.. Musa ca ri an do !

.. first, i would like to apologize for the slight delay in updates, as my laptop was infected with a virus that disables my login to Windows, had a long weekend formatting and restoring it.

.. most might not understand what my title might mean, but i do feel it is worth mentioning here in my blog, as it has satisfied my craving for curry in Vietnam .. to an extent. Musa ca ri an do means Musa Indian Curry, i was introduced and brought to it by a friend. Six of us went, and we had a feast sitted around a small square table.




Hidden in an alleyway, this establishment took up almost 2 shoplots, 1 for the kitchen and own for the indoor sitting and since they are towards the end of the alley, they filled up the road as well (..or lane/walkway, whatever it might be, we were sandwiched between 2 double storey building, a hole in the wall). We arrived during peak dinner hour and was lucky to have found a place to sit, though a small table but it fitted us comfortably .. well, before the food started coming. Environment was great ! .. the air was filled with chatter, clink and clanks of cutlery, cries of children running around .. ahh bliss, reminds me so much of the food court in SS2, back in KL.

It might not be the most presentable of all places hygienically especially the floors .. its hawker food, what else do you expect ? I had not problems with my stomach days after, instead yearning and craving for more of it, so i guess its more than safe, since i went during a busy day and during peak hour. All cutlery and dishes were clean without grease on it. Now .. lets move on to the food .. we ordered quite a lot, we started off with the curry .. of course, served with fresh banh mi (french loafs). The curry is almost the same as what i usually have back home, but instead of chunks of meat, these came with the bones and ribs ! I dug in without hesitance, using my fingers .. there is no way that i am able to juggle mutton knuckles with chopsticks whilst trying to tear succulent meat off! Curry is spiced just enough and sweet at the same time just to cater to local taste buds. it might not be as spicy as what we can get in Malaysia, but its acceptable enough to please my cravings .. and extra delicious and yummy dipped with the loafs ! Meat is slightly tough that day, but i won't complain, because it is lean meat from a goat which exercised a lot it seems.





.. barbecued crab laced with a generous helping of sweet lemon grass, a bit of chili, and some barbecue sauce was served next. We had bamboo shoot and prawn salad earlier, but i was too late in getting a picture, what i am left with is just the empty plate next to the crabs. It shows enough how good it was to be snapped up immediately. We also had some kind of fish stew later, which i left alone because i don't really fancy fish cooked this way. Sticky rice was also ordered. Quite a nice texture and feel to the rice, simple, cooked with 5 spice powder and , and infused with sweetness of honey, and mixed with raisins.

The small plates that you see all over the table is a mixture of salt and pepper, topped with a lemon which you need to squeeze over it. It is a common thing you can see in all eateries in Vietnam, these are used to as dipping for your food. Another type of dipping not in the pictures would be fish sauce, LOL, that is practically served with every dish as well, with one small chili cut in side. Here you don't get chili padi or red chili served with soya sauce.

The final item that can be highlighted was the side dishes that came together with the fish. I can't remember what it is called, but it is a thin plasticky popia skin, which you use to wrap the fish meat, and rice noodle, and herbs .. dip it into fish sauce and munch .. yummy! Thanks to out new found friends, we were even shown the proper way of doing it. Look at one of the pictures, just a blur of hand moving all over the place grabbing herbs and vegetables! The simplicity of the dish it self makes you yearn for more, and the herbs just revitalizes our taste buds which had been bombarded with taste of different dishes earlier.

It was a great experience and we left the table filled up with empty plates and bowls, a great honour to the restaurant itself showing how satisfied we are with the meal. We paid about 600,000 VND for it, which comes to about 36 USD converted, shared amongst six of us, reasonable price for the great food we had. Would definitely be back again for more.

Everything served to us was fresh, yes even the fish head stew. The mutton was marinated properly before being placed into the curry to get rid of the "mutton" smell. Personally, i hoped the curry was much spicier though, but since they have cooked everything in a big pot before being served into smaller plates, don't think i would be able to demand much. They also have "Hot Pots"/"steambots" served, with a choice of curry or normal stock soup. Remember to order any dishes with fresh bamboo shoots as well, especially the salads! They are fresh bamboo shoots, not canned!

Curious readers could find the place near Windsor hotel in District 5 Saigon, the exact address being MUSA CA RI AN DO,001, Block B, Su Van Hanh, ward 9, district 5. From windsor's main entrance, just walk down the road for about 100 meters and you would see an alleyway to your right filled with bikes and lights,people, and food at the end .. if you get lost, just ask anyone, they will point you to the correct direction, just mention Ca Ri An Do !