*** Vientianne has since closed....
Just a quick "hump day" post. I created a post on March 6th, about a visit I made to Vientiane Food to Go a few weeks back. A few days ago, the Missus had a craving for the "Fried Rice" (The Lady there called it "Nem") she had eaten there. So I drove down to 47th and Imperial to find the take-out window in Lao Plaza had a "For Lease" sign on it. But luckily, the snack and noodle soup counter next door had taken over the business, and Papaya Salad and sticky rice were still available. Whew!
I ended up trying the Beef Laab:
Fairly tender slices of beef along with tripe, in a surprisingly mild fish-lime sauce. I really was shocked at the mildness of the dish, even when I ate a few hot peppers.
I also managed to get the rice the Missus wanted along with some very good perfectly fried pork rinds. The rinds were cut into thin strips, and almost looked like calamari. They hadn't the slightest bit of greasiness to them, and were "light"(in relative terms) and crunchy. Delici-yoso!!!
So 2 orders Beef Laab, Fried Rice, Pork Rinds, and Container of Sticky Rice - $15. I did ask where the Woman who formerly ran the "take-out window" had gone to, and was told that business was slow, so she decided to get a regular job. Bummer. Though I didn't try the papaya salad, both the sticky rice and the fried rice tasted perfectly fine, and so there probably is just the minimum amount of change if any.
Here's a few photos of a recent visit to Dao Son. I had the Chicken Katsu Curry($5.50):
Very thin, but spicy curry. Flavor was more like a Thai curry then the sweeter Japanese Curry. Katsu was a bit over-fried making the crust rather hard, but the overall flavor of the dish was good.
And two dishes that were on included in my previous post. The Red Chicken($5.99):
Chicken a bit too dry this time around, but oh man that sauce.........
Fried Catfish with Eggplant($6.99):
I don't know why this dish hasn't been added to the regular menu. It's always been on the "grease board menu".
Some odds and ends:
I read about the 5lb 7oz mango from the Big Island that made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. You can read the article here.
And from the la.food blogging site, a post about Tommy's Ultimate Fan Free Combo Meal contest. Yep, that is the word "free"....
If you wonder what the 'Butter Side Down School of Science' is, you can find out here. Not really about food...I think????
Since it's close to that time of the year, here's Colleen's version of "Silence of the Peeps."
And finally, you can help name Pam's from Daily Gluttony's Baby "Brother".
Oh, one more last thing, please check out the Website of a Movie I'm really looking forward to seeing. I know it's not really about food, I really was trying to figure how to tie in a link to it, but just gave up.... Looks like a really funny film!
Hope the week is going well for everyone!
thanks kirk! i'm hoping you don't think the movie sucks too bad...lol
anyways, i got you covered bro, since we were "really, really, looooow budget" we couldn't afford special effects and stunt teams,so we just did the next best thing.....showed people eating and talking about food... ha ha
kirk, you the missus and the fendi bag should come down for the L.A. premiere if you can, we'll have some Mario's Peruvian beforehand! double yum!!! but, the Dior bag is not invited... sorry... ;)
Posted by: dietchilicheesefries | Wednesday, 15 March 2006 at 10:16 PM
Mutant lemons and giant mangos? Wow. What a day!
Posted by: Kady | Thursday, 16 March 2006 at 01:48 AM
That was a nice mix of tidbits Kirk! I am sooo glad you managed to find your wife her rice and that the place still sold most of the dishes. Hehe if shes like me she would have been extremely dissapointed if you got home and she had been dreaming all the time yo'd been gone about this rice and if you got home and no rice.... well... it might have gotten crowded in the dog house that night! ;)
That giant mango is huuuuge!! I wonder if these giant fruit and veggies ever taste good?
Posted by: Rachel | Thursday, 16 March 2006 at 04:01 AM
the news about the giant mango was carried by both Honolulu newspapers on Sunday. I ran across the article myself last night on Slashfood.
http://www.slashfood.com/2006/03/15/megamango/
The picture of the mango shown on the newswire though was taken in October of last year. I don't know why it all became news just now to be truthful. But the grower still keeps the mango handy in the freezer. She picked the mango green anyway, as the photo of it shows, so you couldn't have eaten that particular species of mango unripe anyways. What's that they say, "you can't have your mango and eat it too," or something along that lines : )
Posted by: RONW | Thursday, 16 March 2006 at 11:30 AM
I made it out to Vientiane last week after you mentioned it, and I got the papaya salad and fried rice. I really liked both of them. The papaya salad is a lot stronger tasting the Thai version. I noticed that they had pho over there too. I was also pleased that they had a working game of Frogger :)
Posted by: howie | Thursday, 16 March 2006 at 01:26 PM
Now see, Kirk, I was going to say: even from the little bit I've learned about Asian cultures, I figured you couldn't have a movie all about Asians and not have food in it somewhere. :-)
Posted by: mizducky | Thursday, 16 March 2006 at 09:56 PM
Hi DCCF - I didn't know if you wanted everyone to know - so I kept it kinda low key. I'm sure we'll ehjoy the film - just let me know when! Especially since I know you're blowing the entire budget on the "after-party"!!!!
Hi Kady - And it's not even the weekend yet!
Hi Rachel - Don't know - I've found that huge fruit/vegetables sometimes don't taste very good.
Hi RONW - I think it's because Guinness certified it as a record mango. I think picking it green was a very good strategy - could you imagine if She had let it ripen, and then it fell of the tree...and splat, not moa' record, la' dat....
Hi Howie - Funny, I had never thought of you as a "Frogger" kind of guy..... I've found that most Laotian Food has a bit more fish sauce, and less sugar.
Hi mizducky - You are without a doubt, 100% correct. I think that's why I enjoy the SDAFF so much, many great films, with alot of food scenes!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 17 March 2006 at 09:36 AM
never thought of that Kirk....waiting for the mango to ripen would be taking a gamble that it might fall off the tree.
Posted by: RONW | Friday, 17 March 2006 at 11:21 AM
Kirk, I think we can just name my Baby Bro "Roswell", what do you think? ha ha...thanks for the link!
And that mango is bigger than that woman's head!
Posted by: Pam | Friday, 17 March 2006 at 02:48 PM
Wow... You classified the dish as "mild" although I see five visible chiles! I think that you just have the spicy gene in you! I'm guessing the gene is like the one that controls for lactose intolerance. I can eat spicy foods, but not like that.
Posted by: Passionate Eater | Friday, 17 March 2006 at 08:40 PM
Hi RONW - And with that splat would have gone the world record!
Hi Pam - LOL! Roswell, is a great name. BTW, the average human head weighs around 10-12 lbs.... so that mango has got a bit of growing to do.....
Hi PE - Munching those chilies added heat, but not the kind of "heat" I was expecting. The papaya salad I gad previously, though, really set your lip on fire....delici-yoso!!!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 17 March 2006 at 09:07 PM
I went back here a couple of days ago. I had pho and my friend had sukiyaki. They were both pretty good though different from their Vietnamese and Japanese counterparts. The pho broth seemed more lemony (maybe lemongrass), and it mostly had meatballs rather than slices of meat. Good, but I'm so used to the Vietnamese pho.
The sukiyaki came with a small plate of sauce that the owner instructed us to pour into the broth. It was a little sweet and it tasted like peanuts. Very surprising.
By the way, after you wrote that the peppers weren't hot, I tried one that came with the pho and my face immediately turned red and started coughing. I think your tolerance must be better than mine :)
Posted by: howie | Saturday, 18 March 2006 at 05:53 PM
Hi Howie - Oooh so sorry! The one I had was just slightly hot - maybe I got a mild one! Hope you're ok. Interesting about the soups/Pho/"sukiyaki" - I did look over the photos when I was there, but never tried it. I really don't know very muuch about Laotian food other then the Laab and Papaya Salad, so all that is new to me.
Posted by: Kirk | Saturday, 18 March 2006 at 09:15 PM
Well Ron/Kirk that could've made a record splat !
Posted by: Rachel | Sunday, 19 March 2006 at 05:01 AM
Hi Rachel - And a major clean-up as well.
Posted by: Kirk | Sunday, 19 March 2006 at 08:58 AM
I am droooooling....Both the red chicken and catfish are a couple of my regulars at Dao Son. But really.....it's all about the rice!
Posted by: Jack | Monday, 20 March 2006 at 07:14 PM
Hi Jack - You are right. I could just eat the red sauce with rice, and would be completely satisfied!!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 20 March 2006 at 08:31 PM