Pacharan @ Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

HCMC Part V: Spanish cuisine might not be the first food that springs to mind when contemplating Ho Chi Minh City, but this multiple-story restaurant has carved a prominent place for itself in one of the city's main squares.

We headed here for light nibbles before the dinner crowd came. The rooftop lounge is particularly attractive, overlooking motorcycle-clogged traffic below (all the road users in this city seem to honk continuously for no apparent reason _ what's up with that?).

Octopus brushed with olive oil & paprika with potatoes. A simple recipe, but all the ingredients worked so well together. Soul food, in its own way.

Fabada, a bean stew with chorizo & pancetta. Slightly more watery than expected, but seemed authentic enough to have emerged from a grandmother's kitchen on the mountains of Asturias (what do we know though; we've never been to Spain _ yet).

Less traditional but equally satisfying were the cocktails: Gift of Melon (cachaca, sesame seeds, fresh watermelon, cinnamon) & Valencia Cocktail (apricot brandy, orange bitter, orange juice).

Sangria & Mojito. The classics, executed well. Viva el Espanol!

Pacharan,

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Wine Bar Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

HCMC Part IV: Perched on the 23rd floor for one of the loftiest views in Ho Chi Minh City. There isn't a truly dramatic backdrop though _ this could have been KL in the late '80s, without the Petronas towers and other skyscrapers.

We were fortunate to arrive here after a sudden downpour had ended; the balcony was wet, but the weather was comfortably cool and breezy.

Creative cocktails: Spiced Margarita (tequila, cointreau, peach puree, saffron spice mix) & Paddle-Pop Mojito (bacardi light, watermelon, lychee, mint, citrus).

Grassy Knolls (bombay sapphire gin, lemongrass, lychee) & Milano Martini (grey goose vodka, sugar syrup, watermelon, lime, Italian basil).

Wine Bar,

Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers,

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Opera @ Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

HCMC Part III: A Sunday prosecco brunch at the hotel that hosted Brad & Angelina during their 2006 visit to Vietnam. Alas, neither of them was around on this recent weekend.

Not exactly the longest buffet counter ever, but quality trumps quantity here.

Parma ham with melons was a highlight. We gobbled up seemingly endless slices; it's an awesome change to enjoy a hotel breakfast spread that includes pork.

Pork sausage, beef tenderloin, and lamb rack & loin. Satisfyingly juicy and flavorful; carnivores will find plenty to keep them happy here.

Since this is basically an Italian restaurant, several items made to order include a selection of pasta and this saffron seafood risotto.

Wood-fired pizza & foccacia. We skipped these, since they looked too filling.

Desserts comprise the usual suspects, such as creme caramel, tiramisu, & ice cream.

The free flow of prosecco kept us brilliantly bubbly.

And no, we didn't stay here. But it seemed like an excellent hotel.

Opera,

Park Hyatt Saigon,

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Le Toit Gourmand @ Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

HCMC Part II: A top-notch rustic French meal is near-impossible to find in KL, but Saigon's foodies are fortunate that Le Toit Gourmand (The House of Gluttons) serves exactly that.

Amuse bouche of scrambled eggs with black truffles. Rich and decadent.

Goose liver "spring roll." The foie gras terrine was pure perfection, encased in light, crisp pastry that provided a terrific textural contrast to the liver's creaminess.

Black pudding (pork blood sausage) with apple. A meaty treat, with a pleasant gaminess.

Calf sweetbreads with parsley. These fried thymus glands and pancreas are an acquired taste _ chewy, with a flavor similar to other offal. But since they're seldom available in KL, we have to order them whenever possible.

Shredded duck wrapped in cabbage with foie gras sauce. Tasted better than it looked _ succulent slices of duck confit, surrounded by a moat of savory foam. The cabbage simply provided the illusion that this might be a healthy recipe.

Beef cheeks with foie gras. Such a simple combo, it's a travesty that this recipe isn't more common. A mouthful of the melt-in-the-mouth meat with the sumptuous liver equals unparalleled culinary bliss. Worth flying here simply for this.

Timbale of rabbit with tarragon. The closest I can get to calling myself a cannibal for now, since I was born in the Year of the Rabbit. OK, never mind.

Burgundy snails with garlic & parsley butter. A cliched dish if prepared lackadaisically, but this was a reminder that in the right hands, with the right accompaniments, snails are some of the most marvelous molluscs around.

Fish cooked "pot au feu"-style with clams, leek & duck sausages. Perhaps the least memorable platter, but still a success by any measure. Comfort food for seafood fans.

Complimentary selection of cheese. Way too much for two people though...

... especially since we were offered no less than five varieties, including heavy ones doused in extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with truffle slices.

Complimentary Armagnac. A deliciously heady French brandy.

What's a French meal without red wine? This place is difficult to find, since it's in a secluded neighborhood away from the city center, but it's more than worth the effort.

Le Toit Gourmand,

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Xu @ Ho Chi Minh City

HCMC Part I: This slick, stylish restaurant was our first stop for nourishment on a recent weekend trip to Ho Chi Minh City.

Xu serves Vietnamese fusion cuisine, but that shouldn't be dismissed as a mere gimmick. The menu is playfully inventive, though it has both hits and misses.

Crab soup with quail egg, peanuts & chilli. A protein-packed broth, bursting with brilliant flavors; can't imagine a better start to the meal.

Caesar salad in rice paper. Tasted like regular Caesar salad. Despite being well-presented, the rice paper served little purpose except to hold the fresh, crunchy leaves together, making them easy to gobble in dainty mouthfuls.

Phu Huu wild boar ravioli with spiced tomato sauce. Light, delicate ravioli skin, stuffed with tender, flavorsome meat. The tangy sauce wasn't the best match for the ravioli, but at least it wasn't tart or artificial-tasting like supermarket versions.

Vietnamese herb-infused risotto with mushrooms & sugar snap peas. Had the creamy texture of traditional Italian risotto, but with a subtly vegetarian, strangely mild flavor.

Goat curry with mashed potatoes, carrots & pickled shallots. A quintessential meat-&-potatoes dish. Not spicy, thankfully. Like all the offerings here, there's still a distinct Vietnamese element in it _ something about how it tastes.

Pork belly in coconut juice with red cabbage & caramelized daikon. Meaty and fatty enough, but we've had more memorably melt-in-the-mouth pork belly elsewhere.

Pan-roasted Ba Ria sea bass with green beans & chorizo cream. The fish was hearty, but bland and dry, with no real help from any of the accompaniments.

Tamarind-braised beef cheeks with pumpkin mash, bok choy & pumpkin flower. We enjoyed the comfort-foodish mash, but the beef was a disaster _ chewy enough to exhaust our jaws.

Villa Garrel 2008 Cotes De Provence, France.

Xu Restaurant & Lounge,

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.