Yesterday was another disgustingly swampy day with thunderstorms and rain that we mostly spent indoors, save for a quick grocery & wine run. As for dinner, we lucky b’stards were invited to our HK buddy’s place for roast duck & crispy pork belly… but of course, there was so much more, and our group of happy eaters dug in while catching up on our various travels & travails over the last couple of months.
The ‘main’ attraction:
I mentioned how fab my nam jim would be for dipping the pork belly, so our host brought out his own version (was lacking cilantro 
) and his own chili crisp I forgot to include in my pics. The chili crisp was nice and smoky, and had a good heat level.
The duck was perfection.
Then there was salt baked chicken with tempura cauli. Loved the chicken & cauli, didn’t care for the sweet chili sauce.
The Viet shrimp salad was more my groove 
Did not try this mung bean noodle & 3 kinds of tofu dish, but had some of the pickled veg in the background.
Lastly, a beef & potato curry redolent with cilantro. Had a couple of spoons of this.
Profiteroles were served on the patio when it was briefly not raining. That changed quickly, however. We were actually stuck a half hour longer bc of another violent downpour with thunder, lightning, and all that fun stuff.
My PIC made me a Manhattan with the cocktail set dear friends gifted us.
The second one had two cherries bc I’m a glutton.
