Banh Xeo

The other night I had drinks with an American who has been living here for a year and a half. I told her that I was thinking about doing one of the guided street foods tours they do here, but that it seemed pretty outrageously expensive. These tours are in the range of $40-65, which is realistically feed yourself on streetfood for a month. Ashley had some suggestions for places to eat.

The dish that I was most excited about is banh xeo. Part of my preparation for this trip was to watch the episode of No Reservations where Anthony Bourdain visits Saigon. In this episode he eats banh xeo, which you then break apart and roll up in lettuce with basil, mint, and fish sauce. It looked amazing, but it not a dish that you can find on every street like pho or banh mi.

The place that Ashley suggested to eat banh xeo just so happened to be the same place that Bourdain went when he was here, Banh Xeo 46A. It is about 2.5 miles from my hostel, but the walk wasn't bad. There are motorbike taxis on every street corner, but I like to walk and see the city, even though it is stupid hot here around midday.

This was by far the best meal I've had yet--absolutely worth the walk. The pancake is crispy and stuffed with shrimp, bean sprouts, and some other sort of meat (I think pork). Then wrapped in lettuce with tons of fresh basil and drizzled with fish sauce, absolutely delightful.



On the way home I ran into a couple of Brits from Stoke who were in need of direction. They'd only just flown in from Malaysia and were having a hard time finding a bar. I led them to the street that I am staying on, which is full of bars, and hung around and drank a couple beers with them.

Afterward, I went back to the hostel with the intent to nap off some of the hotter part of the afternoon in the air conditioning and get ready for the evening. It took a few days, but I think that jet lag has finally caught up with me. I slept soundly for four hours. I am awake now, but frankly feel like going back to bed.