Scooter Bites: Duong Dong, one plate at a time

The two sessions are built around the hours when Duong Dong itself eats, so the menus do not overlap. Mornings are noodle and rice territory; evenings belong to seafood. The kitchens are chosen by the Authentic Phu Quoc team and can change from month to month as places open, close or slip, so read the dishes below as the likely menu rather than a fixed one.

Morning Bites, from 07:00

Night Bites, from 18:00

Portions are tasting size, not full plates. Most people manage four. The fifth stop happens when the group still has room for it, and nobody is pushed to clear a plate.

If a dish is new to you, the what to eat page has more on each of them and on the times of day they are worth looking for.

You choose one of two ways to travel when you book, and the price follows the choice.

• Pillion, USD 69 each for two or more, USD 89 travelling alone. You sit behind a local guide-driver, one guest per bike. Your hands stay free for chopsticks and a camera, the driver parks, and you arrive at each table relaxed rather than gripping the handlebars. Minimum age 12. Activity level 1 of 5.
• Self-ride, USD 39 each. You ride an automatic scooter in a line behind the guide. It costs less because no driver sits on your bike, but it asks more of you: confidence in busy town traffic, a valid licence and a clear head. Minimum age 18. Activity level 2 of 5.

A mixed group is fine - one person pillion, one riding - as long as each self-rider meets every condition below.

These are set by the operator and apply to every self-rider on every departure. They are not checked loosely on the day.

1. Age 18 or over.
2. A licence that is valid for a motorbike in Vietnam: either an International Driving Permit issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention, carried with your original home licence that includes a motorbike category, or a Vietnamese motorbike licence. You declare which one when you book and show the originals at pick-up.
3. A signed rider's declaration when you take the scooter: you are responsible for your own riding, you follow the traffic law and you follow the guide.
4. No alcohol at any point on the tour.
5. Helmet on and fastened the whole time, riding in line behind the guide. No more than six self-ride scooters go out on one departure.
6. A test ride of about five minutes before you set off. If any condition is not met or the riding is not safe, the guide moves you to a guide-driver bike and you pay the difference, USD 30.

The alcohol rule follows the law rather than our taste: Vietnam's road traffic law prohibits riding with alcohol in the blood or breath. Pillion guests may have a beer at the final cafe on Night Bites; self-riders may not. Travel insurance included in the price only applies to a self-rider who holds a valid licence.

Prices for all three experiences sit together on the prices page.

The tour runs all year. In the rainy season, roughly June to October, evening showers are common; there are raincoats on the bikes and most kitchens have a roof, so a shower slows the evening rather than ending it. If the weather makes riding unsafe, the operator cancels and you get a full refund or a move to another session.

Seafood is the backbone of Night Bites in particular. If you are allergic to shellfish or fish, say so in the booking form: a lower-seafood route is possible, but it is a different evening, and the diet page is frank about what can and cannot be avoided in a kitchen that cooks with fish sauce.

• Anyone under 12 - pick one of the cooking classes instead.
• Anyone who finds scooter traffic stressful even as a passenger. Duong Dong is busy at both session times.
• Strict vegetarians, unless you have checked with us first.
• People who want a full sit-down meal. This is a run of small plates.
• Self-riders without a 1968-convention permit or Vietnamese licence - book pillion.