If one takes a city tour through the busy streets of Saigon one quickly realizes that there are numerous restaurants and food establishments everywhere. They come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny pavement stalls that serve simple breakfasts or noodles, to large and imposing restaurants with smart waiters and extensive international menus. Le Quy Don Street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City is a case in point, since although it is only a short street it has a great many restaurants.
To make each stand out from their neighbors, most of the eateries specialize in a particular food variety or advertise a particularly intriguing dish with a curious name to help lure passing gastronomists. One of the more fascinating restaurants is the dark looking Lau 1000°C Restaurant, which proudly advertises its Beauty Hotpot to catch the eye of passers.
The restaurant's owner, a Japanese expatriate named Toba Hirohide, calls his house specialty a Beauty Hotpot because of its special ingredients, since unlike most other standard hotpots his milk-like broth is made using soya-beans. Needless to say, he also claims that his hotpot is particularly healthy since soya-beans have long been recognized for their very high nutritional content, which is why soya milk is a favorite drink for many people and often given to young children.
Furthermore, soya-beans contain no cholesterol, are high in protein and vitamins, and also contain many other elements which are good for one's health, and apparently even help women look more beautiful. The Japanese chef therefore decided to try using the product in his hotpot by combining soymilk and soup made using traditional Japanese culinary secrets.
When served the pot is kept warm by a small flame and comes served with seafood, tofu, meatballs, mushrooms and a variety of vegetables. Whilst one may initially think that the soya milk could smell when heated, via a special secret combination, when cooked as a hotpot broth the typical smell of soya milk disappears.
Besides being a charming and atmospheric place with a novel dish the restaurant also serves other more conventional hotpots and one can even elect to throw together one's own combination of favorite foods as a do-it-yourself concept, to offer diners as much choice and creativity as possible. Ingredients for these hotpots can include meat; bitter melon; ladies fingers; broccoli; cauliflower; bean sprouts; white bamboo; pumpkin flowers; sliced banana flowers; deep-fried tofu; soya sheets; shrimp and pork wontons; udon; egg and rice noodles or steamed rice to their hot pots.
In addition to the hot pots the restaurant also has an extensive Grill menu that serves up excellent grilled squid, scallops, shrimps, crabs, oysters, salmon, snails, sausages, chicken, beef tripe and a wide variety of vegetables and more.
If you want to try the so-called Beauty Hotpot or one of the other dishes you can visit:
Lau 1000°C Restaurant
Add: 16 Le Quy Don St, Dist 3, Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (84-8) 930 6633
