My trips to Vietnam have been to do with voluntary work I do with hospitals in Hanoi. My travel and accommodation is sponsored by a charity and I teach the doctors there intensively for a couple of weeks at a time. When I’m at work, the hospital provides lunch. And what lunches!
June 2019: The charity organised a big life support course at a national hospital. The lunches were catered by the hospital canteen and would put any high-end restaurant to shame. An enormous spread that was absolutely delicious. We could barely move or stay awake to teach the afternoon sessions!
Once the course was finished and I was the only doctor teaching the next week, we had lower key lunches, either served to me at my desk as an individual platter or as a small spread for me to eat along with the office admin team. Everything was still made with care, healthy and utterly delicious. The individual lunch would be a platter with one or two kinds of protein (usually fish, chicken or tofu), a couple of vegetables (raw or steamed) and lime, cut red chillies and salt. Also some iced coffee with condensed milk. The team lunch might be a selection of salad, fresh fruit, fried spring rolls (nem), a steamed vegetable, and some sort of protein.
August 2022: This time I was on my own teaching at a smaller hospital in Hanoi. At lunchtime my interpreter and I were served lunch in an air-conditioned room that had been arranged for our personal use by the director of the department. The lunch was catered by the hospital canteen. It was simpler than those served by the national hospital but still very filling and tasty. A takeaway box with compartments - rice, a grilled protein and usually a steamed vegetable. A cup of clear vegetable broth with herbs was on the side. A container of cut red chillies as well. The first few days my interpreter would just stare at me, frankly appalled by my chopstick skills. Then she warmed to me and I got to know her better - an amazing lady who studied medicine in Hanoi in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. One day, there was a sudden change in the lunch offering. It was some kind of spaghetti with cheese and ham, with hot sauce in sachets on the side. I was told this was specially ordered for me as I was visiting from the UK and was probably wishing for some European style food! It was edible but far inferior to the standard Vietnamese canteen lunch. I thanked the director for his kind consideration but said I was very happy with the canteen food.
Why is the hospital food in the UK so bad compared to Vietnam?!
