My new friend Huynh came in her scooter ready to pick me up.



Here's where you park your scooter bike before entering the restaurant.



When a very good restaurant opens up in a hidden alleyway, everything starts to light up around it. Here is the entrance way to where the locals get their fill of Banh Xeo at Ba Duong.

I made a new friend in Danang and she came by on her motorbike to show me a bit of the nightlife here.  First, she took me to a very popular local restaurant that serves banh xeo.  It was all the way at the end of an obscure and narrow alleyway that was quite crowded when we got there.  Knowing where the good food is travels fast in Vietnam, a country that is passionate about eating.  When you meet someone you like here, instead of asking them, "How are you doing," to show care and concern, you ask them, "Have you eaten yet?"  Take note of this if you have any Vietnamese friends.  Eating is a special social occasion and is one of our most primal ways of sharing.



Inside the very crowded Ba Duong restaurant.



The Banh Xeo spread at Ba Duong.

This was one of the best Banh Xeo's I've ever had.  You wrap the crispy, yellow Banh Xeo into the rice paper and add some jicama, cucumbers, fresh garlic and some salad and dip it into a thick peanut sauce.  The combination of  crunchy warm yet soft texture and citrusy and salty flavor makes your eyes roll backwards from such a pleasurable and tangible oral experience.  I now find Huynh to be a very good friend indeed.

We then went to a cafe bar, which is a mixture between exactly just that, coffee, tea and alcohol.  Again, very Vietnamese in a sense that we always like a combination of a number of different things to add to our taste buds.  At Hop Pho, they also played live traditional music which was quite a nice treat to the ear buds especially with Huynh giving me the historical and cultural significance of each song.  I'm very grateful for her company.



The cafe bar called Hop Pho in Danang, which serves tea and cocktails.



The waitress at Hop Pho lights up a candle at your table.  She is wearing a traditional Vietnamese dress called an Ao Dai.

The interior of Hop Pho had a very traditional aesthetic, it felt like you were going back in time when you entered into through the door.