As I mentioned, my friend’s husband grew up in Montreal… but he’s also Vietnamese, so when he mentioned his favorite pho place, I knew we had to go – especially given how much I love pho.

Plates of fresh chiles were on each table.  No, I didn’t eat any of these.  (Even though – exciting news! I have been eating spicy food lately and enjoying it. Flavor and heat without burning my face off!)

The usual sauce station, though note that there’s a small bottle of fish sauce as well! 

The summer rolls are ordered by the piece, which I didn’t realize.  We split this; it tasted okay, nothing amazing. 

The standard plate of Thai basil, lime wedges and bean sprouts – DLS‘s bowl of pho, which I know he enjoyed. 

I ordered the standard beef pho for comparison’s sake and really enjoyed the whole bowl.  The noodles were perfectly cooked, and the broth was super flavorful without overwhelming.  I slurped down almost the entire bowl of broth… so good!  I was perfectly full when we finished, and very, very happy… The hot noodle soup was excellent, and even better because it was FREEZING outside (to the tune of NEGATIVE 17… I don’t think I’ll ever get over just how cold it was up there!).  Warmed us right up to our bones! 

Despite all that – being full and how cold it was outside – DLS saw ‘fried banana’ on the dessert menu and had to order it.  (Never let him tell you that it’s my fault he’s fat.  Yes, I lead him to good food, but I don’t make him eat it!)  I have to say, I LOVED this – the bananas were crisply battered on the outside, while gooey and warm on the inside.  Drizzled with a bit of honey, delicious! and the super artificially colored green tea ice cream wasn’t quite as bitter as I like it, but still very good.  This was a great dessert!  I would never have ordered it, so I was glad DLS wanted it… and even gladder that he willingly shared with me, haha. 

So… I liked this place so much that we went back our last day.  Since I was super cold (again), I ordered milk tea, hoping it would be interesting for $2 and change.  Nope, it was just a cup of tea.  Ah well. 

DLS ordered a red bean/grass jelly drink of some sort with coconut milk in it, so I opted not to try any.  It sure is pretty though, right?  (I think he orders things with coconut in it when he doesn’t want to share with me…)

As we’d exited during that first visit, we’d noticed a newspaper article hanging in the window that showed this dish.  We ordered it by describing the article to our waiter. 

Basically a deconstructed “bun” dish – cold noodles over a salad mixture – it came with the noodles on the side, and a bowl of various grilled meats swimming in fish sauce with pickled veggies, and a bunch of veggies on the side.  DLS got first crack at this dish, and enjoyed it, commenting that the grilled meats were just like what he’s had at other Vietnamese restaurants (apparently you can have a grill at your table… but I’ve not done that, so he has to show me!).  I liked the dish, but found it hard to eat the way they had it – I prefer my bun in one big bowl so I can stir it all around and eat it like that.  Also, I didn’t like one of the grilled meats – it was sort of crumbly, like it was a meatball but not. 

I ordered the pho ga – or chicken pho – because I’d heard it was really good.  And it was – super clean, light broth, and a ton of chicken.  Too much chicken, honestly, since I’m all about the noodles and broth when it comes to pho… speaking of which, we’d intended to split both dishes.  The pho was placed in front of me, so I ate that first, and DLS had the bun dish first.  Unfortunately, in my digging around the bowl, I totally accidentally – ACCIDENTALLY – ate all the noodles without realizing it.  Luckily, DLS was pretty full from the bun but I still felt terrible about it… whoops.  Sorry!  (This is probably why he orders stuff with coconut in it – so he doesn’t have to share and run the risk that I’ll take all of it… wah…)  I left him lots of chicken though!  It really was an accident… but that pho was so freaking good! 

Yvo says: That was some damn good pho… honestly, I think this just shot to the top of the list.  My favorite pho place is still Turtle Tower in San Francisco, but Montreal is slightly easier for me to get to (hey, a quick 5 hour drive…).  Hmmm, guess I’ll just have to settle for Pho Bang when I can’t get to San Francisco or Montreal…  Why can’t we get pho like this in NYC?!
highly recommended – excellent pho

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Post tags: DLS, noodles, pho

There was no wait at ChaPa’s, and we both ordered drinks – lychee juice on the left for me, Thai iced tea for DLS on the right.  I liked my juice – light and refreshing, slightly sweet.  I didn’t try the Thai iced tea but I imagine it was just fine. 

We started off with cha gio, Vietnamese spring rolls.  While the flavor was good, the exterior was slightly soggy and not quite as crispy as I’m used to.  The interior was very juicy, though, to the point where I bit into it, and it exploded onto my plate in a splatter of hot oily juices. 

I wanted something different, so I added on the Vietnamese chicken wings.  While these were tasty – slightly sweet, sticky, slightly savory – I didn’t think they were special or good enough to warrant ordering again.  I didn’t regret getting them, though, because while I usually feel super full after pho… well, you’ll see. 

DLS chose the special pho, which he thought was OK. 

We each received our own plate of accompaniments with our bowls of pho. 

Since it was my first time at ChaPa’s, I ordered the beef pho, plain and simple.  I was surprised when it arrived at how small the bowl was – or rather, how little there was to it.  I know it’s in midtown and being able to get pho in midtown is already pretty awesome, but $8.50 for a bowl that looked like it would hardly fill me up is pretty weak.  I was glad we’d ordered two appetizers, that’s for sure.  As for the broth, it was extremely murky – which doesn’t bother me – but the overwhelming smell of star anise with each sip really bothered me.  I’m not the biggest fan of star anise in the first place, and to smell it each and every time I tried to take a slurp of soup… wasn’t pleasant to me.  Of course, another person who likes or even loves star anise might feel the complete opposite as me!  Taste-wise, though, it didn’t come through as strongly, which worked fine for me.  The noodles were also on the thinner side than I prefer or am used to… and I wished there were more of them! 

Yvo says: I thought overall, it satisfied the pho craving, but by no means would I seek this out again.  On a cold, rainy day, I think I’d be better off going for ramen at Tabata (which is also so much closer to DLS’s place that we won’t get completely soaked at least- I hope!), since I crave noodles in soup on rainy days.  However, there are other items on the menu that I might like to try, so I wouldn’t be vehemently opposed to returning… I just won’t be the one to suggest it. 
middle of the road; if you really want pho and you’re stuck in midtown, it suffices

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Post tags: DLS, pho

A couple Fridays ago, CT and I didn’t have any special plans so we decided to go out in the neighborhood. I had a voucher for the NY Comedy Club that I purchased from Travelzoo back in March(shortly after their launch party) that was just burning a hole in my pocket. Fortunately the voucher was good for a year, so I wasn’t in a major rush to use it. CT mentioned that she had a Groupon for Bao Noodles that she was also looking to use. Considering that both places were about 2 blocks away from each other, it was a no brainer.

CT’s deal was the common $15 for $30. Bao Noodles isn’t super cheap, so it wouldn’t be an issue to order $30 worth of food. For those of you wondering, Michael “Bao” Hunyh of Baoguette, Baoritto and other restaurant fame used to be associated with Bao Noodles, but no longer.

Since it was a Friday night, we started with some beer. I went with the Vietnamese “33” and CT had the Japanese Kirin Light. Do the Vietnamese and Japanese get along? Deanlo, can you confirm? I don’t think I ever had a “33” before. It was a nice refreshing lager, pretty generic tasting.

We started with an order of Summer Rolls($5.95), since it was Summer after all. I decided to be “healthy” and get fried tofu as the filling.

As you can see, using the term “filling” was quite generous on my part since the rolls only had two sad strips of tofu in them. At least all of the veggies were fresh and crisp. It was quite tasty after dipping in the Hoison sauce.

CT says: It was just ok and the filling was a little skimpy. But as TT said, at least the veggies were fresh! I’ve had the shrimp summer rolls in the past and been satisfied with them, so maybe it was just the lack of tofu?

CT had been here a bunch of times, but not that recently. So, she still had a couple “must order” dishes including:

Salt & Pepper Shrimp ($12.95)- tiger prawns coated with salt and pepper, stir-fried with garlic, shallots, red and green peppers. Served with taro fries. It is hard to see but there were a lot of shrimp underneath the small plates and taro fries. The dish on the right had a chili pepper and salt mixture to dip the shrimp in. There was also a mayo-based sauce that was good with everything. The shrimp were lightly fried and delicious. We went all in and ate the thin shells and all. The taro fries were super greasy. I’m pretty sure the chef dumped them straight into our basket from the fry basket.

CT says: This is one of my favorites and a must-order every time, in my humble opinion. I love that flavor they have on their own, but dipped into the salt/pepper/red pepper flakes just takes this dish to another level! I could (and possibly have) eaten this entire dish on my own. The taro fries are ok if you get the ones on tops, but nothing that special.

Saigon Fried Rice ($7.95)- shrimp, Chinese sausage and tomatoes. A second shrimp dish, but totally worth it. Lots of sausage mixed throughout with a couple shrimp on top. The rice itself was very tasty. It was also very good as leftovers.

CT says: My other go to – stuffed with so many goodies and lots of flavor, why wouldn’t you want to order it? The rice is sticky and cooked just enough and you can tell it’s cooked with all the meats as the flavors really meld together. Just yum!

CT allowed me to order one dish.

Panko Crusted Pork Chop ($13.95). It was served on top of a nice slaw. Unfortunately it only seemed to be one pork chop in the dish. I would have thought for that price there would have been a second chop. The pork was seasoned well and very crunchy. A couple of the end pieces got a little tough, but I managed to eat them anyway. The slaw helped to cut the heaviness of the deep fried meat.

CT says: The pork chops was juicy on the inside (mostly) and crispy on the outside. It was pretty flavorful. However, I only had a couple pieces as the portion was pretty small and I was more focused on the shrimp. The slaw was a nice palate cleanser though. A decent dish, but not enough to be added to my “must-order” list.

All in all, it was a pretty good meal at Bao Noodles. We both left quite content without feeling stuffed, especially since we ended up taking half of the fried rice home. Prices were a little high, but Groupon helped alleviate that. The Travelzoo deal was very good. For $15 we got admission for two including 2 drinks and saw 7 different comics. No one I heard of before, but some were very funny. I would definitely return to the comedy club again especially since the regular prices were pretty reasonable compared to other, bigger clubs in NYC.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Groupon, TravelZoo

The menu was pretty straightforward, so I ordered the dish that most closely approximated what I order at Pho Bang – for comparison’s sake, you see.  The pho thai nam gau gan sach at $5.25 sounded closest, though not entirely the same (it includes tendon, of which I am not a fan).  I added beef balls for good measure. 

In the mood to try new things, I also ordered a ‘salty lemonade soda’ – which, upon further reflection, I’ve had before.  In any case, a salt-preserved lemon is tossed with a bit of sugar, then squeezed the bejesus out into the bottom of a cup, then seltzer poured on top.  This is a taste not for everyone; I enjoyed it initially but as it got further down, I had to add more seltzer and in the end I couldn’t finish it.  What’s it taste like?  Well, it tastes just like its name suggests: salty lemonade.  Interesting… and I might order it again, but not all the time. 

Then my pho arrived.  Compared to Pho Bang, Thai Son is a little more expensive.  But I must admit that the brisket is softer at Thai Son, with a little more flavor, and was overall pretty good.  The soup was less oily but still tasty, though not quite as deeply nuanced as the broth at Pho Bang.  They also give limes instead of lemons, which I prefer.  So – pretty good.  But it boils down to a few key differences for me: this is a little farther away from me, there’s no parking lot, and they’re slightly more expensive.  So while I concede that the pho is pretty good – and I’m super picky about pho – it’s unlikely to take over as my pho place, for a variety of reasons.  (Also, Pho Bang is close to my Asian supermarket – around the corner – so it’s easy to pick up pho after shopping.)

James ordered the pho ga, or the chicken pho.  I know last time I went to San Francisco, I ordered the chicken pho and wound up falling in love with it, but his looked different.  It really looked almost like water that had boiled chicken and had some noodles thrown in without much seasoning.  He said it was alright, but definitely needed the addition of peppers to make it sing. 

Yvo says: I can definitely see why TC likes this place.  The pho was great, and it’s closer to where he lives than Pho Bang (even marginally so).  But I wouldn’t choose this place over Pho Bang for much the same reasons: where the pho at Thai Son is definitely good and worthy of a visit, it’s also right next to a big train station (Roosevelt Ave./74th Street), and has absolutely no parking with lots of congestion.  Pho Bang is marginally closer to where I live and has its own parking lot (even though that parking lot is occasionally crazy packed).  Since I thought the pho at Thai Son was good, but not better than Pho Bang, I probably won’t go to Thai Son regularly… but I certainly won’t object to going if someone requests it!
recommended

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Post tags: pho

On the way to the ferry, I noticed there was a little farm set up in Battery Park. Looks pretty cool. Dare you to eat a carrot grown there!

Once we got to the island, it was still about 20 minutes before the 11 am VIP start. I ended up talking to the person next to me in line whose friend went on Sunday. Apparently there was some confusion about serving beer before noon on a Sunday so the VIP preview ended up being a bust. The free food also turned out to be a “taste” from each of the trucks. Considering it was AYCE, I didn’t think it was a big deal that we wouldn’t being getting full portions. As the clock struck 11, the hundred or so of us got free reign of the fairground. The first ferry of the day was at 10 then 11 then every half hour after that, so it was a little while before more people came across the river. That was well worth the sacrifice of sleeping in on Memorial Day.

CT says: I was pretty disappointed to find out it was a “tasting” and that most trucks weren’t offering a choice from their menu. But looking back, I shouldn’t have been surprised given the AYCE aspect.

Since we had a bunch of friends with us, we planned our attack while waiting for the gates to open. Priority number one was securing an umbrella covered picnic table. It wasn’t actually an issue since we were one of the first groups in line and we ended up keeping the table for the entire day. For anyone in the NYC area, you knew how brutally hot it was over the long weekend. Although there were plenty of trees offering shade on the perimeter, it was nice to have some shade smack dab in the middle of things.

The brewers in “Brewers PicNyc” turned out to be Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint, and Goose Island. They were strategically placed around the fairground, so as to minimize congestion for the thirsty masses. We were all impressed that Sixpoint’s offering included full cans of their Crisp lager for the VIPs. The Crisp made for a great summertime beer. Each of the breweries had a handful of offerings. We were all quite happy with the selections and the ease of getting a fresh and free beer. This definitely accounted for making the most out of the $55 admission.

One of the first trucks to form a long line, and a line that kept getting longer and longer, was the Kimchi Taco Truck. Their sample of was two pieces of rice cake. I took a picture of DY’s portion. Once I saw what the sample was and the length of the line, I passed on trying it myself. Unfortunately some of the vendors went super cheap on the samples. All of the samples were for people who paid for VIPs, and sometimes also for those who bought individual “meal” tickets, so I think they could have splurged a little more. The cheap vendors only cared about selling off their full menu at regular price.

CT says: I was really excited to try the Kimchi truck and incredibly disappointed at their offering. However, as disappointed as I was, after seeing their full meal offerings I’ll still be trying them when I catch them in the neighborhood.

I saw there was no line at Pizza Moto, so I headed over there first. They had small slices of fresh pizza. I was impressed to see the fresh mozzarella and basil. The sauce was nice and tangy, while the crust had some nice char.

When CT did some scouting around earlier, she saw that the brand new Luke’s Lobster truck was there. Of course, she ran over there first since she had enjoyed Luke’s before. Their sample ended up being a small shrimp roll. Some people were disappointed it wasn’t a small lobster roll, but I was ok with it. They would have gone through a TON of lobster. The shrimp was good as before on top of a butter bomb roll.

CT says: My initial disappointment here was quickly fixed after tasting the shrimp – so fresh and delicious! And the servers were kind enough to give me an extra for TT as it was his turn to hold down the table.

Next up was Asia Dog who shall now be known as the LAMEST VENDOR EVER! We weren’t impressed with their offerings at Mad. Sq. Eats, but still wanted to try their sample to maybe change our minds. Their sample was wasabi potato salad. WTF? Your name isn’t Asia Potato. Would it have been too hard to cut up a hotdog into 4 pieces and top it with one of your slaws? That would have been 100x better. The staff was also not very friendly when we asked if there would be any hot dog samples. I will never be patronizing Asia Dog again and I recommend you do the same.

CT says: MASSIVE FAIL.

The event was hosted by Jimmy Carbone of Jimmy’s No. 43. He had five or six tents setup offering a variety of small bites. While they might have been the trendiest foods on the island, they ended up being the most filling for most of the group. The first hour or two these tents had no line, so it was a great way to load up.

Coleslaw

Simple green salad

Smoked kielbasa with sauerkraut and mustard on a slice of bread. This was my favorite of the bunch. The sausage was tasty and hearty.

“Banh mi” That’s what they called it, but as you can see it wasn’t. Not a big deal since it was also a substantial bite and seasoned well. I think it was ground pork, not sure.

Pulled pork taco

Grilled cheese. It was pretty standard, but still 2x larger and better than the sample that Gorilla Cheese gave out.

CT says: I was very impressed by the spread of food option they provided! Sponsor or not, they gave a lot of food and it was all pretty good! Until now, they were definitely the food winners! I had some trouble starches – the bread and tortilla both seemed a little stale, but the kielbasa and pork more than made up for them.

I heard about the Camera Tequila truck briefly on Midtown Lunch. The tequila brand hired the chef from Suenos to provide the food on this truck to promote their brand. They actually offered five or six choices. We got the BBQ Beef Taco with charred corn pico de gallo and queso fresco and the Camarena Chicken and Chihuahua Cheese Taquitos with guacamole and radish. The guy doing the expediting was especially friendly and helpful and gave us an extra portion for our friends back at the table. Not only was the food the best looking, it was also the best tasting. Super flavorful with a variety of high quality ingredients. I really enjoyed the taco and hope the truck finds its way near my office soon.

CT says: PicNyc WINNER! 1) They were giving their full menu as options! That right there made it a winner…. but then 2) The food was so flavorful and fantastic! 3) the guy snuck me an extra taco for our friends holding down the table and 4) VIP only (ok, that one might have pissed off a few people, but I liked it!) I’ll definitely be stalking this on facebook and you should too… right now!

Cupcake Stop was offering slices of your choice five different flavors. CT got the chocolate oreo(right) and I got the vanilla chocolate(left). Although the icings started to melt pretty much immediately, it was a good bite. The cake was light and moist. We felt sad for them since they were one of the only trucks that never had a line. I guess it really wasn’t a cupcake kind of day.

CT says: I was very happy with my slice! It was chocolatey delicious and really just the right amount!

The Bistro Truck had gotten mixed reviews in the past. They offered veggies or chicken over couscous. Surprisingly, no one was really interested in the veggies, but MS took one for the team and pleased the server by taking one. It looked pretty boring to me, but I think she said it was good for what it was. The chicken was surprisingly very good. Most likely some thigh meat that was moist and flavorful. The couscous was very light and fluffy, which was impressive for what had to have been a HUGE batch.

CT says: Much more moist and flavorful than I would’ve expected! I’ve been wanting to try this truck for awhile, so I was glad with the outcome.

The festival was busy, but not completely overloaded with people.

The Desi Truck arrived on the island at the same time as us along with a few other trucks, but took FOREVER to open up. They served up a disappointing watery daal(lentils stew) over some basmati rice. It was also super hot from the stove, not really something you would want to eat on a hot day. Chalk it up to another truck just looking to sell food a la carte.

CT says: Sad, sad looking daal. Flavors were there, but lentils were missing.

There was another Indian truck serving a veggie stew with a piece of naan. It had a lot of good flavor from the various spices, but again, not really appropriate for the weather.

The other dessert option was from The Joyride Truck with fro-yo. They gave out pretty large servings with a choice of topping. I am not a fan of fro-yo, but CT got hers with raspberries on top. Everyone was pretty happy with it and thought it was the perfect end to the day.

CT says: I was incredibly surprised and delighted with the sample size they were giving. It was a full “small” cup, generous filled and topped. The fro-yo is the tart “real yogurt” type, not the sweet ice-cream-wannabe, which I really enjoy and was very refreshing on a hot summer’s day. The raspberries were fresh and sweet too. Other topping choices were cereals, oreos, chocolate crunchies and other fruits – pretty sweet!

We also ran into some of CT’s Sister’s closest friends. They purchased their tickets last minute, so went for the 3-food, 3-beer tickets option for $45. Some of the trucks offered them the same samples for one ticket, while others offered anything from the full menu – so it was a bit of a hit and miss for them too; however they got some tasty looking meals from Luke’s and Kimchi Taco.

CT says: I was a little jealous of their delicious-looking Kimchi Taco platter, but I thoroughly enjoyed my unlimited beers – especially since at times they got warm before I could finish, so I could just dump it and get another free cold one.

All in all, everyone was pretty happy with the day. As long as you get there early and have a game plan, a good time can be had by all. It was a shame that some of the vendors were pretty lame with their offerings, but others more than made up for it. Governors Island is a great place to visit even if there isn’t a festival going on. CT and I have promised ourselves to go there at some point over the summer to enjoy the other activities available (i.e. bike rides) and relax with a great view of Manhattan and The Statue of Liberty.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: beer, food trucks, Governors Island, Thrillist