmother ) amongst the group.

Wearing polka dot shirts is believed to increase your wealth as well during the eve. Putting lots of coins in your pants pocket is also highly encourage. Round fruits like orange, grapes and water melon are also decorated in the house. I used to joke to my friend that maybe putting lots of coins in the pants pocket and having those round fruits might not be such a good idea. I suggested that they replace the coins with Peso notes, the bigger the better or if real money is not available, go scan it and print more out. As for the round fruits, replaced them with bar of chocolates, especially those chocolate with gold wrapper!

All you need is a small push cart and a small wok to fry these peanuts. I like those with cili and garlic. It is call adobong mani.

A lot of Filipino loves shopping in Baclaran

A wide variety of cheap products are sold in Baclaran market.

There’s a lot of restaurant near Baclaran area too. In the background we can see Max Restaurant and also Andok’s

Most of the Barangay are decorated with colorful lights

I am never really into special occasion celebrations as I would like to believe that everyday is special. If anyone want to make a change with their life, for example like losing weight, you don’t need to wait for the New Year to do it. You can always do it like right away and the date could be July 18th or something. However, I do enjoy the part where most friends are free during the eve  and free flow of San Miguel accompanied with a wide array of food are being served.

I really do love this experience, I am like a kid going to the candy store but in this case, the “candy store” comes to me. All you need to do is just sit down, chit-chat and drink, continuous stream of vendors with different type of food will just come to you. My personal favorite has to be seafood. Is normally steamed different types of shells like mussels and cockles. The river prawns are awesome too. The seafood sauce which is spicy and tangy really enhanced the taste of the seafood.

Here are some pictures of one of my drinking session with some of my friends.

Cheap Thai whiskey and Chang beer

Can’t remember what this vendor is selling but he is cool enough to let me take his picture with him doing the thumbs up

A Thai noodle vendor on her motorbike having a brisk business

Beef, chicken and pork jerky. Salty and tasty, perfect match for beer

Seafood vendor with his push cart offering various type of steamed seafood

Big headed river prawns, the head is super tasty and some people believe it serves as aphrodisiac. I not sure bout that but it surely will give you the spicegasm feeling!

Flower crab with some sort of water snails

Lots of cockles! One of the funkiest tasting seafood but loved by many Thai and Asian foodies

Baked mussels with the special Thai seafood sauce. So addictive just like pop corn, you can never stop. If only the cinema allow this item to be sold in Thailand, I bet it will beat the sales of pop corn.

Flower crab which has not much meat in it but is not about the meat, is about having something to munch and not to get full. Is kinda like eating pumpkin seeds.

There you have it, pictures of cheap seafood in Thailand. An activity where you can do it over and over without feeling bored. Most importantly, it doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket when you go with a few friends.

I woke up the next day at 7am and I really felt like going to Chinatown and get the taste of Chinese Thai Dim Sum. The thing with Chinese food in the region of South East Asia, every country has its own special twist to it. It is normally a fusion mixed between Chinese cooking and the local style. So I thought would be a cool idea to go sample some Chinese Thai style Dim Sum. My friend Zach is still sleeping and I thought would be a good idea to invite him as well.

Busy street with many roadside vendors in Chinatown, Bangkok

Wen Zach woke up, I told him about my idea. He said yes and we should do it. So we were thinking whether to take the MRT or taxi. Since Chinatown does not have an MRT station nearby, we decided to take the taxi. How bad could the traffic be at 9.45am in the morning. We stopped a cab and the driver was more than happy to bring us there. That’s when our ordeal began!

I have no idea why the traffic was so bad on that day. It took us 2 hours to reach Chinatown from Ratchada. I bet without any traffic, it would probably take us less than 20 minutes to be in Chinatown. We had to go pee so badly while in the cab. By the time we reached Chinatown, our man pipes feels like is going to explode. I gave the taxi driver extra 100 baht on top of the meter charges and frantically trying to look for a restaurant. To my surprise, I didn’t see one single restaurant near the area where we were dropped off. It was all shops selling various merchandises. There’s a lot of street food though, mostly selling “Wan Ton Noodles”.

Street food in Chinatown, Bangkok

We walked frantically for another ten minutes looking for restaurants with toilets. My mind is no longer thinking of Dim Sum. I no longer feel hungry. Finally out of desperation, we thicken our face and asked a Thai lady vendor in our halting Thai – “Where’s the nearest toilet. She gave us some directions in Thai. We quickly thanked her and walked as fast as we could. “Thong Pai, Liaw Sai , Liew Sai, which means go straight, turn left and left again.”

We were so happy to have found a run down restaurant which has a working toilet. Is not 5 star quality but under the circumstances, this is more than welcome. I went first and asked Zach to sit down like we are customers. I have no idea why at this old age, I still feel embarrassed to use the restaurant toilets only and not eat there. Zach is no better than me when it comes to having a thick face. I guess no Dim Sum for us, whatever the shop sells, we will consume it.

This is the front of the beef noodle shop

When I got out of the toilet, I only realized that the run down shop is selling beef noodles. This is the kind of shop that I love. Run down shops in Asia always serve the best food, most of the time based on my personal experience. Judging from the crowd, the shop must be really popular. The waitress came to us and asked us what we want. We couldn’t understand a word and upon sensing that, she told us in Thai what they have. We could only understood the word noodles and beef. I just nod my head and put up a peace sign, indicating TWO please. I have no idea what we are going to get but at times is fun to eat something different in situation like this.

Customers waiting for their beef noodles

Beef balls that is really crunchy and bouncy – awesome!

My second round – beef tripe, tendon and more beef balls

Gelatinous goodness – beef tendon

She brought us two bowls of rice and another two bowls of soup with beef meat and beef balls. The serving is pretty small and after finishing my bowl of soup and rice, I wasn’t satisfied. I knew beef noodle shops would definitely have the cow innards like stomach, tendon and tripe. I went to the area where they prepare the dishes and just pointed to all the innards that I wanted, together with their awesome beef balls.

Can’t understand Thai, but it seems like this is a recognition poster by a TV station for serving excellent food.

After the meal, we walked a bit in Chinatown and as usual, like most other Chinatown in the world, is pretty busy. Rows of shops selling clothes, toys, hardware and many other products. The afternoon heat was pretty intense on that day. After snapping a few pictures, we decided to hop on a tuk tuk and go to the nearest MRT station. The ride was just less than 10 minutes and the MRT ride home was less than 20 minutes.

Rolex anyone?

Toy vendor

Rows of shops most likely own by Chinese Thais

This is the main reason I want Dinemates to be successful. I wouldn’t have to tell my friends in the future that it took me 2 hours to go to Chinatown to pee and eat beef noodles only.