A wonderful morning in the Bắc Hải neighborhood … and enjoying Rau Câu Dừa

Rau Câu Dừa Street Vendor
N4A Trường Sơn Street
P.15, District 10

*****

My friend John is a well-seasoned traveler.  He spends at least 6 months each year traveling, scouting, and documenting cultural developments occurring throughout a dozen Asian countries.

Sunday morning I invited him to come to District 10 to get a glimpse of a “real” Saigon neighborhood – away from the tour shops, the classic visitor venues and Saigon’s tourist-central eateries that have been “westernized” to accommodate tourists’ palates.

Much to my delight, John welcomed the opportunity to sample some of the local treats in my Bắc Hải neighborhood.

He arrived at my apartment early, about 9:00 am, and we started our excursion at the nearby Buddhist pagoda, Chùa Hưng Phước.

Down a small side street off of Cách Mạng Tháng Tám street, the chùa (pagoda) is nestled among some lovely row houses off a quiet cul-de-sac. It actually is an integral part of Hai and my daily lives.  It’s the first site we view from our balcony each morning as we open our front door to water our balcony plants.

And the monks here also radiate soothing chants that fill our living room each day.  Peaceful, serene, mildly ornate and spotless, the pagoda was a wonderful introduction to our neighborhood for John.

BUT, what does that have to do with eating!!  We were both very hungry.

As we began to discuss our eating options, we found ourselves standing in front of the local neighborhood bakery serving up fresh bánh mì (bread).  The smell of the fresh baked bread ended our debate.  We immediately ordered a bánh mì đặc biệt – a Vietnamese sandwich with “everything” – pâté, pickled vegetables, chili pepper, various pressed meats, mayo, and special sauces – Very yummy.

And even more fun, the owner, apparently very pleased to see two ông tây‘s (old white guys) patronizing his shop, welcomed us into his small operation to proudly show off his various bread ovens.  He expressed some concern about the potential longevity of the Chinese-made ovens. But for now, the bread was quite wonderful.

We continued on, munching our sandwiches as we strolled through Lê Thi Rieng Park. Eating while walking is NOT a Vietnamese custom. (Sorry for the cultural insensitivity – we were really hungry.)

Strolling the park is always a pleasant way to glimpse local neighborhood life. Lots of uniformed students congregated around an instructor in the park; young folk “working out” on the various exercise devices scattered amongst the park’s trees and landscaping; some fisherman snoozing lakeside as we strolled by; and a families everywhere enjoying a Sunday morning in the park.

As we exited the opposite side of the park, we found ourselves on Bắc Hải neighborhoods sinh tố street (fruit shake lane) – a line of dozens of small street vendors blending up every kind of tropical fruit into yummy shakes.

We were tempted, but resisted, being on our way to the Bắc Hải cafe district.

John was impressed with the quiet, tree-lined streets of Bắc Hải.  No traffic!  No honking horns! Very refreshing and relaxing.

And then, Bắc Hải’s main event – scores of open-air cafes, jam-packed with young locals idly passing time on another Sunday morning. As is usual in Vietnam, the cafe patrons were 95% male. The servers 95% female.

We settled in at corner cafe to take in the sights and enjoy our glasses of cà phê sữa đá (iced coffee with milk).

Then the fun/pathetic part of the morning began.  I tried my best Vietnamese to explain to our waitress that John wanted to purchase the coffee-making drip device (NOT another cup of coffee) as a souvenir. It took a while, many confused looks, some laughter, some frustration, and a mis-delivered second cup of coffee, before I succeeded.  But John did ultimately leave with his 50 cents coffee-maker prize!

 

 

The weather had become hot and steamy.  After coffee, we were both moist walking the streets under the baking sun.  On our return back to the main street to call a taxi, I suggested one last Bắc Hải treat.  What could be more perfect that a rau câu dừa? A super-chilled, naturally sweetened, “jellied” coconut milk treat,  served inside its own coconut shell. Soooooo refreshing! Exactly what the doctor ordered.

Now normally, Hai and I, as with most patrons here, simply stop on the motorbike in front of this vendor’s shop, pick up the coconut treat and speed away with chilled coconut in-hand.

Today, John and I preferred to sit and enjoy our sweet right there in the shade of the shop. No chairs – no tables 🙁 . No problem.

The older woman standing beside the cooler filled with treats noticed our confused  glances, searching for a place to sit.  She quickly invited us to stay.  She carried out two plastic chairs from her living room behind her vending stand and assembled a small table.- “Mời  ngồi” (please have a seat). Well, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words:

John agreed, it was a truly wonderful morning in Bắc Hải. Come back soon John!

Rau Câu Dừa Street Vendor
(OPEN 7:30am-10:30 pm)
N4A Trường Sơn Street
P.15, District 10

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