QUIET LUXURY: The Beach Club at The Anam is both spacious and exclusive. Photo courtesy of The Anam
by Nguyễn Mỹ Hà
Nha Trang with its beautiful beaches, mild weather all year round and wonderful people, was once the dream summer holiday for many Vietnamese living north of Đà Nẵng or Huế. The toneless name of the city sounds like a wind bell, evoking the many beautiful songs about the sea, love and seamen, which were written in the city.
Today, if you fly to Nha Trang, you'll land at Cam Ranh Airport, an area which has a 17-km long seashore named Bãi Dài (Long Beach), dotted with 5-star resorts on one of the world's most beautiful beaches.
Cam Ranh is unrivalled in terms of its white, soft sand beaches, deep blue ocean with crystal clear water, not to mention its incredible seafood. We had dinner at the Beach Club of The Anam Resort, a boutique 5-star establishment that has an apartment building and villas under the shade of coconut trees that looks out to the sea.
PERFECT APPETIZER: Assorted cold cuts and cheeses to start the evening out by the beach. VNS Photos Mỹ Hà
Just off Cam Ranh Bay, Bình Ba is a lobster haven, where the tasty creatures thrive in the water off the island. It is where lobster diners go in search of the best shellfish, and cooked to their liking.
Prized for the VNĐ1,450,000 per kilo tôm hùm bông (flowery lobster), as well as the nearly VNĐ2,000,000 per kilo red lobster, Bình Ba may unofficially be called the Lobster Island, which supplies lobsters to all the resorts and restaurants in the area, Anam Resort included.
A pamphlet with picture of the lobster salad suggests to diners to try this club's signature dish. Named Khánh Hòa lobster salad (VNĐ700,000), it was a well-balanced mix of crispy green and purple lettuces, citrus fruits such as mandarin and grapefruit, black olives and golden almond slices, topped with the salad dressing of garlic, thyme, vinegar and mayonaise.
Khánh Hòa is the province that has Bình Ba Island, Long Beach and Cam Ranh Airport and Seaport in its administrative map.
The lobster was charcoal grilled to a golden colour with garlic and butter. It was very delicious and the salad dressing tasted so good, that it satisfied even the most difficult palates at our table.
CARNIVORE'S DELIGHT: The lamb rack, medium-rare cooked, is served with mashed potatoes and fresh lettuces and a sauce of your choice of either truffle mushrooms, peppercorn, chimichumi, piri-piri, brown, besarnaise, garlic and herbs or teriyaki
Among the meat from the land, we had the Australian lamb rack (VNĐ820,000) and Black Angus beef rib eye steak (VNĐ950,000) both medium-rare. The beef was perfectly seared, well-rested and juicy. The lamb, however, was not as satisfying as it could be, due to the quality of the meat, not how it was cooked.
Anam Resort takes pride in maintaining its garden, where kitchen vegetables are grown and guests can tour to see. But the demand has been high, and the garden cannot provide enough vegetables, so they still have to purchase lots of them and import their meat.
As we contemplated the food, a Filippino band started to play well-known international songs. It was fine and a great effort to entertain diners. They even had Korean pop songs in their repertoire. Over the past few years, Anam has emerged to become a leading wedding venue, not only for Vietnamese but for international couples wanting to tie the knot here on the beautiful lawn of this beautiful resort.
Whether for two or 100 people, the staff have been keen on making it not only memorable but also perfect, right down to the smallest details.
At The Anam, you notice and appreciate the details that have been well-taken care of, from the 3,000 coconut trees to the carefully manicured lawn, the infinity pools, and the room designs, furniture and services.
SHELLFISH WONDER: The lobster salad, one of the Chef's recommendations, is an obvious pride of the kitchen team at the club.
Well, a trip to the beach club cannot be complete without a deep dive into the menu's seafood section. So we opted for a seafood combo on top of some of the finest pasta: Seafood Linguini (VNĐ470,000).
The linguini is a flat pasta that's about 3mm wide, narrower than fettuccine, but thicker than others. The pasta was cooked al dente to soak up the seafood juices. The assorted clams, shrimps, squid and scallops all mixed well in the garlic flavoured dish, which ideally should be paired with a chilled glass of white wine. But I was not ready for it, as I had still work to finish as part of my online duties.
The pasta list still has many other dishes that sound delicious from the name: prawn bouillabaisse with king prawns and lobster sauce and parmigiano, fettuccine carbonara with grana padano cheese, guanciale and egg yolk; and wild mushroom tagliatelle with truffle oil and parmigiano shavings.
To put a lingering end to this wonderful dinner by the beach, we chose the Beach Club chocolate and caramel Opera with caramel sauce and sorbet (VNĐ250,000), but we had to ask the chef for a smaller size as we couldn't finish it otherwise.
The dessert list has other offers such as citrus tart with berry sauce and lemon sorbet or berry with mascarpone and chantilly, as well as assorted ice creams and sorbets. The list has all the classic flavours, including vanilla, chocolate, rum and raisin, mango, as well as lemon, lime and raspberry. They were just missing green tea flavour, our favourite.
Without our favourite flavour, it was still a great dining experience, and we enjoyed every minute of it. Around us, resting in the tranquil aura with the sounds of the waves from the sea, there were Asian, European and Australian couples relaxing amid the ocean breeze. VNS
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