Food Musings: Vietnamese Desserts*

*or lack thereof

Yes, yes, I know there are desserts here, I'm not saying that there aren't any available, but I AM saying choices are lacking. I've been thinking this over for a while now (I've had some time on my hands), and it really became noticeable to me, particularly when I was in Ha Long Bay.

Before I get into that, let's recap the culinary history of my time here shall we? Right, so in the almost thirty days that I've been in this country I've gone from sick and never wanting to even look at anything Vietnamese food-wise, to back again and loving it (again), even craving Vietnamese food: Nem ran (North Vietnam fried spring rolls) dripping in Nuoc Cham (dipping sauce); fish sauce no longer causing a revolt to the stomach; Bánh mì
sandwiches all the time - mmmm Bánh mì; all those tasty dishes from the Prince Junk, especially the sautéed sliced beef in a garlic and soya sauce with sticky rice which has now overtaken the The Nam Hai curry dish I passed out over a few posts back as the best meal I've had in this country. All of those amazing, delicious, savoury meals - my mouth waters just even writing it down. Now keep in mind the Vietnamese cuisine still has not replaced curry as my go-to meal the minute I'm hungry. It comes close though.

But (and there is always a 'but' with me and these types of posts eh?).

But something is missing.

Dessert.

Now I have a sweet tooth. I love desserts. I look forward to them especially after a very tasty meal. I'm finding that the concept of dessert hasn't quite been mastered here yet, or maybe I just haven't been to a place where it's really good, like at the Metropole Hotel (oh man if you could just see the selection, I should have taken a picture!!). Sadly, while there I couldn't partake in any dessert eating, I could only drool – I mean look. So what's my point? Dammit I want cake!!! All you get is fruit (which is fine) or some tofu dessert (what?) or if you're lucky in some places, Crème brûlée (no knocks from me against the classic Crème brûlée) but I want CAKE!!! Chocolate gooey cake! I'm laughing as I write this.

We'll see what happens when I go to La Verticale restaurant tomorrow night. Please let me eat cake!!