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Having spent thousands of nights in hotels, travel writers Lara Dunston & Terence Carter are opting for slow travel and holiday homes instead. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Goodbye Hotel Fatigue, Hello Holiday Homes!

We’ve spent well over a thousand nights in hotels in the last four years we’ve been on the road. Every chance we’ve had we’ve opted to check into apartment rentals and holiday homes instead. Now we’re going to be doing that for a year, on our grand tour of the world.

If we’ve been researching a guidebook where we’ve had to cover large areas of a country by car, as we did in Greece, Syria, Thailand, Cyprus, Italy, Spain and Australia in recent years, we’ve had no choice but to stay in a different town and different hotel almost every night.

Now don’t get us wrong, we love a great hotel. Whether it’s a chic boutique place, intimate family-owned affair, or big luxe beach resort, we appreciate the attention to detail that goes into making a good hotel great: intuitive, attentive service; fine quality linens and furnishings; cutting-edge technology; thoughtfully-chosen amenities; a well-stocked mini-bar; and beautiful bathroom products.

But we’re well and truly suffering from hotel fatigue.

While we’re not dismantling the trouser press for fun, as Richard Quest has apparently done, the process of checking in and out each day has become tedious, the incessant knocks on the door and phone calls to the room tiresome. Why is it that mini bars always need to be checked after we arrive?

Then there’s the endless waiting around – whether it’s for luggage that takes forever to get to the room, a promised ironing board that never appears, or a bell boy who has clearly lost his way.

On those days we’re so exhausted we don’t want to get out of bed, it would be heaven not to have to hurry to breakfast by ten. Nor deal with the scrum at the buffet, where even the most civilised people become savages as they fight for what’s apparently the last scrap of food on the planet.

And those nights when we have a deadline to meet or thousands of photos to download it would be nice to not have to order another cold Club Sandwich from room service because the restaurant staff’s shift finished well before ours.

And we have to admit, it has got to the point where our critical faculties are always switched on, and after so many hotels stays our expectations are so high, that it’s become impossible to relax at all.

So that explains why, when, say, we’ve had a city guidebook to research requiring us to stay in one place for a while, we’ve jumped at the opportunity to rent a place, carry our own luggage upstairs, stock our own fridge, cook our own meals, and eat as late or as early as we like.

Our hotel fatigue is only one of the reasons we’re so excited about this year ahead in holiday homes, and we’ll share more about our grand tour project in coming posts.

But don’t worry, we’re not going to switch off those critical faculties. We’ll be applying the same rigorous analysis, critical assessment, and opinionated writing style to our reviews of holiday rental properties that we’ve always applied to our hotel reviews. And you’ll find those reviews filed under The Digs.

But with a new property to assess every two weeks rather than every couple of days, we will take things a little bit easier for a while.

Do you ever suffer from hotel fatigue? And at what point do you decide to opt for holiday homes or apartment rentals instead of a hotel? We’d love to know.

Pictured above? Pics from a wonderful stay in 2008 at a friend’s holiday rental in Turkey.

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About Lara Dunston

A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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Comments

  1. Lisa Bergren says

    January 2, 2010 at 9:22 pm

    Mmm, I think hotels are delicious. I love fresh linens every day and beds I don’t have to make. It feels luxurious–truly a “getaway.” But I’d get tired of them too, if I’d spent as much time as you have in them. We opt for rental homes on holiday because it’s especially good for a family. We love a little more room to spread out, marketing for veggies alongside the locals, experimenting with cuisine, and having time to walk the neighborhoods and absorb the culture outside of the “hotel zone.” I’m excited for you and your new adventure!

  2. Christine B.Osborne says

    January 3, 2010 at 1:07 am

    I have long believed that hotel-based holidays would slowly concede to holidays rentals and home exchange. If not ahead of time, your project is certainly abreast of this trend. It is awesome, but taken step by step, and tackled in the way you have outlined above, it will open the door for a swathe of the travelling public. I am glad, and would have expected it, that a contractual arrangement leaves you free to criticise as and when, and if need be, so your site can become a trusted leader of this genre of holiday. Good luck, I look forward to reading yr posts. Hopefully they will not simply cover well known destinations, but also home rentals in the developing world, though I suppose you will be guided, if not directed, on choice by your employers?

  3. Deborah Harmes says

    January 3, 2010 at 5:52 am

    Hotels are incredibly convenient for short stays IF they tick all of your boxes for cleanliness, privacy, location, etc. But we love guest houses and self accommodating apartments for all of the reasons that you have cited and because there are times when you are simply too tired to drag yourself out for a meal and having a stocked fridge in your own kitchen is soothing. I also agree with Lisa’s statement above about the ‘spreading out’ factor.

    Looking forward to seeing the range of countries and styles of holiday homes you stay in. And having read your other blog, I am also looking forward to hearing how you FEEL about the atmosphere of the city, town, or village — whether you felt at home with the people, were things easy to find, reasonable to purchase, etc. You write so well that I have no doubt that we will all learn a LOT from this new site!

  4. Lara Dunston says

    January 2, 2010 at 9:31 pm

    Thank you! We’re really excited too! Totally agree hotels can be heavenly – we stayed in some gorgeous ones last year esp (W Doha was pretty special; stayed in fab places in Mallorca), but it’s check-in and other processes that have burnt us out. Thoroughly looking forward to freedom and space of holiday homes, as you say, plus the local experiences & being out of the ‘hotel zone’ (really good point!). But looks like you have an exciting project planned too – another grand tour of sorts @TheWorldCalls – good luck with that, best thing you can do for the kids.

  5. Lara Dunston says

    January 3, 2010 at 1:56 am

    Hi Christine – I guess we’ve always seen the value of hotels and holiday rentals, depending on the style of travel, although to be honest, I doubt I’d opt for a holiday rental for less than 3 days. Like you, I think increasingly people will look to rentals, as a result of a move toward travellers wanting to spend longer periods of time in one place.

    It’s interesting you say you might have expected we’d have the freedom to be opinionated, because I recently saw a discussion on Jeremy Head’s excellent blog Travel Blather where a tour operator said he’d want editorial control over content if he’d funded the writer/blogger’s trip. I can’t locate that post but maybe Jeremy can provide us with the link. We’re fortunate that our partners are on our side as far as editorial control goes.

    As for destinations, we’ve been going through a process of selecting places to ensure we have a good combo of popular places travellers search for when they’re looking for holiday accomm. to rent, and off-the-beaten-track destinations we’d like to encourage travellers to visit. While HomeAway is a web-based property with a global audience and a global company with a US office, our project partner is the UK office, and what I’ve found interesting is that places that might be off-the-beaten-track to UK/European travellers are not so to Americans or Australians and vice versa. I’ll be very interested to see what you and other travellers think of our destinations.

    Thanks for dropping by!

  6. 'Xander says

    January 3, 2010 at 5:25 pm

    i’m loving what i’ve sread so far.. with a 4 year old and one on the way, home rentals are what i’ve been reaching out for, especially where I can hang with the locals and immerse myself in culture on an extended leave, especially if the home owners are close by and are great storytellers over a few bottles of wine.. if you find any homes that include the use of bicycles i’d love to know…

    Cheers..

  7. Lara Dunston says

    January 3, 2010 at 6:14 am

    Hi Deborah – thanks for dropping by and sharing your thoughts – and for your kind words! Totally agree with you about being able to chill out so easily in a holiday home. Yep, we’re really looking forward to getting on the road again and experiencing these properties and places, but there’s still so much to do – eek!

  8. Terence Carter says

    January 3, 2010 at 6:35 am

    Hey Christine,
    I want to make one thing clear at the outset of the project – we love good hotels. Seriously. This isn’t a for/against argument – each type of accommodation has its place. Quality hotels are not going anywhere. If it’s a 2-3 day break, a rental apartment might not be the best choice unless you know the destination really well. Sometimes hotel desk staff *can* be incredibly helpful to find you a restaurant @ 11pm – we’ve tested them! Sometimes the pampering can be what you’re after – we get it – we love it – we do it. We see rental accommodation for holidays as something different. It’s clear what you’re ‘giving up’, but it’s not so clear what you gain, which is what we’re out to explore over the next 12 months…
    Cheers

    T

  9. Happy Hotelier says

    January 3, 2010 at 10:41 am

    Interesting to see you stepping away from hotels temporarily, while a relative hotel outsider is stepping into a 365 nights in a different hotel room in Amsterdam experiment. See my blog.

  10. Christine B.Osborne says

    January 4, 2010 at 5:44 am

    Hi Terence

    Of course hotels are a fixture for short stays, plus there will always be people who prefer not to have to make their own bed, on holiday, as it were.

    But I do believe that package-style hotel holidays will ease.

    And along with home rentals, the rapidly growing home exchange, is an equal way in which tourism is moving.

    When I first joined a HomeExchange programme, I had 25 enquiries to swap in the first month, free of course, from such diverse places as Poland, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Croatia, Florida, NYC, Italy, Spain and many from Australia.

    best wishes

  11. Lara Dunston says

    January 3, 2010 at 4:00 pm

    Oh, you’re kidding?! Oh, that’s too funny! We know Amsterdam well (wrote a Lonely Planet Best of Guide to A. a few years ago), so we’ll be interested to watch your project. But you try 365×4 and see whether you’ll embrace the project so enthusiastically! Just joking – as Terence said – we do love hotels (and I know you know that from my CTG blog), but this is just the little break we need from them. Good luck with it! We’ll go check out your blog.

  12. Lara Dunston says

    January 3, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    Hi Xander – well, we’ll make a special effort to look for places for bicycles for you – I hadn’t thought of that, but what a great idea! There are certainly destinations we’re going to where we want to be able to bike so we’ll keep our eyes peeled. Now as for listening to local storytellers over bottles of wine. That *was* on the to-do list!

  13. Jen Laceda says

    January 5, 2010 at 11:55 am

    Hi Lara and Terry,
    Hope things are well. Believe it or not, ‘Xander, a few comments above mine is my brother-in-law. He sent me a link to Home Away since we are planning a family
    reunion/vacation for next year and he knew of our plans for an RTW when my girls are older. And I was so excited because I knew you guys were on this project! Looking forward to reading all about your experiences in these home-away-from-home homes (how to use the word ‘home’ 3x in a sentence).
    Cheers,
    Jen Laceda

  14. jessiev says

    January 5, 2010 at 9:42 pm

    YAY, lara! i am so excited for you and terry. we always try to stay in a home or apt – with my disabilities, it is much easier to travel slowly. i can’t wait to read of your adventures!!

  15. Lisa Corcoran says

    January 6, 2010 at 12:20 am

    Hi Lara and Terry!

    I love a good hotel for a short break but for longer stays enjoy the space and freedom of a ‘home’. I think a holiday rental also lends itself to family or groups and in my opinion it seems more difficult to find quality rentals (without breaking the bank) for two. Looking forward to followng your Grand Tour and will be interested to hear your thoughts on holiday home rental.

    Have fun!
    Lisa

  16. Lara Dunston says

    January 5, 2010 at 9:57 pm

    Hi Jessie! Thank you! We’re very excited too, as you can imagine. I can’t wait to be on the road writing about our adventures, but still a lot of prep to do and other projects to finish. Thanks for visiting!

  17. Robert Burrage says

    January 6, 2010 at 1:21 pm

    Hi Lara, Just wanted to say a big Hello. you will be staying in My Penthouse in London in February & I hope you both have a great time there. Looking forward to meeting you & watching with interest your year of holiday home travel. Warmest Regards…see you soon..Bob Burrage

  18. Lara Dunston says

    January 6, 2010 at 5:25 am

    Hi Lisa

    Thanks for your comments – totally agree with you! We’ll make a special attempt to look out for some good places for couples for you and let you know how we go. Glad you’re going to join us on our adventure!

    best,
    Lara

  19. Viv Wiggall says

    January 9, 2010 at 2:41 am

    For stays of longer than 2-3 nights there’s no contest as far as I’m concerned, it’s a holiday rental every time. No dragging myself to a breakfast room at a fixed time to eat breakfast (usually far more than I want) surrounded by strangers, plenty of space to spread out in, invariably more in the way of luxuries, e.g. DVD players, than you would find in a cheaper hotel or guest house, and far more competitive on price. A recent example, 4 nights in an apartment in St Ives with fabulous sea views for around 50 pounds a night.

  20. Terence Carter says

    January 13, 2010 at 9:11 pm

    Thanks for your comments Viv, you’ve neatly highlighted some of the reasons we’re doing this project!

    T

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Lara and Terence are an Australian-born, Southeast Asia-based travel and food writers and photographers who have authored scores of guidebooks, produced countless travel and food stories, are currently developing cookbooks and guidebooks, and host culinary tours and writing and photography retreats in Southeast Asia.
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Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

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