Growing up in Sydney where there is a massive Vietnamese community; I thought that I knew real, authentic Vietnamese food. With a Vietnamese bakery on every corner, I had practically been brought up on Bahn Mi, springs rolls and pho. Not to mention the French Vietnamese bakeries where you could get your fill of custard tarts, vanilla slices and apple turnovers!

When I was in Ho Chi Minh City I was literally living off $10AU a day including accommodation, food and transport. This GIGANTIC bahn mi was 40000 dong ($2.35) and tasted absolutely delicious!

sunflower seeds

The next morning my boyfriend and I were walking down the streets of Da Lat in search of some breakfast. We stumbled down a side alley to find a bunch of locals nibbling on a very odd looking breakfast and knew we had to try it! Not long after we were sitting with our feet up and chewing on sunflower seeds after learning the technique of how to open them off a local Vietnamese man. The one thing I still don’t know to this day is what that mystery fruit was that they served us! It was green on the outside and white inside. It tasted bitter and was quite hard to bite. The woman who owned the cafe served it to us with a plate of sugar but it didn’t aid the harsh after taste of the fruit.

I was absolutely starving whilst visiting the Thanh Toan Bridge in Hue so my boyfriend and I stopped at a nearby cafe for a bite to eat. The lady that ran it had two small puppies and I couldn’t even get stuck into my food because I just had to pick them up and play with them!

This lunch absolutely made my day as my boyfriend and I sat next to the two puppies eating their food as well. The lady that owned it was so sweet as well. She kept saying that next time we came back we’d have to visit her and have lunch there again. Only the next time we’d visit apparently the puppies would be grown up and I’ll have a ring on my finger according to her haha!

-Jen.