lunch at the mekong lodge, mekong delta

this was lunch on the first day we arrived here – rustic and very local, a great mind-opener, and very good. they were blindingly simple, fresh flavours and ingredients melding together into a very wholesome and soul-satisfying meal, and it was pretty awesome that you could see the food being prepared at the open kitchen.

lunch started off with a salad of banana shoots slivered and tossed with chicken shreds. it was so good – I couldn’t recognize the dressing, but that was probably because I was trying my best to scoff down as much of the salad as possible. I really ought to try and recreate this at home.

when the fish arrived – I mean, could you be anything but impressed by that? it was a simply fried river fish, but just coating the outside in scales before frying it upped its gastronomic-cred so much. tender and flakey, this went down pretty quickly – and we ordered another because it was so good.

a stir-fried gourd dish followed, as well as a braised pork stew that was intensely savoury (but which I didn’t catch a photo of). the vegetables were so good – simple, and sweet, and full of fish-sauce umaminess. the pork went alarmingly quickly on rice – and my parents particularly liked the gravy. we finished with fresh fruit – bananas and longans, grown not far from the lodge, and I think this meal truly epitomizes the idea of eating locally (something we can’t sustainably achieve in singapore).

there isn’t much to say when food is this good, really – and the food is worth returning to the lodge for. our only quibble were that portions could be larger – but we ordered more as we liked (the first dishes were free) so our hungers – and greed – were appeased. great, great food.

more on the mekong lodge found on the heading out for food page, if you scroll down to vietnam | mekong delta.