North Of Kon Tum

Eat and meet

Dak To, Phuoc Son and Hiep Duc

Dak To
You'll find rice and noodles around the main intersection, but if you venture a kilometre south, up the hill, Nha Hang 60 (T: (060) 214 979) is on the right. It has a large restaurant with big tables for groups, but also has a small luncheon-style place serving the same menu. You'll get the basic Vietnamese bill of fare -- meat and fish dishes (no English menu) priced according to the size of the portion. Two people can eat for about 50,000 VND. Further up the hill on the left is Quan Nhau Hao Tien (T:(060) 214 651)-- you'll see the hunks of beef hanging in its glass display case. They serve up hot pots of beef for 100,000 VND per kilo.

Phuoc Son
Eating in Phuoc Son is catch as catch can. You might try following one of the Easy Rider guys to wherever they take their customers, if they're in town. They know all the best spots. If you aren't in the mood for pho (noodle soup) for breakfast, try some banh my (french bread) with Laughing Cow cheese at the cafe next to the Xuan Mai Hotel. The coffee there is good, too. For dinner, it's a meat-eating town. If you're up for some lau de (goat stew) we had an excellent hot pot at Nha Hang Huu Dat. This is a big corn-producing region, (corn is bap in Vietnamese) so street-side corn vendors are a good bet for a late night snack -- if you like your corn slightly roasted and incredibly hard to chew. Apparently, corn-steaming technology has yet to take root in Phuoc Son.

Hiep Duc
As you can imagine, a little burg on Hiep Duc doesn't offer a cornucopia of eating options. As elsewhere in the region, be thui (grilled calf) is a local favourite, along with lau de (goat stew) and lau bo (beef stew). Vegetarians will need to apply due diligence in the pursuit of their eating philosophy to come up with a meal. We had good luck on the meat side at Quan An Minh Hong (T: (0510) 215 404), just east of the Ba Huong, on the same side of the road.