I had a really nice thing happen today. When I got back to the hotel this afternoon and went about checking out since it was my last night there, the manager said he wanted to take me to some "special food." I finished checking out, freshened up and got ready for the scooter. I'm a pro at putting the helmet on and off now and after the foot pegs were down, I hopped on and we were off.
We went to a place down in the backpacker area, which surprised me, since usually the food is not that good in those areas. This little hole in the wall place is famous for it's presentation of authentic Hue cuisine. My host Son (his surname) ordered and the food magically appeared almost instantly.
We had Ban Beo. These are tiny dishes of steamed rice topped with pork crackling and shavings of freshly cooked shrimp. You scoop out a spoonful and dip it in a mild sauce. Yummy.
Also Banh Ram. It is a crispy piece of deep fried rice, on top of which is heaped a fat slab of steamed rice with cooked shrimp inside. Scattered all over these are shavings of freshly cooked shrimp. The combination of textures is amazing, and the shrimp gives a lot of flavor. These also are dipped into a different sauce. It is the lower dish in the photo below.
Banh Uot is rolled steamed rice crepes which are soft, and comes with shavings of freshly cooked shrimp and again is dipped into a mild sauce. These are rather tastless and limp. It is the top dish in the photo above.
We also had a savory quiche type dish, without the crust. Cooked egg with shrimp is what it looked like.
Another dish was Banh Nam. This is a soft rice crepe on a banana leaf with shrimp topping. The leaf is folded and steamed. Again, one scoops it up with a spoon and dips it into the mild sauce.
The food was delicate and mild, with subtle flavors, not like most of the other Hue food I'd had. It was attractively presented and the restaurant itself was quite clean. The leftovers came home and were given to the hotel staff members.
During the dinner conversation, which was a little hard because my Vietnamese is nil and his English is limited, Son told me he is 37, has been married 2 years to a former receptionist at the hotel. They have a 6 month old boy now. He has been manager of the Victory Hotel for 3 years and makes a monthly salary of $300.
Granted, this is a 2-3 star, small hotel, I think about 20 rooms at most, but that seems like a paltry salary to me. He is very outgoing and friendly and goes out of his way to be helpful to all the guests and treats the staff with respect. But what do I know of the economic structure of this country? He said he thought it was good money. "He's not poor, but not rich," is what he told me.
You might be wondering why he took me out to dinner. Well, near as I can figure out, they haven't had anyone stay this long in their hotel before. (8 nights) I guess it must be something really different for them. Also, I've expressed interest in the local food, took a cooking class and generally interacted with the staff. They all call me, "Madame." Don't take that too seriously, as the touts along the street selling junk also call me, "Madame." Perhaps I'm the oldest single woman traveling alone that they've seen.
I've had a great time here, doing my usual walking around and seeing everything there is to see (might be an exaggeration) in Hue. Staying this amount of time has let me become familiar with the city and what it has to offer. I've been really fortunate to stay where the staff is so nice.
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