Lunch In The Courtyard

I'm a total wimp when it comes to al fresco dining in the region. The humidity makes it unbearable to sit down anywhere in clothes that are not skimpy or made of dri-fit material. Hanoi this month is the same. Even evenings are not conducive for al fresco dining unless one really relishes the heat. At the prettier restaurants, there is no breeze coming through because of the design of the buildings. Sitting outside only invites mozzies to come kiss my flesh. Eeeeps.

At some point, we needed to feed the colleagues. So the group trooped to the super touristy Khai Brother's Cafe for lunch. Needless to say, I melted. Two cold bottles of water couldn't cool the merciless heat from the noon sun that was beating down from overhead. There was a wave of heat from the grill in the corner that layered the entire courtyard. Not a breeze stirred. I didn't notice if there were fans, because obviously, they didn't work very well. I was perspiring like crazy. There was nothing to do but TAHAN because the big boss seemed perfectly fine with his shirt buttoned up and tie still intact.

It was an interesting spread and in the manner of all food, most of it were filled with steamed chicken, fried chicken, minced chicken, sliced chicken, and pork, pork, pork, pork and more pork. Got beef. Some. So I stuck to the raw vegetables, corn and vegetarian Vietnamese fresh spring rolls. The dipping sauces were quite awesome, probably because of the fish sauce and lime juice base in many of them. Khai Brother's Cafe serves very sanitized portions of street food. But I was all hot and bothered and not inclined to take much food or any boiling soupy thingies.

I think the stomach has really learnt to cut down on unnecessary food. My portions were quite tiny, but hey, they were enough to sustain me through the day since there was not going to be much muscle work involved in anything. As I watched a colleague pile her plate high with food, making trip after trip to the buffet spread and ingesting three bowls of pho, the stomach lurched and felt full already.