Scary Foods 3--Fish Bones, Xuc Xich, and Fried Crap.

Bia Hoi--fresh beer--is a Hanoi staple, mainly for men. There are little bia hoi spots on every block. All it takes is a cold keg or two of bia hoi, which is brewed daily without preservatives and low (about 4.5%) alcohol, some tiny plastic chairs, a few tables, lots of peanuts, and usually a few kinds of bar food.

We've been wanting to try it, but none of the places looked very inviting. So when we heard that there was an upscale bia hoi garden near us, we decided make it our next stop for lunch.

Nice setting with lots of trees. We didn't get there until almost 1:00,
so the lunch crowd was thinning out.

The guys toward the back were celebrating something.
Lots of red-faced toasts and hugging.

The beer was light and refreshing. The menu was extensive. They had beef, chicken, pork, duck, rabbit, and fish. One menu item in particular caught our eyes: fried crap. Probably the ultimate in scary foods. Also fried crap with salted vegetables. I'm not sure the vegetables help.

We had heard that the place had great sausages, and since we were feeling Oktoberfestive, we searched the menu for them, in vain. I dimly remembered that I had seen something on another menu last month that I had thought was sausage because of the way it would be pronounced in Vietnamese: xu xich (x's pronounced s), so I tried saying it several ways to our waitress. "Soup?" she asked brightly. No, not soup. I tried again. "Soup seech?" she asked. Please spell, I asked, knowing I'd recognize it if I saw it. Xuc xich, she wrote. "Yes." I said. "Two."

And sausage it was. While we were hoping for a garlicky, spicy sort of wurst, we got a tasty sort of weisse wurst, mild, but good, that had been dipped in a thin batter and fried. Slathered with Dijon mustard, it was quite delicious, but the gingery, minty banana flower salad and the morning glory greens sauteed in a ton of garlic were even better.

Casual restaurants in Vietnam are very casual.
Everyone just throws their trash on the floor.
Fish bones, peanut shells, dirty napkins, cigarette butts.
The staff will sweep it up after everyone leaves.

P.