Cooking
Quan An Ngon means delicious restaurant in Vietnamese. It's a place for wimps, like me. Let me explain. Given the hot, sticky weather and the terrifying traffic it was hard to get my bearings in Saigon. I try not to be a scaredy-cat on vacation, but seeing ingredients that were sitting out in the sun spooked me out of trying more than a few street food specialties.
Fortunately we discovered Quan An Ngon on our first day. This centrally located, clean, beautiful and tremendously popular restaurant that features street food, but off the street, lived up to it's name. A large courtyard shaded by umbrellas and bamboo trees, is filled with stalls where regional specialties are made to order. You can wander around and decide what looks good. As with all restaurants of this sort, not all the dishes are outstanding but everything is so inexpensive you can always choose something else if you at first you don't succeed. Most of the dishes were only a dollar or two and very filling. Service was not the best, but some of that may have been due to language difficulties.
When we got to Hanoi we were pleased to find yet a second Quan An Ngon. Dishes we particularly liked included the banh cuon, a kind of glutinous rice noodle dumpling with mushroom or pork filling. Also the bun thit nuong cha gio, a combination of vermicelli noodles, topped with spring rolls, grilled pork and a tangy dipping sauce was fresh and well, delicious. And I should say, this is not just a restaurant for wimps, but also for locals who outnumbered the tourists at least 10 to 1. We returned several times to both locations and it quickly became one of our favorite restaurants.
Quan An Ngon
138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, District 1
Saigon
Quan An Ngon
18 Phan Boi Chau
Hanoi
FOOD + VIETNAM
- French Food In Vietnam
I came here to eat Vietnamese food, but French food is very much part of the culinary landscape. So I eat French food too. Actually I enjoy French food. So far anyway, the French food I have had has been excellent, though not exactly the same same as...
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Sorry no pictures, or even any links yet. But here are some first impressions: Arriving at night the city is balmy and buzzing with motorcycles, scooters and people everywhere. But there is a calm purposefulness about it all. Everyone we meet is polite...
- I'm Dreaming Of Vietnamese Cuisine...
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Cooking
Quan An Ngon: Restaurant Review
Quan An Ngon means delicious restaurant in Vietnamese. It's a place for wimps, like me. Let me explain. Given the hot, sticky weather and the terrifying traffic it was hard to get my bearings in Saigon. I try not to be a scaredy-cat on vacation, but seeing ingredients that were sitting out in the sun spooked me out of trying more than a few street food specialties.
Fortunately we discovered Quan An Ngon on our first day. This centrally located, clean, beautiful and tremendously popular restaurant that features street food, but off the street, lived up to it's name. A large courtyard shaded by umbrellas and bamboo trees, is filled with stalls where regional specialties are made to order. You can wander around and decide what looks good. As with all restaurants of this sort, not all the dishes are outstanding but everything is so inexpensive you can always choose something else if you at first you don't succeed. Most of the dishes were only a dollar or two and very filling. Service was not the best, but some of that may have been due to language difficulties.
When we got to Hanoi we were pleased to find yet a second Quan An Ngon. Dishes we particularly liked included the banh cuon, a kind of glutinous rice noodle dumpling with mushroom or pork filling. Also the bun thit nuong cha gio, a combination of vermicelli noodles, topped with spring rolls, grilled pork and a tangy dipping sauce was fresh and well, delicious. And I should say, this is not just a restaurant for wimps, but also for locals who outnumbered the tourists at least 10 to 1. We returned several times to both locations and it quickly became one of our favorite restaurants.
Quan An Ngon
138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, District 1
Saigon
Quan An Ngon
18 Phan Boi Chau
Hanoi
FOOD + VIETNAM
- French Food In Vietnam
I came here to eat Vietnamese food, but French food is very much part of the culinary landscape. So I eat French food too. Actually I enjoy French food. So far anyway, the French food I have had has been excellent, though not exactly the same same as...
- First Day In Ho Chi Minh City Aka Saigon
Sorry no pictures, or even any links yet. But here are some first impressions: Arriving at night the city is balmy and buzzing with motorcycles, scooters and people everywhere. But there is a calm purposefulness about it all. Everyone we meet is polite...
- I'm Dreaming Of Vietnamese Cuisine...
While the holidays are thoroughly captivating to many, I am filled with visions of Spring Rolls, not sugar plums, dancing through my head. The end of this month I will going to Vietnam and it will not be a whirlwind tour. I will be there for a whole...
- Sunflower Authentic Vietnamese: Restaurant
When I was growing up Asian food meant Chinese and occasionally Japanese. But over the years Thai restaurants became quite common. Then Vietnamese restaurants started popping up. What strikes me about Vietnamese cuisine is how varied it is. Sometimes...
- Saigon Sandwich Restaurant
Like some other recent food trends (nouvelle cuisine comes to mind) fusion has gotten a bad rap. On the surface, the idea of combining two cuisines to come up with something new sounds positively dreadful. Does anyone really want Chinese-Italian food?...