Enjoying Vietnamese cuisine and farmers market in Karen

I was sorry when the Purdy Arms in Karen along Marula Lane closed down. It used to be one of our favourite Sunday brunch places, however, as we discovered last Saturday, something special has taken its place.

It’s a Vietnamese restaurant and vinothek called La Terrasse – Vietnam was once a French colony, remember?

So when our son, Andreas, suggested organising a lunch there for us and a couple of friends and their little daughter, we jumped at the idea. I was especially happy because I have many good memories of consultancy assignments in Vietnam.

I must be careful now, because I could easily get side-tracked and start telling you some of my many stories from times in Hanoi and Ho Chi Min City. Those of you who are regular readers of this column will have heard a few of them, anyway.

Just let me say something relevant for this piece. One of my consultant colleagues was very critical of me when, in a rather posh Hanoi restaurant, I ordered English fish and chips.

‘I’m very surprised at you, John!’ he said. ‘Here we have a menu with all these special Vietnamese dishes, and you do that.’

Food and drink stations galore

I told him that, after so many meals of rice and noodles, I rather fancied fish and chips. But, true, I never took the chance to properly explore Vietnamese cuisine. So, last Saturday was a chance to do just that.

But, first, I must tell you something about the farmers market that happens in those leafy grounds every Saturday and Sunday.

It’s the biggest, most varied and vibrant weekly market of its kind that we have been to around Nairobi. Yes, of course, there were many vegetable stalls, but there were lots of others selling all manner of things, from carpets to creams, from cakes to clothes.

There were food and drink stations galore - Chinese, Ethiopian, Indian and Italian, as well as Kenyan nyama choma. There were plenty of tables and chairs set out under canvas shades or within semi-permanent wooden structures.

For visiting families with young children, a supervised play area with a bouncy castle and a wooden climbing frame has been set aside in one tree-lined corner of the grounds.

But we had an appointment at La Terrasse, which is outside the main house, and where the Purdy Arms used to be. The menu is not large, but there were more than enough items for me to explore.

Missed opportunities

The exploration was made more extensive when we agreed to order several shared dishes. The menu promised that all those on offer are inspired and prepared as per authentic Vietnamese traditions, with indigenous Asian vegetables and herbs grown at their own organic farm there in Marula Lane.

What I had to choose from was a mix of starters and mains. For vegetarians, we selected the Nem Cuon – quite big summer rolls of tofu, coriander and rice noodles. For the rest of us carnivores our selection was a mix of pork, beef and chicken dishes.

The Cha, minced pork meatballs were made tasty with Vietnamese herbs. The Thit Nuong, strips of marinated and barbecued pork, were rather like the bacon I would normally fry for myself on a Sunday morning. T

he one beef dish, Pho Xao, was stir fried. And the chicken wings, Canh Ga Ran, came with a delicious sweet chili sauce. All the dishes were accompanied with fresh salads.

I now realise that I had missed opportunities at my many meal times in Vietnam. I think I will write to my critical friend in Hanoi and tell him that he was right.

After ice creams and coffees and another look round, we went down to the farmers market again. It was very hard to find a table, because the place was packed. We were not surprised.

John Fox is Chairman of iDC Email: [email protected]