Ha Long Bay von PBerg

Ha Long Bay means in Vietnamese the Descending Dragon Bay and is a touristic attraction, part of the UNESCO Heritage. It is a common name for many Vietnamese restaurants all over the world, but we rarely pay attention to such details. All we, the Europeans, need is a good and, if possible, cheap food. 

The Prenzlauer Berg variant is offering Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai and Japanese (Sushi) food at very convenient prices - be careful when do they have happy hours. You are served well and fast and during the sumer you can admire from outside the coming and going from Schonhauser Allee.

As I wasn't so hungry, I ordered a couple of pumpkins sushi and shitake (Asian mushrooms) sushi. Cheap - 1.60 the 6 pieces - and easy.

The late evening Vietnamese adventure

For such a lovely lazy day, I needed a fresh ending, so I headed looking for some Asian/veggie restaurant. But I didn't wanted to go too far away as prefered a little evening walk, exactly what do you need to have a good sleep for gathering enough energy for the next five days. 

Among the Asian cuisine, the Vietnamese one is the less familiar to me and although I was pleasantly surprise to discover the delightful cold coffee - an extended post about this discovery very soon - I am still unused with the meals using a lot of fresh vegetables. 

But curious as I am, I wanted to repeat the experience and decided - after wandering around Adenauerplatz, that SaiGon Today should be the place we are looking for. I've been there during the week a couple of month ago and I liked the elegance of the place and the service, and also the affordable prices. But, excepting the prices and the elegance, things changed. The service was very hectic, with orders misunderstood and long waiting time (more than 30 minutes). Lucky customers that have the possibility to read some local reviews in-between. The waiters were so polite that at the end I forgot all the tensed seconds and enjoyed the food: vegetarian Vietnamese spring rolls, a vegetarian Wan-Tan soup, a green tea and a (very very) delicious Bananapudding. For the beer lovers, it's possible to order Saigon Beer. The price for all those excentricities was 16 Euro (including a very modest tip).

The restrooms are clean and fancy.

My green tea; other choices - Jasmin, for example - are available

Soup with cucumber and salad and broccoli - call it Wan Tan

The big spring rolls, with tofu and black sesame were delicious

Probably the recipe recommended to serve it a bit frozen, but this variant was good as well

I am not sure I will be back soon here - usually I prefer to try new places - and as I wasn't happy with the service, I would like to avoid unpleasant experiences, but definitely I would like more Vietnamese food. Maybe a trip to Vietnam as well...