A river restuarant with a view

The city of Saigon is expanding by the minute.  The constant new wave of construction makes this city more and more of a labyrinth.  Everyday it heaves to consume another suburb.  Unlike other travelers who have come here I was blessed with an instant base of contacts and friends on my arrival in Saigon.  This has turned out to be a necessity to the discovery of new and exciting places to eat.  Like most of the backpacking circuit there has become a rut.  The Lonely Planet books that exist however wise and informative cannot cover the entire city or push you to explore areas that they might not have guided you too.  To be able to see this city from an insider’s perspective has been a great joy.  

This restaurant along the banks of the Saigon River in the Binh Thanh district is one of those places.  A local’s only joint with charcoal grills and a plethora of seafood.  I was getting way to much protein in my diet so Tai and his girlfriend and I started off the meal with some grilled okra with a bit of chili and garlic.  Okra in the US tends to be fried and is still an acquired taste for many.  I expected the sliminess to overpower but instead they had been a bit more dried-out by the grilling process and were really nice.  Plus the Nuc Cham (fish sauce, really processed sugar, a bit of water, chili and garlic) was another way to mask the odd texture.   

We continued with eggplant.  Lightly grilled, skin removed and served with peanuts and scallions that had been lightly cook in oil.  This was a subtle combination more about texture than taste but again Nuc cham was the way to cut the greasiness.   

Squid followed with a slightly sweet flavor that had been quickly stir fried with scallions and onion.   

We also ordered panko-covered sardines that were quickly fried and served with a fermented tofu dipping sauce.  This dipping sauce is certainly not for the faint of heart.  It has a certain stench like many things in the Asian kitchen.  But now that fermented things are the new pork bun in foodie kitchens it may catch on.  The dipping sauce consists of fermented tofu some raw garlic and dried chili oil blended.  This turned out to be my favorite food of the meal because it was a lot of new flavor profiles for me.   This restaurant was in an idyllic setting for a great meal and off the beaten track.