BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S (OR WAS IT CHI-PHAN-HUI?)
Well, almost as good as that Tiffany song, breakfast in Vietnam can be in itself quite an adventure (well, for me perhaps). For two weeks I usually took my regular breakfast fare at the Sedona Apartment Café, where choices range from 6 different kinds of cereals, danish pastries, pancakes and french toast, fruits and noodles. But to really try their
breakfast is to take a road trip and eat whatever the locals are eating.  There’s not as you would have expected it: Noodles, eggs, bread and coffee/tea. It’s the slight differences that make each breakfast, lunch or dinner unique.

Take for instance at Cat Ba Pacific Hotel. They serve breakfast outdoors, literally by the street. Coffee is served in a quarter of a glass with the thickness of chocolate syrup. Very bitter too. If I thought 50% coffee powder mixed with 25% sugar and 25% water is considered hardcore, this coffee must have been brewed by the devil
himself. It took me three full glasses of hot water to swallow the whole concoction. But it was their unique meat patte that got me going. Vietnam has this very delicious meat product called Gio [pronounced as Dyo, with a very heavy “O”] which is very similar to meatloaf but finely ground that make the texture very smooth. It looks like a large
sausage but wrapped in banana leaf. They come in Chicken, Beef and Pork. They taste great with bread or rice. ^_^ Unfortunately they have a very limited shelf life, about three days in a fridge. Best way to keep them fresh is by freezer.

Vegetables come in many varieties but the most popular is the familiar
kangkong. They serve this stir fried in vegetable oil or boiled. Both are served with garlic, which adds to that tangy bite to your tongue. Bread is the usual french bun or baggette, served hot and by hand. I guess I felt a bit queasy with the idea of them serving you bread by grabbing it with their bare hands and shoving it inside plastic bags.
But then I always remember when I buy pan-de-sal at my local bakery back in the Philippines, they pick them up with thongs, in a glass display case full of flies! *shudder* So why be bothered with this slight bare-handed predicament? You can’t afford to be choosy when you’re hungry.