Cafe crush: Puku, Hanoi

Liz / / 9 Comments

Peeling paint adds to Puku’s vibe

Satisfying stuff – a BLT, plus chicken and fried egg

A breakfast fave – eggs benedict

Puku brings a little touch of bohemia to one of the Old Quarter’s popular shopping strips. A bit of a hideaway (it’s accessed down a skinny, dingy alley and up a steep staircase) Puku has a faded charm and an arty/studenty/expat-y vibe. With its high ceiling, peeling paint, comfortable but scruffy furniture and a blackboard menu behind the counter, it’s a (much) grungier version of Saigon’s La Fenetre Soleil. The food is western cafe fare – mostly melts, sandwiches and breakfast standards.

Go for: the faded charm, a dose of comfort food when you’re all pho-ed out, a birds eye view of the charming street below, free wi-fi, delicious melts, a laidback atmosphere and the casual, breezy rooftop area
Not for: the coffee, which isn’t so great (inexcusible really when there’s such good coffee to be had in Vietnam!), the sometimes surly service
Puku, 60 Hang Trong Street, Old Quarter, Hanoi

On the road!

Liz / / 1 Comment

All’s been a little quiet on the Girl in Asia front of late as I’ve been travelling and entertaining visitors…which means there’s a lot of non-Saigon but nonetheless interesting blog posts on their way! Specifically – bits and pieces on Hanoi, Halong Bay and Hoi An, where we’re heading tomorrow – yes, that means more trips to the tailor, it just has to be done!

Saigon Eats: The Deck

Liz / / 11 Comments

The Deck’s deck – perfect for waterfront lounging
This is one of those ‘is this really Saigon?!’ kind of places. Situated in the expat enclave of An Phu – a world of gated compounds, huge villas, international schools and (gasp!) quiet streets – glass-walled, contemporary restaurant The Deck takes advantage of Saigon’s river setting. As you drink and dine, sand barges, small boats and clumps of plant matter drift by, and across to the other bank the view is nothing but tropical foliage. It’s as though you’re a million miles away from the city. From inside the restaurant you have a view out to the river from any of the tables courtesy of the glass frontage, or you can choose to sit on the namesake ‘deck’ for a more casual experience. The rattan seats (pictured) are very conducive to a sunset cocktail or two. 

Clockwise from L to R: prawn canneloni, lamb ravioli, chocolate tart,
chilli salt squid, lemongrass & vanilla creme brulee
The Deck uses alot of local produce (including delectable seafood) and flavour influences from Asia to Europe, creating a menu of fresh, modern cuisine. We had chilli salt squid to start, with tempura light batter and a perfect texture. For mains – prawn canneloni with a tomato and lobster sauce (which had a strong dill taste that oddly worked!) and lamb ravioli (French spring vegetable flavours and succulent meat). For dessert – a luscious chocolate tart and a lemongrass/vanilla creme brulee that I highly recommend to any lover of lemongrass. While The Deck is obviously not a ‘local’ experience it’s a worthwhile one for those looking to escape the city for a while and indulge.
The Deck, 38 Nguyen U Di, An Phu (D2)

Fresh air and even fresher produce in Dalat

Liz / / 5 Comments



Dalat is one of my favourite places in Vietnam. Its higher altitude, lakes and abundance of vegetation and plantations make it a favourite for honeymooning locals, which has spawned a slew of ridiculously kitsch attractions, like swan boats you can pedal around the lake and costumes (hilltribe, cowboy, emporer etc.) for hire at some of the waterfalls outside town. We stopped by Bao Dai’s Summer Palace, an art deco ‘nautical style’ home of Vietnam’s last emporer and who should be lurking in the gardens but a ladyboy in a monkey suit ready to take you around the grounds in a horse-drawn cart!!

The best things about Dalat are the cool climate (you can check out everyone’s winter garb while the western tourists walk around in shorts!) and the locally grown fresh produce. Most of the things to see and do in Dalat are located a bit outside town (waterfalls, farms, pagodas) so if you’re just wandering around the centre, the market is undoubtedly the highlight.


Dalat’s central market is one of the best food markets I’ve seen – it’s so colourful, with the streets surrounding it bursting with colourful displays of strawberries, avocadoes, coconuts, bananas, blackberries and more. Dalat’s climate means berries and other fruits not typically found in tropical countries can flourish.

Inside the market, the stalls sell dried and candied versions of all the local fruits, plus tea and coffee. Unusually, the items have marked prices (and they’re cheap – 4,000 to 25,000 dong per bag of dried fruit) so you don’t really need to bother bargaining, plus the stallholders ply you with cups of oolong tea and samples of their fruity wares. And they’re not even that pushy, which compelled me to buy more – a clever sales tactic?!

A beach break in Nha Trang: Part 2

Liz / / 11 Comments


We left Nha Trang town behind for a stay at the Evason Hideway, Ninh Van Bay – a picturesque, isolated bay accessible only by speedboat.


This was the scene that awaited…


With its rocky landscape, the resort offers some villas with private swimming pools carved into huge boulders! We stayed in a beachfront pool villa – a two-storey hut with our own plunge pool between our bedroom and the beach.


The eco-friendly resort has a Robinson Crusoe luxe feel – it uses natural materials wherever possible and blends into the surrounds – everything’s bamboo and wood, including the gorgous stand-alone tub in the open-air bathroom.


This was my favourite part of the villa – a loungey daybed on the second floor with views out to sea. Not a bad place to spend my birthday!

A beach break in Nha Trang: Part 1

Liz / / 4 Comments

Our beachfront hotel (the Sunrise) had breathtaking views of the ocean and a decadent swimming pool

We recently spent a few days in sunny Nha Trang, Vietnam’s premier seaside resort town. It’s home to a long stretch of white sandy beach, crystal blue water, an increasing number of 5-star hotels and of course, great seafood. We spent a night at the Sunrise (see pool pic above), and I could not get enough of the view from our room’s balcony – stunning!
One night we checked out the Sailing Club, a well-known beach bar and restaurant. My expectations weren’t that high – I was expecting a dingy, backpacker beach bar but it was surprisingly sophisticated, with decor that could be described as Morocco meets Bali.


We had a fresh and tasty green mango salad and Nha Trang’s famous ‘roll your own’ spring rolls with prawns and bbq pork – a more sanitised version than a really local place, but delicious all the same!

A Sunday in Saigon: Bubble tea, banh mi and beer

Liz / / 9 Comments

Behind the bar at Hoa Vien Brauhaus

A Saigon cafe with a French vibe (inside and out!)

Look who’s serving Banh Mi (hehe!)

My latest Saigon food obsession is Banh Mi Bistro (yes, it’s a sandwich shop!) at 76 Vo Thi Sau, District 1. Their chicken sandwich is the best – shredded, barbeque chicken mixed with some kind of delicious seasoned mayo (maybe it’s msg that makes it so savoury and tasty?) and lettuce – simple but moreish. I also tried their mint bubble tea, like a dessert in a glass. It was basically a mint flavoured milkshake with ice, tapioca pearls (the ‘bubble’ bit), little cubes of colourful jelly and some grated coconut (but no tea!) – surprisingly refreshing and not as sickly as it sounds.

Then, it was onto Le Petit Cafe to check it out. It’s quite a hidden little spot down an alley off Dien Bien Phu (D1), but well signposted at either entrance to the street. Here, it was time for another cool drink – this time a tamarind juice with plenty of ice and topped with peanuts. A perfect blend of sweet and salty – yum! Le Petit Cafe has a grungy European vibe, dark inside with wrought iron tables and chairs, a chandelier, musical instruments propped against the wall, a bar, smoking patrons and a cat. Upstairs – a cozy room full of young, hip Vietnamese people lounging on cushions, and above that, a roof terrace.
After an aimless wander in the heat we came across an oasis in the form of Hoa Vien Brauhaus, a Czech brewery that’s so impressive, I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to go! There’s an amazing wooden bar with copper vats, with a light lager and two types of dark available. There’s a menu of delicious sounding grilled meats and seafood (like wasabi grilled prawns), and Vietnamese dishes too. The light lager was so good (and great value – less than $2 for half a litre!) – and I thought I’d gone off beer…

Excess baggage? Try a clothing swap…

Liz / / 3 Comments

Clothing swaps are a fun way of getting rid of old clothes and scoring something new in the process (whether travelling, living in expat-land, or back in the real world!). When living in Phnom Penh, I went to my first ever clothing swap and loved it. Three of us gathered at a friend’s apartment laden with clothes and accessories we no longer wanted, and with cool tunes playing and champagne flowing we displayed our wares and traded threads. We then gave all the leftover items (alot) to one of the girl’s Khmer boyfriend, who took the clothes to his home village in Prey Veng province to distribute. I can just picture a bunch of excited Khmer girls running around showing off their new outfits, and by all reports this is pretty much what happened! There are plenty of online resources on how to hold a clothing swap – such as this. I might have to have a Saigon swap soon!

Image courtesy fjom

Cafe crush: Dolezza House

Liz / / 5 Comments

On my eternal quest for new and inspiring cafes, I came across Dolezza House – a colourful cafe with a cute clothing shop in Saigon’s District 3.
The on-site boutique houses a treasure trove of colourful dresses (think Mango, with better cuts and tailoring) and outside the cafe is full of whimsical touches, like colour co-ordinated coasters that match the pink and purple seats, dress-shaped menus and artfully displayed flowers and plants. The iced coffees, New Zealand ice-creams and mist-blowing fans are the perfect antidotes to Saigon’s heat, in one of the city’s most girly (but gorgeous) little cafes.

Dolezza House, 26 Le Quy Don, D3, Saigon