For some, a first-time visit to a country may be a chance to soak up new sights, embrace a new culture, or even learn a new skill. And I’m up for all of that.

But for me, the best part of travel is exploring new cuisines and dining experiences. At the planning stage, you’ll find me studying menus, researching restaurants, and making sure there are enough opportunities to taste dishes I haven’t eaten before.

I’m staying at the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, which is a beautiful five-star resort in Central Vietnam. It’s the only resort on the Son Tra Peninsula, and while it’s just 20 minutes drive to Da Nang city centre and an hour to Hoi An on the resort’s daily shuttle bus, there is so much to keep me occupied here (and it’s also the perfect place to flop and drop) that I may not want to venture too far.

But if I spend most of my time here, does that mean I’m going to be eating the same things day-in, day-out? Definitely not.

Citron

The buffet breakfast is extensive but I’m starting today the Vietnamese way — with a steaming bowl of pho. Fragrant with cinnamon, cardamom and star anise, the beef noodle broth is soothing and delicious. I follow this with a lovely selection of tropical fruits, including perfectly ripe mango and vibrant purple and white-fleshed dragon fruits. Vietnam is the world’s largest exporter of the fruit, and with a few less air miles than the ones we buy in Perth’s supermarkets, these are the best I’ve tasted.

There is all-day dining here, with a menu highlighting traditional dishes from North, Central and South Vietnam. The restaurant’s quirky design draws inspiration from Vietnamese elements such as ancient cave drawings, native wildlife, and the country’s well-known conical hat, the non-la.

These hat shapes are found in several design aspects in the restaurant, including on its Insta-famous outdoor dining booths.

There are so many amateur photo shoots taking place in these non-la-inspired booths — which hang over the edge of the hillside, giving panoramic views of the bay — that we are lucky to snag one for lunch the following day.

Despite the booths being out in the open air, the overhead fans do a good job of keeping the humidity at bay. Lunch is a delightful Vietnamese feast of vegan spring rolls, chicken pho, stir-fried morning glory, and my dish of the day, banh xeo.

The waiter puts down a plate of golden crepe which is filled with mushrooms, bean sprouts and local organic vegetables, and on the side, pretty little bundles of lettuce, herbs and pickled daikon and carrot, tied with a spring onion leaf.

We fail to notice sheets of rice paper which arrive on a separate plate, and start tucking into the crepe. It’s delicious but we don’t really know what we are doing. The helpful waiter comes to our rescue and demonstrates how to spread out the bundle of leaves on top of the rice paper, gently placing a slice of crepe in the centre, then folding the rice paper into a neat package which is dipped into the accompanying sauce.

It’s the first time I’ve tasted banh xeo, but it won’t be the last. Fresh, crunchy, sweet, sour and a little bit spicy, it’s a party in your mouth.

We finish off with coffee. There’s Vietnamese salt, coconut or egg coffee to try. These are also a first for me, and I can’t make up my mind. I ask if I can have a tiny taste of all of them, and the accommodating barista rustles up three espresso-sized cups. All three are rich, smooth and moreish, but the salt coffee is my favourite. The coffee has chocolate notes, and the foamy combination of salt, condensed milk and cream is indulgent without being cloying. If you are a fan of salted caramel, give this a go.

Club Lounge

The Club Lounge is an elegant space. Towering arched windows frame the view over verdant tropical forest, golden sands and turquoise sea beyond.

Inside, white stucco-plaster walls form a pristine base, while accents of blue, coral and lemon provide splashes of colour.

The Son Tra Peninsula is also known as Monkey Mountain. It’s home to colonies of red-shanked douc langurs, as well as troops of macaques. The InterContinental Danang has been influential in bolstering the population of the endangered doucs, and leans into this in many aspects of the decor around the resort. The Club Lounge’s white orb wall sconces provide a seat for white plaster monkeys, the theme echoed in delicately stitched monkey faces on the napkins and painted on fine blue and coral china.

I often find club lounge breakfasts a bit lacking compared with main dining room buffet offerings. However, there’s an excellent selection to choose from here, both at the buffet and from the extensive a la carte menu.

I can recommend the Son Tra Breeze, a delicious concoction of Greek yoghurt, fresh and dried mango with roasted sunflower seeds and coconut, served in a pretty vintage crystal jar.

My dining companions are raving about the avocado croast (croissant toast) which is served with poached egg, rocket salad and parmesan.

Another day, in lieu of lunch, I enjoy afternoon tea here too. Hats off to the pastry chefs — the delicate sweet treats are exquisite.

La Maison 1888

There are seven Michelin-star restaurants in Vietnam. La Maison 1888 is the only one in Central Vietnam, and is where chef Christian Le Squer’s menu puts a creative modern spin on classic French dishes.

The decor is as impressive as the food. A picture of black and white elegance, the reimagined Indochinese colonial mansion is complemented by tropical greenery, sumptuous interiors, and floor-to-ceiling windows.

The two-storey building also houses private dining rooms, the most special of which is the chef’s table, where diners get behind-the-scenes views of the kitchen, as well as flawless food.

I dine on tartare de tomate, a vegetarian play on steak tartare that packs a tomato-flavoured punch, with crispy capers and crunchy potato straws bringing texture, and a delicate chilled sorrel cream adding a bright note.

Spaghetti debout en gratin is chef Le Squer’s signature dish. Handmade pasta, set in a mould, filled with a rich black truffle and mushroom cream, spiked with tender salty cubes of ham and served with an umami-packed mushroom sauce. Comfort food, elevated to the max.

A delicate chocolate wafer blossom, filled with malt whisky ice-cream and silky-smooth chocolate ganache, finishes off a spectacular meal.

The restaurant’s impressive cellar, looked after by the knowledgeable and charming sommelier Amedeo Bellini, features the biggest wine list in Vietnam, offering 500 labels in a collection of 2000 bottles.

As well as a la carte offerings, there are two set menus, the price of which are pretty eye-watering. But believe me, this food is next-level special-occasion worthy (Gourmand tasting menu VND5,999,000/$325, Epicurean tasting menu VND7,599,000/$410).

Terra Mare

You can, however, dine at the resort without breaking the bank. I take the funicular tram down to Sea level for dinner at Terra Mare, an Italian-inspired restaurant overlooking the ocean. Set in a thatched-roof pavilion, with an outdoor terrace and private dining cabanas, the venue has a laid-back, family-friendly feel.

To start, creamy burrata with roasted tomatoes and pesto ($32), an explosion of Italian flavours. It’s followed by woodfired pizza ($32), its crisp base and charred chewy crust holding just the right amount of topping, and a spaghetti arrabbiata ($37) which is rich with tomato and a good chilli hit. The grilled seafood platter ($200, but big enough to feed a few) is a shellfish lover’s delight, generous with lobster, scallops, langoustine, clams, prawns, squid and sea bass.

Tingara

Nestled within the trees, on Sky level, this striking restaurant incorporates a circular bird’s nest design and panoramic rainforest views.

Tingara is the Okinawan word for the Milky Way or “river of stars”. As I walk into the Japanese restaurant, I see a sea of turquoise fish hanging from the ceiling, swimming in the river of stars, if you will.

The restaurant showcases Michelin-starred chef Junichi Yoshida’s modern elevated Japanese cuisine. The menu features teppanyaki, sushi and robata charcoal grill dishes, and uses the highest-quality seafood and Yaeyama Kyori Wagyu beef from Japan, as well as seasonal local ingredients. The restaurant’s drinks menu offers a wide range of sake, as well as a sake-tasting experience.

Unfortunately, I’m not here long enough to fit in a meal here, but if I were, I’d be sampling the Kaiseki lunch bento box which consists of seven Japanese delicacies along with marinated black cod or teppanyaki-grilled Wagyu, ginger-infused rice and miso soup (VND988,000/$55).

Long Bar

The Long Bar is set underneath the resort’s 50m-long infinity pool, and is the longest bar in Vietnam, hence the name. And perhaps, as I spot the punkah fans hanging from the ceiling, paying homage to the Raffles Hotel bar responsible for the Singapore Sling.

There are no monkey nuts to swipe off the table on to the floor here, but it does have a casual vibe.

The punkah fans sway above us, providing a welcome breeze. Dining cross-legged on the giant black and white daybeds takes a bit of getting used to, but it certainly makes for a chilled-out spot to enjoy my last evening here.

I drink a summer spritz, a refreshing riff on a pina colada, as I peruse the Light Bites menu.

I order Iberico pork buns, the description of which gives no real idea of what will be delivered to the table. I’m hoping for bao buns and that’s what I get, but better than most. Soft pillowy buns encase delicate herbs, rings of mild onion and chilli, and fall-apart char siu pork packed full of flavour.

In a short space of time, I’ve managed to eat my way round the world and had plenty of opportunity to sample the local dishes of the region too. The food choices at this resort more than meet the brief.

danang.intercontinental.com

Leyanne Baillie was a guest of InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort. They have not influenced this story, or read it before publication.