Travel Post - Sau Restaurant @ An Bang Beach, Hoi An, Vietnam - Part 13

It's a brand new year and I'm still here, blogging (trying to blog).  Let's continue with my Hoi An trip back in 2016! Hahaha...

Though we had arrived in Da Nang, we had gone straight to Hoi An as we were told that there were more things to do and see in Hoi An.  Thinking that we would give the beach in Da Nang a miss, we arrived in Hoi An and found out that there is actually a beach here too.  Since our lovely hotel, Royal Riverside Hotel (more on this hotel in another post) provided free shuttle bus rides to An Bang Beach, we made it a point to drop by the beach and have lunch there.

Restaurant Basilic, Montreal - Pan Asian Goodness

Canada continues ...

We moved on to Montreal and stayed at Le Centre Sheraton Montreal Hotel for the next 2 nights.

Hunger struck! As usual :o). Our first meal in Montreal was at Restaurant Basilic; a "pan-asian" restaurant (as they call themselves) in Chinatown which has a rather mixed menu (there's Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese!) with reasonable prices.  We ordered a mixture of some Vietnamese and Thai items and we enjoyed the fare here, so much so we actually dropped by again on the second day.  So, check Restaurant Basilic out if you ever in Montreal.

Hu Tieu Kho Name Vang $7.95 (Dry noodles with Shrimp & Pork).  Lovely springy noodles and the shrimps were fresh.  It's served with a bowl of soup on the side.

Opening Soon - Royale Vietnam, Starhill

Here's the first of several  highlights on the other participating restaurants from the Press Conference of Starhill's Midsummer Nights Feast 2011 - Master Chefs of Elements.

Royale Vietnam is due to open its doors soon come this end June and folks will be pleased to know that there will be yet another place for some great tasting Vietnamese food.  Check out the pics ... and then check out the restaurant itself! Happy Monday everyone :o)

I like the pho that was served, tender beef slices and beef balls in clear tasty broth.

The Goi Cuon (Fresh Spring Rolls) were rolled and served on the spot for us to sample.

Open 24/7 ! Pho Pasteur - Toronto, Canada

And now we head back to Canada ... after resting a while in the hotel, we were feeling hungry and decided to grab an early dinner so that we can head back to the hotel and have an early night since we did so much traveling that day.  Bro-in-law (BIL) had Googled and did all the homework and soon enough we found our lunch venue (thanks to the GPS!).

Are my eyes THAT bad? 24/7??? Did I read it right?  Gosh, if Pho Pasteur was back in Klang Valley-I think I would have fainted from all the joy that I felt!  Alas, it's not in Klang Valley but in Canada that one can find Vietnamese food round the clock, 24 hours a day!

Sim"pho" Satisfaction ...

There was an onslaught of all those Yee Sang and dishes after dishes of artery clogging rich food - a grand celebration during the festive period of Chinese New Year. Actually, while being thankful that I am and also in the company of folks who loves to eat and to have such a luxury when compared to the less fortunate, I look forward to something simple most of the time. "Simple" in itself is also rather subjective, depending on different individuals. To me, simple can be just as satisfying at times (putting aside my failed attempts at cake baking or trying out new recipes!!!!) and best explained that a simple meal is one that puts the warmth not only in my tummy but my smile. This was such a meal, another invite .... a home cooked one (yes...just like my earlier "Hearty Meal" post). This time round for ... Vietnamese Beef Noodles!

Thanks Korean Princess & Queen for the fabulous Phở. I am honoured to be the sole guest in your kingdom and to be able to partake such a meal :o). I would also like to thank my other friends too for all those other occasions where great food were prepared with blood, sweat (the hot weather is a killer!) & tears (from those onion slicing, hehehe...) and most of all, for inviting me into your home . I'm truly blessed indeed!

TGIF .... Here's to the weekend! Have a great one :o)

Little Paris on Stockton, San Francisco

Now I would like to share with you folks one of the food that I usually eat whenever I'm in San Francisco. I always make it a point to drop by Little Paris to get my BBQ Beef Sandwich.

They actually sell all assortments of Vietnamese food - all ready packed. This eatery is rather small and only has a few tables for patron and does more take out orders. One of my fave pickup is the fried spring rolls with the rice noodles.

One of the other food item I usually get here is the Vietnamese Ham (seen wrapped in aluminium foil). I will usually add it into my salads and noodles whenever I eat in. Also extremely good in preparing fried rice!

Oh, and the main reason for dropping by at Little Paris time and time again? This wonderful BBQ Beef Sandwich (USD3.50). BBQ Pork is also available for those who prefer the "other" white meat! Hahaha...Anyway, what makes this sandwich taste so good is actually a mixture of all the different ingredients. Sliced BBQ Beef on a French loaf with pickled julienned radish, carrots and some raw onions and parsley. I guess the main factor would be the pickled vegetables. It's done spot on, not too sour and still with the "crunch" factor, making this a hit!

Little Paris Restaurant
939 Stockton Street
San Francisco, CA 94108

Tel : (415) 982 6111


USA - To Be Continued...



 

Co Do, Midvalley Megamall

After coming across EatInOut's post on Little Vietnam, I decided to blog on Co Do where my friends and I normally have our lunches during our weekend gatherings. I had only noticed Co Do about 5 months back when my friend brought me there for dinner. It's situated above Little Vietnam (entrance to Co Do is at the side of it) on the cinema floor. One can actually miss it with all the traffic there on weekends! Apparently both are operated by the same owner - with a slightly different menu at each place.

I immediately took a liking to the cozy place when I first visited it. Co Do has a nice ambiance; it's the kind of place where you can dine with friends and have a long chat as it's not crowded. My other group of friends whom I caught up with twice chose to eat here as they like the place. Food wise, it's quite good - Vietnamese Dim Sum (have not really tried the whole range) is available along with the usual and typical Vietnamese noodles and rice.

With that and the other factors - ambiance, reasonable prices and pretty good service, this has become one of my fave places for dining and catching up with friends. We have had a 4 hour lunch here before!
We usually order the set meal for 2 (about RM35++ and includes 2 glasses of ice lemon tea) as it allows us to have a bit of everything. There are many pics in this post, so, the photos will be slightly smaller than usual :o). The Vietnamese Dim Sum/snacks are very tiny. Please bear in mind, these were served in a sauce plate (since food appear larger than normal in my posts!). The main meals were quite large portions though. The following pics are from one of the set.

The spring roll was tiny-it disappeared before I could even taste it! Ha ha ha....

The Lotus Root Fish Cake was not too bad with the usual fish sauce, vinegar and chilli dip.
I love this Dragon Fruit Salad; topped with nuts and with mild vinegarish clear dressing, it was refreshing.
Beef Ball Hu Tieu (chewy translucent noodles) - The noodles soaked up the soup pretty quick (also due to the fact that I took photos of it!), but they offered to refill the soup for us without us asking. Best of all, they served all noodles with a wonderful plate of chilli padi pulp in soy sauce!
Tomato Fried Rice - This plain looking fried rice turned out to be pretty tasty though I couldn't really taste any tomato.

After that round, we tried a different set for variety when we met up again in Midvalley about a month later. We couldn't think of a better place to eat and chat since we found Co Do!

Grilled Eggplant Skewers - Not really a fan of eggplant, so can't comment.
Steamed wrapped roll - minced chicken and mook yee (wood ear black fungus) topped with fried shallots. The filling was nice but the roll was cold. Maybe it was served warm but by the time I finish taking photos and in between our conversation, it went cold on us. Ha ha ha...

Golden Lychee Chicken Ball - This was good, not the usual chicken ball texture; something different. Wished it was bigger though ;o)
Spicy Beef Slice Hu Tieu - the soup was very tasty and spicy indeed. Great for those who like spicy food. The beef slices were tender too.

This set came with spring onion fried rice which was rather bland. There's another dish that we ordered. The Lemongrass Beef (which was nicely done) was served on a bed of shredded vegetables along with two small cups; one with two halves of a spring roll (see what I mean by tiny?)and the other; Chao Tom (Shrimp on Sugar Cane) which was just okay as it lacked spices and didn't have much taste to it. I couldn't really remember, but I think this set came with an option of rice or plain soup noodles.
Despite some shortfalls; we don't mind going back again as when we add up all the other plus points - Co Do still gets our vote of approval as we feel comfortable dining here.

"Food is not about impressing people. It's about making them feel comfortable."
Ina Garten - The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Vietnam Kitchen Revisited

Recently went to have lunch in Vietnam Kitchen in 1Utama. I have been a regular patron of this restaurant since it first opened its doors in SS2; their first outlet (sadly, it's no longer there!). It's prices have been climbing up steadily since then, about 3 to 4 years back. Back then, its prices were reasonable, a bowl of noodles costs about RM6plus.

At present, they recently printed new menus (which usually means prices are hiked up!) and now noodles costs around RM10.90-11.90! Those were the days. The food quality hasn't change much but my gripe is that the cold Vietnamese coffee no longer comes with a small bucket of ice and condensed milk on the side; added according to our own liking after waiting patiently for the coffee to drip into the cup. They now bring the cold coffee to you all mixed! Horrors! That's not how it should be served. So no more orders of Cold Vietnamese Coffee from me here. They still do the drip for the hot coffee though.

Crispy Viet Onions Cake (one of my fave snacks - topped with fish floss!)KCC's fave snack - Mango and Banana Prawn

Beef Ball Noodles
My fave noodles - Lai Fun Sliced HamThe tasty but small portion Seafood Noodles

Though service is fast, the waiters/waitresses that were dashing around (clearing up tables or responding to a customer's call) came across as quite a disturbance to the patrons. They would be clearing the table noisily and one waitress while trying to rush to the front, kicked my chair and gave me a jolt and didn't even apologise. They should be trained properly as to how to go about their duties in a quieter manner. The food is still decent (beggar can't be choosers, as my fave Viet food is in San Francisco, USA!) but with the escalating prices, as my mom said, we won't be eating so often in Vietnam Kitchen. As a matter of fact, I came across another Vietnamese restaurant elsewhere, and I'll be making a visit there soon.

Have food will travel!- wmw