SMOKY DRIED CUTTLEFISH - STREET FOOD AT HCM VIETNAM

I’m not quite sure whether to call it dried cuttlefish or dried squid in English — in Malay, we just call it "sotong kering."

But whatever you call it, this smoky dried squid snack is absolutely delicious! Grilled to perfection with that irresistible charred aroma, it’s one of those street treats that never disappoint. Best part? It’s cheap and comes in a generous portion.

HELLO EVERYONE

Anyway, hello everyone!

I hope you're having a wonderful day and an awesome weekend, no matter where you are in the world.

Today’s post is about how my wife and I spent our evening sitting at a regular coffee shop with our drinks, just watching the street like many Vietnamese people often do during their free time.

The place was just a 3-minute walk from our hotel and directly faced a main road. It was around 5 PM, when most people were rushing home after work.

One thing I’ve noticed about Vietnam is how busy the roads are—especially with motorbikes coming from every direction. Even though it looks very chaotic at first, the traffic somehow keeps moving. It’s a bit noisy and packed, but it has its own kind of flow.

I ordered a lemon tea with guava, while my wife went for a regular milky tea. Both were really sweet—too sweet at first, honestly—but it felt like the kind of sweetness that’s meant to be balanced out once all the ice starts to melt. It’s like the owner knows so we’ll just sit there, sip slowly, and enjoy the time passing by.

Here’s a glimpse of the street during peak hours—busy, lively, and full of movement.

Even the recycle lady can take her time to rest during this peak hour for her snack.

THE SMOKEY MOTORBIKE STREET VENDOR

Anyway, this is actually the highlight of today’s post. This smoky motorbike street vendor kept circling around while honking his horn. He passed by us twice before we finally decided to wait for his third round—because my wife was seriously craving that smoky dried cuttlefish!

Back here in Kota Kinabalu, this kind of food is super rare. The only place I know that sells it is somewhere hidden near Kepayan Rumah Murah. And even then, it’s quite pricey for such a small portion! I’ve heard there might be another spot closer to where I live, but I’ve never actually gone on a food hunt to find it.

The funny thing was, the vendor didn’t pull over to the roadside when we stopped him; he just stopped in the middle of the road and did his business there, even though the road was still busy.

You can see how big the dried cuttlefish is that's hanging up — and we only had to pay VND 100,000 for that portion

THE GRILLING PROCCESS

ROLLING AT THE MACHINES

But since it was already nighttime and our drinks had run out, we decided to bring it back to the hotel and enjoy it during our Netflix hours.

We got back to the hotel around 7:30 p.m. I forgot to take a photo of the coffee house earlier, so before heading back, I grabbed a quick screenshot for this post. :)

We had such a great time—it really was an unforgettable evening.

That’s all from me today. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed today’s post as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Take care and cheers!