I MISSED NEW YEARS ON ACCOUNT OF BEING HAULED UP IN A NEARBY HOTEL... BUT TODAY THE BIRD WAS FREE TO FLY AT LAST, AND I FOUND PLENTY GOING ON. At Công viên 23 tháng 9
there was this big festival going on, highlighting many of the various culinary and cultural attractions of the city... and beyond. There were tents with charts and photos promoting the real estate boons of all the different parts of Hồ Chi Minh City... Quận 1, Quận 5, Quận 10. There were plenty of young people playing badmintion and kemari, Pakistani hockey players in two and threes, little kids selling balloons. I walked past them all, weaving between the artful mariashi and dodging the persistent touts before darting across the hurly burly road to mount the western half of the park. Here it was all strictly music and food. German sausages and beer going for about a dollar a pint... they seemed to be popular with the evening crowd. The obligatory banh xeo restaurant and Thai. Mock temples had been set up to showcase children dancing to bad house music and techno. There was Vietnamese theatre on the water, stupas, folk performances. At the big amphitheatre at the end of the park an American heavy metal band was on stage, leaping about, trying frantically to whip up a vibe. A large crowd sat or stood watching it all, faithfully maintaining their quiet. When each song finished they neither cheered nor booed nor applauded, they just sat or stood there and watched. "You're a great audience!" the lead singer proclaimed at one point, sarcastically. "Come see us play at the Hard Rock Cafe, where we are in residence." Or words to that effect. The crowd just sat/stood there and stared, like good Confucian Communists. Had I not already eaten, I would have begun hankering for a taste of something exotic... Singaporean? Indian? Thai? there was plenty of everything in abundance. This had sure become one multicultural park. Not so far away there was not one but a couple of Malaysian tents set up, dishing out curry and bread to the masses. The food they were dishing out was halal. Had I not already eaten, I would have walked up there to grab a bite.
Every day on this Blissful Flow holiday, all over downtown Hồ Chi Minh City, I would bump into little groups of Pakistani hockey players, all appropriately bearded and uniformly garbed. I don't know if they ate Malaysian while they were here, but they definitely required halal. There seemed to be plenty of interest in the dishes at this stall, representing the Nha Hang VN Halal... for the full story read here.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
World Dining in the Park
I MISSED NEW YEARS ON ACCOUNT OF BEING HAULED UP IN A NEARBY HOTEL... BUT TODAY THE BIRD WAS FREE TO FLY AT LAST, AND I FOUND PLENTY GOING ON. At Công viên 23 tháng 9
there was this big festival going on, highlighting many of the various culinary and cultural attractions of the city... and beyond. There were tents with charts and photos promoting the real estate boons of all the different parts of Hồ Chi Minh City... Quận 1, Quận 5, Quận 10. There were plenty of young people playing badmintion and kemari, Pakistani hockey players in two and threes, little kids selling balloons. I walked past them all, weaving between the artful mariashi and dodging the persistent touts before darting across the hurly burly road to mount the western half of the park. Here it was all strictly music and food. German sausages and beer going for about a dollar a pint... they seemed to be popular with the evening crowd. The obligatory banh xeo restaurant and Thai. Mock temples had been set up to showcase children dancing to bad house music and techno. There was Vietnamese theatre on the water, stupas, folk performances. At the big amphitheatre at the end of the park an American heavy metal band was on stage, leaping about, trying frantically to whip up a vibe. A large crowd sat or stood watching it all, faithfully maintaining their quiet. When each song finished they neither cheered nor booed nor applauded, they just sat or stood there and watched. "You're a great audience!" the lead singer proclaimed at one point, sarcastically. "Come see us play at the Hard Rock Cafe, where we are in residence." Or words to that effect. The crowd just sat/stood there and stared, like good Confucian Communists. Had I not already eaten, I would have begun hankering for a taste of something exotic... Singaporean? Indian? Thai? there was plenty of everything in abundance. This had sure become one multicultural park. Not so far away there was not one but a couple of Malaysian tents set up, dishing out curry and bread to the masses. The food they were dishing out was halal. Had I not already eaten, I would have walked up there to grab a bite.
Every day on this Blissful Flow holiday, all over downtown Hồ Chi Minh City, I would bump into little groups of Pakistani hockey players, all appropriately bearded and uniformly garbed. I don't know if they ate Malaysian while they were here, but they definitely required halal. There seemed to be plenty of interest in the dishes at this stall, representing the Nha Hang VN Halal... for the full story read here.
"Bun bo Huế is completely unpretentious. Its charm lies solely in its fragrance. According to the women who sell rice noodles at Ben Ngu Market, the broth must be delicious above all else: clear in colour with a balance between the salty and sweet flavours of stewed beef bones, pork bones, and chicken.
"Vendors tailor each bowl to the customers' desires. In the winter, customers sit next to the red-hot stove and the boiling broth, covering their bowls with their hands, slurping the broth, skewering the noodles with their chopsticks, and biting into pieces of meat. Even food connoisseurs in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City admit to a love of Bun bo Huế, especially when it is served in Huế."
There are plenty of places in Ho Chi Minh City to eat Bun bo Huế, among them:
Bun Bo Hue Hanh: 135 Banh Van Tran St., Ward 7, Tan Binh district. Phone: 08 865 4842. Map/price details: click here.
Said to be one of the famous shops that serve bun bo Hue in Ong Ta area.
monjayakiVietnamese Muslims says
If you are planning to visit Vietnam but don't know where to go for halal food then please check out these places: (We are in the process of compiling this list, please have patience with us)
South Vietnam
You need a local Muslim to take you to these places (just ask the Imam from the Dong Du Mosque for assistance):
66 Dong Du, District 1: Indian, Vietnamese cuisine. This mosque has a halal food court where you can buy lunch or dinner. Many Muslim foreigners come here to eat.
26 Bui vien, District 1: Indian, Pakistani.
45 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia: Malay, Indo cuisine.
459B Tran Hung Dao: Pho (noodle).
94/4A Huynh Van Banh (near fashion shop of Ms.Basiroh): Budget food.
52 Nguyen Van Troi: Goat Cari (cari de).
1. There is one opposite to Sheraton Saigon
BOMBAY Restaurant, Dong Du Street, near the Mosque 66 Dong Du
Phone: 8233594
2.Ali baba restaurant
60 Le Thanh ton,
Ho Chi Minh City, VIET NAM
Phone: 8233594
3. Bon Mua / Four Season Restaurant
2 Thi Sach Street, Dist 1
Ho Chi Minh City, VIET NAM
Phone: 84-8-8257186
4. Satay House Restaurant
35 Mac Dinh Chi Street,
Ho Chi Minh City, VIET NAM
Phone: 090-3925475
5. Sulayman Restaurant
459/25/40 Tran Hung Dao, Ho Chi Minh City, District 1, VIET NAM
Phone: 8-8385332
Directions: Behind Tran Hung Dao, Nancy mosque.
6. Tandoor Restaurant, Ho Chi Minh city
103, Vo Van Tan Street, Dist 3, VIET NAM
Phone: 84 8-9302468/ 930412
7. Zamzam (Taj Mahal)
26 Bui Vien Street District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIET NAM
Phone: 84-88369363
8. SAPHIGIAH LAN
193 Hai BETrıng St, Dist 3, HCM city.
9. Kedai Shamsudin - Biển Ğông 6.
445 LEHồng Phong, Dist 10 - HCMC
Tel: 08 2717494 - 0903399430.
