Dinner in Saigon

Food is amazing, when traveling abroad, I go out of my way to sample and try new food items on the menu. Exotic Food can be very tasty, but I do have my limits. When last traveling to Vietnam, we stopped at a local restaurant called 3T in Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh City. This restaurant was amazing, it is very local. We were seated down at a table that has a propane stove in the middle and served our menu's. I got the coconut milk, which is a coconut with a hole in the top and a straw. We then looked at the menu to decide what to order. Options included Frog Legs, Wild Boar, Prawns, Beef wrapped in cheese and Deer. It averaged about $4 per option so we decided to get Prawns, Wild Boar Skin, Beef wrapped in cheese and the deer. I have no idea what kind of deer it was, it didn't specify. After we order, they bring you some spices which is standard in Vietnam, salt, pepper, chili sauce and lime. They also give us white noodles and then proceed to deliver our entrees. We start with the beef wrapped in cheese. It was wrapped in banana leaf with cheese on the outside. We toss it on the grill in the middle of our table after we pour on some oil, that may I just say, it is not very processed! After we get the grill nice and hot, we toss on the beef, we chat with the locals while we wait and enjoy the great company with our guide. After a few minutes, it is ready and we take it off and give it a try. I must say it was good, the cheese got to melted to really taste, I think it should be on the inside of the banana leaf. The meat was nice and tender. As we finished eating the meat with tossed on the Wild Boar meat and skin, this was a little different, not only did we have boar meat but we were given some very fatty skin to eat as well. Again, after a few minutes of grilling we gave it a try and I will tell you I won't order that again! Boar skin has a very unique taste that I did not enjoy. The deer was good, it tasted like deer and was a little gamier but I enjoyed it. Finally we tossed on the giant prawns, when they delivered them, they were still jumping on the plate and had been freshly skewered. We put them on the grill and watched them try to jump off, not sure this is the most humane way to go, but it sure was fresh. As they slowly turned pinkish red, we knew they were done and took them off. i dipped mine in the chili sauce with a little lime and gave it a bite, skin and all. It was very tasty, by far the best part of the meal. The food is so fresh in Vietnam everywhere we eat and I enjoy it immensely. Even though I could've done without the wild boar skin, the meal as a whole was incredible. After dinner we walked back down stairs and into a local ice cream shop, which is becoming very popular in Saigon as it grows. There were all sorts of exotic ice creams and we tried a variety. What a way to end a dinner. Next time I'm back in Saigon, this will be a stop for sure.