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Lotteria – Ho Chi Minh City

Published by Astronomer on August 2, 2008 in Burgers, Chain / Multiple Locations, Fast Food, Restaurant Review and Saigon. 4 Comments

If you’re one of the 1,400+ people who have read my Jollibee post, you’ll remember that I promised to blog about Lotteria before leaving Vietnam. This hasn’t turned out to be as easy as I anticipated—to put it simply, at no point in the past 12 months have I felt any desire to step inside a Lotteria branch and order food. However, one day I was on a blogging roll, and with our days in the country winding down, it was time to act.

A little background on the place: the Korean-owned Lotteria is the dominant fast-food hamburger chain in Vietnam. As with most American-inspired products, the hamburger has caught on among the Vietnamese community, and business is good for Lotteria. However, most expats agree that the burgers suck. Rumors abound, like “they’re not even trying to make good hamburgers, they’re just holding retail space until they get bought out by McDonalds.” Nevertheless, our friends Zach and Tom used to eat here approximately once a week. They too weren’t big fans of the hamburgers, but they swore by the chicken sandwich. Once I accompanied Zach and tasted a few of his fries. They were good—good enough that I wanted to eat more. Not quite McDonald’s quality, but a huge step above Jollibee. Still, I had no interest in sampling Zach’s sandwich.

On my solo visit, I spent a few minutes perusing the menu. Like any good Asian hamburger chain, Lotteria offers a selection of rice dishes in addition to sandwiches and fried chicken. I considered ordering the chicken sandwich or “bulgogi burger” but decided that it would be wrong to try anything other than the classic cheeseburger (burger pho mai) for my first Lotteria meal. Two categories of combo meal were available: a sandwich with fries and a soft drink (been there, done that), or a sandwich and drink paired with a piece of fried chicken. I ordered the latter, minus the Pepsi.

Zach used to hype how the food was prepared to order at Lotteria—the meat covered with breadcrumbs right before your eyes. Well, that may be true of the chicken sandwich, but for the hamburger and fried chicken it most certainly is not. My food was bagged up and I was out the door within 15 seconds of placing my order. I fastened the bag on my motorbike hook and headed home, because isn’t that what you’re supposed to do with fast food? Actually, it would have been more appropriate to eat the burger with one hand while driving, but it hadn’t been photographed yet. Plus I didn’t want to die.

So, what was the verdict? Well, the cheeseburger didn’t blow me away, but it wasn’t inedible either. I removed the tomatoes and pickles, as I would in America, leaving the burger dressed with lettuce, cheese, a few shards of onion, and a touch of mustard and ketchup. The quality of the ingredients seemed comparable to a typical McDonald’s burger, but the folks at Mickey D’s really know what they’re doing with flavoring. The Lotteria burger was bland. The cheese didn’t taste like cheese (or anything really), but that’s often the case with cheeseburgers.

I was pleased to see two small packets in my to-go bag, one labeled “chili sauce” and the other “tomato sauce.” I assumed the “tomato sauce” was ketchup; it looked reasonably like what I’m used to from Heinz, if a little darker in color. Jollibee only offered chili sauce to complement their fries, so this was a step in the right direction. I didn’t have any fries this time, so it wasn’t as big of a deal, but I did try dipping the hamburger in the ketchup to add a little flavor. Did it taste like ketchup? Well, no…but at least they’re trying.

The fried chicken piece I was given was a medium-sized thigh—a nice compromise between the malnourished birds you sometimes get in Vietnam and the ‘roid-juiced pieces at KFC in the U.S. It was a solid offering, with tasty seasonings and a moist interior. The breading became a little soggy on the drive home, but that’s hard to avoid in this climate. If I had to choose, I’d go with the chicken tenders at Jollibee over this one, but you could do far worse.

From my research at Lotteria and Jollibee, I’ve come to one main conclusion: Vietnamese fast food places know how to do fried chicken. This shouldn’t come as a surprise; the concept is much less foreign to the cuisine than the idea of a hamburger. If you find yourself stuck in one of these places for a meal, ordering some variety of ga ran is probably your safest bet. Whatever you do, stay away from the spaghetti (see Jollibee), and I wouldn’t recommend the hamburgers either.

Pepperonis

Published by Astronomer on July 30, 2008 in All U Can Eat, Hanoi, Italian, Restaurant Review and Vietnamese. 9 Comments

I’ve been wanting to try Pepperonis restaurant in Saigon for a while. This Hong Kong-based “Italian” chain sells a wide range of pizza and pasta, but they’re known in particular for their cheap lunch and dinner buffets. As recently as two years ago, you could gain access to an endless supply of pastas and salads for a mere 28,000 VND. While this price has since increased (along with the cost of everything else in Vietnam), the 42,000 VND lunch buffet is still quite a deal.

On a recent visit to Hanoi, I happened to walk past a Pepperonis branch on the way to my hotel from the airport shuttle stop. Although I typically resolve to eat nothing but novel northern Vietnamese delicacies when I visit the capital, on this day I was in the mood for something different. I had followed up a longish run in the morning with a meager breakfast, and after skipping out on the disgusting sandwich on my Vietnam Airlines flight, I was unusually hungry. In these situations, there’s something about stuffing yourself with Italian pasta that just hits the spot—Vietnamese food can’t quite match it. Besides, I couldn’t see myself dragging The Gastronomer to an all-you-can-eat luncheon of questionable quality during our final two weeks in Saigon. It seemed appropriate to go at it alone.

It was 12:55 PM when I stepped inside. The advertised lunch buffet hours were 11:30-1:30, so there was no time to dawdle. I chose a seat upstairs by the window (might as well give my camera a fighting chance), grabbed a plate, and headed back downstairs to the buffet. It wasn’t the most impressive spread I’ve seen… just one table of entrees in metal cafeteria-style tins, and one table of salads with slightly more appealing presentation. The selection was also a bit strange—I had been hoping for a choice of several pasta shapes and a nice range of sauces, but I was instead presented with a mismatched hodgepodge of Vietnamese and Western food.

I threw caution to the wind and started filling my plate with a little bit of everything. The end result didn’t look so hot, but I was ready to eat. I started with some glass noodles from the salad table. These definitely came from the Vietnamese end of the spectrum. Dressed with a sweet, nuoc mam-based sauce, they were tasty, if not exactly what I had come for. I grabbed some corn on the cob, which was terrible—cold and slathered with way too much butter. I struggled to finish two small sections.

Things began looking up with a carrot and daikon salad. A classic Vietnamese goi with peanuts and herbs, it looked like do chua but wasn’t sour. I also sampled an excellent baked pasta—a bit like lasagna but with made with spaghetti and lacking runny cheese. This one confused me at first, but I eventually identified it as the baked Bolognese from the menu. It was really satisfying—different than anything I had eaten in months.

I rounded off plate #1 with some stir-fried vegetables on rice. They were solid, with lots of onions (not too raw) and a hint of lemongrass, but it was a super-weird thing to eat after the baked Bolognese. The words, “What am I doing?” came to mind.

Nevertheless, I was still hungry, and it was nearly 1:15. I went back for plate #2. I came back with more goi (ironically probably my favorite dish of them all), some penne with white sauce, a section of veggie lasagna, and chicken curry with rice. The penne was a huge disappointment. Since it was the closest thing to my original vision for the meal available, I filled up a full half-plate with it, but the sauce was bland and tasted too much like pure cream with a hint of mushrooms. The veggie lasagna turned out to actually be potatoes au gratin, or perhaps some other creamy dish with potatoes, onions, and herbs. It was decent, but it didn’t leave me yearning for more.

The chicken curry was probably pretty good, but this time the shock of the transition from creamy pastas to Vietnamese food was too much. I was getting full, and I just wasn’t in the mood anymore. This had to be one of the strangest meals I’d ever eaten.

It was almost 1:30, so I went back for one more helping of my favorites—the carrot and daikon salad and the baked Bolognese. I finished off the meal with some papaya chunks from the dwindling fruit salad. I had eaten too fast, but I felt alright. I had found a few winners among the selection of mediocre offerings, and I had satisfied my curiosity about Pepperonis. It’s not so different from one of the cheap pizza/hoagie/pasta joints in Pennsylvania (albeit with a bizarre Vietnamese twist), or perhaps the Swarthmore dining hall on a good day. Clearly somebody likes it—according to their business card, there are 5(!) locations in Hanoi. Guess it wasn’t such a coincidence that I ran into one.

Bánh Bò & Bánh Tiêu

Published by Astronomer on May 27, 2008 in Banh Bo, Banh Tieu, Dessert, Saigon, Street Food and Vietnamese. 16 Comments

During my first few months in Vietnam, I developed an obsession with street donuts. Whenever I saw a cart frying up some sweet and savory balls of dough, I just had to have a couple. Perhaps my donut addiction existed even before I moved here, but it used to be suppressed by knowledge of the outrageous trans fat levels in each pillowy ball of joy. In Saigon, nutrition facts are not available, and it turns out ignorance is bliss.

Although nothing quite matches banh cam for pure sugary goodness, I also love Bánh Tiêu . These hollow, roundish pastries are nothing like Krispy Kremes—their primary flavor is salty rather than sweet, and they make for a relatively subtle but satisfying snack. Most Bánh Tiêu vendors pair the donut with a strange, gelatinous cake called Bánh Bò. At first this didn’t seem all that appealing to me, but the combination is perfect. The Bánh Bò is sponge-like and mildly sweet, and it provides a wonderful cooling contrast to the salty Bánh Tiêu . If you’re ever walking around Saigon and see a man slicing open donuts with scissors, you can be sure you’re in for a treat.

Hot from the Fryer

Published by Astronomer on May 14, 2008 in Banh Bao, Banh Xep / Banh Goi, Cha Gio, Saigon and Vietnamese. 5 Comments

Cuisine: Vietnamese

91 Cach Mang Thang 8 Street
District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Phone: none
Website: none

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Fried Finger Foods – cha gio (6,000 VND), banh xep (7,000 VND), xui mai (1,000 VND), banh tom thit (7,000 VND), banh bao chien (8,000 VND)

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I hate to typecast myself, but the fact of the matter is that I have become a bit of a Deep-Fried Guru for gas•tron•o•my. The Gastronomer doesn’t allow just any old lipid to roam those squeaky-clean arteries of hers, so if a grease-laden meal doesn’t look ultra delicious (see Jollybee), she just might choose not to partake. Nevertheless, someone has to report on the less healthy offerings in Saigon, so I sacrifice myself for the sake of our readers. Don’t worry, I’m not suffering too much. Although I could pass on Western-style fast food, I find cha gio, street donuts, and other local deep-fried delicacies totally irresistible.

It’s not surprising, then, that I am a frequent visitor of a take out eatery called Banh Xep Chien Don on CMT8. The goods are always displayed on a table out front to attract passing motorists, and they’re usually fresh out of the frying oil. Prices are a bit higher than you might expect, but it’s totally worth it—these are some tasty treats.

My personal favorite is the cha gio—definitely a contender for the title of “best in Saigon.” As always, these pork-filled wonders are best piping hot, but even when they’ve been sitting out awhile they’re still excellent. Never soggy or burnt tasting, the cha gio have a perfect meaty, greasy flavor [note: The Gastronomer wanted me to edit this sentence on the grounds that it "doesn't sound appealing." Well, trust me, they're greasy in a good way]. What really sets them apart is the dipping sauce. It looks like chili sauce, but it’s actually sweet and sour, which is much, much better in my opinion. I haven’t tasted a sauce like this anywhere else in Vietnam. While I enjoy dipping my cha gio in nuoc mam, I find this flavor combination to be even more delicious.

The same sauce is served with each of the shack’s other offerings. I frequently order banh xep, a solid, crunchy snack that is a better deal than the cha gio from a size perspective but tastes a bit more ordinary. These are quite similar to the banh goi I ate in Hanoi, but I find them superior due to the lack of mushrooms.

The banh tom thit are another hearty treat for meat-lovers. They’re basically breaded deep-fried ground pork logs, but the “chefs” insert a single shrimp with its tail sticking out the end to spice things up. Even more intriguing are the banh bao chien, which are essentially the standard soft white buns (albeit the version with no egg) submerged in hot oil until they’re golden brown. Wolfing down a couple of these will fill you up in a hurry.

The only real letdown are the xui mai—I had high hopes for these little fried dumplings but found them bland and totally uninspiring. The one time I tried them they were cold, so I know I should give them another shot, but with four other tempting choices, why risk disappointment?

Eating in Hanoi II

Published by Astronomer on March 27, 2008 in Banh Xep / Banh Goi, Hanoi, Mi Sui Cao, Mien, Pho Cuon, Restaurant Review, Scenes, Vietnamese and Xoi. 7 Comments

When visiting Hanoi, my primary culinary objective is to sample my favorite northern Vietnamese dishes in the land of their creation or, better yet, try something I’ve never seen or even heard of in the south. The first meal of my latest visit was a late lunch. I was absolutely starving after an hour plus run and no food since 8 a.m., so when my intended destination turned out to be a tourist trap, I blindly stumbled into a wanton soup eatery. The place was basically empty, but it was definitely not peak hours, and I justified my choice to myself in light of the above rule by noting that wantons and dumplings are a Chinese import, and Hanoi is a lot closer to China than Saigon.

I was also intrigued by the northern spelling of wonton: van than instead of hoan thanh. Nevertheless, I ended up ordering sui cao my. I found it rather disappointing—the sui cao themselves were good, with nice peppery seasoning, but I was only given three. Bland slices of pork made up the majority of the meat in the dish, and the broth was nothing special. Sadly, it seems my judgment was clouded by hunger when I chose this place.

Fortunately, I was more than ready to seek redemption in the form of a second course. I headed for a mien luon spot recommended by my Rough Guide tour book (as noted previously, their Hanoi street eats section is surprisingly insightful). I ordered the mien nuoc—thin glass noodles and crispy mini eels in a broth with fried shallots, bean sprouts, and scallions. Now this was the sort of eating experience I was looking for—I’m not sure whether this dish is even of northern origin, but it was certainly different than anything I had eaten before, and pretty darn delicious. The broth reminded me of a good hu tieu mi—sweet and salty and crying out to be drank when the noodles were gone. The dried eels were interesting—kind of like the fish-skin chips The Gastronomer and I sampled once at the Chinatown business expo. I had expected little pieces of big eel in the soup, but these were entire animals I was gulping down—the eel equivalent of the dried mini-shrimps used in xoi man.

Dinner found me wandering again, but this time at a more thoughtful pace. I found a winner in Nguyen Huu Huan Street. First I stopped at a massive sticky rice establishment. The Gastronomer has tried quite a few varieties of xoi on Ton That Thuyet Street, but this was a whole different story—it seems the northerners take their xoi pretty seriously. Slightly overwhelmed, I glanced around at what people were eating before pointing at some sort of loaf and saying, “sin cho toi mot to xoi cha.” As it turned out, xoi cha (or at least this variety—there were definitely several kinds available) consisted of yellow sticky rice topped with shreds of hardened mung bean paste, fried shallots, and the cha itself. I made little progress discerning what the loaf was made of, but it was a bit chewy and surprisingly sweet. I don’t usually love sweet xoi, but the ingredients of this one melded perfectly. I almost ordered another bowl, but another stall down the street was calling my name (“Astronomer, Astronomer…!”).

This one was run by a father and his three sons and served a mostly male clientele. On display were a number of pastries deep fried to order; I decided it was time to sample another banh goi. The pastry itself was similar to the first banh goi I tried, but the components were more evenly distributed inside, and the spicy dipping sauce, which looked remarkably similar to the broth for bun cha but tasted entirely different, was a welcome addition.

I also ordered a plate of pho cuon. When they came out, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to dip them in the same sauce, but I decided to go for it. No one stopped me, and they went together wonderfully. When The Gastronomer and I tried pho cuon down south we were underwhelmed, but these were really spectacular. Filled with plenty of ground beef and copious mint leaves, they were quite tasty without the sauce and even better with it. I’ll definitely have to return for more.

I capped off my dinner with a couple of pastries from one of the small French-influenced bakeries that are everywhere in Hanoi. The chocolate tart turned out to contain coffee, which was a disappointment, but the lemon tart (R) was awesome.

Day two began with an ultra-simple breakfast of bread and jam at the Prince II hotel. The baguette was one of the best I’ve had in Vietnam, with a soft crust and substantial exterior. Afterwards, I was still a bit hungry, so I bought a chocolate-filled pastry from a street vendor. I bargained the price down from 10,000 VND to 5,000 and then made the purchase despite knowing that I should have paid no more than 3,000. She aggressively tried to sell me additional pastries and even a trip to Ha Long Bay, but I declined. When I got back to my room and took a bite of the pastry, I found that there was in fact nothing inside. I hate being a tourist.

Despite my previous resolution to try something new every meal, when lunchtime rolled around I was really in the mood for some bun cha. I checked out Dac Kim on Hang Manh Street, recommended by Wandering Chopsticks and advertised as Hanoi’s most famous bun cha restaurant in the Rough Guide, but it was closed. Perhaps 1:15 in the afternoon was too late? Luckily, I was only a few blocks away from Dac Kim II, and I couldn’t resist going back (side note: I’m not sure if one of these restaurants copied the other, or if they actually have the same owners. I walked by a third Bun Cha Dac Kim in the Old Quarter the day before. Oh well, if they’re all good, what does it matter?). The nem cua be were even better than I remembered them, and the bun cha was also satisfying, although I felt like I received an inferior ratio of juicy sausages to chewy meat strips this time.

All in all, another successful business trip to Hanoi. Next time I look forward to trying pho xao, northern banh cuon, and maybe some barbecued bird.