I've been in a bit of a dead zone lately as far as food is concerned. I don't really get excited about any meals and feel as though I am just eating for the sake of sustenance and not really for enjoyment. Then one day on a whim I went into a nearby restaurant/beer garden that is near my house and noticed a chalkboard that has weekly or however-long specials that are made up by a chef on a regular basis.
This has been a real godsend for me actually because almost all menus at all restaurants around here are exactly the same because nobody really seems to aspire towards innovation.
When I saw that there was going to be a soup on special I jumped at the chance. It is just an added bonus that this particular restaurant is also extremely dog-friendly and regularly has fund raisers for the local animal shelter.
It is a cauliflower and bacon cream soup and the gigantic piece of cheesy bread that comes with it was wonderful as well. At 80,000 VND (just over $3) it is also a great value as well. Nadi, as usual, waited patiently for her tiny little bit that I let her have and it was really nice.
As much as I have become a fan of Section 30 restaurant lately I do have to admit that their permanent menu is the same slop that every other place offers. It starts to seem like it is some sort of requirement that everyone place has to have the usual trash burgers, half-assed pizzas, and spring rolls that every single other restaurant also has with very little in the way of even attempting to make them unique.
So the chef's special board is a really nice thing for them to have there. Since this place is on my normal daily walk in the mornings and most evenings I have a chance to walk by there and see what has changed and get an idea about dinner well before that time comes.
Although the restaurant is entirely outdoors, they do have a bunch of rain covers in the sky to keep you dry when it rains, which is often this time of year. It is also substantially cooler this time of year and this is why something like hot soup is even better than it normally be. I am a big fan of soup, but since I live in a country where 80% of the year it is the temperature of the surface of the sun outdoors, soup isn't exactly what you are looking for most of the time. I'll enjoy it for the next few months as we, at night, normally will have temperatures that are similar to an autumn day in USA or Europe.
Nadi loves coming here. The staff are all really nice to her and she is very welcome. They don't mind that she sits on the chairs and since Nadi is kind of old now the only thing she really does is stare at me waiting for a scrap of bread or she is lying down getting close to sleep since that is her favorite thing to do these days.
Nadi is a "chair doggy" though. I guess it is because she is so small that she feels a lot safer if she is elevated. She doesn't like to be on the ground for very long if we go somewhere unless it is really hot. But that is ok at Section 30. There are plenty of places to sit and she is welcome on all of them.
If you do find yourself in Da Nang ever, you will likely get restaurant fatigue rather quickly because what I am saying about everything being the same no matter where you go is absolutely true. Thankfully, Section 30 and a handful of other places have figured out that having something different is the key to success and they are one of the longest-running establishments in the area because of this. Now I just wish that other places would take the hint and deviate from the stock standard a bit.