Mui Ne: Mai Am noms

     Just pumping up Mai Am one more time, Ani and I decided one day to check out the noms our little home served up. The first day we had some pretty simple staples, but we were curious if the greatness of this place also had great noms.
     Being in Vietnam and both loving spring rolls, we went with an order of their vegetarian spring rolls.

vegetarian (vegan) spring rolls at Mai Am (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     These were... magnificent. The wrap was made with layered vermicelli noodles as opposed to the flat rice paper, this created a intricate crunch! The filling was stuffed FULL of veggies, no noodles! There were slivers of carrots, shitake mushrooms, sprouts, steamed lotus roots, and tofu. The rolls were packed and wrapped tightly, full of veggie goodness, and comforting textures. (I love me some crunch!) The sauce was the only disappointment, it tasted like it was straight from a bottle. If these came with the sauce from Vietnam Family restaurant...no competition!
     For main entrees I got the steamed lotus roots and 'soya cheese.'  I was curious about just how Vietnam would do soy cheese and, I was picturing the American-ruined veggies lathered in a thick creamy cheese sauce (because we can't enjoy greens without cheesy sauces right-phbbbbt) What I got didn't look like my head image at all!

steamed lotus roots with soya cheese (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     This dish was simple, steamed with a little garlic and chili pepper. I was searching for that cheese and found that it was stuffed into the stems! The 'cheese' was pureed tofu, garlic salt, and I think capsasum. It was a light but sturdy dish, I felt energized and my vitamin levels felt pumped up!
     Ani went with the vegetable noodle fry-I think (ahhh I can't find my notes!!!!) and what she got was...depressing. Again, the ramen noodles (whaaa) and some veggies thrown in. Being in the country of Pho, you'd think that the 'noodle' dishes would be full of hidden taste-bud orgasms...but this dish lacked general inspiration.

vegetable noodle fry (photo taken by VeganBeats)

     We of course shared dishes, and thank god for those spring rolls...heavenly.

~~~how can we sneak the sauce....... 

again...why did I never let myself have these before?