SaigonNezumi » Vietnam

Highlands Coffee, Seattle’s Best Coffee Clone?

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:55:45 +0000

I first visited my first Highlands Coffee by the Opera House in District 1 back in 2003. Since that time, I had visited many of the Highlands as they starting spreading across Saigon. One of the questions I always asked to myself, though, was whether it was a Seattle’s Best Coffee clone.The interior of Highlands and the logo were very similar to Seattle’s Best Coffee, my favorite coffee shop in Seattle, before Starbucks bought them out. I found out several years later that one of the original owners, David Thai, had spent time in Seattle. Of course, when I met with the Viet Thai International, who that owns Highlands, in 2009, they denied it. Still, it makes you wonder.

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Guy slaps Vietnamese girl in front of police

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:29:16 +0000

Last Saturday night, an American friend and I met at Zoom Cafe. It was actually a boring night in the Pham Ngu Lao area until we both noticed a Vietnamese girl walking towards Tran Hung Dao followed by two policemen on a motorbike. It was strange but it even got stranger.As we were watching, another Vietnamese guy comes up to here and then slaps here right in front of the two policemen. With all the traffic, everybody where we are heard the slap. Even stranger, the police did absolutely nothing. A girl just got assaulted right in front of them and they did nothing. We suspect she may have done something and the police did follow here back to the bar where we assumed she worked at. I heard that the guy that slapped her may have been with the local mafia, who knows.

This is the Pham Ngu Lao Backpacker Area for you.

(The guy in the black cap and black shirt slapped the girl, the red motorbike belong to the policemen?

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V-in-V (Indonesian Blogger in Saigon)

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:11:37 +0000

This afternoon I finally met travel blogger, Evelyne, from Indonesia who runs the blog, V-in-V. V-in-V is a multi-language Indonesian/English blog about her life and experiences in Saigon and Vietnam. Most of you will find her blog interesting. She created this blog to help give Indonesians a better perspective of life in Saigon as a travel writer. Those interested in travel writers will appreciate her blog.

We both share the same interests in geopolitics, Islam and halal food which made for an interesting conversation during our first meeting at Trung Nguyen Coffee today. @sgnpilot, Down the Street and Back Again, joined us towards the end of the meeting.

V-in-V blog address: http://v-in-v.blogspot.com/
Follow Evelyne on Twitter: @Ekrist

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Baskin and Robbins in Saigon

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:41:33 +0000

I was riding back towards Nguyen Trai Street in District 1 when this new pink Baskin and Robbin’s popped up of nowhere. I knew there was on on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai but now since one is located walking distance from my house, I will pay a visit.

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Itsumo – My Favorite Japanese Restaurant in Saigon

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:28:50 +0000

SaigonNezumi’s Favorite Japanese Restaurant in Saigon

This may seem like a Japanese week on my blog since in the last 5 days I have eaten at 3 Japanese restaurants. Remember, I am half-Japanese and I was raised on Japanese food. It is the best food in the world, in my biased half-Japanese opinion. Today I visited the newly opened Itsumo Japanese Restaurant in Pham Ngu Lao. It is now one of my favorite Japanese restaurants.

I-TSU-MO is located on 242 Bui Vien Street just about 4-5 buildings past Mumtaz (it is opposite a laundry mat). The owner and chef are both Japanese. I was informed of this Japanese restaurant by the owners at Baba’s Kitchen. Since it is located at the “other” end of Bui Vien, I figured I would try this restaurant before it closed. Well, after visiting it, I will tell you it definitely will not close, it was filled with Japanese tourists and businessmen.

I went there with my Japanese teacher, Yukie, after my Japanese lesson. The plan was, if we did not like the place, we would go to Sushi Bar.

I ordered some shrimp tempura, chicken and Ebi Ten Maki. She ordered some other dishes as well. See the photos below.

Taste

It was amazing. When I tasted each dish, it literally reminded me of something my mother made for me as a kid. It was so delicious. The ebi ten maki was mixed with some yakitori sauce, definitely order this dish on your visit here. The boneless chicken was great, we chose the koumi sauce but there are other choices as well. The tofu dish Yukie ordered had a great aftertaste.

Itsumo is definitely catering to the Japanese taste buds here. There is a big difference from this restaurant and Sushi Bar who caters to Western taste buds.

The portions and size of the Ebi Ten Maki were over double bigger then what I got at the Sushi Bar last week. Our 5 dishes were more then enough for two people.

Quality

Since Itsumo is located in Pham Ngu Lao does not mean the quality is lower. I was worried about this. No worries here, this restaurant is comparable, maybe slighter better, then the food at the Sushi Bar. I have visited 7 different Japanese restaurants so far in Saigon, none come close to this restaurant.

Price

This was the shocker. For two people, our total meal came to 280,000 VND ($14 US)!!! At Sushi Bar, this would be around 500,000 VND easily. You know where I will be spending 4-5 of my lunches each week now. Sushi Set Lunches are at 120,000 VND ($6 US).

Overall, I feel that this restaurant will be around in this location for awhile. I highly recommend you all give them a try, you will not regret it. I will see if I can get SaigonNezumi readers some discounts. Enjoy the pictures below:

I TSU MO Sushi Dining: 242 Bui Vien Street, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1, HCMC (08)39207792

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Sushi Dining Aoi – New restaurant in Saigon

SaigonNezumi (Kevin) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:01:24 +0000

There is another Japanese sushi restaurant in town. Though Sushi Dining Aoi has been open since January, my visit there yesterday was the first time I was able to take some pictures. I went there with Thuy (@betoneko) and her friend, An. Both studied in Kyushu for many years and are lovers of Japanese food. Sushi Dining Aoi is located in a new building located near the corner of Ba Huyen Thanh and Nguyen Dinh Chieu. For those with motorbikes, you will need to park downstairs but parking is validated at the restaurant.

This being my second visit for lunch, one thing I noticed was a lack of a lunch crowd, quite the opposite of the crowded Sushi Bars chain. It is a nice relaxing place to sit and talk with your friends.

For the food, I am mixed. It does not compare to the Sushi Bar even though Sushi Dining Aoi has a Japanese chef. He was concerned when An did not seem to like her dish. To put bluntly, my dish, essentially a rice dish with eggs, was too wet and mushy. It is not the type of Japanese cuisine I am used to eating. My mother is Japanese and makes good Japanese food so I am definitely being biased here. Still, I will probably make more then one visit in the future. It should get better.

Sushi Dining Aoi: 52-55 Ba Huynh Tuyen, District 3, HCMC, Viet Nam

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