Newly Minted Bum: Saigon Lunch Lady

I was watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations several months ago when they featured the Saigon Lunch Lady on his Vietnam episode. As he was starting to present her segment, he uttered a challenge to try Googling her and I was seriously piqued that I was able to find some information about her in a snap of a finger. Since I am, technically speaking, living in her turf, I decided to go on a quest to find her to find out for myself if her cooking is as good as they say.

Today, I finally got off my butt and acted on my not-quite-that-long-standing desire to get in on the action. I am about to run out of supplies so I thought it to be a good excuse to do my grocery shopping downtown. Besides, I have a free day today and I will definitely be indisposed by next week so there's no good a time as now to get this done.

From Dong Khoi Street, I hopped on a cab to Hoang Sa Street and soon I was on my merry way. I am so grateful that Gastronomer (www.gastronomyblog.com) had included a map in his blog and it made it easier for me to find her. I lost my bearing for a little while but after 5 minutes of backtracking my steps and letting my curiosity take over, I was able to spot the street corner where she's stationed herself. Turns out, you have to take a right turn from the main street before you can spot her.

I got there shortly after 11 am and the heat is just unbearable I was thankful there's not a lot of people yet that I was able to choose a very shady, comfortable place to sit in. I was a total spaz as soon I stood in front of her because I was so focused in finding my way that I didn't really think about what to do after. I pointed to an empty bowl and the pot of simmering stew right next to her to signal that I wanted one.

I can't speak the Vietnamese language apart from the little bits and pieces that I know like terms for food and survival cabbie dialect. I was so relieved when she asked me in English to take a seat to wait for my food. I guess I didn't have to talk because every inch of me was screaming T-O-U-R-I-S-T -- sunglasses, the non-verbal gestures and taking pictures of everything left and right ;p

I was seriously blown away because it's the first time I've ever tasted something like that. It's probably the tastiest bowl of Vietnamese noodles I've ever had. And for only VND15,000 (roughly around Php35), it was chock-full of the good stuff -- pork slices, a sliver of fish cake (kikiam), shrimp, squid, pineapples, okra and eggplant. I surprised myself because I don't normally eat okras and eggplants. The broth was so tasty, it kind of masked the natural flavor of the veggies (for me at least) that it allowed me to get over the paranoia in my head about those veggies not tasting good.

In the end, I am one happy customer. Although next time, I should maybe have a friend tag along with me to keep the transportation costs down because my meal was literally only a small fraction of how much I had to spend on cab fare to get to the Saigon Lunch Lady's bailiwick.