Tag: thai

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asian

Tio Wally Eats America: Saya ‘gain

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Kent, Washington.

Greetings from Kent, Washington
N 47° 24.7214’ W 122° 13.636’ Elev. 30 ft.

I walked into Saya Thai and Japanese Restaurant and she asked, “Where’ve you been? I haven’t seen you for awhile.” I’d only been there once/twice before, but she remembered me. I liked that.

I’d called Saya at 9:30 a.m. — they don’t to open ’til 11 or so — but they graciously obliged me … if it was take-out. I like that.

When I picked up the food I reminded Denise how much I’d wanted to try their “signature dish for 23 years.” I couldn’t remember what it was called so she kindly wrote the name on a business card.

The dish is called, well, let’s let Denise ‘splain it:

“Don’t put this on FaceBook,” she demanded. Ever the credit to my gender, I lied and said, “I won’t.”

09 Saya_bite

Gai Yang is crazy good. It has the tang and bite of yellow curry but it’s “smoothed,” I guess, by the coconut milk. Although the chicken is baked, it retains that unmistakable, exquisite Thai char, not unlike satay. It’s accompanied by some sort of hopped-up soy sauce that’s delightfully hot. I wish I could say more but I’m too busy eating.

It’s served with a small iceberg lettuce salad and a yogurt-based(?) dressing. I don’t know what it is. It’s pink and it’s yogurt, I think. I’d investigate it but, again, I’m too busy eating.

I hate to resort to teen saws but … this Bai Yung ROCKS! If only I weren’t too busy eating. I’d tell you about it but, sorry, I’m too busy eating.

And so we roll.

Saya Japanese and Thai Restaurant, 8455 S. 212th St., Kent, Washington

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

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Uncategorized

Hi Noodle

Now that I just moved from the Graham stop in East Williamsburg, I can tell you my little lunch secret. Go to Hi Noodle and sit at the window. It’s the best view in the area to people watch. And on a nice day, they have the windows open.

01 Hi Noodle Restaurant

What I like to do when I’m sitting with a friend is to put the timer for two minutes and we each have to pick one person walking by that we want to have sex with. If you don’t pick a person within that time limit, you have to have sex with the next person that walks by …which has led to some hilarious outcomes.

It’s a hard game because you don’t want to waste your pick on a doable person, when you never know who’s right around the corner. But then you don’t want to not have a pick at all, because you might have to do a crackhead that walks by.

The game rules are always evolving. Like a newer rule would be if you see Carmine’s pizza delivery van pass, you get a bonus pick. Or if your pick (outside of the last fifteen seconds) never leaves the view, then your pick is void.

I always get the same thing. The Green Curry Noodle Big Bowl lunch special ($8) with chicken, the salad appetizer and a Singha beer ($3). The first time I got this when they first changed restaurant names from Pagoda Thai late last year, this dish was horrible. The noodle was wrong (I think it was spaghetti) and the eggplant wasn’t cooked enough and hard. But now the Green Curry Noodle Big Bowl is really good. The coconut curry broth is tasty. The noodle is the right type of noodle for this type of food. The vegetables are cooked correctly. And the view is awesome.

Alright Hi Noodle. Bye Noodle.
Time to check out the restaurants in my new hood –Jefftown.

Hi Noodle – 333 Graham Ave (b/t Devoe St & Metropolitan Ave) New York, NY 11211

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asian tio wally

Tio Wally Eats America: Thai Classic

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in San Luis Obispo, California.

Greetings from San Luis Obispo, California
N 35° 16.8764’ W 120° 39.63’ Elev. 210 feet

It amazes me how comforting peanut butter is. And versatile, too.

I love peanut butter cookies; cheese crackers and peanut butter; celery and peanut butter; hot chocolate and peanut butter sandwiches (a great combination!); and, even, fried eggs and peanut butter.

One Me So Hungry reader, Rose, memorably wrote that she, too, had a comfort food involving peanut butter: “Here’s something that I’ve eaten ever since I can recall; my mom does it: Hotdog with ketchup, mustard, onions and peanut butter. It sounds pretty disgusting, but it’s so yummy!” Now that’s versatility; I haven’t had the courage to try it.

I recently had lunch at an old haunt in this charming little city on California’s Central Coast. Thai Classic has been here for nearly 20 years, I think. And in all that time, with the notable exception of the closing/condemnation of its wonderful deck due to the supports being undermined by flooding of the adjoining San Luis Creek, it has changed very little. It still has great food, great staff, and one of the best bang-for-the-buck lunch specials around. All of the two dozen or so lunch specials are priced between $7.95-9.95 and come with a cup of soup, a small salad, white or brown rice, and a couple of fried wonton skins.

The soup is a simple vegetable affair in a thin, clear vegetable broth, with bok choy, bamboo shoot, carrot, green onion, and a hint of sweet basil. So simple yet incredibly flavorful. The salad is likewise a picture of simplicity: iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, and shredded carrot with a drizzle of peanut sauce/dressing.

Just the soup and salad alone tend to send me into flights of ecstasy. But the thing that really sends me over the edge every time is my favorite entrée: Param Chicken. This simple yet exquisite dish consists only of chunks of chicken on a bed of raw spinach in peanut sauce. That’s it.

I don’t know what it is about Param Chicken that affects me so. Whenever I eat it it makes me feel like everything is right in the world. Indeed, I find myself thinking that if Param Chicken was fed to certifiably heartless curs like Dick “Darth” Cheney (R-Hades) or mean-spirited human-terrapin mutants like U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), they could be miraculously endowed with a hint of humanity. That’s impossible, I know, but it’s a nice thought nonetheless.

And so we roll.

Thai Classic, 1011 Higuera St., San Luis Obispo, California

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

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asian

Sage’s Coconut Curry Noodle Soup with Duck

The cooler Fall weather made me hankering for some soup. I’ve been eating this Coconut Curry Noodle Soup with Duck ($12) at Sage. It’s really good. Creamy with the right amount of spice. The duck is pretty surprisingly good and tender. I’ve ordered it with egg noodles which compliment it well. There’s a crispy noodle nest topping that’s good dipped in the creamy broth.

Next time I’m going to try to see if they can substitute the noodles for vegetables. I’d like to cut back on the carbs. I did ask a couple of times if their Tom Kha coconut soup was the same broth and they said yes. But it isn’t. I ordered it one night and it’s different. Different color and taste. Maybe Tom Kha is the base of the coconut curry soup without the curry? But it’s not the same.

My impression of Sage previously was that it was just another average New York trendy-looking Thai restaurant. But this coconut curry soup really hits the spot. My favorite thing I’ve eaten in October.

Sage – 299-301 Graham Ave (@ Ainslie St) Brooklyn, NY 11211

Coconut Curry Noodle Soup with Duck - Sage

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asian

Larb Ubol – Isan Authentic Thai

Yoshie had a Ramen and Friends lunch at Larb Ubol in Hell’s Kitchen. She and Rob like the chef’s other restaurants in Queens.

I got lost because there were so many Thai restaurants in this area on 9th Ave. I remembered it had Larb in the name though. I always wanted to know what Larb was. I’ve seen it on menus. Turns out it’s minced meat salad. I tried the Chicken Larb. Kind of tasted like Chicken Salad …you know, like if you got a chicken salad sandwich?

I felt like Homer Simpson saying, “Larb! Larb! Larb! Larb!” in silly melody. I don’t know if he ever said that, but it seems like it he would.

I liked the Roast Pork and Crispy Pork a lot. That was good.

Larb Ubol – 480 9th Ave (@ 37th St) New York, NY 10018
Ramen and Friend’s review – http://www.ramenandfriends.com/2013/08/larb-ubol-08-17-2013.html

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asian

Qi Thai Grill (Williamsburg)

I like Qi in the city. They have a good lunch special. I wanted to try the Qi they opened up in Williamsburg, because they have a menu designed by a chef from SriPraPhai and Pichet Ong …like Ovaltine Pork Ribs. Yes, please.

The restaurant is big and looks really nice, but it was empty. I don’t know if we were just there too early or what. It’s a shame, because I really liked the food.

We got the Spicy Buffalo Wings (Sriracha barbecue glaze), Spicy Pork Trotter w/ Fresh Herbs (I didn’t know what pork trotter was, but it turn out to be feet), and Ovaltine Pork Ribs (made with Ovaltine). All of it was really good.

I guess this place is kind of like a Sea or Planet Thai, but I think better because of the special menu.

Qi Thai Grill – 176 N 9th St (btwn Bedford & Driggs) Brooklyn, NY 11211

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asian lunch

Pongsri Thai’s Massaman Curry

Man, I haven’t had Massaman Curry in so long. I used to to Pongsri Thai all the time with my friends from work. We came to visit Thai Todd. We don’t know if that was his name, but we called him that.

This time I took my out of town friends, John and Alan, to Pongsri for lunch. I got my Massaman Curry (Thai spiced curry paste cooked in coconut milk, peanuts, onion and potatoes $7.95). I love coconut milk curry. Creamy and seemingly easy on the stomach. Tasty! My friends loved their meal too.

Pongsri Thai Chelsea – 165 W 23rd St (btwn 7th & 6th Ave) New York, NY 10011

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asian street

Tuk Tuk Boy Thai Food Cart

I went out to Midtown to buy a ticket for a childhood best friend‘s show at Carnegie Hall. Yeah, weird right? I didn’t know until that day he was performing. And why? I don’t really know. I recently found out he’s a famous author, but I didn’t understand why he was performing at Carnegie Hall.

Anyway, I passed by this Thai food cart (Tuk Tuk Boy) on the way back to work. I got the Chicken Pad Thai $7. I had to ask for the hot chili sauce. And it had some Easy Points scan code sticker on the package. I don’t know what that is.

The Pad Thai came out quick and pretty good. All the ingredients were all separated in the box. Like I had to mix it up. It was good.

Tuk Tuk Boy Thai Food Cart – E. 50th St (between 6th & 7th Ave) New York, NY 10019

So that night I went to see my old friend. I contacted him on Twitter. First time we communicated in over two decades.

The show was crazy. Everyone was thirteen years old, female and I think Swedish. And they went crazy when he and his younger brother said anything. It was like the Beatles were playing. It’s weird. Any time I think of his younger brother, I picture a 5 year old kid and I hear that voice in my mind. But they’re all grown up now and apparently successful. I think I’m a little bit jealous. But I guess I do okay.

Even though I didn’t understand one thing at the show (What was going on? Why are people going crazy? What is this show about?) …I do remember him being really smart and forthgoing. So I would’ve imagined it would end up this way.