Food Tours · Tour

Mrs Tram's Riverside Kitchen and the Bay Mau Nipa Forest

Two things set this version apart, and both are about where it happens. The first is the water. The basket boat goes into the canals of the Bay Mau nipa palm forest in Cam Thanh, the water coconut village, rather than out onto open river, so you are inside the palms with the light coming through them instead of looking at them from a distance. Purple crabs get caught along the way, and the fishermen show the traditional method of netting fish, which they are considerably better at than you will be. The second is the table. The meal is eaten in a garden on the riverbank, not in a classroom. Before either, the market with the guides, who translate and haggle and explain which fish is worth buying and which is not. The chef is Mrs Tram, and she runs this with her neighbours in the village rather than with staff, which is why the day feels less like a product and more like being had round. Morning runs 8:30 to 13:00, afternoon 14:00 to 18:30. Up to twelve people, in English. Hotel pick-up and drop-off, the boat, the class, lunch or dinner, tickets, and a life jacket, umbrella and raincoat, because the weather here changes its mind. Not recommended if you have a heart condition.