Entries Tagged as 'vietnamese'

Vo – Saigon Simple

August 6th, 2010 · 4 Comments

Remember Vella? It was under the Western Blue Line tracks where Belly Shack is now. Ever wonder what the owners are up to these days?

Well, one of Vella’s partners, Melissa Yen, is selling custom syrups to restaurants and will be launching a retail line in November. The other, Sara Voden, has teamed up with Geraldine Vo to create Vo, a Vietnamese spring roll stand that operates at the Logan Square farmers market. (Source: Dish)

I got spring rolls from Vo on a visit to the farmers market a few weeks ago and didn’t even realize it was put together by one of the Vella owners.

Spring rolls are available with organic chicken, lemongrass tofu, or shitake mushroom. They’re wrapped in rice paper with basil, mint, carrots, lettuce, and rice stick noodles. Then you can choose peanut or chili sauce to go with your spring rolls.

The spring rolls are made fresh to order. It takes longer, but at least they haven’t been sitting there premade out in the sun all day!

I ordered a Vietnamese iced coffee to drink while I waited.

I got the organic chicken spring rolls.

I was done with my farmers market shopping so I took my spring rolls home to eat. They were really good. Very fresh ingredients!

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Mekong River on 6th

March 13th, 2008 · No Comments

Mekong River on 6th
Mekong River, Austin, TX

After the Google party we decided to get some dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant nearby, Mekong River. (Check out this funny note that Matt photographed in their entryway.) Mekong River turned out to be the NSFW menu jackpot – Skirts on Fire, Tongue Toaster, Spicy Landlord, Spicy Boss, Double Sensation, Secretary Holiday, Saigon Temptation, Saigon Mistress, Rated-R Shrimp, Ambassador’s Honey. Honestly. These were all names of entrees on Mekong River’s menu. Not even making this up!

I had a chicken dish that I don’t see on the online menu but that I believe was called Aftermoon Chicken. It was basically a rice and chicken dish with a sweet honey sauce. We had Tiger and Singha beers. At the end of dinner I also had a Vietnamese iced coffee, which is something I used to get in New York’s Chinatown all the time and haven’t had since then. It was a nice treat.

Tiger Beer, Singha Beer
Tiger & Singha at Mekong River, Austin, TX

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Back in New York

June 7th, 2007 · 5 Comments

Taj Restaurant
Musicians at Taj Restaurant, East Village, Manhattan

Not to confuse you because I still have photos from my Memorial Day weekend trip to New York, but I’m back in New York again, this time on business. Monday afternoon and night we all came together at Taj Restaurant on 6th Street, right in the heart of Indian Restaurant Row, which is on 6th between 1st and 2nd Avenues. The music was great but the service and ambiance was questionable. They did keep the Taj Mahal and Flying Horse beer flowing though, which was a good thing. The food was reasonably priced and was pretty tasty if you could break through the language barrier to get your order in!

Don at Bar 82
Don, Bar 82, East Village, Manhattan

Afterwards we had a few drinks at Bar 82 and then made the long walk back to our hotel, the craptacular Radisson on 48th/Lex. It’s not that bad, it’s just so random. Like the wallpaper is peeling in my room and there are only hooks and stains where the artwork used to be above the bed, yet my room has a flat screen TV and a Herman Miller Aeron chair.

Spice Market
Vietnamese Coffee Granite with Vanilla Meringue, Spice Market, Meatpacking District, Manhattan

Tuesday was our first day at Google and was completely overwhelming with all of the information to take in. It’s really exciting to be working there officially. I think everyone is psyched. .. if only we can get our heads around everything. We had dinner at Spice Market, which I’d read so much about and was excited to try. It was about 100% fancier than the Indian restaurant that we’d been to the night before. The interior was really beautiful, if not over the top, and sort of Middle Eastern looking, while the cuisine was kind of Vietnamese/Thai/Indian. The Onion and Chili Crusted Short Ribs Egg Noodles and Pea Shoots was absolutely the standout dish of the night. I was expecting something like kalbi ribs, but it was the most tender bone-free beef I’ve ever eaten, I think. So delicious. For some reason I only took a photo of our desert. It was Vietnamese Coffee Granite with Vanilla Meringue. That night some people went out to the bar at the W, but I was so tired. I just stayed in and went to bed.

Tiny Beers
Mini Beers, Bar 82, East Village, Manhattan

This is turning into a food blog of the week, but Wednesday night we had pizza at John’s on Bleecker. Later on we had a couple beers at some generic Irish pub in Midtown. Everyone was too tired to really put any effort into staying out, so I hit up Duane Reade for some shampoo because the stuff at the hotel stinks and then headed in for the night.

Everything is so overwhelming this week. I’m waiting for Friday and looking forward to nothing on Saturday. Sunday I’m flying back out here.

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Fan Si Pan

October 3rd, 2005 · 3 Comments

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Fan Si Pan, East Ukrainian Village, Chicago

Over the weekend I went to this new Vietnamese restaurant that I’ve been meaning to try out. For my full review, check out my Chicagoist post.

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Georgetown, Washington, DC

November 28th, 2004 · 7 Comments

Foggy Bottom Metro Stop, Foggy Bottom, Washington, DC
Foggy Bottom Metro Stop, Foggy Bottom, Washington, DC

Deja Blue Used Jeans, Georgetown, Washington, DC
Deja Blue Used Jeans, Georgetown, Washington, DC

Carolers, Georgetown, Washington, DC
Carolers, Georgetown, Washington, DC

South on Wisconsin Avenue, Georgetown, Washington, DC
South on Wisconsin Avenue, Georgetown, Washington, DC

United Colors of Benetton, Georgetown, Washington, DC
United Colors of Benetton, Georgetown, Washington, DC

Crossing M Street, Georgetown, Washington, DC
Crossing M Street, Georgetown, Washington, DC

East on M Street, Georgetown, Washington, DC
East on M Street, Georgetown, Washington, DC

Old Stone House, Georgetown, Washington, DC
The Old Stone House, Georgetown, Washington, DC

Sun Trust, Georgetown, Washington, DC
Sun Trust, Georgetown, Washington, DC

On Friday afternoon we shopped around Georgetown. We were going to eat at an Indian restaurant on M Street, but it wasn’t open yet at the time we were hungry, so we got Vietnamese at Miss Saigon, a restaurant Rosa had recommended to us the day before.

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