also on veranda street

a few fridays ago, seth and i went to veranda thai for the 8th round of thai-o-rama.  we have wanted to try this place since our mechanics, across the street at portland motor sales, told us it was good.  (note: if you need a great honest mechanic, you should go to these guys).  its a tiny little place and we grabbed one of the last open tables to watch a parade of to go orders come in and out of the door.
  we quickly ordered a couple thai iced teas and our food.  this was a few weeks ago and i'm tired and can't find the menu on veranda's website so i'm gonna have to summarize the meal a little.  for appetizers i'm sure we ordered spring rolls.  i can't remember them, so i guess they were just okay (unlike the fried spring rolls at the new pho hanoi in south portland that are just awesome).
for our main courses we got a fried fish in a  brown basil sauce and the classic thai beef salad.
the fish was really good with a rich brown sauce, lots of fresh basil, onions, and i can't remember what else.  the beef salad was quite good as well. seth and i both agreed that it really needed a little more lime but the beef was more tender then in the same salad at pom's thai taste.
as i said before, the restaurant is tiny so the kitchen is tucked around the corner, really only feet from the dining room.  its kind of cool to be able to hear the cooks working in the kitchen, but with that you have to take that your meal may be a little smokey and your clothes may continue to smell like thai food long after you are done eating.
overall i found veranda thai to be pretty good and i would eat here again.

New Vietnamese Joint in So. Po. Hits the Spot!

Whats up folks? Seth here, guest blogging.  Why?  I had to let you know about the new Vietnamese restaurant that just opened up at 171 Ocean st. in South Portland.  Last week I was riding my bike through South Portland and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a new sign for a place called Pho Hanoi. (I have great peripheral vision, particularly for all you can eat buffets, large carnivorous predators, and Asian restaurants.)  I'm a big fan of both Tan Tan and Saigon but I was very excited that another Vietnamese place was opening in our city.  So yesterday afternoon I checked out the menu posted on their door to make sure they would be open that night.  I noticed a couple of "special combination plates" of bun and rice with no further description.  This intrigued me, I was intrigued and compelled and by the time Jenner got home from work I was hungry!  First late me state with absolute authority that you with not find better more attentive wait service in any restaurant in the greater Portland area.  This seems to be a common trait of Vietnamese places here in Portland, this winter one of the waitresses at Saigon, literally, kissed my wife on the cheek while serving her pho.  The two servers at Hanoi were great and checked in with us often about our beverage and food status.  The menu is considerable and I was pleased to see some offerings not available at Portland's established Vietnamese joints.  For apps Jenner and I had the shredded pork skin spring roll, which was texturally a bit strange due to the pork skin but super tasty.  We also tried the fried egg rolls.  I'm gonna put it all on the line her and say that they were the best Vietnamese style fried spring rolls I've had in Portland.  That' right, I said it!  Jenner got the chicken pho as her main and it certainly rivals the pho at both Tan Tan and Saigon (although it did not have the pronounced anise flavor favored by some).  The pieces of chicken swimming in the broth were particularly tender.  I could not help myself, I had to have the "mystery" combination bun plate listed only as "Special Combination Vermicelli Bowl."  I asked the waitress what was in it but I don't understand accents so well.  I did take away from our conversation that something was wrapped around something.  In spite of not being exactly sure what was in the dish I ordered it anyway.  And, Ladies and gentlemen, I was not disappointed, turns out the dish is contains a shrimp paste that is hand molded onto pieces of bamboo.  The special combination also had grilled pork and grilled chicken which both had a wonderful char grill flavor to them.  All the accompanying veggies were super fresh and the basil, in particular, stood out.  When we had finished and were leaving the chief had come out from behind the line and he asked us how our dinner had been.  Accolades.  I should mention that the space is basic but pleasant.  I had my take out menu in hand and I plan to use it frequently.

Sabieng Thai

this is round 7 of the GREAT thai-o-rama and this time we went to sabieng!  located on forest ave. just off congress, it is in a nice space with a huge front window, very high ceilings, and exposed duct work.  i did appreciate that the required thai kitsch was quite pared down.  it seemed like someone had put a little thought into the decor versus just putting the most tacky things possible on the walls.  but i know you don't really care that much about the decor.  you want to know how the food was.
appetizer = chive pancakes.  yummy.  a little gummy in that way that rice pancake-type-things can be but it  filled with fresh chives and garlic and complemented nicely with a ginger dipping sauce.
mains = panaeng tofu curry and lemon grass chicken, both served with brown rice and both ordered medium spicy.  yum to both.
the tofu was like little pillows of soft goodness soaking up the richness of the perfectly spicy, not too sweet, curry.  it was full of fresh crisp green beans and basil and sprinkled with kefir lime zest.
the lemon grass chicken was unfortunately not so lemon grassy but still really good.  a nice rich brown sauce with lots of chicken and green beans and bamboo shoots and basil.  again it was spicy enough to give you a nice burn without detracting from the overall flavor.
we were the only table in the restaurant so we got pretty great service.  the cook himself came out of the kitchen and asked us how everything was.  he seemed very pleased that we were so pleased.  we thought we were really gonna see some action when a fire truck pulled up right outside the restaurant but the owner told us that the fire truck comes almost daily as the building across the street houses a lot of older folks.
on our way out, we saw blueberry files coming in with m.  i hope there take out was as good as our dine in.

images of spring

eat fiddle heads!  these were prepared with shallots, olive oil, salt, and pepper and sauteed.  last night we had them tossed in garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper and cooked in the grill wok. both so simple but so delicious. they are only around for a short time so eat them up!

lilacs!  i love lilacs so much, but because i don't have any bushes of my own, i have to try to find bushes around town that aren't obviously in some one's yard so i can cut some to fill my whole house with their amazing aroma.  these i cut from over a brick wall while no one was watching.

pansies!  i went a little overboard and bought way too many pansies.  but i found pots for them all and now it looks like someone threw-up pansies on my deck.  not such a bad thing.

a very thai experience

round 6 (i'm losing track) of thai-o-rama and we went to boda!
the inside of boda is really interesting with concrete walls and rough wood tables and chairs.  the windows in the front are amazing for people watching.  a couple delicious cocktails got us going.  seth had a basil tom collins and i had a mildly fruity alcoholic arnold palmer.
started with the larp het, at northeastern-style spicy mushroom salad of grilled assorted mushroom mixed with chili, shallots, soy sauce, lime juice, mint, long-leaf coriander, and roasted rice powder.  this was a little disappointing because it was overwhelmingly salty from way too much fish sauce.  there were a couple of bites where the grilled mushroom and herb flavors shone through and they were really great.  but the majority was difficult to enjoy.  and while i like a little crunchy, i didn't like the texture of the roasted rice powder.
for appetizers we got the northern-style sausages and a grilled squid special.  the sausages themselves were very gingery, which i loved, and were served with pickled ginger and relish.  i can't really remember the relish but seth and i both LOVED these sausages.  to be honest, i don't meet many sausages i don't like.
the squid was just okay.  it, like everything else that landed on our table, was presented beautifully.  the small squid bodies sliced horizontally and served with spicy chili, garlic lime dipping sauce.  by itself, the squid had hint of smoke, but was otherwise flavorless.  the dipping sauce was really good, but it was all you tasted with each bite of squid.  i love sauces, but i think they should complement the flavors of the main dish, not overpower it.
we shared one entree of braised pork hocks, simmered in a rich dark stock made with chinese five spice, served with jasmine steamed rice, hardboiled egg, tofu, asian mustard green pickles, and spicy & sour chili sauce.   the menu said it is one of the most popular street foods in thailand.  it was pretty amazing.  it was kind of deconstructed and both together and standing alone, each component was great.  the asian mustard green pickles were ridiculously good and my only complaint was that there wasn't more of them on the plate.
we usually don't get dessert but i was feeling decadent so i got a decaf espresso and we shared an amazing dessert of sticky rice, coconut milk and mango.  again it was deconstructed and we had to unwrap the sticky rice from the banana leaf and pour the coconut milk over the rice.  the mango was perfectly ripe and buttery.  its the thing i would be most excited to go back to boda to eat.
all in all, this was a pretty good meal.  first off, i have never seen any of these things on a menu at any other thai restaurant, so they get points for showing me something different.  second, even though there were a couple of items that i didn't really care for, the things i did like were really great.
i would go back just for the cocktails, dessert, and people watching.

poisoned in california

seth wants it to be called the great lengua incident of 2010. i'm thinking i should market it as the new lengua diet. in any event, i got food poisoning on day two of my seven day trip to my home state of california.
i was dreaming of tacos for weeks. i had done all this research and found blogs dedicated to tacos in sacramento: yum tacos and perfecto taco de sacto. my family graciously allowed me to haul them across town to eat these authentic jewels of taconess. my mistake was the lengua. yes people, tongue! i love it as many others do, but i think i have likely eaten my last bite of tongue, for at least a while (no pun intended). i will say they were delicious going down. and seth and my whole family ate other types of tacos - carnitas, pollo, carne asada -- but i was the only one who ate the lengua. and the only one to get sick. i have many more photos of this taco truck moment but i can only bring myself to post this one glorious photo of how beautiful and innocent they looked before going down.
i planned on photographing and blogging about every meal in california, but i was sick as a dog for almost the entire trip. i had absolutely no appetite for like four days and the mere thought of food made me ill. in fact, i'm still having some residual nausea as i write about these tacos now. at the worst points of yucky tummy, i thought i would never blog again because i couldn't imagine having the stomach to write about food.
i am happy to report that i got some in-n-out into my belly before the tacos. and on my last day we hit up comforts for their signature chinese chicken salad. i worked at this up-scale deli in high school and i would definitely say it helped to create my obsession for food. the chinese chicken salad is simple but absolutely their best seller for years. romaine and iceberg lettuce, crispy fried rice noodles, scallions, grilled chicken, and this perfect tangy light dressing.

boston eats at susan's fish and chips

my friend and movie maker extraordinaire, sarah, came for a visit to portland and we created another boston eats at susan's fish and chips.
she is also getting some much deserved attention for these creations and was interviewed on wbur's public radio kitchen blog about boston eats. enjoy both!