My priorities upon arriving to a new country are as follows:

1. Unpack
2. Get google maps set up and drop a pin for my new apartment
3. Find grocery store and buy breakfast for the following morning: yogurt/fruit/eggs
4. Find workspace
5. Find gym

 

Breakfast, as you can see, is towards the top of the list.  I am a breakfast person.  I like breakfast, breakfast likes me.  We get along, we need each other.

I arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam on Sunday evening.  It’s now Tuesday morning my time, and I’ve had a total of 3 breakfasts, which doesn’t add up but that’s okay.

Breakfast in Hanoi is not like breakfast anywhere I’ve been before.  In Spain, we had toast with tomato spread.  Portugal, I basically had wine for breakfast (Whatever. Do you boo boo).  Morocco was croissants and fruit.  Bulgaria was banitsa.  Serbia was pastries and cappuccinos.

Hanoi is all about salty and savory.  The items you’d eat for breakfast you may as well call lunch or dinner, because you can also eat them for lunch or dinner.

 

Exhibit A: Banh Mi

This is a Vietnamese street food sandwich – a baguette with pork or chicken and pickled veggies.  This was my first breakfast in Vietnam, and I was feeling a little odd about such a heavy start to the day so I ordered an egg and cheese banh mi.  DELISH.

 

Exhibit B: Banh Cuon

 

This is a steamed rice roll filled with mushrooms and ground pork, topped with crispy onions with a miso dip.  They make the rolls like a crepe, which is fun to watch.  I wasn’t super confident in this breakfast at first – not the food, but the fact I was eating it at 9am.  Luckily it was very good, but personally I’d rather enjoy this for lunch.  Will be going back.

 

 

Exhibit C: Smoothie

More my speed, happy to find this place on the walk to work.  Spinach, Mango, Banana.

 

Exhibit D: Vietnamese Coffee

This is crack.  Plain and simple.

 

Who knows what I’ll be eating tomorrow, might have to try Pho for breakfast.  Stay tuned.