mmm-yoso – Page 388

The Bun Bo Hue Dossier – My Favorites

July 11, 2007 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

I thought I'd do a quick "top-two" post of restaurants that serve my favorite versions of Bun Bo Hue in San Diego. Bun Bo Hue has sort of become one of my "new comfort dishes", I enjoy the spicy and deceptively "rustic" broth. I say deceptively rustic, because at first glance Bun Bo Hue broth appears quite mundane. But when sipping the broth of a good bowl of Bun Bo Hue, you'll realize how finely nuanced this soup really is……the upfront spiciness, the aromatic, bright, and faux citrus tones of lemongrass, the earthy saltiness of fish sauce, and sometimes a touch of fermented shrimp paste. Okay, back to planet Earth…..here are my two favorite versions of Bun Bo Hue in San Diego.

Mien Trung:

Since we've been eating at Mien Trung about once a week, I'll need to add it to my "rotation" whenever I get around to updating it.

Recently, Mien Trung was closed for almost a month. I remember parking in the lot, walking over, reading the note announcing closure, and pressing my face against the window, a junkie in need of his Bun Bo Hue fix! Luckily, Mien Trung reopened on the 27th of June. Why were they closed? Per the really nice young man who always seems to serve us: "Mom was on vacation. No Mom, no soup!" LOL!

For a more detailed post please read either this post, or this post. To get to the point, the most balanced, flavorful, broth, noodles that are always served a perfect al dente, and we always get a piping hot bowl. It seems that all the little things are thought of. The only items that I really have any issue with, is the sometimes dry beef, the think and hard beef tendon, and a pork hock that is tough and sometimes without meat. I've been told that the food at Mien Trung is what "very good home cooking should be like".

I received a email that warmed my heart, and brought a smile to my face a while back. It was from one of my favorite FOYs(that would be Friend of Yoso). Here's what Trang had to say about Mien Trung:

"My sisters and I only get together about once a year and usually it is during the Thanksgiving week. This past month, I forwarded your post about Mien-Trung restaurant to my sisters with a short message "we will go here when you come".

Last Sunday, the three of us excitedly got to Mien-Trung. You should have heard the way we ooohed and aaahed at each item while looking at the restaurant menu (You probably would have thought we had not eaten real food in years). We ordered a feast of bun bo Hue (special large bowl of course), bun rieu, banh nam, banh bot loc, and banh beo.

What a tasty lunch we had. The bun-bo at Mien Trung tasted exactly like it is supposed to taste. The banh beo tasted like the afternoon snacks I used to eat at food stands in central Vietnam over thirty years ago. But the star of the meal was the banh bot loc, we absolutely loved the generous portion of the filling, its slightly chewy dough, and how they used meat broth rather than plain water to flavor the dough.

After the meal, I got up to pay but what I really wanted was to hear the cashier’s accent so I could locate his origin. Unfortunately, the cashier was a high school age young man who spoke to me in 100% California accented English. As we leave, my sister pointed to the TV and asked the older gentleman behind the cashier about the DVD that was playing in the background. He answered back in his perfect Hue accent. All three of us sisters agreed that there had to be a Hue woman cooking in the kitchen."

I really don't have anything to add, except to thank Trang, for such a wonderful story!

Mien Trung
7530 Mesa College Drive
San Diego, CA 92111

Open Tues-Sun 9am-8pm

Hoai Hue Deli/Food To Go:

Located in a slightly dicey location on El Cajon Boulevard, right below an Alcoholics Anonymous and a Tattoo Parlor, Hoai Hue Deli makes my second favorite version of Bun Bo Hue.

Ed from Yuma takes over from here:

"The bun bo hue ($5) was quite good. The sliced beef was as tender and flavorful as any I ever remember having in bbh. The 1” slice of meaty pork hock replaced the usual meatless pig foot. Instead of slices of tendon, the soup had two huge knots of chewy tendon that I liked a lot. The spicy broth had bits of red chili floating in it and presented a nice balance between chili heat, meaty flavors, citrus tang, and fermented shrimp paste funk. When I thought that Kirk would probably like it more funky, I looked over at the condiment tray and spied a whole small tub of fermented shrimp paste. While not packed with noodles, the amount was certainly adequate for a $5 lunch."

My post can be found here. If not for Mien Trung, this would be my favorite.

Hoai Hue Deli/Food To Go
4776 El Cajon Blvd Ste 106
San Diego, CA 92115

There are times when I'm feeling quite tired, burnt out, just out of places and ideas. It doesn't happen very often, but I'm human, so it does occur. But it seems that every time I feel that way, I get an email that inspires me…usually with a combination of infectious enthusiasm, wonder, recommendations, or the like. Back in January, I received this email from JonO, and I couldn't help but smile:

"Had my first bowl of bun bo hue last night"

"And was it ever the good stuff… I don't need to tell you how good, it'd be preaching the choir, but it was good… really good. One of those ahhhhhhhhhhhhyeah! food moments…"

A few months later:

"Mein Trung

Finally! Got the bun bo hue and a lemonade. I see what you mean about the broth… lots of subtleties in there. Lots of nasty bits – gristle, well done flank, and a yummy knuckle to gnaw of. Great atmosphere on a Saturday late-morning, bright light and lots of families showing up to grub. I'll be back here for sure, wanna try that Bun Rieu."

Jon has kept me up to date with a running commentary on his "noodling around" , and it keeps me inspired.

So, I'd just like to thank everyone, Pheth, Carol, Jon, Trang, and all those who send me those wonderful, funny, enthusiastic, heartfelt, (oh, I could go on and on) emails! This post is for all of you!

Seattle: Elliott’s Oyster House – Oyster Porn…..

July 9, 2007 mmm-yoso Seafood, Seattle, Washington, Travel

Elliott’s Oyster House is sort of a guilty pleasure for us. I’ve been coming here since my very first visit to Seattle in 1993. I’ve always thought of it as sort of a tourist-trap spot, but we’ve always had a good time at Elliott’s.

There’s really only one thing we get here….

In fact, one of the reasons we keep returning to Seattle, is to have oysters…many, many, oysters!

If you aren’t interested in oysters, this is probably the time to leave and return on another day…because from here on out, it’s pretty much wall to wall oysters.

Except for some liquid refreshment…….

For some reason, the Missus, usually a non-beer drinker loves the draft Pyramid Hefeweizen..but only from here, and only on vacation.

Elliott’s is the first place I really, had good oysters….and I mean, no lemon, no mignonette, just oysters! I love the texture and wonderful after taste of good oysters. My favorites are the varieties of Pacific Oysters with a mild ocean-cucumber-beef after taste. Over the years, our typical MO at Elliott’s is to just walk in, and head on over to the bar area, find a table, and grab some oysters…and hopefully some Copper River Salmon as well. This being a Sunday, gave us no reason to think that we should change our usual strategy. Boy were we wrong! The place was packed to the gills, and even the bar was being used by the restaurant with at least an hour wait.

I’ve never seen this place so packed. But after about 20 minutes we lucked out, two seats opened up at the raw bar……talk about our luck!

We had checked out the plates of Copper River Salmon passing us as we waited, and were unimpressed, they looked over cooked and dry…probably because the placed was just "slammed". So we decided to stick to oysters, and there was a nice variety available…about 30 to be exact!

One thing that has changed about Elliott’s over the years are the prices. I’m pretty sure when I first enjoyed the oysters at Elliott’s they weren’t even close to the current price of $26 a dozen. If there was one individual who made this whole experience a really great time, it would be this dude:

He goes by the name of Nhi, and was in charge of the raw bar. And though much of his time was spent putting together stuff like this:

The always smiling Nhi was always there to answer questions. In fact when he found out that two hungry oyster junkies were on hand, we received a great deal of attention. During the evening there were several people coming up to the bar and asking for stuff like, "gimme your biggest oysters", and "I want really meaty oysters"….. When I started asking for something " with a meaty-creamy flesh, a mild brine taste, more on the clean side, with a rare steak-cucumber finish" we were off to the races. Nhi smiled and said, "I have the perfect thing…" And quickly shucked 2 samples, which were very good. These nice deep cupped oysters were called "Kusshi’s", which is roughly translated to mean "ultimate" in Japanese, and had a nice mild flavor with a light sweet finish. When we both expressed our approval Nhi smiled widely, and said, "hey, I told you these were good!"

And so we started with a dozen Kusshi’s and a dozen mixed:

I found that the one thing Nhi was not good at was counting…..count the oysters and you’ll see what I mean! Along with the smooth Kusshi’s, the slightly larger Malaspina’s were quite good as well. When the Missus started asking questions about European Flats(not my favorite), Nhi quickly shucked a pair and brought them over to us. The Missus enjoyed the metallic-iodine aftertaste, which I found to be much too salty and bitter for my taste buds. But since the Missus enjoyed them so much we had a few added to our next 2 dozen(or so) order.

Our Server Tera, kept us plied with rye and sourdough…to clear our taste buds between oysters. Nhi included a half dozen Olympic Oysters along with our Kusshi’s and Penn Cove Flats. I’ve never developed a taste for Olympic Oysters, and these tiny, slightly muddy tasting oysters did nothing to change my opinion. I really don’t enjoy the coppery finish either.

By this time the Missus had more or less "hit the wall", and though I’ve been known to consume 8-12 dozen(or more) in a single sitting, it seems that time has diminished my once voracious appetite, so I decided to order one last dozen and call it a night.

So I finished the evening with a half dozen Kusshi’s, and a half dozen(or so) of another one of my favorite Pacific Oysters – Little Skookums. Those Skookums did not disappoint, I was especially pleased with the nicely flavor "liquor".

All in all, another wonderful evening of oyster eating at Elliott’s, made even better by the great service we received from Nhi. We did notice that everyone (except us) sitting at the raw bar were locals, one was even a fisherman by trade, so I guess Elliott’s isn’t just for tourists. Regardless, a stop at Elliott’s is a must whenever we visit Seattle.

Elliott’s Oyster House
1201 Alaskan Way, Pier 56
Seattle, Wa 98101

Elliott’s also has a "Progressive Oyster Happy Hour". Starting at 3 pm selected oysters are 50 cents a piece. The price increases by 20 cents every 30 minutes until 6pm. One of these days, I’m hoping to attend the Oyster New Year celebration at Elliott’s in November!

Vinh Long Food to Go

July 8, 2007 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Sandwiches, Vietnamese Restaurants

Early one weekend morning, while taking one of my now all too rare excursions checking for new restaurants, I noticed a little shop in an alleyway, on El Cajon Boulevard, between Chamoune avenue and 46th street.

Now how the heck did I miss this place? So I made a mental note to remember the name, and reinforced that by constantly repeating the mantra, "Vinh Long Food to Go, Vinh Long Food to Go….." Can you imagine if I got into an accident and had to be questioned? I’d be lying on the ground, being questioned:

"What’s your name?"
"Vinh Long Food to Go…."
"Where do you live?"
"Vinh Long Food to Go…."
"Do you know where you are?"
"Vinh Long Food to Go…."

Am I a food dork, or what? Of course, I subsequently went home and forgot all about Vinh Long. For some reason, two of my surviving brain cells managed to rub against each other in my deteriorating gray matter….and what did I remember? "Vinh Long Food to Go…." of course! I managed to snag a parking slot(of the 6 available) in front of the tiny 2 table shop. The customers waiting to be served were a combination of older Vietnamese Men and Hispanic Young Men. The steam table was doing bang-up business.

But since the weather recently has been on the warm side, I decided to get some Banh Mi. The prices were pretty much in line, at $2.50.

So here we go. The Banh Mi Thit Nguoi(combination meat):

Here, the combination meat consisted of thinly sliced "Char Siu" like pork, which was freshly sliced for my sandwich, and Gio Lua(lean pork sausage – sometimes called Vietnamese Bologna). Not much meat, but lots of pickled radish and carrot, which really didn’t have much taste. Enjoyed the cross slice of cucumber, but some caution should be exercised with those hidden Jalapenos! The bread was slightly toasted but still too doughy for my tastes. The length of these sandwiches were the usual Banh Mi length of about 6-8 inches.

The BBQ Pork Banh Mi.

This was by far my favorite Banh Mi. Thinly sliced marinated and grilled pork(think sweet-salty) along with the usual suspects from above. Oh yes, and those who know me understand that I’m not a big fan of tough stringy cilantro stems…..short stems with leaves are fine, but I don’t eat Banh Mi with the intent purpose of flossing my teeth.

The Banh Mi Cha Lua (Lean Pork Sausage)

Though I thought this sandwich was a bit short on the meat side, what made this sandwich really tasty was the nice "smear" of pate. Again the bread was a bit too doughy for my tastes, and not crusty enough. There was a bit of the jalapeno roulette going on with this sandwich as well. But, that pate was very good!

The service I received was friendly, and prompt. This is not fast food, and it takes a while to toast the baguette. The steam table food goes for $4.50 for 3 and a starch, and seemed to be quite popular.

Vinh Long Food to Go
4575 El Cajon Blvd Ste B
San Diego, CA 92115

Oh yes, parking is limited, and the alleyway is pretty much a single lane job. Which led to an interesting confrontation as I was waiting to back out of my parking stall. An older Vietnamese woman driving a early 90’s Toyota Corolla turns into the alley. A huge dual axel pick-up is coming down the alley. And yes ladies and gentleman, we have a stand-off! Guy in the pick-up pops his horn and waves for the little old lady to back-up…….."Ba Noi"(Grandma) does nothing. Guy, sticks his head out the window and screams something I can’t write here to Ba Noi, nothing happens. About ten seconds later, Ba Noi, apparently fed up with the situation, sticks a closed fist out the window and starts driving toward the pick-up. White Guy in pick-up’s eyes almost pops out of his head, he quickly shifts his truck into reverse and quickly backs down the alley! He-he-he, you don’t mess with Grandma!!!!

Madison: Quivey’s Grove Stone House

July 5, 2007 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Madison, Wisconsin, Travel

During our third day in Madison, I decided to ask and find out where the "locals" ate. I asked our friendly and gracious "Host", Ryan to recommend a place that served "Wisconsin" cuisine. His recommendation? Quivey’s Grove, his favorite local restaurant. It really wasn’t a hard sell, he started a sentence with, "they make a really good duck….", and the rest of the sentence was lost to time and space. In other words, I was sold! So, after a busy day, we headed off, GPS in tow, and set out to find Quivey’s Grove. After a few lucky guesses on direction(gotta love that GPS), we saw the simple roadside sign, and headed up the drive, past the lovely manicured lawn, to our destination.

We had been told that Quivey’s Grove consisted of two restaurants, the Stable Grill ("really, you won’t be eating in the stable" he assured the tin horns from Cali-for-ni-ay – just in case we didn’t know…), which serves up more casual fare(anyone for Morona Meatloaf, Pork Hanerloaf, or the very classic Friday Fish Fry?) along with beverages from Wisconsin Microbreweries such as Capital, Sprecher Brewing Company, and New Glarus.

We had been tempted, but decided on the more formal fare served in the beautiful Stone House.

This beautiful mansion was built in 1855, and except for the entrance, kitchen, and bathroom (whew…) has been kept in almost its original state. Each room in the mansion has a theme, such as the Valentine Room…there’s also a (not-so) secret tunnel under the Stone House, more about that later…..

We were seated quite promptly, and our very pleasant Server, Anne provided us with menus. To quote, ""Preparing the wholesome food of our forebears requires sweet butter, fresh potatoes, and heavy cream." You gotta love this place!

I decided to start with the "King" James Strang Tarts ($6.50). To quote the menu, "commemorates the founder of a Mormon community on Beaver Island in 1847 where he declared himself king."

I thought these a bit low on flavor for such a rich concoction of cream, cheese, onions, and leeks. It was pretty heavy and I thought the cheese pastry crust to be too soft. Not quite fit for a king…….even a self declared king.

In anticipation for a pretty rich and heavy meal, I ordered the salad.

I’m not big on fruits on my salad, but in this case the salad was dressed with a lively vinaigrette, which did a fine job of balancing out the sweetness of the fruit.

About that time the muffins arrived:

You’ll notice only 2 of the original 3 muffins in the photo. In the ultimate showdown of speed shooting versus grabbing reflex, the highly motivated "grabber" won. And with good reason. These Strawberry Muffins were outstanding. Served warm, the muffins were moist, without being too dense, and slightly crunchy on the outside.

It seemed that the meal was slowly gaining momentum. By this time I was really looking forward to my Duck Wilcox ($24.50 ):

The half roast duck with dried cherry and port wine sauce was served with some very pedestrian sauteed apples, and the wild rice, though nice and nutty was a bit on the soft side for my taste.

The duck was roasted to perfection, the skin crisp, with some nice caramelization. The duck was almost fork tender, and very moist. The dried cherry and port sauce had nice balance, and I detected some additional spice(thyme??) that added to the flavor. I’ve had cherry and port wine sauced dishes twice before (both pork), and have found them to be either to much on the bitter side or too sweet. This was very nice. I’d have this dish again without hesitation.

Thanks for the recommendation Ryan!

Oh yes, the "tunnel". Well, good ol’ Ryan decided to have a little fun at my expense. He told me that Quivey’s Grove had a special tunnel that was built to hide and transport slaves from building to building during the Civil War.

So of course during dinner I had to ask our Server about it. She replied with a wry smile, "you’ve been taken in….the tunnel was built in 1980, to connect the Stone House with the Stable". Hah, so dear old Ryan sucker’d me in pretty good! I did have a chance to check out the tunnel.

Looks like a nice setting for an Urban Legend, or at least a set for an upcoming horror flick.

In the end, I guess I had it coming……I shouldn’t have mentioned that "Happy cows really come from California, don’t they?" Just kidding! Really!

Quivey’s Grove Stone House
6261 Nesbitt Rd.
Madison(actually Fitchburg, I’ve been told), WI 53719

Have a safe and Happy Fourth!

July 4, 2007 mmm-yoso Blog

Have a very safe, fun, and happy Independence Day!

Not much to say, and I’m recycling a photo.

I’m currently experiencing Internet connectivity issues, which I hope to resolve soon.

Wait, I know I’m breaking a rule here….need a food photo!!!

Can you guess where this is from?

Here’s a hint:

Crab Hut

July 2, 2007 mmm-yoso Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Seafood

*** An updated post can be found here

I remember first reading about Vietnamese Owned, Cajun Seafood restaurants on my good blogging buddy Elmo of Monster Munching‘s site. He wrote about his meal at the Boiling Crab in Garden Grove. On future trips to the area I soon noticed several other of these Crab/Crawfish Boil places with names like the Cajun Corner and Rockin’ Crawfish popping up. And so it seems a new "fad" was founded. Not quite as popular as the current Fro-Yo craze, but quite popular nonetheless.

If you think that a Vietnamese Owned Crab Boil restaurant is a bit of an odd combination, you wouldn’t be the only one. But after considering that there are over 5,000 Vietnamese, and Vietnamese Americans Shrimpers fishing the Gulf of Mexico, it is much easier to connect the dots. According to this article, the Owners of a restaurant called Cafe Artist in Garden Grove decided to see how well crawfish would do in their restaurant, and the rest as they say, is history….. So I guess it just makes sense that the former Pho restaurant Bolsaa, has now become Crab Hut.

The Missus, a big fan of crawfish, displayed amazing restraint, by resisting the urge to be the very first customer when Crab Hut opened its doors. Instead, she decided to wait a few weeks, to let the restaurant settle into a "groove". So when the time finally arrived, She could hardly contain Herself.

On our visit to Crab Hut we found the restaurant’s interior and environment to be…well, an interesting combination of various themes. First off, the ex-Pho(faux-Pho???) restaurant meets Gilligan’s Island motif was a bit odd, but it could be because I had eaten at Bolsaa a few times. The ubiquitous Pho restaurant counter was still visible, and all the tables looked the same, except that they were covered with brown butcher paper.

Add to that, the loud techno pop music, combined with the large Plasma television showing Sponge Bob Squarepants, and you get a pretty surreal experience. There was a group of Young Men and Women working, all of whom were very nice and helpful.

You’ll notice right off, that the prices are very reasonable; crawfish at $7.99/lb, shrimp at $8.99/lb. The process is simple you order seafood by the pound, and select a flavoring, "Cajun Sensation", "Garlic Butter", "Lemon Pepper", or "Full House"(which I think is akin to taking your cup and working your way down the soda dispenser at the 7-11). A roll of paper towels is deliver to your table, along with some lime and a container of ground black pepper.

On this visit, along with our seafood we also ordered the Catfish with Fries($8.99). After all, why not finish the job off with something fried?

First off, I need to say that whoever fried this up deserves a raise! Or at least some praise. The round cigar shaped pieces of fish was breaded and fried perfectly, crunchy on the outside, and uber-moist.

The Cajun Fries were also fried perfectly. Both the fish and the fries were dusted with Cajun seasoning, but you could still taste the fish and potato. The only thing I didn’t care for was the overly mayonais-sey tartar sauce. I wish Malt Vinegar was available…maybe next time I’ll bring my own bottle.

Soon enough our seafood arrived in large plastic bags, first the Crawfish ($7.99/lb) ordered with "Cajun Sensation" at medium heat.

This pile of bugs included one piece of corn on the cob, and a few slices of sausage. The crawfish were cooked perfectly, though we found the tails to be on the small side. Not the meatiest, nor tastiest crawfish I’ve had, but pretty good overall. The flesh of the crawfish showed no signs of being frozen, that would be mushy, lumpy, dried out meat, or meat that had shrunk away from the shell. The medium spicy was more hotter than I thought it would be, and at times the flavor of the crawfish was lost.

This was still much better than we had anticipated.

I had a pound of Shrimp ($8.99/lb) with the same seasoning. Like the crawfish, this was cooked perfectly, the shrimp was nice and moist, and very tender.

These were meant to be eaten shell and all. I thought there was a bit too much sauce, and like the crawfish I thought the flavor of the shrimp was overshadowed. The Missus thought these were good, though She preferred the Crawfish. I thought the shrimp were much better.

In the end, we felt like this meal was an excellent value. I’d recommend that you NOT wear anything that will not survive stains(of course bibs are provided!). The service was good, and so was the food. We found the hours to be a bit odd, Crab Hut opens at 2pm during the week, too late for lunch, and too early for dinner. Of course, I’m not sure that you’d want to deal with a pound of bugs, and return to work with shrimpy hands and stained clothes. We were ever so thankful for the entire roll of paper towels and the towelettes at the end…..but Sammy and Frankie still kept sniffing at my hands for the entire evening!

Crab Hut
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111
858-565-1678

Madison: Chautara Restaurant

June 30, 2007 mmm-yoso Madison, Wisconsin, Nepalese/Himalayan Food, Travel

*** Chautara has closed

I found out I'd be going to Madison, Wisconsin for business a few weeks ago. So being the typical food obsessed blogger, I did some research on Chowhound and other resources, and made a short list of restaurants and other eating establishments. Now these type of trips are sometimes a bit dicey, since it means several people sharing one car, etc, etc…. Luckily, I was teamed up with two other really laid back guys, who to a certain extent humored me when it came to eating. During the trip all breakfast and lunches were accounted for, so other than travel days, dinner was the only meal where we had a choice.

We flew in to Chicago-Midway Airport for several reasons which I won't go into at this time. And though we arrived at about 4 in the afternoon, due to various technical difficulties, we used the "scenic route" to get to Madison. It was a nice drive, but I think we saw every single corn field between Chicago and Madison. After checking in we headed out and got to State Street around 9pm. After walking with rumbling stomachs for a bit we settled on Chautara.

Chautara

This photo was taken a few days after our visit. Unfortunately, our visit was so very late, on a almost pitch dark evening. This being a fairly warm evening we also chose a table outside with the barest of light provided by candlelight. So my apologies in advance for the really sad and sorry photos. I had considered not doing a post at all, but decided to just go ahead…..

What I found really interesting about eclectic State Street was the variety of restaurant available, everything from African to Thai can be found on State Street or on one of the side streets. This can't be more clearly illustrated than in the existence of Chautara and Himul Chuli. Incredibly, there is not one, but two Nepalese Restaurants located on State Street.

Even though it was almost 930pm we were seated by our perky and very friendly Server Liz. After perusing the menu, we made our selections. I ordered the Khasi Ko Masu($17). The meal started with a nicely flavored soupy preparation featuring Dal. The flavors were balanced in this hearty soup.

The Khasi Ko Masu is basically a goat curry. This version was excellent, the goat meat retained some of the nice gamey wild flavor, and was very soft and tender. There was a nice quantity of meat, I'd expected more bones, but there were very few. The flavor of the curry was excellent and balanced, you could make out the ginger, coriander, and other spices, but none of them was overpowering. The tart tomato was a nice foil and provided a nice contrast. To put it simply, this was a very well prepared meal.

All of my companions enjoyed their meals. Our Server, the ever smiling Liz was a joy. Being somewhat weary, this was a nice start to our trip to Madison.

Chautara Restaurant
334 State St
Madison, WI 53703

State Street, the lively heart of Madison, features casual and varied flavors. There is one thing you must remember. State Street itself is a pedestrian mall. Only Buses, delivery vehicles, and bicycles(and there are many!) are allowed.

In other words, don't be like us….nerdy techies using our GPS system(don't you love modern technology?). We took a turn onto State Street. We're driving along, and I notice that while there are many people eating and walking, I notice not a single car! Of course we come to find out that automobiles are not allowed on State Street. I'm guessing that the clueless are many, for not a single pedestrian stared, nor batted an eye…… Makes me a feel much better, that's for sure!

In case you were wondering….

June 29, 2007 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Where I was……here are a few hints.

I know, I know, it’s just a big red barn. But I’m sure all you "detectives" out there will start putting it together….

Nifty architecture, and this one looks really familiar….

But it’s not DC.

Or maybe there exists a food cart expert out there…

I’m not quite sold on sushi from a food cart though….

Here’s a version of a regional favorite….

Here is what it looks like in its more "common" form.

I’m sure by now you know…..so this should clinch it.

Do you ever go back to restaurants? Latin Chef, Tsuruhashi, Asia Cafe, and Izakaya Sakura

June 23, 2007 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Lao Restaurants, Latin American Cuisine, Peruvian Restaurants

A question posed in a recent email (thanks CVChow!), and of course the answer is a resounding yes! It’s just that I’m perhaps a little slower on “the trigger” with places I’ve already posted on. But once in a while I still take photos. But questions like this made me realize that I need to update my “rotation”, and I will do so in the upcoming weeks.

So here are some revisits, mostly photos…kind of what Uber OC Food Blogger Elmomonster would call a “photo super shoot”…in my case, it’s just a bunch of photos….

Even More Latin Chef:

**** Latin Chef has changed ownership and moved to Liberty Station

One of 3 restaurants I need to add to our rotation list. The Cebiche Pescado is a current obsession of the Missus:

She craves this once or twice a week, always finishing by sipping the Leche De Tigre (Tiger’s Milk) with a spoon.

Here’s a photo of the Tiradito:

Tiradito is, from what I’ve been told a Japanese influenced Peruvian raw fish dish. This version was made using the Aji Amarillo. The fish had been sliced into strips and slightly flattened with the blade of a knife. Hmmm, sounds really similar to some of the dishes a fairly well known Chef and Restaurant Owner named “Nobu” does. Nice, though not a refreshing as the Cebiche. BTW, did you know that the Sushi Bar in Lima that Nobu co-founded is still in business? It’s called Matsuei, and on our list of possible restaurants to visit for our trip to Peru later this year.

You can find previous posts on Latin Chef here and here.

Tsuruhashi, Again:

We’ve been eating there every other week or so. In fact, I need to revise my statement about the manager. From our second visit on, he’s been so very nice, and always comes by to chat or to say hello. In fact, as I left the other day, he stopped me, shook my hand, and in the very formal Japanese way, handed me his business card.

So here’s some other stuff!

The Prime Beef Tongue:

Pork Belly:

A current favorite of the Missus, the Prime Tongue w/Onion.

You only cook this baby on one side…

One of my favorite “cuts” is the Prime Skirt, it is also one of the most inexpensive at $5.25.

Though a tad more chewy than other cuts, it is still quite tender. The payoff is the nice beefy flavor.

Another one for our rotation, the original post can be found here.

Even more Asia Cafe:

**** Asia Cafe has closed

That doesn’t mean we still don’t visit some of our favorites. Here’s a few photos from Asia Cafe during a recent really fun meal with Ed from Yuma.

The Yum Asia:

Nem Khao:

With the full complement of Greens and Herbs.

The See Nam Tok:

As good as I remembered. Previous posts on Asia Cafe can be found here and here.

The $12 Lunch Bento from Izakaya Sakura:

So many posts on this place. Here’s a photo I had lingering around, Clayfu has a nice post.

You can read the Chowhound post here. It is a lot of food, almost too much for a workday lunch, if you know what I mean. I’ve heard complaints about the lunch not being very hot….methinks that person does not know what a “bento” lunch is all about. It’s a box lunch, whose history goes back to the 11th or 12th century. While digging around, I found a nice little post here. Other posts on Sakura can be found here, here, and here.

Finally, a bit of Saturday silliness:

Earlier this week, I was standing in line at the grocery check-out, and you know how some couples talk really loud, and sometimes you learn or hear a bit more than you really wanted. This young couple was in the midst of a conversation….

Young Lady: “I heard a joke that I really don’t understand….I think it’s really stupid, and not funny.”
Young Man: “What what is….”
YL: “Some of the guys were joking around, and said – Milk a bull, and make a friend for life…”
YM chokes and spits his gum out involuntarily: “Gasp…..”
YL: “What’s so funny…you can’t milk a bull!”
By now everyone in line is cracking up, the cashier is turning a nice red color.
YM: “Think about it, if you tried to milk a bull…..”
YL: “Hey, I’m not stupid, I know Bulls are male and you can’t milk them!”
YM: “Say, you tried to milk a bull?”
YL: “But you can’t milk a bull….”
YM, by now somewhat composed: “But if you really tried to, ahem, milk a bull…….”
YL: “That’s just dumb….”
YM, looking around at all the laughing people: “Must be a lot of dumb people in this line….”

Have a nice weekend…….

Portland: Pok Pok Whiskey Soda Lounge

June 20, 2007 mmm-yoso Portland, Oregon, Thai Restaurants, Travel

*** The Whiskey Soda Lounge has closed

Before our recent trip to Portland, there was not enough good things I could say about Pok Pok. And as time went by I became even more excited. You see, from the little "shed that could", the Whiskey Soda Lounge had evolved, with a more interesting and diverse menu(no worries…Pok Pok "to go" is still there). I could hardly wait. As I noted in my previous post, this was mainly a trip for my In-Laws, but the Missus and I made plans for at least one meal in each city just for us. And for us, this meant catching the #4 bus, and getting off on SE Division.

Knowing that the Whiskey Soda Lounge didn't accept reservations, we made sure to get there as early as possible. We saw the sign, and the path that traveled down a short cement path to the basement and the Whiskey Soda Lounge. It was quite interesting, the last time I visited this was just a ditch!

The tall gentleman met us at the little portable metal desk, and said simply, "this way", and walked us into the Whiskey Soda Lounge.

I liked the dark and "divey" interior which does play on the imagination, I could almost imagine being in a foreign land.

This is where we hit a bump in the road. I can understand the close proximity of the tables in the WSL. I mean, it is a basement. When we arrived, only 3 tables were occupied, and there were several booths against the back wall, each unoccupied. We were taken to what must be the second tiniest table in the restaurant, right in front of the window where you could see some of the cooking done in the yard. Because the booths were empty, the Missus asked if we could have one of the booths. The tall gentleman looked down at us, and crossing his hands said, "no, absolutely not, the booths are for parties of 3 or more." Which was fine by us…EXCEPT, that not 5 minutes later a couple walked in, and was seated. They asked to sit at the very booth that we had been denied, and the host told them, "ok, no problem!" Go figure…..the Missus, a bit perturbed told me, "okay, you got your restaurant…we're going to eat, and leave, A-S-A-P!" She obviously felt slighted, and didn't appreciate the Host's somewhat gruff attitude.

So off to the food. Of course we started with the Papaya "Pok Pok" and requested Blue Crab…oops, correction, we were told Salted Black Crab($7.50 + $2.50):

As good as I remembered, very balanced in flavor, a nice refreshing salty-sweet-sour in flavor. Still one of my favorite versions of this classic dish.

The Kung Op Woon Sen($14.00). We could watch this clay pot dish cooking over charcoal through the window.

A nice dish, at the bottom of this clay pot was a layer of pork belly, nice and slightly charred, and several very large shrimp, though very mild in flavor, cooked to perfection. The flavor of soy came through quite well.

I was very excited to see Cha Ca "La Vong" ($14.00)on the menu. This dish is one of those, "to have before I die dishes." Of course it would have to be at Cha Ca La Vong in Hanoi.

In retrospect, I should have probably ordered something else, perhaps the Pork Ribs or Chicken Wings. I did enjoy the dill and all the herbs, but I found the "tumeric scented" catfish to be very dry, and the version of nuoc mam cham tasted very weak. I had expected some Mam Tom – fermented shrimp paste to be provided, but should have known better. Some friends recently had their Mom make some Cha Ca for the Missus and I, and it is an amazingly good dish. I did notice that the Cha Ca is no longer on the menu at Pok Pok WSL.

Would I return to Pok Pok? Of course, I think the food here is quite good. Though it'll probably be a solo visit. It seems that Andy Ricker's hard work has paid off, I found out courtesy of Guilty Carnivore, that The Oregonian has named Pok Pok it's restaurant of the year.

Pok Pok
3226 SE Division St.
Portland, OR 97202

You know, I think that what happened to us at Pok Pok was magnified, simply because of how nice people were in Portland. Case in point, we were waiting for our cab to Union Station from the Embassy Suites. It was raining pretty hard, and we had been waiting for about 15 minutes. Before you knew it, the Shuttle Van for the Embassy Suites pulls up, and the nice Bellman comes out and tells me, "we're going to take you to Union Station, your cab is taking too long!" Talk about service!