To enjoy authentic food from the coastal resort town, visit Khoai Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City

Ốc cuộn mỡ chài nướng (Grill snail wrapped in caul fat) at Khoai Restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City

Nha Trang, with its beautiful white sand beaches and range of seafood, is clearly a land that Mother Nature looks upon kindly.

Locals have taken advantage of the bounty and created many marvelous dishes from seafood that entrance visitors.

Nha Trang residents who move to Ho Chi Minh City take with them their love for the specialties of their land, but find it hard to satisfy their craving in the southern metro. Hard but not impossible, for there is Khoai Restaurant on Le Quy Don Street, District 3.

This Nha Trang specialty restaurant claims to get all its ingredients from the coastal town as also its chefs to ensure the food remains authentic.

It does serve many of the delicacies of the coastal city - like nem nướng(grilled minced pork). The dish is made by grilling minced pork and rolling it in soft rice paper with lettuce and fresh herbs, and is served with peanut dipping sauce.

Bún sứa (jellyfish vermicelli soup) comprised of crispy jellyfish and delicious soup; bún cá (fish vermicelli soup) gets its delicately sweet flavor from the fish.

Khoai also serves some traditional cakes such as bánh bèo (small steamed savory rice cakes), bánh xèo (fried rice pancake folded in half and filled with shrimp, meat, and soya bean sprouts), and bánh ướt (steamed rice paper). The cakes are simple and rural but delicious.

Then there are the jellyfish, sea snail, and other seafood salads which are usually mixed with sea grape and gracilaria, rice dishes such as fried rice with chili salt and fried rice with salted fish, and hot pots like sour hot pot with ray fish and kim chi hot pot.

The restaurant is also easy on the eye with its simple but pleasant décor – it has rough stone walls, magnificent pictures of Nha Trang Bay, and storm lanterns hung everywhere.

It is suitable for gatherings of families, friends, colleagues, and others.

KHOAI RESTAURANT: 3A Le Quy Don Street, Ward 6, District 3. 

Tel: (08) 3 930 0013

Source: Thanh Nien New