one leg each

SE Asia - The Verdict!

With the dust well and truly settled on our South East Asia leg, this may seem a bit late but we wanted to get our 2p in before we forget we were even there….

We covered 6 countries in 3 months and it’s been pretty amazing from start to finish. SE Asia has given us wonderful grub, fantastic weather, stunning scenery and lovely people but I think we both agreed that it was time to move on!

Being a bit geeky we’ve been rating and discussing things as we’ve travelled, from food to sights so we thought it fitting to provide a snapshot of what we really thought of the countries we’ve visited – just so this hole thing doesn’t get to gushing.

Before that we just have a couple of things to attend to with regards to the Troll Cup, Faye and my ongoing battle to out do each other. Previous Troll cups have included who can ski the fastest, who will try a certain rancid dish, underwater swimming and a particularly vicious game of swingball – in true Asian style its all about not loosing face.

The Troll cup going to the winner!! 

So far we’ve had the Durian Challenge (Draw - just trying to eat one of the most disgusting smelling and tasting fruits on the planet) The Chile Challenge (Faye – who can handle eating the most raw chillies and The Dare Devil Challenge) and throwing yourself off the biggest scary looking thing into some water (Rob)!!

So without further waffle, here are the scores on the doors!

Cambodia

For – Cutest kids in Asia (don’t you know it Angelina); The Temples of Angkor; fascinating but brutal history.

Against – Beaches are shit; food is a poor relation to the rest of the region.

Rob 3 Stars

Faye 3.5 Stars

 

Bayon - Angkor Wat

Vietnam

For – Some of the some best food we’ve tasted; cloud touching mountains, great cities, stunning natural beauty – Vietnam provided the greatest range of scenery; mega cheap.

Against – also some of the most disappointing food we had; slightly aggressive people “you buy something!!!”

Rob 5 Stars

Faye 4 Stars

 
 Beer Hoi - Hanoi

Laos

For – The most untouched by tourism; Dramatic, rugged and beautiful vistas; Loads of fun! Friendly people; Surprisingly brilliant food.

Against – Sometimes a bit too chilled out; Bus rides (Faye); Vientiane – the most unremarkable capital we’ve been to; more expensive than it needs to be.

Rob 5 Stars

Faye 5 Stars

 Nong Khiaw - Laos

Thailand

For – The secluded and paradisical Trang Island; Vigorous massages; blood red sunsets; amazing diving;

Against – Phuket; ugly over developed tourist spots; farang safe food; disappointing night life.

Rob 4.5 Stars

Faye 4 Stars

 Koh Lipe - Thailand

Malaysia

For – friendly people; some decent cheap hawker stand food; Cheap internet

Against – Langkawi – a boring, uninspired tourist trap; KL, uninspired capital city; getting hit with a massive stick while on a bus; below par beaches; overpriced.

An old brothel (and our hotel room) - Penang, Malaysia

Star rating system

0 stars – Terrible

1 star – Poor

2 stars – Average

3 stars – Good

4 stars – Very Good

5 Stars – Excellent 

Kiss a frog....

Vietnam

31^st October 2009

…and you may end up with a prince. Eat a frog and you may realise how goddam tasty it is!

Oh yes, after flirting with the idea these past few weeks of trying something a little bit more daring, last night we took the plunge.

The Bia hoi could have had something to do with it, as upon arriving in Hanoi we discovered the backpackers nirvana – draught beer for the equivalent of 10p a pint, served at make-shift bars on practically every street corner! All any wannabe bia hoi seller needs is a keg of beer and a couple of plastic chairs and you are in business. Me likey!

Bia hoi in action

And so it was in embracing this quaint Asian custom that we found ourselves going along with our rather persuasive 14 year old waiter. Maybe he thought it would be funny to watch the farang eat Kermit, but whatever was on his agenda, we were up for providing tonight’s entertainment!

All the menu said was ‘frogs legs in sauce.’ Yummy! So I was expecting to have to dredge through a gloopy sauce to find my webby treat. What arrived was quite different – a light, crispy soy sauce coating with a soy and chilli dip.

Kermit dining

Now, I have had les cuisses de grenouilles a Paris, they were quite refined and sleek specimens with a little nibbles worth a piece, but these bad boys boasted the thigh equivalent to a Kermit Lingford Christie, but with the sweet, juicy texture to those of a 16 year old virgin (or so I am told!).

Kermit Lingford Christie

To say they were like chicken is a disservice to the frog. But for comparisons sake, let’s just say it was the juiciest, most succulent ‘chicken’ I have had for a while!

Once we were ‘legless’ we turned our attention to the remaining articles left on our plate: Dark, green warped looking crisps….after a moments consideration it was down the hatch with the crispy fried frogs skin and another unlikely delicious treat awaited! Comparable to frog crackling or, as Rob put it, frog flavoured quavers! 

Robs first taste of frog flavoured quavers!

And so, it was with ‘a springing our step’ that we set off on the rest of our bia hoi tour around Hanoi. So far, so tasty! And in a city like this, who knows what’s round the corner…! 

Halong Bay

There have been some pretty wordy blogs over the last few weeks so I’m gonna leave the picture to it for this one.

Over 3000 limestone Khasts jut out of the emerald green water.

It's nature at it’s outrageous best!

I’ve run out of superlatives…

The Secret of Monkey Island

Life is full of disappointments and travelling is not without them too, I blame movies and television – always giving a heightened impression of the world, but Halong Bay just exceeds all expectations.

Hoi An, Vietnam

Vietnam

23^rd October 2009

Contrary to my expectations, my first impressions of Hoi An, were at best disappointing. Fair enough, it was a grey, drizzly day we were trying to make the best of, but all we had encountered for streets and streets so far was the dispiriting sight of middle-aged Westeners in pac-a-macs and of aggressive Vietnamese shopkeepers barking “You buy something!” as soon as you stepped within a 5 metre radius of their shop. Seriously, they really needed to hone their sales technique!

So, like Carrie Bradshaw, “I had to wonder…is this the best that Hoi An had to offer?” Where was the oldey worldy charm, quaint buildings and riverside bustle that I had heard so much about?

Of course, weather aside, my Hoi An blues could have had something to do with a night of insomnia spent on a night bus from Nha Trang, only to find out that our new lodgings were at Prisoner cellblock “H”uy Huong Hotel! Seriously, this place defied any smidgen of comfort, there were bars at the small high window and Mr. Cochroach and his extended family were already a permanent resident! Not what you need after you have been strapped to a pygmee-sized bed for the best part of 13 hours, our lullaby, the blaring horn of our mad max driver as he took on every other vehicle on the road, perhaps imagining himself to be Keanu Reeves in Speed!

Anyway, I digress, back to the disappointment! Of course, another reason that I was so excited about Hoi An was that it is supposed to be a foodie heaven and as this trip is rapidly turning into a culinary adventure as well as a geographical one, I really didn’t want to miss out on what Hoi An had to offer. So imagine my thoughts when we arrived at todays lunch destination – a side street BBQ down a backstreet alley!

It seemed busy enough so we plonked ourselves down and huddled under the awning from the rain. No need to trouble ourselves with a trifling matter such as a menu as within minutes our friendly waitress Mai, and who I supposed to be her elderly mother, were filling up our table with massive amounts of goodies! A great start and the brownie points just kept on rolling in! We were just about to have our first taste of Bahn xeo or Vietnamese rice pancakes to me and you!

By this point our table was filled with fresh salad and herbs, skewered meats from the barbie, rice paper, pickled vegetable and that lovely spicy peanut sauce that Mr.Thach had introduced us to in the mountains.

Bale Well barbie, Hoi An

Of course, once the shrimp and beansprout pancakes arrived we didn’t have a clue what to do, but no matter, Mai was on hand to take us under her wing! She expertly took the pancake and openend it out onto a piece of rice paper, filling with meat, salad and pickles. All that remained to do after that was to roll up and dunk away! I think we just found our new favourite bite!

So we left Bale Well with a heavy stomach but a light heart! The mood had lifted and with it came a new perspective of Hoi An – Oh, so there are the quaint shops, the beautiful little Chinese lanterns lighting up the riverside and over there, the bustling market. I think I am gonna like it here!

Monkey Bum Bike Tour

The Set Up

We met Mr Thach on the beach front on our first morning in Nha Trang and I’m pretty sure we were both still drunk. He greeted us with open arms and a big grin so we felt compelled to listen to whatever he was flogging. It turns out he was an Easy Rider motorbike guide and started selling in his 5 day tour of the Central Highlands including Dalat, the mountain town we had sacrificed in favour of the sun in Nha Trang.

The man himself

The idea of buying a tour from a random on the beach front wasn’t in on our things do list, especially as we were more than a little wary of scamsters, but he came across as a really nice, genuine guy and came armed with a book full of testimonials from previous excursions.

The one thing Mr Thach had going against him was he was preventing us from reaching the promise land of the sunny beach so we arranged to meet him at lunchtime to find out more. We sat down over a Pho and discussed the trip and it was refreshing to see that Thach actually listened to us and tailored a trip to our tastes, so we booked on the 3 day $300 tour.

Day 1

Mr Thach met us at our hotel at 8.30 and we caught our first glimpse at the machines that would be taking us up into the mountains. I had the pleasure of using Mr Thachs very own bike, but it became immediately apparent the bike was hardly in mint condition. The front brakes didn't really work so the back brake was all we had, which on a bike on a rough road can lead to a few skids, nice! My helmet wasn’t the best either with the strap coming loose so that when we hit 70K the helmet would sometimes fly back so the strap would strangle me a bit. None of this really mattered though as we drove out of Nha Trang passing Turtle Island and Fairy Lady Mountain and onto the main highway.

Fairy Lady Mountain - can you see her?

Mr Thach did speak English, of sorts but you really did have to tune your ear in because it takes a bit of concentration to understand him, but the man is self taught so I’ve got nothing but respect. We learned that he was a fisherman for 17 years until he was caught in a horrendous storm in the Philippians that killed hundreds of people and he was one of a handful of survivors. Following the accident his mum told him he wasn’t to get back in a boat, so he bought a bike taught himself English and 4 years later here we are.

To avoid the dreaded Monkey Bum (the curse of riding a motorbike for 8 hours straight) the journey was broken up by regular pit stops, with Thach pointed out places of interest. If someone had told me the first day would involve a brick factory, pepper, rubber & coffee trees and a carpentry workshop I probably would have laughed at the $300 price, but with Thach it provided the journey with local colour and interest.

We arrived into Buon Ma Thuot in the Dak Lat province, just as it grew dark and glad to give our bums a well earned rest.

Day 2

We were on the road by 8.30 and heading to our first stop of Lok Lake a minority people village on the banks of a tranquil lake. Now so far the road conditions had been fairly decent, a mixture of smooth and not so smooth tarmac the start of Day 2 things got a lot worse. The roads became massively uneven, dirt and rocks replaced tarmac and the oncoming trucks and cars made for some slightly hairy moments. One section of road took us through a working building site, with the track just about wide enough for a bike and the lack of front brake meaning to stop quickly was accompanied by a smart little skid.

Lok Lake

We stopped at ‘Elephant Rock’ for a quick breather as the clouds cleared and we moved on up the mountains to another spectacular view point at the top of a stone staircase at the side of the hill. After lunch we continued on the fabulous mountains road to the waterfall and one of the highlights ot the trip. It’s normally a good indicator of how good a waterfall is by how hard it is to reach and this mini trek certainly had it’s moments! We had to use a full blown vine to climb down one flight of steps, virtually crawl through a section of river & jump across a small ravine to reach the bottom, but when we finally reached the bottom we were rewarded with a spectacular sight.

Ban Doc Waterfall

Our final destination for the day would be the mountain town of Dalat so we pressed on were rewarded with some more excellent roads. Twisting, sweeping corners, tight but well sighted hairpins – this road was so much fun to drive, but obviously required a fair amount of concentration so at times it just wasn’t possible to fully enjoy the amazing views!

Dalat was something of a disappointment, with a gaudy mix of neon, a man made lake and mini Effel Tower mixing to make a truly strange little town but again Thach showed us a good night and even arranged for me to try some scorpion wine a 65% liquor that attested like an extreme version of whiskey (and sends people straight to sleep apparently!)

Day 3

Our final day saw us take in the sight of Dalat, which included the Crazy House, a strange concept hotel that is now just a bizarre and pretty pointless tourist attraction. We left Dalat pretty glad that we chose to beach of Nha Trang and set off down the mountain for what proved to be the finest section of road in the whole 3 days. Faye tooks the reins of one of the bikes and I could enjoy the views as we drove through the clouds and down a wonderful stretch of road. We decednded by about 1000m and immediately felt the warmer air like a huge hair dryer, we swapped bikes after lunch ready for the final leg of the trip.

We had been very lucky with the weather so far so I guess we shouldn’t have been too surprised to hit rain, but it didn’t make it any less of a pain. The rain in itself was pretty harsh, actually feeling more like hail but the main problem was it amplified everything that was wrong with the bike. The lack of front brake became a real problem, with a back brake fighting against the loose gravel skids ceesed to be fun anymore. My helmets visor was so dirty I couldn’t see through it which made the final stretch back to Nha Trang more than a little bit hairy!

We arrived back and reflected on a brilliant 3 days, thankful we could finally rest our monkey bums! 

Nha Trang

Vietnam

17th October 2009

I hate the Lonely Planet! We were all set to get the bus to Dalat at 9am this morning but reading through the ‘When to go’ section for Nha Trang in the dreaded LP (The idyllic beach destination we were most excited about) informed us that the end of October was the worst time of year to go! It was October 17th; does this constitute being the end of October?? The start of the month was supposedly great, after the disappointment of Sihnaoukville I don’t think we could handle a beach “that resembled mud” after heavy rain. It really felt like the whole of our trip rested on this!

We quickly changed our destination from Dalat to Nha Trang and packed in a matter of mins, our thinking being the earlier we get there the more chance of catching at least one day of sun.

The bus was an 11 hour drive along the coast, the weather was grey but warm and all we could do was hope for sun! We arrived in Nha Trang in rain, found our hotel and headed out for a bite to eat. After dinner it was a classic case of a couple of drinks turning into 10 as we found a group of random travellers in a bar, (including some Proper Geordies & Proper Essex chuffs) ending up leathered in The Sailing Club, a local haunt till 4am – finishing off the night with a complex / deep conversation with a Danish guy, you know the sort you cringe about the next day.

We woke up the next morning pretty worse for wear but our hangover soon cleared as we parted the curtains to find a glorious day! It was only 8am but we ran down to the beach determined to enjoy whatever sun we could and Nha Trang beach didn’t disappoint! A fantastic long, wide stretch of sand leading into clear blue water with islands scattered along the horizon.

We had arrived.

We Miss Saigon

Arriving from the comfort of our air conditioned bus (costing just $7 each!) we had our bags wrestled from us and put into a taxi before setting off into the madness that is Ho Chi Minh, or to give it it’s pre war (and eminently cooler) name of Saigon.

Even from within the relative safety of our taxi it’s plain to see that motorbikes rule the roost in Vietnam’s financial and entertainment capital. It’s quite heartening to see car drivers actually having to recognise bikers on the road, but then again they don’t have much choice as literally hundreds of bikes swarm every stretch of road, flowing into each other at speed at every junction.

After a little searching we found our guesthouse and our taxi pulled up just across the street. Now crossing the road in Saigon takes something of a leap of faith, with an endless tide of bikes criss-crossing the street finding a break in traffic proves futile, you literally have to step into the traffic… downright scary at first, it’s bizarre how much confidence is quickly gained when you realise that the bikes just move to either side of you.

Saigon is a fantastic place to walk around (once you realise that as a pedestrian you are a second class citizen) and it really does have a great energy. The neon of downtown sits next to the grand French colonial buildings leading through parks and up to the infamous War Remnants Museum. 

We had been told that it’s not for the faint of heart, but nothing quite prepares you for some of the images and stories contained within. We unwittingly walked the exhibits in reverse chorological order (Who would think you start on the 1^st floor!) so were confronted with the aftermath of the war as soon as we entered the building. The chemical weapons used by the US army in the Vietnam War are well documented, with Agent Orange’s reputation preceding it – what we hadn’t appreciated was the effect it was having three generations on from the conflict. The images we saw rank as easily the most shocking I’ve ever seen and the unforgiving nature of its continuing destruction is absolutely abhorrent. Estimates place around 3 million Vietnamese have been affected, and some of the resulting deformities bring to light not only how morally repugnant the decision to use the dioxin, but how illegal it was too.

We left the museum at rush hour to experience more traffic mayhem, it is really fascinating just to take a step back (I actually climbed onto a wall) and witness the motorbikes in action. They push and squeeze past each other at a red light, all vying for pole position off the lights, with some taking the off road route and racing down the pavements. The comparisons with UK roads are stark, but it does all seem to make sense here and goes some way to giving Saigon such a great character.

Only spending 3 days and 2 nights here we barely scratched the surface of what looked to be a thrilling city and one of which I’m sure we’ll return.

Toads on the Road!

Vietnam

19 – 22^nd October 2009

We are the Wandering Wilderbees! Free as birds, we have been roaming the Vietnamese Central Highlands for the last 3 days, the only way that they should be roamed, by motorbike.

We hired a Honda and a Vietnamese guide and off we went! Zooming through some of the best scenery that Vietnam has to offer. Coffee plantations on the right, pepper and fruit trees on the left, with the odd refreshing pit stop at a mountainside café to refuel our nerves and concentration levels with a sugar rush from the juice of mangled sugar cane!

Bobby drinking the mangled sugar cane!

Our trail was off the beaten track and as such we barely saw another Western face…or Western restaurant. With Mr.Thach at our side we went from humble roadside cafes to buzzing neon local restaurants that served up their one house speciality.

Breakfast however, as always, was a bit of a non-event. It didn’t reach the astronomical lows of the Can Tho International Hotel where we were offered Pigs Head Paste served up hot and in front of a very loud movie-screen version of a Steven Seigal film, but it was along those lines!

Lunch was usually good honest grub of chicken and rice. I don’t know whether or not it was because we had been blazing a trail on the bike in the morning, but by lunch time these simple meals tasted like absolute heaven, which is amazing really as these places were usually absolute shit holes! I am talking little shacks with dogs and chickens roaming around. The kind of place you would never dare go on your own but which, with Mr Thach at our side, seemed to work. 

Me and Thach in Dalat

Dinner time was usually when the real fun started! What’s more, whereas we thought we were getting a good deal eating at £3 a head, with Mr.Thach leading the way, we were eating banquets for £1 all in!

Something else which also hit home when eating out with Mr. Thach was just how much emphasis was put on shared dining. And this is where we encountered the Cha gio - a DIY feast of epic proportions!

Within minutes of entering tonight's chosen restaurant, we were served up with a baffling number of various dishes. We looked to Mr. Thach for guidance and he proceeded to assemble what my limited Western brain could only at first compute as Asian style fajitas!

Instead of tortillas, there was rice paper; peppers and onions were razor thin slivers of starfruit, unripe baby banana and cucumber; strips of chicken where sesame and garlic marinated BBQ pork and crispy fried rice paper rolls and the piece de resistance, the “salsa,” was a spicy peanut satay sauce. Roll it all together (with lettuce and herbs of course!) and enjoy! 

It was only half way through eating that we realised that we had just encountered another marvellous variation of our new friend the spring roll! Although,in my opinion, calling a Cha gio a ‘spring roll’, is a bit like saying Danny De Vito and Arnold Schwarzanegger are brothers in “Twins,” we all know they are supposed to be related but as for any real similarity - no chance!

On the second day Mr. Thach had another trick up his sleeve, he was intent on getting Rob to down some scorpion wine, which is legendary in these parts for a mans potency...

...however this seemed to loose something in translation as Rob was asleep 5 mins after this picture was taken! Some discretion was called for the next morning when Mr Thach asked 'Good night huh? How many hours??? What's a girl to do but to laugh out loud?!... don't think Rob was too pleased!

As if to build up Robs strength the next day (he he!) Mr.Thach had a mountainside banquet laid on for us. Even with our huge biking appetites, a party of ten bikers would have been satisfied with this!

Mountainside banquet

There were grilled prawns; marinated chicken pieces; (I don’t know what part of the chicken they were from, but it didn’t really seem to matter!) pork done three ways – flattened and grilled with sesame seeds; crispy belly pork and minced and stuffed inside a bitter winter melon (interesting!). All accompanied by vegetables – pickled and cooked and a massive bowl of rice. I tell you, after that lunch, with me on the back of the bike, it was a wheelie all the way down the rest of the mountain! 

Vietnam Cookery School, Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam

16^th October 2009

Everyone is familiar with the Spring Roll. They are probably one of the most popular appetisers throughout all Asian cuisine and as such they are something that I have encountered often, but which, I have to say, have never really enjoyed.

My experience of them has largely been due to the sharing platter, that’s to say, something that I find myself going along with in a group situation but which I would never really seek out for myself. They are the fail safe choice, but I am not really sure why as they invariably come as greasy, over-fried specimens, filled with a straggle of beansprouts and a pellet of pork, if you are lucky!

 So, with this in mind, I can say with absolute confidence that the best Spring Rolls that I have ever tasted were the ones that I made myself today at the Vietnam Cookery School! (and Robs were the second best!)

 Is that a big claim? Well, I guess some credit would have to go to the awesome Vietnamese recipe and excellent tuition from the VCS that helped bring these bite-sized masterpieces to fruition (but there’s just no accounting for that little bit of extra Gerrard magic!)

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

What struck me the most was just how far removed they were from their mass produced Chinese cousins, which I have come across many a time in Chinatown. Instead of stringy beansprouts, our Spring Rolls were substantially filled with pork, crab, prawn taro root and mushroom – all mashed up together with garlic, soy and fish sauce. However, the real main difference had to be in the rice paper. Instead of standard rice paper, we used a rice paper net (a relatively new invention!). This was much finer in consistency allowing the oil to pass through the roll more easily, making the end result more crisp and less greasy.

 So once you have stuffed, wrapped and fried the Spring Roll, all that remains is to eat it right? Not in Vietnam, The Spring Roll itself then becomes a filling for what I can only describe as a big lettuce sandwich!

 So take a nice round lettuce leaf, place the Spring Roll inside, stuff with a little bit of vermicelli and a big handful of herbs wrap this creation up and give it a swirl in your chilli and fish sauce dip: This is not just a Spring Roll, this is not even a M&S Spring Roll. This is a FG Spring Roll! And oh man! It is good!

So we’d got off to a good start and went enthusiastically on to make our caramel fish in clay pot and sour fish soup with vegetables – all of which had been polished off before 11.30 am!

Caramel fish in clay pot

Sour fish soup with vegetables 

We finished off our mammoth morning eating session with an “interesting” dessert of mungbean in coconut milk and seaweed. This part of the meal was a bit more of a mind over matter job, but I was so full by this point that I didn’t feel too guilty in giving it a nervous little try and writing it off as strange concoction!

Mungbean in coconut milk with seaweed

And so, we are now bonafide Vietnamese chefs and we have the certificates to prove it! Coming soon to a dinner party near you, on our return! 

I'm Pho excited!

Vietnam

13^th October 2009

I am so excited! We just had our first taste of Pho in Vietnam! We have now truly arrived.

Pho, as if you didn’t know, is the unofficial national dish of Vietnam, but my only point of reference so far has been from within the confines of the Westfield Shopping Centre!

I spotted Pho Ha when we were walking down Nam Ky Khoi Nghia in Can Tho. It was a quintessential Vietnamese eatery but somehow the red, white, blue and chrome décor gave it the feel of a drive-thru American dinner, only instead of cars, this spot was a real moto hang-out, so much so that you had to wade past the bikes just to get in!

 Pho Ha, Can Tho

Even with the familiar-looking décor enticing us in, It still took us a whole day to pluck up the courage to go back. It was only after a truly horrendous dinner in one of the more Western style restaurants on the riverfront, that we were ready to give it a whirl!

We gingerly walked in, sat at one of the little chrome tables and tried to make it look like we knew what we were doing by confidently ordering a menu. Our waitress smiled: “No menu.” We looked at each other, “Well, I guess we came here for the Pho, so two Pho please!” We also ordered our new favourite drink to wash it down with, iced coffee with condensed milk. So refreshing! I have finally realised, after all these years, what my dad sees in Carnation!

"You scared English?"

We didn’t have to wait long for our friendly waitress to set down two steaming bowls of noodle soup in front of us. If that doesn’t sound anything special, it’s what comes next that’s so exciting! You literally get to make your Phoexactlyas you like it.

Let me explain, alongside your noodle soup, which has been delicately flavoured with chives, crispy shallots and your choice of meat, comes a fine range of accompaniments. First, a big red plastic basket brimming with holy basil, Vietnamese mint and another herb, which looks like an inoffensive salad leaf, but which absolutely blows your head off! Then, a handful of beansprouts, a little squeeze of lime, a sprinkling a red chilli… Et voila! Pho a la Faye!

Pho a la Faye!

And there you have it, our first Pho. So fresh, satisfying and slurplicious! I can definitely recommend trying it, if you are off to Westfield in the near future! And the beauty of it? Well, apart from the fact that this delightful little lunch for two plus drinks was a mere snip at 67,000 Dong (that’s £2.40 to me and you). The real beauty of the Pho is that there are so many different ways that you can tweak this dish that the next time we have it, it will probably be like the first time all over again!