Eating Viet Nam: Dispatches from a Blue Plastic Table

by Graham Holliday

A journalist and blogger takes us on a colorful and spicy gastronomic tour through Viet Nam in this entertaining, offbeat travel memoir

Growing up in a small town in northern England, Graham Holliday wasn’t keen on travel. But in his early twenties, a picture of Hanoi sparked a curiosity that propelled him halfway across the globe. Graham didn’t want to be a tourist in an alien land, though; he was determined to live it. An ordinary guy who liked trying interesting food, he moved to the capital city and embarked on a quest to find real Vietnamese food. In Eating Viet Nam, he chronicles his odyssey in this strange, enticing land infused with sublime smells and tastes.

Traveling through the back alleys and across the boulevards of Hanoi—where home cooks set up grills and stripped-down stands serving sumptuous fare on blue plastic furniture—he risked dysentery, giardia, and diarrhea to discover a culinary treasure-load that was truly foreign and unique. Holliday shares every bite of the extraordinary fresh dishes—pungent and bursting with flavor—that he came to love in Hanoi, Saigon, and the countryside. Here, too, are the remarkable people who became a part of his new life, including his wife, Sophie.

A feast for the senses, funny, charming, and always delicious, Eating Viet Nam will inspire armchair travelers, curious palates, and everyone itching for a taste of adventure.

Genres: Travel, Food, Nonfiction, Asia, Memoir, Cooking, Biography Memoir

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 17, 2015

About the author

Editor, media trainer and author of Eating Việt Nam and Eating Korea. Former Reuters, BBC & elsewhere.

Reviews

[marcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

He tries really hard to distance himself from the typical white male traveler stereotype, and it's annoying because he's EXACTLY the white male traveler stereotype.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Take away the herbs and it's not Vietnamese food anymore. Everthing that goes with this dish makes the dish. The meat is secondary. It's all about the herbs. Vietnamese food is nothing without the herbs."

I wish I had been able to read Holliday's book before I went to Vietnam. Unfortunately, Holliday had not been persuaded to write this at that point I should have read his blog before I went, but I didn't know enough to find it. I was just trying to get myself halfway around the world and back safely.

Now that I have read about Holliday's life in Vietnam, I want to go back. I want to be more adventurous, I want to try more of the street food. Even though Holliday implies that food is changing in Vietnam, he makes me hungry for the food that might still be available.

Don't get me wrong. I ate very well while in Ho Chi Minh City, Rach Gia and Phu Quoc. I was visiting the country as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and that organization made sure we tried many different foods. I just didn't know that much about the food culture of Vietnam. I didn't know that the place I really needed to visit was the streets and alleyways.

Holliday has written an excellent book. Part memoir, part food journal, his story tells his readers a lot about Vietnam food and how he found good places to eat. I doubt you could find many of the places that Holliday visited. However, he points out the joys of eating local. If that is something that interests you, find this book. You won't be sorry.

Thanks again to Harper/Collins for the preview copy.

[monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

The descriptions of the dishes and people Holliday meets are interesting, but ultimately he objectifies Koreans and reduces Korean culture. The whole book has an air of the "White Man's Burden" to it, as if Koreans and Korean food exist solely to titillate this Western visitor. His search for authentic reproduction of the food he ate in the mid-90s is so short sighted. At the time, Korea was still in the throes of rebuilding economically - today it is one of the world's largest economies and one of the most modern, industrialized nations in the world. This seems to be lost on Holliday, who seems surprised that Koreans want to move beyond past memories of imperial rule and war-torn poverty. I'm honestly surprised he got through the book without using some ignorant, outdated terms like "exotic" and "Oriental." Wouldn't read another work of his. The two stars instead of one are for the evocative food descriptions.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

To get a feel for the style and content In preparation for a book talk program, I read the first chapter, intending to skip through the rest, but ended up reading the entire book. How can anyone resist this enticing first line?

“As the pig’s uterus landed on the blue plastic table in front of me, I knew I’d made a mistake."

Holliday lived in Viet Nam from 1995 to about 2005. When he wasn’t working as an English instructor, he explored the crowded avenues, hidden alleys, and street front living rooms in Hanoi and Saigon to find the best places to eat. I was mesmerized by his descriptions of both the food and cooking facilities, and considering the lack of hygiene and the prep methods used, the quality and tastiness of the food sounded amazing. It dragged a bit near the end as the names of the dishes and descriptions all started sounding the same, but for the most part it was a compelling and quick read.

Highly recommended for those who can't get enough of Anthony Bourdain (he originally approached Holliday about writing the book) and for anyone who loves food writing.

I asked Christopher, the library staff who recommended the book and who has traveled to Viet Nam a number of times, if the government regulations discussed near the end of the book had been enacted and also about food safety:

"There still are lots of street vendors, street cafes and markets with food. I think the efforts of the government to clear the curbs is largely unsuccessful.

There have been some larger-scale crackdowns of the hawkers, hassling tourists, but street food still reigns everywhere we were (that is as of a year ago September [2015]).

As far as food safety, I operate under the "Boil it, cook it, peel it or forget it" theory - not to say it is fool-proof.

You might direct readers to YouTube videos from "Luke Nguyen's Vietnam" series. Really fun."

[Jacqie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because I'll be heading to Vietnam shortly. I was hoping for an idea about ambiance, what sorts of things to expect when it came to food, maybe some cool places to go, history about Vietnamese food culture.

The author apparently had a food blog about Vietnam for quite a while. However, his book didn't have much detail. Part of this I can understand. Food, especially when you're talking about street food, is ephemeral. Places change, shut down, move locations.

But I didn't really get a sense much of who the author was, except that he likes to eat cheap street food and takes pride in finding the dingiest, grimmest places imaginable in hopes that he'll find a hidden gem (which he then doesn't share details on). It felt sort of like he was bragging about his bravery in rolling the dice on hygiene as often as possible. Now I get that street food is indeed dodgy, and I will be prepared with probiotics and vaccinations. But there really didn't seem to be much more depth than that. The author is a teacher, but halfway through the book I know nothing about his students. He's met his wife, but I know nothing about her except that she's gorgeous and from south Vietnam (which has food that's different from Hanoi). I don't know much about the author himself, except that he likes to live on the edge when it comes to food and seems to like to portray himself as an edgy fellow in general. I'm too old to care about that sort of bravado. So it failed as a memoir, in my opinion. It failed as a useful guide to me. I'll be spending a bit of time in Hanoi, but don't have much better idea for what to look for than before I started the book. The book only covers Saigon and Hanoi, so anywhere in Hoi An or Danang, for example, is still a mystery. As is the history of Vietnamese food or the psychology of the Vietnamese people. These people he writes about with sort of a paternalistic amusement, which didn't help me out much either. So, not especially amusing (at least to me), not especially informative, and not especially enlightening. All very vague.

[Rachel]

I love food memoirs and travel memoirs and, if I were the kind of person who had a bucket list, "eating tour of Vietnam" would be on it. So I thought I'd be all over this book, but for some reason I just wasn't. I'm only at page 100 after starting it more than two weeks ago, and I'd probably try to finish if it weren't due at the library, but since it is, I'm more than happy to let it go back. The book was fairly interesting and well-written, but what I've read so far makes me not want to visit Vietnam ever, which I think was probably not the intention. The chapter on Tet, which is less about the holiday and more a description of the first and second most disgusting toilets in the city, pretty much sealed my decision to abandon the book. I did, however, enjoy the English versions of menus that were made available to the author when he was there, wherein "crap" and "testicles" seem to make a regular appearance.

[Stickyinhanoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Appreciate receiving an early galley copy of this book; one I've been anticipating for sometime, right up my alley of interest. This memoir really comes into its own once it hits the streets of Saigon, where Graham's blog 'Noodlepie' documented his eating experiences for the early years of the 2000's. Actually got me excited to eat down there again. Lots of truths about streetfood in Saigon that have resonance in Hanoi, too. Fantastic turns of phrase reminiscent of the writing on the blog. Best of all, a great homage to the amazing will, hard work and humour of Vietnam's many street food vendors.

[Danita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't get into his writing style. I really wanted to like it, but all I could think was "oh yay, one more white dude goes off to foreign land and makes discoveries...yawn". Couldn't be bothered to finish.

[Adam JW · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author relies way too heavily on violent adjectives to convey nuances in flavor. Lazy. The writing, while sometimes interesting, remains rife with white supremacy/colonialism. I believe the term Gen Z would ascribe to this sort of thing is “problematic.”

[Ron Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and informative story of the food and people of Vietnam. The author's admiration for both shines through.
I'm hungry.

[Armando · Rating 3 out of 5]

Around the Globe in 52 Books
[Prompt: A Book by a British Author Written while Living Abroad]

Dispatches from a Blue Plastic Table is essentially a book about an outsider finding himself through many misadventures of the Vietnam street food scene. It is the story of a food and a country, but more of a man finding himself through a country's food. Graham has certainly seemed to earn his stripes, having lived in Vietnam for more than a decade.

Graham presents the eating scene of Vietnam as if it were a jungle. Through trial and error he learns how to survive, primarily through the aid of several guides, and each one, shows him a different trail he can follow. Much like travelling through a jungle, its various paths can show a diverse place that is almost hidden to the plain view until shown by an expert eye.

Being that Vietnam is being captured by an outsiders view, at times Graham can come across as a bit of a snob. Or rather, a very picky eater. He seems to celebrate the 'exotic' and the 'untamed', but also seems to be afraid of eating the most native of all the dishes presented to him. His first story he shares is not enjoying pig uterus, and often questions why these Vietnamese street cooks choose to cook using the more unflattering parts of the animal (their testicles, uterus, intestines), and chooses to favor the more 'western' appropriate dishes, such as simple meatball soups and sausage sandwiches. But at the same time, he blasts the many tourist friendly shops that serve fusion food or 'westernized' Vietnamese dishes. At one point he questions 'Where is all the good Vietnamese dishes?', while sitting in a crowd favorite bar choosing not to eat what the locals are enjoying. Because of this, this feels like a western washed view of Vietnam, and Graham certainly does not come across as that wanderlust outsider he seemed to be at first.

Also when it comes to Vietnam cuisine, it feels as if he's asking 'what can it do for me?' Because of this his attitude towards the food he consumes can seem conceited and unfair.

That isn't to say that Graham does not capture Vietnam well, and I personally feel he does. Although that's coming from a reader with no real knowledge of Vietnam (despite like, that one Anthony Bourdain episode and the American perspective of the Vietnam war), I did enjoy learning about the cultural differences in Northern and Southern Vietnamese dishes, about learning of different dishes I hadn't before (To which Graham captures very well, as well as the chef's who make them), and the various voices that he features.

Although I have to say my favorite chapter would have to be from younger Graham's perspective as he first falls in love with just the idea of travelling, and how out of place he felt as a younger man. How a single image of Vietnam sparked his imagination and instantly fueled his wanderlust soul, is definitely something I can relate to.

The ending of the novel does deal with the changing of the street food scene in Vietnam. For the most part, that scene that he wrote about in the 90's and early 2000's is rapidly changing, as Vietnam seems to try to secure 'cleaner' streets and tries to tidy up its street scene. Graham views this progress as if this is not just bleaching the very streets but the culture as well. In this however, again his outsider perspective can be met with some scrutiny. He is an outsider judging Vietnam for its own progress, and is he really criticizing their street policy because of what it means to their culture, or because of what it means to him? I will say Graham does do a good job at capturing the voices of the street vendors and shares their opinions with the changes. So I do feel that Graham strikes a good balance.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable book. It certainly feels more of an autobiography of a wanderlust soul than it feels like an attempt to capture the genuine food scene of Vietnam. But as a wanderlust book, it was very well written.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this while looking for something else. I was slightly disappointed that most of it was set in Hanoi, the Saigon section was smaller but well researched and evocative as the Hanoi portion.

I am sorry that most of the gritty delicious authentic food Holliday knew at the turn of the century is mostly gone. His descriptions of VN: the heat, the crowds, the streets we call alleys, the poverty and competitiveness, the variety of stalls and sellers, the little kid sized plastic stools, all of the above still ring true in 2017. I'm glad to know he was terrified by the Saigon traffic as well.

His hope was to bring the street food he knew and loved to readers who may never get to Vietnam and I believe he succeeded. He has a thing for soups and each chapter describes a particular food, the taste, the environment and even how it is prepared. None of the stall holders tell him everything and I am glad for it, there should be some mystery left in this world. The sadness that some of these recipes and methods will be lost is real, the work is hard, hours long and profits very slim. Only one stall holder can tell him how many bowls of soup she sells a day, most people, in Hanoi and Saigon, are too busy and occupied by work to keep track of such trivia. It isn't necessarily a labor of love that drives these stall holders but survival.

I like that Holliday is realistic about Vietnam. He's not mesmerized by the exotic setting, he's hot, tired and frustrated by the system and method of the Vietnamese way, which is less efficient, more confusing and less stable than the Western way. The scales fell from his eyes long ago and he's not afraid to point out the corruption and inconvenience especially regarding officials who want to close down the street food vendors and stall holders, many who live on the premises. His rants were endearing to me, because they sounded so much like the rants I've heard from my son in Saigon.

Unfortunately Holliday's prediction that Western food would edge out the traditional food is largely true. In Saigon there are carts and stalls selling banh mi and other Vietnamese food but there are far less than in his day. Most of the young Vietnamese prefer KFC, Carl's Jr, Popeyes, Domino's, Burger King and even the Korean version Lotteria. The food in the stores is Western and its possible to find corn flakes, macaroni and cheese and Coke. But no Diet Dr, Pepper, although I am sure someone is currently working on that.

[Patrick McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Graham Holliday's Eating Vietnam: Dispatches from a Blue Plastic Table (2015), it is one of those books hard to categorize since it is something of a memoir and something of a paean to Vietnamese street food. I read it while on Vacation in Vietnam and found hit useful and inspiring. It was published on the Anthony Bourdain Ecco imprint and Bourdain provides the Foreword. The first half of the book explains how an Englishman from Rugby, England found himself to become of the foremost experts on Vietnamese street food. Oddly enough it started in Korea where he did his first stint as an English teacher and developed a love of Korean food culture and street food in particular (subsequently he has also written a book on Korean food as well-Eating Korea: Reports on a Culinary Renaissance-which I plan to read). Holliday gets an opportunity to move to Hanoi, which was his original plan anyway. And eventually he becomes smitten with the food culture of the north. At one stage, when he is on his way back to Korea when he meets an equally besotted foodie in the second generation French-Vietnamese Sophie (who will eventually become his wife) and is lured back to Vietnam. So he returns and then another big shift occurs when he moves south to Saigon for his wife's job and decides to become a freelance journalist and start a blog noodlepie (a blog which I did discover back in the 00s-probably when preparing for my first trip to Hanoi in 2005). There is very much a culinary divide between the north and south and Holliday suspects he will never be won over by the south's cooking style, but eventually he succumbs. noodlepie becomes extremely popular and changes Holliday's life-as he becomes many journalist's main source in Vietnam when reporting on food culture. Another big change occurs in the birth of his son. The third section of the book is Holliday's forays into the stalls of operators he admires as he gets down to he nitty gritty of what makes the food so memorable as well as how daily production of the meals takes place and how the food was established. I think this is a great companion to a traveler in Vietnam, but I suspect it would be attractive to anyone with an interest in Vietnam.

[Jacki Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't think of a better trip to read right before our two week trip to Vietnam. It was so much fun to get a jump start on food to look for and specific locations. We ended up eating at Pho Dinh, which was fantastic. My husband and I both read it and loved having so much context for the food and culture during our journey.

[Drewms64 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book just made me want to go to Vietnam and eat a ton of street food before the street is removed from street food.

[Elly M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for travel books and this one is great one if you’re looking for an easy and enjoyable read, especially since most top-rated books on Vietnam focus on the war. Don’t get me wrong, I like reading those war books too, but sometimes you just need something light and this is great to get you hyped on travelling in the country without making you feel depressed.

1st part of the book focuses on HaNoi and Northern cuisine while the second part focuses on Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. Second part is def wittier and more insightful, especially since it offers some eye-opening comparisons between Northern and Southern Vietnamese cuisine).

I started my journey in the North and ended in the South, so I didn’t have to make any reading adjustments but for those of you going the other way, I recommend reading the book based on where you are in your travels as he shares a lot of key insider tips on which stalls and markets to go to.

[Caroline King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Read it while traveling thru northern Vietnam. If your traveling here it’s a must-read. Thank you Graham Holliday for this absolutely delightful read!

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phun!

[C.E. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh.
Holliday is so amazingly patronizing to the entire country that I don't even know if he's aware of it. He lived in Korea in the 90s and came back 20 years later expecting nothing to have changed, and he comes off as mad at the country for not keeping the things he (a white British man) thinks they should be saving.
Every description of the food is violent, like it's some mugger in a dark alley waiting to punch you in the genitals and take your money. This also comes off as condescending, like 'oh, the food assaults you, it is barbaric and uncivilized; sure, I like it, but that just makes me strange'
What really annoys me is that he gets _so close_ to getting it. Most of the way through the book, we have:

By fawning praise over these more traditional places, I wondered if I wasn’t imposing my own fixed view of what Korean food culture should be. Why can’t good things change?

but then handwaves it away. Holliday approaches the revelation a few times before and after this line, but every time, he either doesn't complete the thought, or dismisses it with a 'no, it is the children who are wrong' statement.
I can't even give it extra stars for the food because it's all described the same way, with the fiery assault and bludgeoning.

[Mickey Bits · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It's an excellent primer on Viet cuisine.

However, as with so many Western takes on the foods of Southeast Asia the author ends up fetishizing the people and the culture. Suddenly everything from the author's own culture becomes boring and flawed and everything about the cuisine written about is awesome and new and . Statements like every Vietnamese knows how to taste. They don't have to work from recipes, it's all done by feel— this is untrue and somewhat condescending.

Also, a glossary would have been helpful. He liberally sprinkles the Vietnamese names of thing throughout the book and it was difficult to keep up with all the terminology.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eating Viet Nam: Dispatches From a Blue Plastic Table by Graham Holliday (Ecco 2015) (641.3009). Now who thought this up? A foodie in Viet Nam who eats only food purchased from street vendors! This book is 337 pages of how much Graham Holliday adores filthy food served in filthy conditions. Disclaimer: Vietnamese is my absolute favorite cuisine. However, I got ptomaine poisoning just by reading the author's descriptions of the doorways he squatted in for the privilege of eating meals that cost only a few pennies. I hope Holliday's adventure was worth it! My rating: 7/10, finished 9/4/15.

[Ronald Chapman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Without giving away to much of the book.
You should watch this Music video
before reading Chapter 20.

Wonder Girls (원더걸스) - K FOOD PARTY
https://youtu.be/BQg8SdQ1dHo
The video is funny and ridiculous.
However, Sometimes it takes funny and ridiculous to get the attention of people.
Most ads I see these days are annoying but successful.
The goal for a good campaign ad is to make people aware of the product.

The K-POP video and song may be ridiculous and funny. But some of the silly lyrics that are mentioned on page 224 of the book six years after the campaign began. Seems to have gotten the author's attention too.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm even going to say this should be 4.5 stars. The author, a transplanted Scot who ditched his life in the UK to head to Viet Nam (by way of South Korea), became more than a little obsessed with the street food vendors in Hanoi and Saigon. His obsession and search for the "best" examples of traditonal foods of the north and south led him through countless dark alleys, narrow doorways and eating spots of seriously questionable hygiene; peeking into cookpots, baskets and plastic bags. Reading his vibrant descriptions of the food, the cooks and the customers will make you want to follow.

[Mila Goodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's an Anthony Bourdain book so there's definitely personality (Graham's, that is).
Graham is like the Bill Bryson of street food.
I was super excited to eat my way through Vietnam until the very end and was left wondering if that's still a good idea.
The ending was of a different note than rest of book. (sidenote: this could be b/c I read it on a plane at night when I should have been sleeping)

Good read.
Lots of insight into street food.
Grab a pen to write down names of dishes and what they are.

[Ron S · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enthusiastic and fish sauce soaked memoir of street food in Viet Nam, from an ESL teacher turned food blogger turned journalist. This is also a book about the twists and turns and chance taking of finding the career, partner and life you really want. Perfect for fans of Anthony Bourdain and rambunctious traveler's tales.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting perspective on the street food of Vietnam. I love how the author looked for the most authenitc food that the locals ate and wouldn't be satisfied until he found just that. Really made me want Vietnamese food!

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

have always dreamed of visiting Viet Nam, and this delightful book really painted a picture. The food descriptions were so good that I found myself going out for Vietnamese food several times during the course of reading the book.

[Jane M · Rating 3 out of 5]

A+ for the nostalgia value (and making me hungry), but otherwise not that awesome of a book. I'd really be more interested in reading actual Koreans' opinions about changes in their society and food culture, rather than a foreigner grumbling about change for 300 pages. But also...I'm so hungry now.

[Rambling Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

yummy. now I want to visit Viet Nam.

[Kelly Munro · Rating 4 out of 5]

depressing.. spent a holiday there in 2009, wish to head back but now expect Hanoi to have turned into the tourist quarter of Saigon... so sad