This evening, we visited a "locals" restaurant in Hanoi. We had walked by so many of these little stands with crowds of locals sitting on their little stools, slurping up what looked like piping hot, delicious pho (noodles with soup and either beef or chicken). On a local's recommendation, we popped into Gia Thuyen Pho, on 49 Bat Danh Street in the heart of the Old Quarter.
Initially, we were a little nervous as the place looked like a tornado had just passed through; used napkins blanketed the floor, empty bowls covered the little tables where the staff hadn't cleared them... the place was a mess. We tentatively entered as the crowds of locals stared at us; we were the only foreigners.
We each ordered the 1st of 3 options on the menu: pho topped with two types of beef, cilantro, mint leaves and soup broth. The bill for the 2 of us was less than $2 USD. The soup was boiling hot, and the steam smelled de-li-cious! We each tentatively slurped a bit of the soup to check on the taste which was... exquisite.
About 1/4 of the way into my bowl, I felt something "bite" my elbow. I casually shook my elbow a bit but then I felt it again... now on my upper left forearm. I glanced down to kill the persistent little bugger and saw a cockroach crawling up my arm! I swung my left arm wildly until the roach fell onto a little stool to my left and kicked the stool away from me. I looked around and saw many of the locals laughing at me. I could feel myself turning red with embarrassment... so I smiled broadly for the locals, and Jaime and I quickly downed the rest of our meal and left the scene.
p.s. In case you were wondering, the food was yum.
6 comments:
There are lots of those stands in China and Taiwan, I never dare even to try it. Usually hot food is better than the cold one.
are you two still standing after the meal?
wow, the pho really must have been exquisite if you still downed the rest of it afterwards!
...interesting...just read an article in Scientific American..reserachers at U Mass reported that cockroach can live without its head for weeks...title of the article "A nuclear war may not trouble them, but does decapitation?"....
...interesting...just read an article in Scientific American..reserachers at U Mass reported that cockroach can live without its head for weeks...title of the article "A nuclear war may not trouble them, but does decapitation?"....
Brave!
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