When you are in Phu Quoc island, one of the most interesting things to do is to satisfy your taste. Actually, with richness of ingredients and spices, this island is a paradise of both local and international delicacies served from local restaurants to fine dining restaurants.
Seafood perhaps is top choice for all people. And one of the most famous local dishes of this island is goi ca trich (herring salad) which is prepared from fresh herring filet mixed spices, onion, fried peanut, chili and planning coconut and served with vegetables, rice paper, sweet and sour fish sauce or peanut sauce. When eating, you put some slices of fish, spices and vegetables into a rice paper and make a roll, and then enjoy it with sauce. Herring is a kind of popular fish in Phu Quoc around year. So, you can enjoy this salad anytime you visit to this island. And this dish is considered as friendly welcome food of local people to tourists. It is simple, tasty and its price is cheap. As a tradition of local people, it’s more delicious when you enjoy herring fish with ruou sim (a local wine made from sim fruit).
Another top seafood dish of Phu Quoc is ghe (crab) Ham Ninh. Ham Ninh is known as the oldest fishing village in Phu Quoc with pristine beauty and famous for its crab which is very fresh when it is caught up from the sea and prepared right to your plate. In Phu Quoc, ghe is cooked in different ways and famous dishes from crab you should try are steamed crab, crab curry, banh canh ghe (noodles with crab) and com chien ghe (fried rice with crab). Ham Ninh Village, about 25 km from Duong Dong Town, is a destination for seafood lovers because there are many local restaurants offering a variety of fresh seafood such as sea urchin, shellfish, squid, shrimp and fish.
If you look for a nutritious dish for health when you are in Phu Quoc, dishes from sea urchin are a good choice. The local people said that sea urchin live in the bottom of the sea where has rock foundation. To catch sea urchin, the divers have to dive down and be very careful to avoid its spines puncturing. Sea urchin is prepared in simple ways: grilled sea urchin with oil and onion leaves, sea urchin porridge and live sea urchin with mustard.
In Duong Dong Town, there are many restaurants along Tran Hung Dao Street and 30 thang 4 Street offering both local seafood and international cuisine. Ra Khoi Restaurant is good choice to enjoy seafood with a wide range of live seafood prepared in customer’s requests with reasonable price and very popular for Vietnamese tourists. Meanwhile, Hieu seafood restaurant, owned by Hieu and his wife, is a favourite restaurant by foreign tourists with delicious seafood, reasonable price and friendly staff. In addition, a popular address for foreign tourists is a lane along the entrance to La Veranda Phu Quoc on Tran Hung Dao where is known as backpacker area in Phu Quoc with resort, hotel and of course a series of restaurants set up in garden or by the beach and serving Asian and western cuisine, fast food and local seafood.
However, there are some typical specialties in Phu Quoc that you shouldn’t miss although it isn’t popular to tourists. That is bún quậy (quay noodle soup) and bún kèn (kèn noodle). The name of bún quậy sourced from the action of stirring (quậy in Vietnamese) while making noodles. This dish is made from fresh homemade rice noodle, the broth and pounded shrimp and fish and served lemon and pepper salt. You can enjoy bún quậy at Bun Quay Kien Xay, a family food restaurant at 28 Bach Dang, near Bach Dang Park or the other on 30 thang 4 Street.
If bun quay is a dish of subtle simplicity, bun ken Phu Quoc is a harmonious combination of flavours. This dish is prepared with a special broth cooked from ingredients of milky coconut juice, curry spices and lemongrass, fried fish rousong, bean sprouts, sliced cucumber and vegetables and fermented papaya. So, with its strong flavour, this dish is recommended to enjoy in the early morning to take away the cool of the sea and warm up their bodies as local people usually do.
When you leave Phu Quoc, pepper is a flavourful gift that you should go home. There are many pepper farms around the island where you can see green pepper garden and buy some bottles of Black pepper, white pepper and red pepper as well as products processed from pepper such as pepper sauce and pepper salt with fried shrimp.
Photo: Thanh Vân
