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linda and i are about to embark on what we hope will be our wildest culinary trip--two weeks in Vietnam--Hue seems to be one of the eating hot spots, was a capital city for 100's of years--it was near flattened by the Tet offensive in 1968.....below is from one site I found
Being an ancient capital city, Hue has inherited a treasure of unique traditional heritage of a capital city, gastromony is one of the heritage. Hue food ranges from royal dishes to popular dishes for common people. Hue food have been well-known for a long time, in particular dishes made in Hue style. Those dishes are of Vietnamese style, but have their own flavor of a region of special culture.
According to incomplete statistics, at present, Hue has more than 600 dishes (of which, over 300 non- vegetarian dishes; 125 vegetarian dishes; 120 dishes of ‘Che’ (sweet soup), soup, cakes, jam; 60 types of pickles; salted fish and shrimp, all kinds of sauce). Most of Hue dishes are very simple, but they are sophisticatedly and specially made, which makes them become special dishes.
One of the main principles in Hue cuisine is that food is seasonally typical. Geographically, Hue owns plains, rivers, sea, lagoon, mountains, Hue food diversifies and is always available in every season. The fact that Hue food is seasonally typical means that the dishes can be changed all year round and brings good appetite and diversified menu for Hue people.
In addition to the big restaurants with their own specialities, Hue city is famous for common dishes, namely “com hen” (mussel rice), ‘beo’ cake, ‘nam’ cake, ‘loc’ cake, rice cake, Hue beef noodles, etc.
- Tourists can find “com hen”, at Ms Teo’s food-shop at Pham Hong Thai Street, or 2 Truong Dinh Street, and some similar ones along Truong Dinh Street. However, the most delicious mussel rice is at Hen Islet. Each bowl of mussel rice costs VND 2,000 at most.
- As for Hue beef noodle, the best beef noodle is in the early mornings. Otherwise, tourists can enjoy this kind of dish at shops along the Cong Market, or shops of Ms My, Ms Loi, Ms Let, Ms Mai (the crossroad of Han Thuyen and Dinh Tien Hoang streets), on Ong Ich Khiem street (crossing Le Huan street).
- “Banh Khoai” (Rice pancake) can be found at Lac Thien Restaurant, 6 Dinh Tien Hoang Street or at Ms Ton’s on Chi Lang Street.
- Several small restaurants where tourists can find the most delicious ‘beo’, ‘nam’, ‘loc’ cakes are Mrs. Do’s at 9 Nguyen Binh Khiem street, Tel: 527203; or Mrs. Cu’s on Nguyen Hue street (near the An Dinh Palace), Tel: 821692; No. 1’s on Pham Ngu Lao street; Huong Hue at 76B Nguyen Sinh Cung street, Tel: 822707.
- Mrs. Nhon’s small restaurant at 29 Le Duan street, Tel: 523853.
- Banian Tree Restaurant on Hung Vuong street, at the crossroad of Ba Trieu and Hung Vuong streets.
- For ‘uot’ cake (a kind of steamed thin rice pancake) and grilled meat noodle, tourists can enjoin these dishes at Huyen Anh Restaurant, 207 Nguyen Phuc Nguyen street, Tel: 826655
Nice to see all this press on Brooklyn eats due to the release of a Brooklyn Zagat, as with all Zagats take the reviews with a grain of salt. This restaurant i have walked by for 10 years is one of the top rated, its been open since 1958. The wine list blows, the food is good, but rated the same as Lupa and more than Al Di La and Locanda--NO WAY--anyone wanting to taste 15-20 Brooklyn restuarants and all the fresh beer you can drink join us at the Brooklyn Brewery this Saturday.
At Jewel Bako they serve live octopi!!!!
Octo-wussy By Jecinta Noble
Always check it's dead. Like these are
Always check your food is dead before you tuck in.
A man from South Korea probably wished he hadn't eaten a live octopus that ended up killing him.
The 62-year-old Seoul resident liked eating live octopi for some strange reason - perhaps he had a death wish.
The diner covered the squirming dish in vinegar and red pepper paste, but it still continued to struggle.
Thinking it was on his last few legs, he stuffed the octopus into his mouth.
But this little blighter was a fighter who decided to use its tentacles to push himself off the man's teeth, dive down his throat and spread itself out.
The man quickly began to choke prompting his wife to come to his aid.
"I slapped him on the back, but it didn't work," she told The Korea Herald.
Clearly.The emergency services managed to pull the octopus from the man's throat, finding it still alive.
But the diner was dead.
Never mess with a feisty hor's d'oeuvre
avoid Grand Sichuan Upper Eastside, yuk!!, i hear the dont have a good chef yet or family fueding......on a decadent note i go to Maison du Chocolate at 30 Rock Center once every few months, expensive, awesome hot chocolate (i prefer the darker version) and a treat will set you back over $10 but its worth it, no need to tip at the bar its like being in France (service compris)...
we went to theo last night, new(ish) place in the UPS building on spring street between washington/greenwhich. although the food's pretty decent (albeit expensive and tiny-portioned), the interesting thing is the dessert list -- about 15 different things, each one costs 4 bucks and comes in an egg cup (it isn't really an egg cup but that's the size and sort of the shape) with various different things layered inside, like a little parfait. they put on the hard sell, we got 5 to split among a table of 4, the waiter acted like that was way too few...but they were pretty good! not worth the trip -- but maybe someone else will knock the idea off?
Went to Jewel Bako last night and this place is expensive, wine list $50 to $1000+, $12 to $15 app's that you eat in two bites, I ate some wierd stuff, but the fish sushi (which i dont usually love) was amazing, best I have ever had (one Japanese Bass was like eating silk, cant stop thinking about it), the owner said that this is the best season to eat here, and toro tartare w/ avacado cream is an awesome dessert...
went to Cap Cod and I have not as of yet had a great meal there (but have not tried hard), some nice fried clams but the fish is usually overcooked and when they try to do something special usually its pushed too far....well my mom (83 1/2 years old) decided that we would try two new spots....pea shoots are in :>) and both places had no idea how to cook them, but i needed the fiber, one place the fish was the freshest and was the best meal we have eaten on the Cape (The Cape Sea Grille, Harwichport), not special but good flavors, not overcooked too much, yummy desserts, the other place no need to return (Ocean House, Dennisport)...she said we could try some news places Labor Day weekend, thanks Gracie!!
another fruit hero, his peaches have almost twice the sweetness of commercial peaches....organic too:>)
Thursday, September 26, 2002
The Mark
6 pm to 8 pm
$35
Amy Goldman is on a mission to save the heirloom melon. She grows about 100 varieties of ancient gourd in her garden in Rhinebeck, NY, and with her new book, Melons for the Passionate Grower, she's spreading the word about these long-forgoten delicacies, and their seed. Join us for a tasting of the snake melon, Queen Anne's pocket melon, and Prescott Fond Blanc as well as Bouvet Brut Champagne, Taittinger Cuvee Prestige Rose, Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato. Members of the AIWF will leave with a complimentary copy of Amy Goldman' book, "Melons for the Passionate Grower."
went to Lupa again, triple pasta pre 7:00 movie dinner at the bar, awesome again
I guess there really was attitude at Smith.
Bad attitude.
The Post dishes the demise.
(Clipped as a comment, to avoid transient, ad-heavy site.)
from NYMag (sounds good)
Fresh
When Eric Tevrow lured Martin Burge from the chef de cuisine post at Gotham Bar & Grill to sign on at Fresh, his elegant new seafood restaurant, Tevrow sweetened the deal with something even better than prime Tribeca real estate: first dibs on the daily Eastern-seaboard catch, courtesy of Early Morning Seafood, Tevrow's wholesale purveyor to star chefs like Alain Ducasse and Gray Kunz. Burge makes the most of his inside sources with rillettes of gaspy cod and finnan haddie, Ipswich fried clams, "Kobe beef" of bluefin toro, and an array of whimsically named "prime cuts," like baby-back halibut ribs steamed in kelp. Fellow Gotham alum Joseph Murphy dishes up seasonal desserts like wild-strawberry shortcake and warm blueberry financier.
105 Reade Street
212-406-1900
Cuisine: Seafood
Going to Union Sq Cafe for the first time in at least 8 years was like coming home for dinner,
they we so friendly, great wines to drink, free couses were greatly apreciatted and injoyed.....
"Such skirmishes are not confined to Lupa. Chefs on both coasts are spending more time in their wine cellars, where climates are perfect for slowly aging salted pig, cow, duck and goose. Wine stewards are chagrined. At AZ, they brush up against Patricia Yeo's black peppercorn beef salami; at Home, it's ginger and pepper salami; at Savoy, pancetta."
some very tasty dishes were served at Rose Water in Park Slope, fresh seasonal stuff!!....went for a 22 mile bike ride that had a weak meal at Lundy's in the middle but we could sit outdoors and watch our bikes, we wanted to eat at Clements 1612 Sheepshead Bay Rd but we had nowhere to park our bikes...
part of an email from a friend....."(just returned from Cuba
last Friday where I participated in Havana's first ever wine forum - was even invited to Partagas factory for cocktails, and hung out with Camillo Guevara, Ché's son, who flipped over our Tavel rosé!)"
i really have not eaten great BBQ, even that place that was in LICity years ago was just OK to me (they have reopened in Queens somewhere and i tasted it a couple WEAKends ago, still nothing special IMHO), so i have allways felt that its not all its craked up to be....not anymore...if you happen to be passing Cockeysville, MD stop in at Andy Nelson's for pulled pork and the Corner Stable for ribs!!!!!!!!
we went to South Beach and i didnt understand why it was so hard to get a hotel....when we arrived we landed into day 2 of Hip-Hop Weekend, 350,000 people parting all over South Beach....we planned to eat as cheap as possible but did try out two very good spots Wish and Nemo's...people spoke highly of Escopazzo (mama's still making the pasta), Nobu, Pecul, Grillfish, and Pacific Time but we didnt try...one nice lunch spot is Spris....