Asian Treats
One of my worries when we moved to Austin was where to eat authentic Asian food. It’s no secret that countries tend to tweak (international) dishes to suit the local taste. Filipinos eat with so much gusto and we love flavorful food, hence, the abundance of authentic Asian and other international restaurants in the Philippines. No need to overtweak those recipes…save maybe for spaghetti, which most like to be sweet. I’ve associated the American taste to blandness and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who has made such a sweeping generalization. ;) You have, too, haven’t you….and with very good reason I presume? Hee hee!
It’s a blessing that hubby has already been in the US for three months before my daughter and I joined him. In those 3 months, His Japanese colleagues introduced him to their favorite Asian restaurants, all of which are authentic as authentic could be in this part of the globe. I consider going to Asian restaurants a real treat. The food is good, servings hefty and reminds me so much of home (and what I’m missing!).
For two Sundays in a row, we found ourselves having dinner in Asian restaurants….Vietnamese last Sunday, and Korean the Sunday prior. :razz:
Korea House
My childhood favorite Korean restaurant is Korea Garden on Burgos Street in Makati. That’s where my Mom and Dad used to take my brother and me. Unfortunately, it’s no longer there and I’m not sure if it simply just moved to another location or closed-shop altogether. Of late, Kaya/Kaya Express has been our favorite. And I always order the same thing…Dolsot Bibimbap. Haaaay. Yum!
Two Sundays ago, to aid hubby in recovering more quickly from a state of “unwellness”, we took a short drive from our home to Korea House (perhaps a distant relative of the Korea Garden of my childhood?). Here’s what we had…
Tempura…and this was for Abby only. True enough, she finished all the shrimps all on her own and was even looking for some more! She passed on the vegetable though. :razz:
Beef Bulgogi – A visit to a Korean restaurant is incomplete if there’s no bulgogi. That, of course, is only my personal opinion. ;)
Bibimbap – This is not what we had in mind. Hubby missed saying the all-important word “Dolsot” when he ordered this dish, thus, the alien looking dish (to us, at least!). What we had in mind was a steaming rice dish served in a claypot with all the trimmings in the white bowl above. :( It was still good anyway…cold as it should be, but good. But we’re definitely coming back for our Dolsot Bibimbap!
Ahhppetizers – I haven’t had so much appetizers in a Korean restaurant! I’m used to only having kimchi, beansprouts, spinach with garlic and pickled cucumbers. This was like an appetizer feast! But who’s complaining? Definitely not me! :razz:
Kim Phung
Last Sunday, we had dinner at Kim Phung, a Vietnamese restaurant. It was Abby’s and my first time here as there’s another Vietnamese restaurant that we visit more frequently. We’re very predictable eaters. We almost always order our favorite food when we go to restaurants. I guess we’re not very adventurous that way. As usual, we only ordered two (technically three!) dishes, a bowl each of pho (Vietnamese noodle soup dish) beef steak & beef tendon noodles for hubby and me and shrimp fried rice for Abby.
Pho – The slices of beef steak & beef tendon are in there somewhere. :lol:
Greens for Garnish – These greens are added to the noodle soup for that extra umph…cilantro, basil, sprouts, lime and chili peppers.
Shrimp fried rice – It’s a meal in itself. I’d love it even more if the onions were thoroughly cooked. I’m not a big fan of “live” onions. ;) We ended up taking most of it home, but only because hubby and I are already too full. And there’s just no way our little girl will be able to finish it all by herself. ;)
i was just wondering when you were going to do your restaurant reviews hehe. anyway, there was a vietnamese noodlehouse we used to go to in charlotte, super sarap. your pho reminded me of it (huhuhu). we have not yet found “our vietnamese haunt” here, hopefully bago kami lumipat meron na hehehe!
also, i only started eating korean food nung nag-start ako manood ng korean telenovela, hahaha!
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At bakit hindi mo ako ni beam me up scotty? ubos ko lahat yan! ha ha ha!
Stel make a killer bibimbap and I, beef bulgogi ( eh kasi naman ready made na marinade na ginagamit ko he he) pero I’d like to have the Pho right now..lamig na talaga :razz:
and how’s your weather now?
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Ano ba yan, cousin, ginutom mo na naman ako! Too bad walang Korean and Vietnamese retos dito – boohoohoo! :cry:
Our fave Korean staples are beef bulgogi and chap chae noodles – yum! Am not much of a fan of Vietnamese food.. the only thing I remember liking are their barbecued spareribs and the seafood spring roll they serve as appetizers.
More food reviews to come – at least, kahit visually, makapag-enjoy naman ng ibang cuisine! :razz:
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[...] Weng, finally we found our pho hoa. [...]