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Travel Plan: Eating Snake in Hanoi’s Snake Village (Le Mat)
Squeezed between culinary powerhouses like China, Thailand, and Japan, Vietnamese cuisine has always punched above its weight. Scintillating phở and irresistible bánh mì are just some of the tastes and aromas that have left a deep impression on foreign palates, surprising travellers with flavours and textures they didn’t even know they craved. Hanoi’s bright lights and buzzing streets may already include a spectrum of Vietnamese cuisine, but venture beyond the city’s limits, and you’ll stumble upon a humble village home to a cultural icon and a dark tourist rite-of-passage. It’s a corner of Vietnam where culture, courage, and curiosity collide; a place that asks one simple question of every visitor…
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Food Travel Guide: Top 20 Must-Try Thai Dishes
Welcome, fellow culinary adventurers! Prepare your taste buds for a tantalizing journey through the vibrant and explosive flavours of Thailand. When you embark on a culinary pilgrimage to this Southeast Asian paradise, make sure to indulge in the following 20 mouthwatering dishes that will leave you yearning for seconds (and thirds… and fourths…). This article may contain affiliate links which I may be compensated for at no extra cost to you dear readers! Pad Thai A national treasure and one whose roots are quite mysterious. One theory is that it was a purposeful creation by the Thai government in order to promote a national identity! The perfect blend of chewy…
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Hanoi: A Snake’s Heart For Dinner
Exploring jaw-dropping landscapes and sampling mouthwatering local cuisine is an important part of the travelling experience. Yet, there’s a lesser-known side to travelling, one with a far more morbid tone – dark tourism. As the name might suggest, this is not everyone’s cup of tea, far from it in fact. While many are content staying snug within their comfort zone, others prefer venturing into the murky waters and experiencing the darker side of life. For better or for worse, I am one of those people. Vietnam had just the kind of experience I was looking for. It was one that would garner disapproving looks and vitriolic anger from some, particularly…
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Food Travel Guide: Top 20 Must-Try Korean Dishes
Plenty of nations are recognised for their culinary skills. The likes of France, China and even Mexico are all highly regarded for their bountiful flavours and mouthwatering dishes. Though for me personally, one country stands out above the rest, Korea! This criminally underestimated nation flies beneath the radar of many hardened travellers and culinary enthusiasts. The sheer variety of flavour combinations ensures that each bite is unique and takes you on a sensory rollercoaster of delectable delights. Whether you’re searching for food along the streets of LA or amongst the skyscrapers of Seoul, let me show you 20 Korean dishes you have to try! Kimchi Hands down, the most iconic…
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15 Tips for Eating Street Food Safely
We’ve all heard horror stories of people spending an evening of evacuating bowels and projectile vomiting at the hands of street food. Though these stories are few in number, they leave a lasting impression, with many thinking of food poisoning as an inevitability. The good news is that these stories are often blown out of proportion, and better yet, there are plenty of ways to avoid an incident from happening. So, in that case, let me share some tips on how to eat local street food safely! Analyse the Workstation Though many worry about the unsanitary conditions of selling food from a side-street cart, at least you’re able to check…
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A Guide to Tokyo’s Yokocho and Tiny Bars
Japan is known for making the absolute most out of the limited amount of space available. Whether it’s their tiny houses and apartments or compact cars, the Japanese have a general lack of claustrophobia. Down-sizing is so ingrained in the cities that the tiny treatment has also extended to their bars! Tokyo has the highest concentration of bars in the world, most of which are hidden down dark alleyways known as yokocho. Along these dimly lit streets are stacks of miniature watering holes and eateries that service a handful of customers at a time. For many, these establishments highlight a more authentic taste of Tokyo and provide a deeper sense…
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Does Taiwan Have the World’s Best Breakfast?
There are a few countries out there that are highly regarded for their cuisine. Italy, China and France offer some of the most iconic dishes and have amassed countless restaurants across every corner of the globe! That’s all very well and good, but which country makes the best breakfast? Though my homeland of Britain has never had the best reputation when it comes to food (other than mouth-watering fish and chips, of course), there is one dish that has become a notorious staple of hotels and restaurant menus from Toronto to Timbuktu, the good old full English breakfast. In my eyes, this hangover favourite was once the superior breakfast that…
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The Ultimate Travel Plan: Visiting Beijing’s Bug Market
Along with visiting beautiful relics and experiencing new exotic landscapes, there is one aspect of travel that people cherish more than anything, food! Diving into the culinary world of different nations and cultures becomes a vital part of the experience! There’s no better place to find some local delicacies than in the bustling street markets, where local favourites are abundant. Beijing on the other hand has something a little different on offer, nothing less than a mouth-watering bug market. In the heart of a luxurious shopping district surrounded by megalithic malls and big named capitalist brands is an alley where you can chow down on some deep-fried critters to your…
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The Ultimate Travel Plan: Eating Snakes in Taipei’s Snake Alley
Despite Taipei being a modern and progressive city at the forefront of modern society, like many other iconic cities, it has its fair share of seedy activities hidden amongst the darker alleys in districts filled with organised crime. Within the city’s oldest district, there was once an attraction that brought onlookers from far and wide, though today many see it as an antiquated remnant of yesteryear Taiwan, which belongs in the tales of history, eating snake meat. Welcome to Snake Alley, where you can sample freshly prepared snake meat and quench your thirst with shots of snake blood and venom. In this article, we’ll look at the history of Snake…
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What is Bubble Tea? The Rise of a Global Trend
As a British man, I thought I knew everything there was to know about tea. I couldn’t have been more wrong! It wasn’t until I arrived in East Asia that I discovered a whole new spectrum of the world-renowned beverage, and stumbled upon a creation that has become quite iconic in this part of the world. Some call it boba tea, others call it pearl tea, while most recognise it by its original name, bubble tea. Ever since its humble beginnings in a Taiwanese teahouse, bubble tea has become synonymous with the country and is considered an iconic symbol of Taiwan. As its popularity begins to rise dramatically in the…
