Goal and where to eat in Mui Ne. Unusual ways to eat for free Closer to the kitchen
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Thematic table of contents (Walks around Moscow)
I know that for this post I will be branded a corrupt blogger who sold himself for a bowl of soup, but I can’t resist and tell you about some good new places to eat that were tasty and inexpensive during our last walks around Moscow.
A cafe with truly English cuisine has opened on Bronnaya, which is a huge rarity in our country. Afisha reported this, and there were others who also looked for this cafe at the address. It is tiny, next to an Italian pizzeria. The fish and chips there were already gone when we went, so we'll have to look again, but there were several types of traditional pies, including meat and kidney pies. In addition to traditional beer, there were also such English drinks (in bottles) as traditional lemonade with gum arabic, a drink made from rhubarb and burdock root, etc. Everything was very tasty. The downside is the placement. The cafe is located in the entrance, in addition to the counter there are two tiny tables and a shelf along the wall, so this is for those who like to eat standing up or take away. But it's tasty and interesting. Well, I’ve never eaten at the entrance before, I didn’t even drink port wine.
Another newly opened place is varenichnaya on Old Arbat. Indeed, a bunch of different dumplings and dumplings, plus traditional food, and very inexpensive. The interiors are made in pseudo-Soviet style, the waitresses are in uniforms close to the old school ones: 
To be honest, this Soviet retro got me. The washed-out school dresses on the waitresses don’t look very good, and the October badge on the waiters is a total joke. But what’s nice is that they are all very polite and cheerful - they create a pleasant atmosphere.
But even though the Soviet style is boring, it still evokes nostalgia. I remember a rug with deer, and we had a rug with bears. Some things are simply rarities. Some tape recorders can be given to the museum.
The downside - as it turned out, they have some everyday problems - is that there is not enough electricity in the kitchen, so they serve some of the dishes not hot enough. But they know such a sin is behind them and, if they send waiters to warm up, they do not repent. Well, although they have several halls, there may be problems with free seats. But it is inexpensive, and there are many dishes for both adults and children. Well, there are stands with books - you can read while you wait for food. Or bring and add your own. I recommend ordering dumplings. They are delicious: it looks like they make it themselves. Some are sweet, some are hearty. I liked the assortment of sweet dumplings, among which, oddly enough, the one with cottage cheese was especially successful. It would seem that these are the most ordinary, but they turned out delicious. I always appreciate when a chef knows how to cook a simple and well-known dish well. It is easier to succeed with the unknown - there is nothing to compare with. I don't recommend everything else. Dumplings and tea. Well, if someone wants to drink, then alcohol of their choice: I rarely drink.
But the soup cafe, on the contrary, is a well-known place, but this was our first time going there. They are located next to the Belorussky railway station (on the contrary, across the now dug up square), there are many halls, if anything - there are two huge painted bottles in front of the entrance, otherwise the semi-basement is difficult to notice. I won’t talk about the location and interiors - they have a good website, but I will mention the menu. It's just huge. Traditional dishes are mid-priced, but the menu includes about 50 different soups (!). The cost of a bowl of soup (a large one, this is not Taras Bulba) is 250-300 rubles, but there is an amazing opportunity to take assorted dishes. For 300 rubles they bring you any three half-size soups of your choice... in fact, after that you don’t have to eat any more. The soups are excellent. The cream of mushroom soup was really made from porcini mushrooms, not champignons, the solyanka had everything that was supposed to be (otherwise some people go so low that they put doctor’s sausage instead of kidneys)... Sweet berry soups made from strawberries, cherries, etc. are interesting. Will be back again; for example, I was intrigued by the Hawaiian soup with coconut milk.
Schoolyard. Sapa, Northern Vietnam
Today I will tell you again about something that has nothing to do with the photo above. Because photography is spiritual food, but you always want to really eat!
When you live in exotic countries for some time, the question “where to eat deliciously” becomes very relevant. When I was in Vietnam and Cambodia for the first time, I only ate local food and only in local establishments, often of a very dubious nature, because... I wanted to feel the real (and not touristic) taste of these countries. But after living in Cambodia for a month this year, I realized that I really wanted the usual food - some kind of steak, Caprese salad with mozzarella, at worst pasta or borscht with sour cream. From that moment on, exotic food faded into the background for me. Of course, I always try local cuisine, but now I prefer to eat something more familiar every day. The turning point came when I started spending most of my time outside the home. When you rarely travel, you want something exotic. When you travel a lot, the exotic becomes overwhelming and you crave normal food.
Having arrived in Vietnam for the eighth time (judging by the stamps in my passport), I can no longer see all these spring rolls and pho soups. Therefore, from the first day, my friends and I were preoccupied with finding good restaurants. In Hanoi, our outlet was the Budmo restaurant, run by Ukrainian Vadim. Once we ate at a very decent French restaurant, but it was so expensive that I didn’t remember its name. Here, in the south, in the resort town of Mui Ne, which many Russian tourists know, everything turned out to be not very simple either. But having visited many establishments, incl. At the suggestion of my brother, who has lived here for 4 years, I can give you some advice. So, purely for my taste.
Perhaps one of the most adequate cafes in Mui Ne. Russian guys Ksyu and Sasha are holding it. This is not a restaurant, this is a cafe whose cuisine is not focused on quickly serving many dishes at once. Therefore, if you come here with a group of 10 people, be prepared to spend 2 hours here. But it’s worth it! First of all, it's very tasty. Sasha personally cooks, the Vietnamese only serve in the hall. Secondly, a very cozy, and I would even say creative, environment. It’s always a pleasure to chat with the hosts, who will take into account any of your interests - they will exclude from the dishes what you do not eat or, conversely, add something according to your preferences. Specialties include pumpkin soup, all sorts of pastas, pies and burritos. The downside is that there is no good wine, but you can bring your own + very good cocktails. Not fast (the cooking is homemade) but very tasty and soulful! The money is more than acceptable - my bill for 3 people rarely exceeds $15-20. I highly recommend it. Moreover, there is normal free Internet. If you come, say hello from me, the owners will be very pleased :) Located 100 meters from the Kim Ngan Hotel. Taxi drivers don’t know the word “chillout”, you need to say “Kim Ngan” and walk 100 meters from there.
2. Dejavu ( dejavu_muine )
Taxi drivers need to say “dezavou” (they simply don’t understand the word “déjà vu”). It is held by a Vietnamese girl, Tuna, who lived in Russia for many years with her parents. The cuisine is half sea food, half Russian. The part that sea food causes mixed opinions. Some people like it, some don't. But the Russian menu is great! There is real kvass, dumplings, borscht, okroshka, mashed potatoes with cutlets. The restaurant has a backyard that is only open during the season. Ask to go there at any time, it is very cozy and quiet. Moreover, in this yard there is a children's playground with swings, a sandbox and all sorts of stairs/ropes/slides. If you are vacationing with children, this is an irreplaceable plus. My average bill is about $30-35 for three people with a child. Minus - no internet.
3. Luna D"autumno
Italian restaurant. Big and expensive. Some Italian is holding it. The only place where I ate real caprese in Vietnam, and not a parody of it. Pastas, ravioli, focaccia and everything else are simply incredibly tasty. The food is delivered very quickly, the kitchen is clearly aimed at serving a large number of visitors. The house wine is good, but not exactly wow-wah. A very designer toilet with a coffee table. Unfortunately, there is no Internet. The average bill for three with a child is $50-60. By Mui Ne standards it is quite expensive, but most likely you will not regret the money spent.
4. Swiss Village Resort
Restaurant at a 4* hotel in the very center of Mui Ne. The hotel is run by Russians. The restaurant is focused on the Russian menu. There is borscht, okroshka, beef stroganoff, etc. Quite high quality and tasty. But alas, an absolutely soulless atmosphere. The design is pathetic, but tasteless, there is no emotional communication either. Everything is strict and formal. There is Internet. They cook quite quickly, the portions are not very large. In general, this is one of the key places where you can go to eat normal food, but you can’t count on any special pleasure from visiting it. Quite expensive, the average bill for three people with a child is $40-50. VISA and Master Card bank cards are accepted.
5. Lam Tong
Many Russians call this place “Meow-Meow”. A very cheap Vietnamese eatery, which was once opened to the public by Russian guys. At the request of the owners, they translated the funny menu, in the spirit of “Mix Salad = Salad with all sorts of crap.” Located next to the Tien Dat Hotel. The cuisine is Vietnamese, but the food is very tasty! And it seems to be adapted for foreigners, who are the main visitors here. It’s very cheap, the bill for three people with a child is about $15. There is also fresh fish, crabs, shrimp and other seafood. The main place of daily food for many foreigners permanently living here. If you need to run in for a quick, tasty and inexpensive meal, this is usually here. The Internet is caught from surrounding hotels.
6. Tropical Minigolf
Holding by a Frenchman. A very pleasant place where you can deliciously eat all kinds of meat (pig, cow, chicken, fish and other sea creatures), which you yourself will fry on hot stones. Good wine, free internet. Very nice design and furnishings. Feng Shui. My average bill is about $40 for three people with a child.
7. Bo Ke
This is not a restaurant at all, but tables placed on the ocean shore. Here, right in front of you, all kinds of sea life that you choose from the aquariums are cooked on the barbecue. This specific place, at first glance, does not seem very clean and is somehow repulsive. But if you want to eat sea creatures, this is the right place in Mui Ne! Relatively inexpensive and tasty. There is no Internet. If you come here around 6-8 pm, be prepared to be sold out and wait for a free table. There are many similar establishments around with Bo Ke signs (in Vietnamese this means something like “embankment”), but the most correct one is the one with Bo Ke engraved on the stone benches.
Bon appetit:)
As any small child knows, dividing things and substances into edible and unfit for food is a rather arbitrary thing. Even if a person is not able to digest some gifts of nature, then why not simply stuff the belly with them, as dieters do with cotton balls? Human four-legged friends will agree with a small child, knowing that hunger can be satisfied with excrement. The main thing is that the microbes living in them do not upset the gourmet’s intestines. In extreme cases, the most sacred thing is suitable for food - the flesh and blood of the omnipresent heirs of Adam and Eve.
Without going into the trophic extremism characteristic of babies, dogs and cannibals, an adult capable person usually compares possibilities with desires. No one spends their entire salary on black caviar, but anything can happen in life, and sometimes, as a result of force majeure, the wallet turns out to be empty, and the pocket also has holes. Without much fear of dying, you can go hungry for three days before a real brutal appetite sets in. As they say, hunger is the best seasoning. To the aid of an earthling who finds himself without money, the methods and techniques accumulated by his colleagues in misfortune for food survival without shameful begging and/or sinful criminality come to the rescue. For example, these are somewhat non-standard:
On the ball and sweet vinegar
Among those items that are given free to clients in the service and catering industry, sauces and seasonings occupy a special place. Salt, sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, pepper, mustard and various other things are found on the tables of restaurants and cafes, and in some places in fast food chains they are packaged in portions - take as much as you can, they say.
Seasonings have some energy value, but getting enough of them alone is a difficult and dangerous task. But if you apply an exquisite spread of almost stolen spices in a thick layer on a green piece of bread taken from a flock of sparrows, it will become much more fun.
Mission "Hotel"
Being in the corridor of a hotel is not criminal. The main thing is to somehow get there. Well, inside the institution we are interested in the maids’ carts, filled with all sorts of replacement goods for the guests. It is recommended to start inspecting these carts from the top floor - a person going down may look like a guest who came to the hotel on the previous shift and is stomping away, for example.
In addition to shampoos, toothbrushes and pens, the treasured carts can store products to replenish the stock in hotel minibars and refrigerators. These include not only drinks, but also candies, cookies, and other snacks. And beer.
After eating and drinking somewhere in a nook, you can try your luck and sneak into the hotel pool. But if they are caught, they will be punished with every right.
In addition, some hotels that cater to a significant number of bed and breakfast clients (the busier the place, the more tempting), you can satisfy your appetite with a free continental breakfast from 6 to 8 am: the staff may not have time to find out which room you are from and so on.
One year of free meals in the airport lounge
You can learn a lot from the people of China. For example, how to consume hearty and varied meals for free day after day on a completely legal, harmless basis. For this purpose, a certain Chinese man chose the Xi'an airport and Eastern China Airlines, from which the citizen purchased an expensive first-class plane ticket, which is used by the rich and famous. Such a ticket at the airport in Xi'an pleases the holder with free and high-quality food in the waiting room for important people.
In addition, with such a ticket you can reschedule the day of your flight as many times as you like without losing anything in money. For almost a year, a savvy Chinese man came to the airport, checked in and ended up in the business lounge, where mouth-watering dishes awaited him. After lunch, the man returned the ticket, postponing the departure to the next day. And so on.
The day came when airline employees noticed something strange - the same ticket was re-booked more than 300 times, and the same number of times the passenger ate for free in the VIP lounge. All that, according to the law, the aviators could do with the cunning man was to have a soul-saving conversation. After which the man agreed to no longer abuse the gap in the VIP client service system. At the end of the epic, the cheerful Chinese man handed over the ticket completely and returned its full cost to his pocket.
Closer to the kitchen
In special cases, a food crisis in the stomach, or even in the refrigerator, can be avoided by getting a job in a restaurant. Catering establishments, of course, are not obliged to feed their staff, but in many good places, workers who work long shifts and work with dignity are still fed.
Working “closer to the kitchen” is good because it combines the process of making money with the practice of saving it. Moreover, you can make friends with the cook.
Gentlemen from the USA and Canada write that in some fast food restaurants you can get free food or at least a drink if you come with a bank card that refuses, pretend to be hungry and say that there is nothing to pay with other than this card. In addition, at the compassionate McDonald's you can get a free drink if you pay at the checkout for a hamburger with only change: the employee will think that you are in need and you don't have enough for a cola, why not treat you?
Alone with everyone
Having a certain attractiveness and luck, those who like to eat for free can try themselves as stars of the so-called “food porn”, that is, gastronomic voyeurism. In South Korea, which is sick with all sorts of virtual eccentricities, such a nutritional business is called “Muk-bang”.
The essence of the process is that many lonely Koreans, who have no one to share a meal with, feel a pleasant excitement while watching someone else eat. Participation in such video chats without obscenities makes it possible not only to eat from the belly at the expense of the company, but also to earn up to $9,000 a month as a full-time mukbang star.
They say that such highly paid professional gluttons who consume freebies on camera have a stomach capacity comparable to that of an elephant, and a metabolic rate comparable to that of. That is, there are graceful, eternally young girls and boys who can easily, in one sitting, eat thirty eggs or two medium-sized pizzas, or five packets of instant noodles. There are about 3,500 such idols of ostentatious gluttony in today's Korea, and millions are drooling over the broadcast. The shows take place mainly in the evenings, when Seoulites and residents of other million-plus cities begin something like a feast in their cramped concrete holes.
Markets
If you don’t have lunch, you can have a snack at the markets, taking advantage of the hospitality of the traders who let you try their goods. The main thing here is to think through a strategy in advance: in what order to go around the rows with milk, cream and cottage cheese, sausages, smoked fish, pickles, jams and fruits and vegetables - so that later it will not be excruciatingly painful. This entire assortment will not be found in every city market, and not every seller will rush to cut off a slice of anything, but trays with hearty nuts and dried fruits are quite a promising direction for searching. For a market food searcher, an excellent memory is important - not to approach the same traders several times, and politeness: you need to ask questions with an interested look in order to pass for a thoughtful buyer. In many places, for example, at the market on Sennaya Square, along with a small purchase right before the closing of trade, you can buy pickles or overripe fruits that will not survive until tomorrow for pennies, or even receive them as a gift. Again, the main thing, without fanaticism, is that health is more valuable.
Banquets and buffets
Presentations, press conferences, openings, closings, anniversaries, dinners, shows, vernissages, finishes, afterparties - everywhere, in general, they provide food and drink. But there are so many subtleties here - it’s crazy, it’s a whole science.Here are just the basics: the most lavish banquets are in foreign-managed hotels, at presentations of very expensive foreign brands, which are organized through an agency, or in car dealerships, for the richest clients. Beefeeter Gin will flow like a river, Martini it may end Probka Family does not practice treats, at Erarta they pour it at any opening, after from Sobaka.ru city will take a few days. If the invitation calls for booking tables, it means there won’t be much free, and in any case you need to arrive strictly at the beginning - there are countless rules and nuances. Understanding them, but not being considered a “sandwich maker” (a person who does nothing except go to parties), is possible only after long and successful years of work in a related field - journalism, PR, fashion and others. Another thing is that after this you absolutely don’t want to go to these events again.
Supermarkets
In the second half of the 2000s, at the height of the popularity of sampling among marketers, on any evening from Thursday to Saturday in supermarkets, people in funny promotional costumes offered to try butter, cookies, ketchup or ready-made dumplings. Nowadays this happens less often, and the system is difficult to trace: but try combing a couple of supermarkets on an empty stomach, wandering among the shelves bursting with delicacies. You need to either take establishments of a higher class - jamonerias at restaurants or, where the client’s desire, including trying something, is the law. Or look for vacancies secret shoppers- people who are hired to check the level of service. They are most in demand in the sales of something very expensive, like cars, but sometimes they are also sought after for the food and nutrition industry.
Generous catering
In general, this is an oxymoron - establishments that make money from food will not feed you for free. But there are generous owners who are not greedy and offer something: for example, in the bar-barbershop there are glasses with salty straws on the bar counter, which are refreshed throughout the night. In many canteens you can take bread for free - they don’t check whether you took the order. In the canteen of the Main Post Office, for example, they hand out delicious crackers. At the exit from the Wasabi chain cafe there are bowls of sweets; you can, without hesitation, scoop up a whole handful just by looking into the room. Sweets are often treated to clients of beauty salons, for example - since they give it to current clients, they will also give it to potential ones.
Separately, it should be noted those who follow the precepts of Napoleon, who legally obliged restaurateurs to provide free water, and are ready to give their guests something to drink. Bottles, without asking for an order, will be brought to any table in the Jean-Jacques restaurant chain and in Lampshade, honor and praise to them. In the Dom Byta and Zing bars, water will be provided on weekdays with your order, in the latter, maybe even with nuts.
Visit your parents
Go to your parents - what’s there to explain?
Charitable and government organizations
If everything is really bad, you can ask for help. “Nochlezhka” has long and successfully taken care of the hungry - their bus delivers food on weekday evenings to the districts according to a schedule: Slavy Avenue, Ligovsky overpass, Primorskaya and Chernaya Rechka metro stations. Almost every district has a municipal service that distributes coupons for free food among those who are entitled to it, and the most progressive ones have on-site food programs. There is little written about them - you need to call information centers and find out: for example, in Krasnogvardeisky on weekdays they feed on Peredovikov Avenue from 9.00 to 10.30, on weekends - on Respublikanskaya Street. There are also state canteens in the suburbs of Pushkin and Petrodvorets. For extreme cases, at Liteiny Prospekt 44, B, there is the Salvation Army, open from 9.00 to 19.00. For the visit you must have the appropriate bow.
Religious institutions
Almost every religion prescribes feeding the suffering. Therefore, as they say, God himself ordered to turn to the ministers of one or another cult for free food. The most obvious and soul-saving move is Orthodox monasteries. They are located mainly in the Leningrad region: for example, in Tikhvin or the Lodeynoye Pole area - so traveling will also help you work up an appetite. You shouldn’t rely on your inner call - there is a website with a list of all the churches and courtyards of St. Petersburg and the region. You can taste prasad, gift, food, which is first offered to God, at the Society for Krishna Consciousness, at the Zheleznodorozhnikov Palace of Culture - most likely it will be something sweet, rice, a milkshake with banana or sherbet. At the Jewish Charity Center "Hesed Abraham" they feed selectively - they help the elderly with nutrition.
Various faiths also have special organizations that feed the needy. The Catholic charitable center "Caritas St. Petersburg" has two canteens: "Tatyana" and in the "Center for Social and Medical Assistance to the Homeless." The Catholic charitable organization Malta Relief Service also implements the Canteen for the Needy program. The Orthodox Center for Spiritual Revival also has the same canteen - it works for residents of the Vyborg, Kalinin and Primorsky districts. Volunteers from the Orthodox charitable foundation of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica distribute food from a mobile bus near the Lesnaya metro station.
Needless to say, all these organizations both help with food for those who need it and accept help: so each of us can feed the hungry. For example, at Nochlezhka, lunch for one person costs 33 rubles. By giving up one dinner at a restaurant, you can feed 45 people.