Food Tour - Dalat, Vietnam

One of the things that I had known to prepare for in Vietnam was the heat and humidity; these were the reasons for cutting my hair short. However, seeing as it is a whole country, it obviously had areas that were not subject to the severity of most sections. When my family decided to travel to Dalat, they told me that I would need a jacket but I ignored the advice (still had a jacket fortunately) because it was hard to believe that after a few weeks of constant sweating. On our way to Dalat though, it became apparent that it was in a mountainous region that had a nicer, cooler climate. I had checked it out on Wikitravel to see if there were any specialty foods in the area but all I noted was their artichoke tea, which I did buy some bags of. Other than that, the foods in the area were basically fairly widespread but with an emphasis on noodle soups, preserved & candied fruits, milk, and their wines. Who knew that Vietnam had wineries? As for restaurant food, the only good places we went to were a noodle soup place ($1.50 per bowl) and a higher class-looking restaurant ($5+ per plate) near the night market.

My brothers and I were actually quite excited when we saw familiar-looking candied fruits because they were delicious. They were typically heavily sugared and full of juiciness. I also tried one of their wines there and was disappointed. It was lacking in a lot and ended up being slightly vinegary at the end (not a good sign). Luckily I hadn't been expecting much. As for their city's own milk production, the milk was pretty light in comparison to the one in the States but I enjoyed the chocolate milk tremendously. Also, I didn't get as severe of a stomachache as I usually do when I drink milk (milk intolerance)! That's always a plus.


There were several "exotic" meats that I saw on menus but my parents said to be wary of these because they could just be faked considering the amount of tourists around. Alas, no porcupine or anteater for me. However, the food was pretty decent in Dalat; their specialties were quite delicious aside from the wine. Check out their offerings if you're in the area!