I really love Japanese cuisine where the details count and the simplicity is the key ingrdient. Actually simplicity is the wrong word in this, because literally everything is balanced out so well, and there is so much attention in all of the little details.
We all don't so much Japanese food options. But when there is an option to find some, I am always going for it. In Ho Chi Min city you even have a Japanese area which ofcourse has an awesome food bonanza. The downside....whe heading for the chef's table on sitting on the bar to see what the chef is doing, it is kind of pricy. Even when you are calculating from Vietnamese prices to European prices.
The interesting thing on this one? When you head to the exact same place where the dinner is expensive, but you have a Japanese meal for breakfast, it is included in the hotel price and all of a sudden it is super cheap.
Boom, there is your travelhack to still get exposure but in a budget friendly matter.
For me the idea of having a full on cooked meal for breakfast sounds kind of intense as I am more of a coffee with some granola kind of person. But ofcourse I am more than willing to try this out, especially since this is an awesome replacement for going for the evening version.
So fresh out of the morning shower I headed into the restaurant. If you wouldn't know it was before 8 am, you wouldn't have the slightest idea of it.
The meal started with some green tea and ofcourse these little fresh towels to get started. That is also one of the things that I really like more about a lot of other cultures, the welcoming aspect just really adds to the whole experience.
Where in Greek cruisine you start off with an ouzo, here you start off with green tea. Yummy!
The day before this breakfast we already had to place the order on the choice of protein. I don't really mind that since I am not good in making choices just after waking up.
I didn't really want to go with mackerel in the morning as that seemed like a bit too much, but some nice teriyaki chicken in the morning seemed perfect.
I was really cool to see how the chef started building this whole plate from scratch, giving everything just as much attention and precision. Some miso soup for good digestion, some sweet and sour fermented veggies for the umami aspect, some fruits for desert and inside the little cup was a half cooked egg yolk that you were supposed to toss over the rice.
Everything was placed piece by piece with chopsticks by the chef on the exact minimeter of the plate where it should be.
All of this was just full entertainment to see and learn how this is done. Although I don't think I will be able to make these kinds of things myself, I still learnd a lot from it.
And so...this whole box for breakfast for a first time. I must admit that I really enjoyed this whole experience. Eating big meals in the early mornings actually is something good. It really gives you some energy to work with for a decent amount of hours.
But mackerel in the morning? Nehhhh, I'm not going to include that in the standard meal package even though this was a fun first timer.
