Red Bridge Cooking

A highlight of our trip and an absolute MUST if you are visiting Hoi An, is the half day Red Bridge Cooking School.

At $20/head its not cheap by Vietnamese standards but worth every cent.

We attended a morning class that began at 8am with a REAL cappucino (see future post on coffee) at Hai Cafe in town. The cafe is run by an Oz expat, the food is superb (we went back at night for a meal), there a few reasonably priced Australian wines on menu, and it supports the World Wildlife Fund's efforts locally.

With an English speaking guide we wandered through the local market, learning a bit about local produce before boarding a boat for a 30 min trip down river to the Red Bridge Restaurant.

The head chef led us through a number of dishes, first demonstrating and then letting us at it. It was a lot of fun and not as tricky as expected. We even learned how to make our own rice paper for fresh spring rolls.

image: robynejay

The class was followed by lunch (and a bottle of SA white at our expense) by the river- a chance to see and taste the dishes at their finest - before boating back to Hoi An.