In Vietnam the sidewalk is used for much more than walking. The curb comes to life with coffee and street food vendors, barbers, exercise groups, mobile masseuses, shoe shiners, street performers and then some.
To pay homage to the quintessential Vietnamese pastime of spending hours sipping brews on the pavement with friends, 30-hectare beachfront resort Alma, a Preferred Hotels & Resorts member, has launched Cam Ranh’s most hip and happening venue, Chill’s Snack & Bar.
Open from 5pm-10pm daily, the street-style venue is anchored by two American-style food trucks to a backdrop of the resort’s vast Alma Amphitheater. Plenty of plastic tables and chairs are assembled on and alongside the tarmac of one of the resort’s onsite service roads. Twilight lights strung between palm trees create a warm ambiance as the afternoon morphs into the evening.
Chill’s menu features a selection of popular street beverages such as Vietnamese coffees, fresh fruit juices, milk teas including bubble milk teas, iced teas and soft drinks. The venue’s signature coffees are coconut coffee and coffee with fresh milk and tapioca pearls. In addition to Saigon, Tiger and Heineken beers, Chill’s also serves cocktails such as ‘Amphitheater Sunset’ with tequila, orange, grenadine, crème de cassis and lime.
The likes of seafood pizza, fruit, fried fish balls, shrimp salad, meat sandwiches, cheese sticks, lemongrass chicken feet, and popcorn are written up on Chill’s menu board daily.
Entertainment ranges from nightly movies screened under the stars at the amphitheater to live music by performers such as the resort’s resident singer Engie to fire twirlers and flair tenders. Competitions such as high walking competitions are staged for national and global holidays as well as other special occasions.
Alma’s managing director Herbert Laubichler-Pichler said the resort’s temporary eight-month closure, due to a flare-up of COVID-19 in Vietnam before Alma’s reopening on January 15, “was a prime opportunity for our team to get creative, spawning the concept for Chill’s as a street-style venue that welcomes locals and tourists alike”.
“Everyone who has been to Vietnam knows that everyone is welcome to join the community on the pavement; it is part and parcel of experiencing Vietnam’s culture and its culinary delights famous the world over,” said Laubichler-Pichler.
“We are the only resort in our location that doesn’t have a wall around us. I genuinely believe Chill’s is an open house; like on Vietnam’s ubiquitous sidewalks, everyone is welcome to chill out here and relish life’s simple pleasures.”
