Saigon Seafood

The weather has been amazing this weekend, and I've been doing my part to get out and enjoy it. It's been a cool 75 degrees, no humidity, and lots of sun, but since this is Ha Noi winter, everyone is in down jackets, hats, gloves, and boots.

So Son and I were driving around West Lake on a lovely Thursday afternoon and came across some men getting their chickens ready to fight. Usually I'm not a fan of cock fights, but all these guys were sitting around in a beautiful lakeside park, and I figured I might as well enjoy a

typical Vietnamese past time. Son informed me that the men breed the cocks especially for fighting and feed them all sorts

of special food. These birds are definitely the ugliest birds I've seen, and they are fed rice soaked in alcohol before a fight, apparently it gives them more stamina. So, the birds were put in the circle and went at, all the while men were shouting out bets. After about 20 minutes, they took a break to wipe the birds down, give them water, and restore their energy for round 2. These fights can go on a long time so after 20 minutes I decided I'd had enough and was back on the road.

That night we celebrated Son's birthday in style, and all met up at this place called Vine Cellar Door, that has wine tasting every Friday. It costs about 10 dollars to get 8 glasses of wine, and if you come in a group of four, you get a free pizza next door. Since we had so many people show up together, we ended up with 4 pizzas and bottles of wine that cost us 2 dollars, all and all an incredible deal. Usually I'm not a big wine drinker, but this place was really nice and had a great assortment of wine and a really nice crowd of people. I think if I'm feeling classy I will head over there again. Here's a picture of myself and Son...

On Saturday evening, a couple of my friends got together to go to this incredible street seafood that is cooked Saigon style. They had an amazing assortment of shell fish and snails, and served crab claws in a really tangy sauce. They grilled oysters filled with a light sauce, chopped shallots, fried onions, and peanuts. I've definitely never had oysters this way before, but really really enjoyed it. I'm mad at myself for not taking more photos of the food, but I was too concentrated on actually eating it.

.