Preparing To Drink

We were taken out to a lunch buffet at a local Vietnamese restaurant that very quickly filled up with locals or visitors from Ho Chi Minh City.

I don't know the restaurant's name or address. But it's obviously very popular. It's one of those tucked away at a location I've no idea how to return to and will have to ask and depend on local knowledge.

I was VERY HAPPY with lunch. I didn't intend to have pho. If there was going to be heavy drinking in the evening, I'd like to fulfil my routine preparation to minimize the ugly effects of alcohol.

The prep for heavy alcohol ingestion is rather ritualistic and personal, differing from individual to individual. I believe in having a big greasy cheeseburger or mash to line the stomach. However, I don't have that luxury here in Vung Tau. So I settle for the next best- carbs and fatty meat- exactly what the dishes at lunch offerred.

There was the bittergourd soup that was quite tasty, but so so oily because they cooked it with pork bones and fat. There was so much pork in the selection of food. I gingerly tried a piece fatty pork belly. UGH. Not that nice unless you relish the fats. I chewed on the chilli padi to rid the stinky porky taste in the mouth. I ate plenty of egg and rice doused in fish sauce. Those were tasty.

Very much dreading the evening session which promises lots of beer.