Inspired by Food Networks show, “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”, I give you 3 of the best things I ever ate! Warning this post might cause the occasional “yummy that sounds so good” chant and a little drooling over your computer monitor. I’m going to take you to 3 of my favorite restaurants, Nha Hang Pho Viet Huong in Manhattan New York’s Chinatown, Ihawan Filipino BBQ Restaurant in Woodside Queens New York and Wasabi Japanese Restaurant, which is a jump and skip away located in Orange Connecticut. Sit back relax and enjoy this delicious read!
Nestled between Baynard and Canal Street, in the nooks and crannies of Chinatown’s Mulberry Street, there’s a small place with exotic artificial plants, cliché Chinese lanterns and fireworks hanging fr
om bamboo roof decors. However cliché it may sound it’s also a place that emanates an aroma of interesting spices and seasonings literally right out of its doors. It’s a true Chinatown treasure, boasted as one of the best Viet restaurants on the East Coast, for one of the most delicious creations of all time, Pho. Ah, Pho, pronounced as “fuh” is a savory beef broth based Vietnamese soap. There’s a variety of recipes, but the traditional broth is m
ade with charred onions, ginger, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and that wonderfully inte
resting spice star anise. With it goes thin slices of beef and rice noodles accompanying various garnishes, from scallions, to coriander, lime, bean sprouts, minced fried garlic, fish sauce, Sriracha and anything else one desires to combine in an already abundant palette of divine components. It’s like having your cake and eating it too! It’s truly heaven in a bowl. Every slurp of that aromatic broth and bite of tasty beef and noodle is like an adventure of unique tastes in your mouth.
Woodside Queens New York is called “Little Manila”. There’s an abundance of Filipino specialty shops, grocery stores and of course Ihawan Filipino BBQ Restaurant set on a 2 story building. Smells of authentic Filipino food permeates your nose as soon as you walk into the doors as the kitchen is located ground level and the restaurant upstairs. It’s a hole in the wall, but if you can get past that, the food is amazing. I love the Filipino pork barbecue on a stick served with a simple small bowl of rice, but I adore the Crispy Pata. Crispy Pata is pork hock that’s bo
iled in water spiced with whole garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, salt and soy sauce, after it’s cooled the hock gets deep fried until it’s crispy, hence the name. The Crispy Pata is also served with a tangy sweet dipping sauce, “sawsawan”, usually made with soy sauce, minced chili, vinegar and calamansi, a citris fruit that has an
equal taste to limes. Every time I have gone here, the delicious crispiness of that deep fried pork hock is always on my menu. It’s like opening a present on Christmas morning, covered by its wrapping of crispy crunchy rind outside and moist meat inside – simply delicious!
Lastly on the best thing I ever ate, exists in one of my favorite places to dine, Wasabi Japanese Restaurant right on the Post Road in Orange CT. Their sushi is fresh, their service is amazing and of course what I try to come there for when my belly has room for more…the Green Tea Mascarpone Cheesecake!
The distinct flavor of green tea combined with the sweet and creamy mascarpone cheese on top of a sweet chocolate crust is definitely to die for! The mascarpone cheese just melts in your mouth like sweet butter and the exotic taste of green tea dances in your mouth with every creamy delicious bite of that green tea infused mascarpone cheese. This cheesecake is unlike anything else and beats regular cake for dessert. So, after you have filled up with all the dragon rolls and sashimi – try a plate of this pleasantly comforting cherry on top of it all!
s a traditional Laotian salad made with shredded unripened papaya mixed in a large deep mortar and pestle called a "khok", in which you put in chili peppers, fresh cut tomatoes, fish sauce and other Asian ingredients. Though my secret Asian marinate recipe is top-secret, I've decided to share the interesting way of making tam mak hoong. I love and crave for it occasionally with its' distinct taste of Laotian cuisine consisting of sweet, sour, salty, spicy and the unripened papaya's crunchy texture. People differentiate the way they make it depending on one's taste. Some prefer theirs more spicy or more sweet etc. There's also a Thai version of it called Som Tam, which to me is a sweeter version. Provided is the following tools and ingredients used to make a traditional Laotian tam m
ak hoong. To watch a video on how to make this delicious and interesting dish, click on the link.
