Vietnamese New Year!

In honor of the Vietnamese New Year I wanted to post quite a few photos of incredible Vietnamese cuisine from all over the city!

Above is a beautiful bowl of pho from Singleton's (a spectacular corner store in the Black Pearl). Their Pho is a bit on the peppery side, but still phenomenal (or shall I say pho-nomenal! sorry...had to!).

 

This fabulous beverage is from Pho Orcid in Metairie. This Egg-Cream-esque drink is an exquisite combo of condensed milk and soda water. Stir it all together and viola! delicious drink!

Aside from their large list of fantastic drinks, Pho Orchid serves up a lot more than just pho!

Their egg rolls and Banh Mi were good, but not as fabulous as what you'll find in the East or on the West Bank, but great Vietnamese fare for Metairie. The pork itself in both was delicious, but the Banh Mi was very under-dressed, leaving pat'e and aioli to be desired. 

Last, but certainly not least is one of my absolute favorite places to get pho (Aside from Pho Danh 4 and Pho Nola of course!). Below is a photo of probably the best pho broth I have ever had. Granted, I was a bit inebriated at the time, but I remember it being out of this world! You can get this alluring bowl of soup late into the evening down the Street from Mimi's in the Marigny at the Lost Love Lounge Vietnamese Kitchen. I originally was obsessed with going here because they used to be called "Pho King" (say that one 3 times fast)! 

Though I am quite disappointed with the name change, their pho more than made up for it (plus the karaoke... oh ya, karaoke! Its awesome). 

Like Pho Orchid, their pho was not nearly as mind blowing (or cheap) as what you'll find in the East or in the Wank, but still pretty good (and definitely awesome in the middle of the night).

So in summation, Tet (the Vietnamese New Year) was yesterday, Vietnamese food is incredible (and my favorite), and its Tuesday- So go get yourself some pho/banh mi/ and spring rolls and celebrate the Year of the Dragon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Banh Mi Paradise

My new OffBeat Magazine article: Banh Mi On A Budget is out, and boy do I have some pictures for yall! The captions explain the basics, but the real info is in the article, check it out!

Here we have a gorgeous shot of the No. 1 "French Cold Cut" Banh Mi from Dong Phuong Oriental Restaurant and Bakery.

The rice flour french bread discussed in Banh Mi On A Budget. 

The outrageous Dong Phuong menu, with 17 different types of Banh Mi! 

(Note the Buy 10, Get 1 Free sign!)

House-cured pork cold cuts at Dong Phuong. 

Pate and Aioli, which garnish most authentic Banh Mi po boys. 

The out of this world sweet sauces served on only a select few sandwiches. To find out which read Banh Mi On A Budget!

Instead of dressing these po boys with the usual mayonnaise, tomato, lettuce dressing, banh mi are garnished with traditional Vietnamese ingredients including: cilantro, jalapeno, cucumber and pickled carrots and daikon, Yummmmmmmm!

Chinese Sausage from Dong Phuong.

Vietnamese Sausage from Dong Phuong. It really looked and felt like a raw hunk of meat that was somehow preserved in a seemingly inedible manner. But it tasted really good!

No. 4 Chinese Roasted Pork from Dong Phuong, one of my top two favorites. 

Hong Kong Food Market, another Banh Mi provider that you can read more about in Banh Mi On A Budget.

Change of Scenes! Banh Mi from Eat Well, the convenient store on the corner of Broad and Canal that serves incredible BBQ pork po boys.

Pho Nola's "NOLA Combination" Banh Mi. Spectacular.

So if you want to find out more about these awesome vietnamese po boys check out Banh Mi On A Budget and let me know if I missed your favorite spot! 

Asian Food Porn

The photos speak for themselves.

Banh Mi from Pho Nola in Metairie, it's called the Nola Special: Roast Pork, BBQ Minced Pork, and Vietnamese Ham. I called this post Food Porn for a reason.

Best Banh Mi I've ever had (thanks for the advice Farinaz)! And it definitely didn't brake the bank, under 5 dollars, you really can't beat that. (Plus the pho and noodle bowls are awesome too).

Awesome midnight snack at Hoshun. Sashimi salad with squid and seaweed salad. The Squid was the best part, and the whole thing was just over 10 bucks.

Po' Boys and Presents

For those of you who don't know, Po' Boys are basically the most epic sandwich of all time. This French Bread masterpiece originates in New Orleans, of course, so luckily I have easy access to these heavenly creations. Aside from the flaky, chewy French Bread, Po' Boys traditionally come "dressed" with mayo, ketchup, tomatoes, lettuce, and pickles. The most well-known variations are Fried shrimp or oysters, roast beef, or cochon de lait (french for suckling pig, and obviously my fav).

However, you can put almost anything on a loaf of dressed French Bread and make it tasty. Which is exactly what happens during Po' Boy Fest, which is Mackenzie's absolute FAVORITE festival of the year (due to her intense love of all things related to sandwiches). This year a photographer for nola.com could clearly see the love and excitement in her eyes at the Festival and asked photograph her for the popular website. She kindly obliged with this incredible shot of the biggest bite she's probably ever taken. Two weeks later she ended up all over the website with this lovely shot. Not the most proper picture, but very telling of how good these sandwiches really are. Plus, she happens to be eating one of the winners of the contest, a soft shell crab Po' Boy with spicy mayonnaise from Ninja Sushi.

Aside from the incredible Po' Boy variations mentioned above, one of the best Po' Boys around is Banh Mi, a traditional Vietnamese sandwich created after the French introduced French Bread to colonized Vietnam.

Banh Mi is a combination of interesting deli meats and comes along with sweet meatballs and head cheese. The head cheese is a little strange, but the pickled carrots, cilantro, and cucumbers help cancel out its interesting flavor and questionable consistency.

New Orleans East, a neighborhood at least thirty minutes away from where I live, is famous for having the best Banh Mi around. Literally, true Banh Mi enthusiasts rank it far above any Vietnamese Po' Boy shop in L.A. or New York. This is probably because New Orleans has the largest Vietnamese population in America, weird right???

Anyway, as I was saying... New Orleans East is home to both Dong Phuong and Banh Mi Sao Mi, two places that I've been dying to go to for years. So naturally when I was already in the area having yet another interview for a dance instructor position I couldn't resist searching for these sandwich shops. After twenty minutes of driving through the booneys, seeing only swamp land, strip clubs, Winn Dixie, and dilapidated half demolished housing projects I finally found it! Only problem is it turns out they're only open for lunch, not surprising considering how shady the neighborhood was.

Of course this was incredibly disappointing, but I had no choice but to turn around and drive the 45 minute trek back home. Staying true to my recent car luck my "Service Engine Soon" light went on right after I passed the questionable strip club/ brothel. Not a pretty sight. I luckily got home safely and treated myself to a crisp Turbodog (my new favorite Abita beer) and some Salted Rosemary Shortbread. It's no Banh Mi, but at least it has the whole sweet-savory dynamic that I love so much.

Since I was unable to satisfy my Po' Boy needs last night, today I decided to indulge in a ridiculously good fried shrimp Po' Boy at Guy's Po' Boys. It was insanely lick-your-fingers, eat-every-crumb, hard-to-share kind of good. Just what I needed to make up for the failure of the previous evening.

Of course, you can't have any great meal without dessert, which is where the presents come in. As if I wasn't already going to explode with the amount of mouth watering fried shrimp I consumed, I still managed to eat a few of these exquisite chocolate covered strawberries sent to me by a loyal fan of this very blog. A wonderful grande finale to a ravishing meal.