Mekong Delta Lunch

After a few hours going up a Mekong tributary on a small boat, we were happy to be walking on land to what looked like a very rustic restaurant in the middle of nowhere.  Of course when we sat down in the open air dining room with a thatched roof, we noticed there were other tourists there and it was obviously a restaurant created for foreigners.  

But still the food served was local and we were pleasantly surprised by the main course - an elephant ear fish that was crunchy through and through.  It's not often that we are able to taste a fish that has been fried and still remain crisp on every side right to the end of the meal.   The way it was served obviously had something to do with that.  The four of us were almost bickering (in a friendly way) over who will have that last crunchy fin!  That's what rational civilized adults were reduced to when it came to good food.

Starter spring rolls with the see-through wrapping - my favourite

The elephant ear fish served on a stand.  I've since noticed other restaurants in town serving fish the same way but it's odd that the first time I'd noticed it was in a restaurant in the middle of nowhere in the Mekong delta.

The server scraped off both sides of the fish which remained crunchy throughout

Other less memorable dishes 

Shrimps were of course very fresh

Part of the restaurant - quite rustic, isn't it?