Fast Food in Vietnam - - Vietnamese Style
Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 12:42 pm
Tonight I gave a couple of private lessons at my apartment, so my wife went out with a friend to do some shopping and drinking. I told my wife to bring me back a hamburger or a hot dog and a big bottle of Coke (big ones are only 1.5 liters here).
She came back with two torpedo shaped sandwiches.
"There you go, Bill... Two hot dogs."
Yes, they were on hot dog buns. But when I bit into them, it wasn't a hot dog. It was a submarine sandwich--several types of cold cuts with mayonnaise, oil, and mustard. It wasn't bad but it wasn't a hot dog.
Another time I went to a street vendor who was selling hamburgers for 5,000 dong (about 30 cents). I bought one, expecting the worst--maybe ground rat. But what I got was a submarine sandwich on a sesame seed hamburger bun.
Sandwich names have to do with the kind of bread they are served on and not the meat that goes on them. You could put a hot dog on a hamburger bun and it would be called a hamburger. Consequently if you put a hamburger on a hot dog roll, it would be a hot dog.
On one trip to a local hamburger chain (actually South Korean--Lotteria), I ordered in English (as I don't know Vietnamese) and I translated the names of the various items as I would know them in English.
"I want a chicken sandwich and a large Pepsi, please." (In Vietnamese, chicken sandwich is bo ga ga, which means "chicken burger.")
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. We don't sell sandwiches... just burgers."
The word "sandwich," to the Vietnamese, refers to sandwich style white bread--Wonder Bread style!!!
She came back with two torpedo shaped sandwiches.
"There you go, Bill... Two hot dogs."
Yes, they were on hot dog buns. But when I bit into them, it wasn't a hot dog. It was a submarine sandwich--several types of cold cuts with mayonnaise, oil, and mustard. It wasn't bad but it wasn't a hot dog.
Another time I went to a street vendor who was selling hamburgers for 5,000 dong (about 30 cents). I bought one, expecting the worst--maybe ground rat. But what I got was a submarine sandwich on a sesame seed hamburger bun.
Sandwich names have to do with the kind of bread they are served on and not the meat that goes on them. You could put a hot dog on a hamburger bun and it would be called a hamburger. Consequently if you put a hamburger on a hot dog roll, it would be a hot dog.
On one trip to a local hamburger chain (actually South Korean--Lotteria), I ordered in English (as I don't know Vietnamese) and I translated the names of the various items as I would know them in English.
"I want a chicken sandwich and a large Pepsi, please." (In Vietnamese, chicken sandwich is bo ga ga, which means "chicken burger.")
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. We don't sell sandwiches... just burgers."
The word "sandwich," to the Vietnamese, refers to sandwich style white bread--Wonder Bread style!!!
