Chau Doc Com's Good

As my last post not too subtley expressed, I've been feeling a little disillusioned with the street food in Chau Doc since I've been here. To be honest it wasn't just the food that was getting me down - the heat, harassment, and tiredness all had a part to play.

It's amazing, however, how a few good sleeps and Twins (starring Arnold Swarzenegger and Danny De Vito) can revitilize ones spirits. Today I hit the streets of Chau Doc reinvigorated and hungry for action, managing to score a street food triple whammy for my pains.

Strike 1: After booking our boat tickets to Phnom Pehn, Sarah and I spotted this little ice-cream stall on the side of the road. 2000 dong (about 7p) a piece bought us a single scoop in a cone with a sprinking of crushed nuts on top. The ice cream had a soft, rich, creamy consistency, and a mild coconut taste. It also boasted a brittle, savory, rose-shaped cone that was as tasty as it was aesthetically pleasing.

Strike 2: There's a great market down the street from our hotel with some interesting food options. The place bustles with street food (some good, some not so good) and today we went to one of the bigger outfits for lunch. I ordered the Com Suan (pork chop with rice) and was rewarded with a lesson in simplicity. The plate brought together the four elements of meat, rice, veg and chilli sauce with effortless grace, and reminded me why I love street food so much. The pork chop had been glazed then grilled, and had that dreamy charred/sticky thing going on. Two generous portions were served on top of rice, cabbage and some hot hot hot chilli sauce. Perfect, simple, filling, and at 15000 dong (50p) a real bargain.

Strike 3: Back in Glasgow one of my favourite sandwiches was the "flamin' spiceball" from Il Cappucino on Great Western Road. This super creation involved meatballs, hot sauce and cheese and is proabably number four or five on the "must eat " list when I get home. Little did I know that I'd come across something similar in Vietnam however. This tasty little number involved a crusty baguette, pork meatballs in spicy tomato sauce, and sliced carrots and onions. Had there been a little bit of cheese on top and I could have been back in dear old glesgae there and then (except for the fact that it was pushing 30 degrees and nobody was trying to bottle me.) As sandwiches go, this one was damn good, and at 15000 dong, about 40 times cheaper than the flamin' spiceball (yes, I did just work that out on the calculator.)

All in all, it was a great day for street food, and the perfect way to spend our last day in Vietnam.