The city of Hue is famous for improbably elaborate meals. Went to a restaurant that I discovered four years ago and instantly loved. It hadn’t changed, except now a tour bus was parked outside. Had my usual ten-course lunch, starting with spring rolls.
How would you serve spring rolls? Put them on a plate, add a salad leaf, done. Not so here. Begin with half a pineapple, hollowed out, with a candle inside. Form a peacock with carved carrots and tomatoes. Put the spring rolls on sticks so they look like feathers – remember, that’s the payload, everything else is decoration. Easy. And so it continues.
