Max McFarlin from Arkansas state in the US is a blogger among the world’s community of trekking travelers, and the owner of a YouTube channel with 600,000 followers.

Max often posts videos about street food he enjoys in many countries on his personal page, including Vietnamese cuisine.

In Vietnam, he mostly lives and works in HCM City. Max also spends time to visit every corner of the city to discover street food, which is cheap but tasty.

Most recently, the American blogger visited district 8, where there is a snail shop, located on a small alley. The shop is very small and tables and chairs for diners are put on the sidewalk.

Max arrived in the shop very early and was surprised that the shop had been full of customers. The snail shop, in fact, is a familiar destination for many local people and travelers. There are 20 different snail dishes, of which 14 boiled dishes are made from snail of different species, while the other grilled dishes are made of clams. 

Boiled products are priced at VND10,000 each plate, while grilled dishes are sold at VND20,000.

The owner of the shop revealed that the snails sell cheaply because the shop mostly prepares boiled and grilled dishes which don’t require thorough preparation and much seasoning like fried dishes.

The serving is designed reasonably, which allows diners to taste many different dishes and not to feel full. Meanwhile, the prices are affordable to the majority of customers.

“You just need to spend VND100,000 to enjoy up to 10 dishes made of snails,” the owner of the shop said. 

As Max wanted to taste many different dishes, he decided to order one plate for every dish as suggested by the shop owner.

Snails are served together with salt, mixed with sugar in accordance to a formula, or fish sauce with chili and garlic. Customers can choose the kind of sauce they want to eat together with snails.

The first dish Max enjoyed was oc len xao dua (Sea Snails in Coconut Milk). 

“The snail is fatty and rich, while the sauce and coconut milk are fragrant,” he noted.

At first, the American man planned to order 5 or 6 dishes, but finally ordered 10 dishes because he likes the flavor. The dishes are not sophisticated, but are fresh and attractive.

Phan Dau