The Vietnamese Cafe
Z and I met at the door of the illustrious Gala nighht. We were barred from entrance. A fluke in our illustrious quest of the glitzy Fillmore Theatre. I easily identified who forgot their ID and are barred from entry from their innocent faces.Yet our paths could never cross without this mutual fluke. I grabbed her and three other students to join me on a uber.
Through the ride immersed in the darkness and nyons of Philly, I have learnt about the Vienamese Cafe, Z’s favourite time capsule in the city. A friday night thing
On the taxi ride home, she shared with me about this culinary institution.
So here i am, falling in love.
The food is fresh and wholesome. the people are easygoing and beautiful. a wonderful make-believe time capsule that captures a piece of Vietnamese culture in the 70s.
The Vietnamese Cafe is truly the most terrific establishment of delicate cuisine. I had the sticky spring roll of shredded beef and the shrimp papaya salad.
The food is the healthiest and tastiest.
The staff is courteous.
The neighborhood is very romantic, with cherry blossoms in bloom and on the sideway.
Beautiful restaurants scatter throughout the brotherly city of Philadelphia. There could be more restaurants that actually take care of clients’ body and soul in the long run.
As Z mentioned to me during the scathing rain one Saturday morning, early success in life may not taste so good. Similarly, much of the food served at the best restaurants in Philadelphia as well as many parts of the world are doing a disservice to our health.
I chose to visit a variety of restaurants to understand different people’s world views and lifestyles, risking my health of course.
If you want to see parents with their proud penn students, definitely White Dog and Louie Louie. If you want to see celebrities with their Birkins, and NBA players in their sneakers, go to the Four Seasons. If you want to see the greatest impressionists art, go the Barnes foundation.
But if you want to understand the reality of West Philly, step inside the mirage of the Vietnamese Cafe and sink into a fairytale, even for a moment. It will help you, help you dissipate every crooked stereotyped you read in the news and rumor network.
Time capsules of cultures spread across the world.
every part of Philly preserve and embody a intersection of bygone time. I think, if you turn up in Vietnam, you may find a world different, maybe more advanced, high tech and chicer than the Vietnamese Cafe here in Philly. What Philly’s China Town preserves of China is not China 2023, but a piece of China of the past. If you want to time travel to the 70s of Hong Kong, the Philadelphia CHina Town may be you thing. It is not a representation of China today. The Shanghai we have today is throughly luxurious and advanced.
It can be daunting or beautiful to know that certain ideologies, cultural trends may ceased to exist in its cradle, the origin, yet lively and upbeat in another part of Earth.
