Vietnam, Saigon - Cathay Restaurant (Part 9)

Cathay Restaurant, 19 Bui Thi Xuan St., Ben Thanh Ward, Dist. 1, HCMC
Most good Vietnamese restaurant are packed during the dinner hours. It is like a market place. Loud and lively. There are so many to choose from. The exotic to the daily hawkers fare. I have eaten in a top restaurant where lively shrimps are unceremonious dump into a clay pot of hot wine and then covered with a lid till all movements ceased. They were once lively fishes. Thin silvery 4 inches long, dumped alive into a boiling pot of herbs and vegetables. A lid is used again here to prevent escape. Not that I like these but I was brought there as a guest. There are more beyond that which I refused to go into.

This time round we prefer less action and more talk so we went to a quiet Vietnamese restaurant. Three pax and three dishes at RM45. A queit and private place.
Seafood Vermicelli Salad with mint leaves. Refreshing.
Seafood in claypot. Spicy and hot. Check out the Vietnamese basil garnishings. Soaked up the sauces with a baquette.
Fried Fishballs, fresh, springy, tender, lots of fish to make the paste and dipped into chili sauce or spicy fish sauce.

Comments

Ciki said…
baguette.. cannot get enough especially with a chewy outer and soft inner ! can imagine eating seafood sauce with it....ahhhhhhh
Anonymous said…
these are the real Vietnamese cuisine, which I can't see in Malaysia...yummy , especially the basil leave & fish ball
Little Inbox said…
Wah, the mint leaves is really a lot for garnishing.
we recall that vietnamese food stresses strongly on greens and is quite subtle and probably understated outside the country
worldwindows said…
CampC... My first introduction with the real-time baguette (oven-fresh) was unforgettable. And with thick seafood sauce....

SG... It's hard for Vietnamese restaurant in Malaysia to duplicate the original for lack of ingredients. Some dishes are just not possible to cook in Malaysia.

LI... I think one of the reason many man don't have a tummy and ladies are slim.

BSG... Imagine having 7-10 types of fresh and healthy different colour vegs and herbs staring at diners.
minchow said…
Gahhh! Now why did you have to go remind me of how wonderful Vietnamnese food is? I won't be able to fit a trip there all of 2009 - will have to make do with the local version I suppose..
worldwindows said…
550mljof... Not very difficult if you have a long weekend. Just a few days: eat, buy and shop till you drop.

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