One of the things I love about visiting foreign lands is eating the local specialties. I try to look up which eateries and restaurants are the right ones to go to but it doesn’t always turn out right as was the case on the first of the three lunches I was to have during my trip to Hue, Vietnam.
There was a restaurant I was trying to go to and it was supposed to be on a street that stretched out on the Citadel side of the city. I couldn’t find it and because the street was so long by the time I figured out that I wasn’t going to find it, I moved on to Plan B. However, again, I couldn’t find that one either. It must have closed because I was in the right spot as far as the street address and the location on the map were concerned.
After that was a matter of trying to find an eatery that I thought would be hygienic enough for me to eat. I don’t mind sitting with locals around a stall but I didn’t want to risk getting sick on my trip as I have been sick in Vietnam in the past.
Anyway, in my search of my perfect lunch place, this lady called out to me as I was passing by her shop.
She was as colorful as her shop and attire.
I was actually very glad she called out because it gave me an excuse to stop and observe her shop.
And I decided to stay. What to have was the more difficult part as our communication proved rather fruitless and at the end I pointed to one kind of rice noodle and asked her to serve something that used it. I still don’t know what I had was called.
The result was rewarding.
A blog by Ayako Mathies 