Cục Gạch Quán is my favorite restaurant in Vietnam.

Really, this is my favorite restaurant in Vietnam. For English click here. I have been meaning to write about this place for a long time, but since I don't really write about food, time passed and I ate here another 3 times to test it out again. har har.

My aunt, who I refer to as Mommy, was extremely skeptical of a restaurant that I would recommend. Being the great cook and picky eater that she is, she gave me a hard time before I convinced her and the family to come along with me and trust me. 

"This place is probably for foreigners." 

"Okay, Kim and Rebecca can eat here first and then me and you [my uncle] can find another place later." 

"Just because this place looks nice does not mean the food is good" 

"This place is so empty"

And so with a series of ego hurting remarks I became sorta paranoid that my aunt would not like the restaurant therefore be grumpy the whole night. However, my aunt has been back three times since then. YES WIN!

Cục Gạch Quán literally translates to Stone Restaurant (Correct me if I'm wrong). The decor was what originally drawn me to it, owned and designed by a Vietnamese architect I had really wanted to go just because of the vintage music devices they had lying about the place but it was the food that had me coming back for more.

The atmosphere is warm and welcoming like your "grandmother's home." I was confused when I first walked in because it literally seemed like I just busted into someone's house.

Reservations are recommended for big groups, but I've been able to drop by with no problems every time. In order to go upstairs you have to cross this small river bond (see photo below.)

They serve traditional homey Vietnamese dishes to your liking. Like it fried? Then have it fried. Like it sautéed? They can do that too. Or would you rather just have it boiled? Then request it. The entire restaurant only has one vietnamese menu and one english menu. People usually just come in having already ordered what they wanted over the phone or just asking the waiter what's good. Each dish I've tried is pretty damn good. Though I don't have any of the photos here (since I gobbled down the food before I realized I forgot to take a picture) I'd recommend the fried soft tofu with fried lemon grass and their fried soft shell crab. YUM. Each dish is suppose to have a "homey grandmother" feel to it. Basically you come in and tell them what kind of soup, vegetable, and meat you'd like and how you would like it and there it is - you have a feast of a meal made just how you want it to be. 

Is that a stalk of morning glory (rau moung) used as a straw? YES!

Besides the awesome decor -outside the door it says "Office of the architect" in Vietnamese - It's all the small things in this restaurant that draw me back again and again. You can see the owner's ideas and thoughts really come to life from the building itself down to the utensils you use. Their vintage dish ware is from a long time ago, the glasses are purposely egg carton shaped, and the entire restaurant looks like someone's home. There are three areas of the restaurant: the front of the house (1st Floor), the attic, and the book room (2nd Floor). I prefer the attic, personally since the small door that enters that area makes it seem like your stepping into a whole other place. There is a bed that is turned into a table, and comfortable lounging chairs.

I'd recommend not coming on the weekend as it gets outrageously busy and crowded which is not the atmosphere that I first fell in love with. Service tends to be really overwhelmed at that point as well. I'd recommend a tad early around 5:30 pm, on a weekday. The restaurant is pretty much all yours.

Done. ăn ngon miệng nhe!

So enough of my nonsense talk. Just try it. Aw hell, if I had a date this would be the place I would take him. For folks coming by to Saigon I'll take you to this place if you'd like, as long as you don't give me a hard time like my aunt.


Address: 10 Dang Tat, District 1
Price range: 30,000 vnd to 200,000 vnd

Oh mah god are these used?!

Old photos from Vietnam back in the day, unsure of the years, my mom said it was my "grandpa's time" Ignore the strange flowers, they were part of a powerpoint email forward from a grandpa's friend.

According to my mama* it's gross. The thought that vintage/used clothing can be fashionable and awesome is not really possible to my mama, unless it's from her closet. "What if that person was dead?" she mutters with a tone of worry and disgust. Trying to cope with my love for old and used clothing and items, she blabbers more about selling her old items so she can make money like these people. My mama has never gone vintage shopping with me. She tells me to hurry up as I grab a cute pair of leather Etienne Alger muted tan pumps made in Italy in mint condition and a stripped business skirt made in Japan all for a good steal of $15 from a vintage store sale somewhere out in the suburbs of Australia. I took a great deal to get there from getting off at a dreary stop on the subway to a good 15 minute walk. My mom was scared to walk into the neighborhood so I tried to assure her that all the "cool kids" do it too, while I attempted to thwart her attention away from the haphazard graffitied walls of empty industrial buildings and shattered glass bottles on the floor to the sprinkled bits of hipster teenagers going to the same destination as me. It's okay mama, I promise.

* mama is mom in Chinese (妈妈)

Vintage photo in front of the white house they lived in California, fyi I never wore that blue dress.

Before most of my "vintage" items came in the form of my mama's ever growing collection of clothing from the 80's and 90's. Refugee vintage if you so will, the kind of vintage that holds memories that I will never be able to fully understand. My mama never really threw her clothing away.  Contained in her closet lies memories faded from the wear and tear of forgetting and living. The warm sun no longer pink when it sets.  There was something strangely comforting knowing I was wearing something my mama once wore. Once wore when she walked through the streets of New York fresh tired eyes peeking over a landscape that her daughter will one day call home. Clothing that protected her skin against the cold leather benches of the greyhound bus bound for California as the trees and nicely paved roads scurried past too busy to notice.  

It was like the possibility of those memories living once again, without words. Unspoken. Her threads speak as threads have always spoken to me.

Threads speak to me. They speak in a way that a lover's gaze lingers in your mind even after they are long gone. You long for it again. The echoes of a rapid stitch as needle threads fabric, repeatedly, over and over, masks the sounds of her kids growing up in a culture she may never full understand.

There was never a dull silence in my house.

Today, the sounds are replaced with honks, shouts, and other noises that a city makes when it feels stuffy, grumpy, and sweaty all at once. Noises my mother understands. I find myself in Vietnam, where vintage is not as popular in contrast to the high fashion stores pushing their way through the already cramped and awkward urban landscape of "economic development." Here I am always on the prowl for vintage items and with the help of some great locals I have had some great finds and wanted to share it with you.

Duong Ho Huan Xuan (Street), District 3, Ho Chi Minh City

On this street you will find sprinkled bits of old man clothes to second hand purses. I particularly go to this one store that sells only vintage shoes that they get from Thailand. They have a great selection, but very few sizes, its either a hit or miss, so if you do find one... its feels oh so special. The street ends with a hoard of non-vintage shoe stores and a school with a lot of fat cute spoiled kids. Price ranges from $5 - $30. (The shoes/purses, not the kids)

Frames/ glasses carts: Behind the bus stop in front of Cho Ben Thanh (Market), District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

A friend told me about this one after I went nuts over her awesome glasses frames that reminded me of my big purple marble ones from the 4th grade. On this street hidden away due to the rather distracting and lovingly chaotic bus station, there is a bunch of carts selling used glasses frames, watches and the likes. I was able to find some great strong frames here that can be easily made for your prescription glasses or sunglasses at any glasses store in Vietnam. Price ranges from $2 - $3. Be sure to bargain.


CON QUẠ ĐEN RETRO & VINTAGE SHOP
JUST heard of this have yet to go but sounds exciting. The same friend with cool glasses also linked me to this on facebook. It seems to have vintage dresses and designer vintage purses so it's a bit pricier than I would like but I will check back after I go hunt down for the store. If you'd like to hunt it down before me please do and tell me about it! Price range: $10 to $350.

141 - Lầu 1 - Phòng 14, Nguyễn Trãi, Q.1

 Ms. Minh - 0909.382.328 - 08.6291.0985 

shop.conquaden@gmail.com

"Hoàng Minh (Quạ is her nickname at home) is a freedom twenty-seven year old girl, after 5 years studying in HCMC University of Architecture and 2 years working in Advertising (Lowe World Wide agency). She loves to find inspirations everyday about fashion, photography, art, vintage, retro, collage, eating, traveling and so much more. Now she opens her retro & vintage shop for sharing cute little things she found on her way."

Her website/blog page. (Scroll past the entry about the moon cup, haha, and you will find her cute fashions.)

Cho (outdoor market) next to Dai Hoc An Giang (University)

There are two stalls that I go to:

1. a lady that sells vintage purses and clothing and miscellaneous. Cute cozy crammed with fluorescent lights hovering over you while purses dangle from the ceilings. Price range $1 to $6
2. a lady that sells many many many jackets and is covered them like they are pouring out of a pool already too full of clothing. Price range: $1 to $3 

And now the warm sun sets pink.

this

is one of the major reasons why I'm here. Mom's old middle school friend showed me some pictures this past week along with a huge bag of perfectly homemade pickled mangoes, some custardy apple like fruits, and a reconnection that my mom wouldn't probably ever thought possible. Her daughter. Her childhood friend. Enjoy the photos. They kick back to the 70's.

My mom (Bottom row, on the left) and the girls in her class. circa 1975.

Photo portrait of my mom given to her friend. circa 1975. My brother and I tried many times to imitate her signature as kids. Never achieved it.

        

Classmate photo of Mom (2nd girl to inwards from the left) and classmates. They actually have yearly reunions, with t-shirts, cups, cute stories about who had crushes on who, and a website.