July 31st, 2006
MEAL IN A HALF-MOON
Call it a crêpe or an omelet, banh xeo is delicious all the same
At the Vietnamese bistro Bambuza, in the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, the banh xeo are called Turmeric Crêpes and come with slivers of asparagus — demonstrating that any sort of fresh vegetable could find its way into these quick-to-fix creations.
AT MANY RESTAURANTS, an order of crêpes brings to the table a flambéed dessert with orange sauce or a thin pancake full of ham and cheese and served with hard cider. Crêpes at a Vietnamese restaurant, however, are something quite different: crisp, golden crescents filled with all sorts of savory morsels and called banh xeo (pronounced BUN-sow).
Mytho is a delightful town, situated about two hours by bus south west of Ho Chi Minh city. Sitting on the bank of The Mekong River, Mytho is divided into two by a tributary of the river. From here you can do a number of short boat trips to various islands and floating markets within the surrounding are. It is also a good place to catch the overnight long boats to a variety of locations including Chau Doc and Long Xuyen. A quiet evening in Mytho can be spent on your veranda watching the sun set and the fishing fleet unload after dark. During the day you ca spend hours in a nearby cafe simply watching life go by, or on the river, cruising the day away. The Mytho experience is enhanced by the fact that the streets are generally extremely quiet. Mytho is mot a place where you need to worry about being decapitated by a bike carrying six people and half a ton of corrugated iron speeding along at 100 kph.
