I worry that eating in Vietnam may forever have spoiled me and that no Vietnamese restaurant in the U.S. will have anything near the great food we had. So far, that’s been true. I’ve visited two Vietnamese restaurants in Des Moines and both fell far short of Vietnam. But maybe that’s too high a standard.
Pho 515 is in a corner of a huge Asian supermarket on Des Moines’ near north side and I’ve meant to go there for ages. Finally made it and at lunch the place was packed, mostly with Asian diners. My crispy pork with turned out to be large moist chunks of pork with an almost burnt orange crispy rind that was very crunchy. The dish itself was bland but the quality was good. A friend had a pho with supposed crab cakes but we never figured out if/what they were. It did have some tasty tofu. I’ll definitely give the place another try — there was a great selection of banh mi sandwiches. (Pho 515, bills itself as the “ONLY Artisan Style Banh Mi bakery in Iowa.”) I also want to do some wandering around the supermarket which looked full of interesting things!
Finally got back here about 10 years after my first visit on a tour bus, visiting farms (a peach farm, lavender farm, winery) with some Iowa farmers. This time I had a rental car so I could zip off to fairly out of the way places on roads with names like Farm to Market, although not as many places as I wanted to hit. Need more than one day for that. Next trip I’d like to go to: Gruene, Comfort, Welfare, llano.
Blanco was almost my favorite because it seemed like a normal place almost, with more ranchers than tourists. I did stop at the gift shop next to the Rosebud Cafe where I found good local pottery to buy as gifts and expensive Mexican embroidery. The town square reminded me of Winterset, Iowa, with its limestone courthouse, but the Texas courthouse is smaller… It too has been a movie set (True Grit) as has the Winterset courthouse (Bridges of Madison County).
Tex-Jap sounds bad (unlike Tex-Mex) but Kemuri Tatsu-ya is a restaurant that fuses Texas and Japanese fare. Interesting idea and sort of worked. The restaurant designer must have had fun, mixing good ole boy Texas and Japanese izakaya (informal pub) decor, think cattle skulls and lanterns. Perhaps the most natural mashup we had was well-grilled smoked pork ribs with gochujang hot red chili paste. The corn with crema and chilis tasted almost Cuban. The ramen dipped in a broth with brisket bits was tasty but unwieldy.
East Austin seems to be the place for inventive food by young chefs, maybe because they can afford the rent, although that may be changing with gentrification.
Our friend Art recommended Antone’s, a blues club that turned out to be a block from the Hilton (where we have a great view from the 17th floor). Antones was sold out Sunday but almost empty Monday with no cover and we lucked out with the Brad Stivers band. Brad plays a mean guitar– rockabilly and blues — and sings well too. Realized he’s my son Noah’s age. Only 28. We hoped to see his drummer Lindsay Beaver’s band Tuesday but Brad filled in for her. Bigger crowd. Lindsey is booked at the Des Moines Marriott downtown on feb 15 so maybe we will catch her there. Didn’t know the Marriott has live music. Turns out it’s the annual Des Moines bluesfest!
We arrived to blue skies and brisk temperatures in Albuquerque this afternoon and were whisked off to some excellent New Mexican food at Cocina Azul, near old town by our relatives here, Leah and Wellington. The brisket and carne adovada were highlights. I would have tried the flan if I had an room left in my stomach. This evening, after visiting dirck’s mother, we stopped at one of the many brewpubs in town, High and dry, for some beer and, in my case, cider.
We moved on. It is very easy to fritter away hours here, wandering down atmospheric old streets lined with mustard-colored, dark wood and ceramic disc roofs. We are sitting on the second floor balcony of one of the most famous, the 200 year old Vinh Hung
This morning, the street was a little quieter, which is apparently prime time for couples to pose for photos, often in elegant outfits. We made it through the night without too much noise. Our room is very dark but well air conditioned and a good mattress. I am pretty sure I felt a mouse (hoping it was a mouse) scurry down the wood hall leading to this balcony. Oh well, kind of like home.
Our first internal flight in Vietnam, a quick and cheap Vietjet flight from Hanoi to Hue, was surprisingly pleasant. We left and arrived on time. Our small luggage was too heavy to carry on so we had to check it– at no extra cost, which was surprising. (Other budget airlines really stick it to you for this.) The plane was easy in and out (with two entrances/ exits) and it cost $94 for the two of us.
Hue instantly felt different than Hanoi. Lively but not as chaotic, mellower, with wide boulevards lined with grassy parks dotted with sculpture along the narrow river; and what looked like government buildings. And of course the grand Imperial compound called The Citadel, which has a huge imposing stone wall enclosure.
We had an excellent grilled pork (Bun thit) at a place Mark, our Hanoi street tour guide, recommended and some stranger fare at Hanh restaurant for dinner.
What a day. At 6 am, I stood on the sun deck of the La Paci cruise boat and took in the spectacular scene. Moon dropping on one side of the South China sea, sun rising on the other. Clearer blue skies than the day before showed the massive jagged rock formations in the Bay in even greater relief. We set out in the little “tender” motor boat to La Hah Bay, a more secluded part of Halong Bay (and the reason I chose this particular cruise.)
After lunch (not good), we ferried back to land and waited amidst a sea of international travelers for our bus back to Hanoi. Reminded me of our long gone days as young travelers and I can see how this trip might be a little strenuous for older folks (older than us 😚) although we have seen several hardly older European travelers.
I swam in the South China Sea this afternoon. The water was surprisingly warm and very salty and a dark murky green. Huge jagged limestone rock formations surrounded us then and now, popping up out of the sea like steep mountains, yellow and black limestone and covered at the tops in thick green vegetation resembling kudzu.
We drove out of the hectic city into countryside that was both old world and very new – rice fields, water buffalo, Palm trees, bicyclists on dirt lanes and then huge new high rise developments and the occasional modern factory.
TakeBetsywithyou 