I split from the office last night a little later than usual as I was rushing to finish some diagrams for one of my deliverables. I got back to the Silver, changed, and camped out in my office (the table and chairs on the patio out front). At some time a bit later, the boys (Bien and Truong) appeared and we sipped Bia Hanoi and munched on peanuts for a while. A woman named Rose showed up then another lady named Qunyh. Rose was kind enough to invite me to join them for dinner. We ended up around the corner at a local traditional spot I had been to once with Junie and once on my own. Then the extravaganza began.
I appreciated their dragging me along, but finally found out first hand the huge difference between westernized-Vietnamese food and the real McCoy. I passed on the dish that contained pig stomach and found some of the other fare "interesting". Rose ordered some Hue noddle soup which sounded like a plan to me, so I followed. Some garnish for the soup arrived and it looked like some form of noodles. I found out, after putting some in my soup and downing the first mouthful, that they were actually banana skins. That's what they tasted like banana skins and not noodles :). There was a jelly salad (also "interesting") and some weird tasting spices in my soup of which I downed about half (well maybe a third or a quarter).
This experience reminded me, interestingly enough, about my last meal on my own at this restaurant. The first few things I ordered the server talked me out of. She somehow managed to tell me that they were very strong and I would not like them. That must have been the nature of some of the food I tried to consume when there with the boys and the two ladies. Did you know that what we think is Vietnamese food is really a toned down version for the North American market :).
Point taken ... the company was GREAT, the food ...
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