Flavors of Mekong Delta specialties

The bright green neon-lit signs, tables and benches of the mid-town restaurant Mekong VietFood Express catch the attention of passers-by. There, enthusiastic young guys invite diners to a gastronomic experience of the food specialties of the Mekong Delta.

Recently opened on the tree-lined boulevard Ham Nghi, the fine-dining eatery offers various simple dishes from the region, carefully the owner Vuong Tieu Lan and his wife for the daily breakfast, lunch and dinner menu.

Bun ca Kien Giang is a feature of the menu. This rice vermicelli and fish soup is cooked in the style of Kien Giang Province, a coastal locality where Lan spent his childhood before traveling to HCMC to settle down. Lan says locals of the province have bun ca Kien Giang for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He credits the special taste of this dish to the harmonious combination of rice vermicelli, fish, shrimp fried with onion and garlic, and sweet-and-salty seafood broth.

In addition to the specialty of his home land, Mekong VietFood Express also serves goi du du, an appetizer comprising of thin papaya slices, steamed pork and shrimp. The additional component rice vermicelli distinguishes this dish from the traditional recipe found at other restaurants in town.

Experienced diners pour a bowl of fish sauce and pickles over the plate of goi du du and mix in papaya slices and rice vermicelli until they are soaked with the sauce before eating.

The menu also includes goi cuon (fresh spring roll), deep-fried shrimp cake and other dishes based on rice, vegetables and other ingredients abundant in the Mekong Delta region where canals and rivers crisscross.

Diners can order fruit juice to whet their appetite before enjoying the favors of the dishes Lan and his wife, who traveled a long way inside the region to find authentic tastes for their restaurant.

A long list of vintage wines imported from around the world is also available for diners to accompany their choice of cuisine at the eatery, which is about 50 meters from the city’s landmark market Ben Thanh.

Lan says he and his wife enjoy eating as many Mekong Delta dishes as possible when they return home to Kien Giang Province. They can never find all the foods they like at one restaurant, so, they have to go from eatery to eatery to satisfy their tastes.

In HCMC, he adds there were no restaurants serving a wide the region.

The couple used the green color to decorate the restaurant to give diners the feeling of being in the rice paddy fields and orchards that have earned a reputation for the region.

Address: 136 Ham Nghi Boulevard, District 1, HCMC.

Tel: 0903 878 555.

Source SaigonTimes