Page 150 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2020 South Africa

the health inspector was overdue.
Ca phe trung -- Vietnam is the second biggest
coffee growing country in the world (behind
Brazil). And it’s got a coffee culture to match. Cof-
fee shops line downtown streets. Each one deco-
rated with tiny plastic red tables -- less than two
feet high -- surrounded by coffee drinkers.
Along with the usual lattes and cappuccinos,
there are uniquely Vietnamese coffee drinks. We
discovered “ca phe sua” – espresso and condensed
milk – in HCMC. In Da Lat we encountered “ca phe
muoi” -- coffee mixed with a salty cream.
But the topper was “ca phe trung” in Hanoi.
Otherwise known as “egg coffee,” it’s a combina-
tion of sweetened espresso with whipped egg
yoke on top. It’s almost a desert. Think coffee
meringue pie or coffee tiramisu or maybe coffee
eggnog.
We tried our first ca phe trung at Café Giang
(the owner’s father invented the drink), where it’s
been served since 1946. We were there on a cool,
grey afternoon and both floors were packed. Each
ca phe trung cup sat in a small ceramic bowl.
We’re not sure why. Maybe to catch any overflow-
ing meringue.
Lobster -- On the eve of New Year’s Eve, we
squeezed through the crowds at Hoi An’s outdoor
night market, which is on an island across a nar-
row neck of the Thu Bon River from the Old Town.
The market sells T-shirts and other tourist
knick-knacks but most everybody is there for the
food. There are dozens of stalls cooking an ency-
clopedia of foods. Squid, frogs, octopi, chickens,
weird things we couldn’t identify. We headed to
the far side of the island where the lobster grillers
were at work.
We picked a stand at random (the cook looked
like a nice lady) and put in an order. The nice lady
grabbed a group of small lobsters out of a tank,
chopped off some antennae and threw them on
her grill. In 10 minutes juice dripping, succulent
grilled lobsters were delivered to our tiny table in
paper cartons.
Just about the best street food we’d ever eaten.
Pizza -- We say “just about,” because we discov-
ered the best street food ever in Da Lat. It’s called
“banh trang nuong.” Better known to tourists as

150 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020