Dinner with friends at Nha Hang Ngon @ 160 Pasteur.On the table: Mien Xao Cua (glass noodles with crab) and Goi Cuon Chay (vegetarian fresh spring rolls).Cha Gio Chay (fried vegetarian spring rolls) Vegetarian Curry with noodles and Bot Chein (fried rice cakes with egg and slices of green mango)A drop by Thi Cafe @ 224 De Tham to watch "Like a Boss" throw down some future sounds.The return of a friend...Late night snack of Bo Bia Ngot.A crepe filled with coconut shards, honey comb, and black sesame seeds. Yummmmm.Acupuncture, massage, cupping and blood letting for two weary and worn souls, each with a whole different set of...
Head (South) East
Newlywed twenty-somethings living, eating, and teaching in Saigon, Vietnam. Restaurant reviews, Vietnamese cuisine, recipes, music, and observations of life in South-East Asia.
Latest Food Blogs from Head (South) East
Tib Vegetarian Restaurant
We had driven past Tib a few times before finally trying it out. Located at 11 Tran Nhat Duat in a leafy corner of District 1, it has an extensive menu and a stark, modern interior.As well as a special little creature lurking under the tables! Follow the white rabbit...We started with Banh Beo: bite-sized, delicately sweet rice discs topped with nuts. I was excited to gingerly peel them off the plate, roll, and subsequently lather...
Egg Tofu and Black Jasmine Rice
I just experienced my first completely work-free weekend since we moved to Vietnam! There was simply no better way to celebrate my newfangled freedom than cooking up a tempest in the kitchen and taking shots with my new camera. Since it was a dreary day and my vegetable drawer was looking a little bare, I decided to cook up some comfort food. But first I put on some tunes: Kurt Vile's new album Smoke Ring For My Halo has been a...
Disappearing and Reappearing (Once Again)
While blogging has been an important outlet, it has recently been relegated to a back burner as new jobs consumed hours and our lives got busier. Sometimes you just need to live and not have to worry about writing about it later. This particular bit of cyberspace has been dwelling in the back of my mind as we go through life, it has not been entirely forgotten! In fact, a recent purchase in the household will hopefully...
Dragon Fruit (Thanh Long)
Dragon fruit (Thanh Long) have recently become quite popular in the western world despite a difficult cultivation process (the finicky cacti that bear these fruits bloom only at night and rely on nocturnal creatures for fertilization). While beverage conglomerates have capitalized on dragon fruit infused vodka and fancy eateries offer the fruit in upmarket cocktails or as a post-meal delicacy, we eat it in Vietnam like a Washingtonian eats...
Art Project: Faces
A recent assignment in my class of bubbly three-year-olds was to draw their own personal interpretation of their faces. Paper and crayons were handed out and creativity ensued. In my younger classes we have been working on basic hand-eye-coordination exercises - pencil skills, drawing within boundaries, communicative gestures, etc. Little hands can make a profound impact when put to the test!Once they had finished, my star...
A Tale of Neighborhood Sushi: The Demise of Viet-Nhat ... A Strange, Colorful Phoenix Rises from the Ashes
One of our favorite neighborhood spots was a hole-in-the-wall sushi joint called Viet-Nhat nestled into Phan Xich Long, a tree-lined avenue on the north side of town . Admittedly, the decor was tired, the walls smudged, hygiene a virtual non-issue in the soap-less bathroom, and the sushi stock was limited primarily to five cuts of seafood (salmon, octopus, eel, tuna, and shrimp). That said, it was so convenient and the limited amount of...
Art Project: Your Neighborhood
My 5-year-old students had a project this past week: to recreate their neighborhood with cut-out buildings, crayons, and glue. Surprisingly, they took the task quite seriously and we spent three lessons diligently working on their creations and constructing them with focused glee.When I whipped out the camera to take photos of their work, they were ecstatic to share what they had done. They raced into a desultory queue and proudly...
