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I am in this weird phase in which the first thing I want to put in my mouth when I wake up is cheese! I usually eat them as a snack or when I am too lazy to cook (yes, same old excuse.) Today I woke up, rushed to the nearest cheese place, and grabbed three types of cheeses: Comté, Manchego, and Morbier. I am actually craving for Vacherine Mont d’Or but didn’t see any.
Cheese breakfast – perfect with grilled figs and muscat grapes.
Also, magnificent if the three cheeses are melted together on a slice of Poilâne’s bread or Kayser’s pain aux figues.
Palais d’Asie – not the most original name but the place serves very decent bowls of noodles. My favorite is the Phnom Phen rice noodles or Vermicelle de Phnom Phen. Over the years, it’s become my comfort food in Paris. It is served with a side of lemons and bean sprouts. I usually order mine without the innards.
If ordered dry, it comes with a delectable bowl of broth.
If you are lucky, the broth comes with a frightening piece of meat on bones,
but fear not, for the meat is tender and melts in your mouth.
But if you are not that lucky, you will get more bones than meat.
Or you might just get bones and broth with absolutely no
meat………………ok, it might come with a tiny flab of fat as seen
on the right of the picture.
meat………………ok, it might come with a tiny flab of fat as seen
on the right of the picture.
Then again if you are really down on luck, you only get the broth – no bones, no meat.
Palais d’Asie
93 avenue d’Ivry
93 avenue d’Ivry
A little bird and I went for a tête-à-tête at the Plaza Athénée yesterday. Actually, she wanted to buy me dinner at a fancy restaurant in celebration of my birthday (which she missed because she almost drowned in a pool of happiness when her loved ones came to visit from abroad.)
I was happy to just meet for a cup of tea or coffee, so the wonderful bird suggested afternoon tea at Plaza Athénée. Food was alright, but I had a great time laughing and joking with her. Love you, CC!!!!!
The Best?
While the matter of taste is very subjective, I often find the claim of being “the best” by any one culture highly pretentious. One movie that had me sighing with plenty of nonstop eye-rolling was the cute Ratatouille. The movie opened with the talented rat proclaiming that French cuisine is the best, blah, blah, blah. Before anyone gets me wrong, I adore French food just as much as Thai, Laotian, Taiwanese, Korean, Spanish, Italian………. But it is definitely not “the best” for me. Different cuisines are “the best” in their own rights. No one surpasses the other if you ask me. This reminds me of the statement made by Alain Ducasse that France is the gastronomic city of the world. I love his creations, but those words, my friends, almost had me gaging on his caviar and langoustine pasta. France is the gastronomic city of French food. Period. Just as Spain is the gastronomic city of Spanish food. I guess it also depends on how one defines “gastronomic city.” For me, it would mean that that particular city is brimming with all the best culinary traditions of the world. Thus far, I haven’t heard of or set foot on any such city. Paris is steaming with great French fare, but ethnic restaurants here are lamer than eating instant noodles……….ok, there are a few good ones. But if I were forced to choose, I would say Tokyo comes to being quite close to the definition.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean other cultures are not capable of churning out food that envelopes all of one’s senses and leaves one screaming madly for more. The question, then, is why is it only certain cuisines are so exalted around the world and the rest lives in obscurity? I, personally, think it has to do with the culture of different countries. In certain countries, individual chefs are celebrated for their creations and techniques. While as in Asia, most chefs live in oblivion. However, I have to say I admire the camaraderie and the the sense of sharing of French chefs. Try asking the same thing of a Chinese chef. Ask him to take you as an apprentice and share his secrets, recipes, techniques………….it’s probably easier to ask a walrus to jiggle is jelly belly! Maybe that is why those secrets die with the so-called great masters whose name, ironically, are forgotten and uncelebrated. In recent years, I have seen more and more Asian chefs following the European tradition of self-promotion (which is probably not a bad thing), but the brotherhood-sharing tradition is still very, very, very, rare. Maybe, one day, when the pettiness dies, they can also be referred to as “the best”, too.
PS. Pictures are unrelated to topic. It’s a gift I received from Taiwan – an artisanal thick soy sauce made from black beans instead of the usual soybeans. Interestingly, the company was founded in 1909 and survived industrialization.
Yesterday was a public holiday (L’Assomption – the day that Virgin Mary ascended to heaven), but thankfully, Le Comptoir is open and in August! That alone was a good enough excuse for me not to cook on a holy-day (sorry, for the cheesy pun. Couldn’t help it.) Yup, I skipped happily with my other half to the bistro.
Pressée de Foie Gras et Cèpes – despite the presence of foie gras it was a very light dish; the slightly acidic taste matches well with the layers of crunchy carrots and potatoes. A perfect summer dish!
Salade Gourmande – crunchy greens with the foie gras cooked just right.
Lait de Cochon Braisé et Rotie – a real delight! The pork was very tender and juicy. Plus, it has none of that offal smell present in French pork.
Coquelet – I was a little disappointed with this dish. The chicken was rubbed in a crust of mustard and stuffed with a shallot before being roasted. It could have used a little bit more spices and herbs.
Ha! Ha! This is not the Pot de Crème de Chocolat that you see floating in other blogs. It’s Panacotta de Rhubarbe, Coulis de Frais. I adore this dish. The tarty rhubarb matches very well with the smooth panacotta accentuated by the sweet and sour coulis de frais.
Update (Nov. 7, 2008): This post has been edited. See my About page for more details.
Last weekend, we dined with friends at Au Beouf Couronné because Hubby got into a “discussion” with Bald Shrimp over which country has the better beef, Japan or France, or more precisely, Matsuzaka vs Blonde d’Aquitaine. The only four-legged animal I eat oinks, which probably explains why we rarely venture into steak places in France. I was assured that the place serves delectable seafood as well, so I agreed.
Entrée of terrine – I loved it. And I am sure there are leftover bits and pieces of various beef in it! Ha! Ha! Ha! So much for eating only swine!
My main dish of sautéed scallops. Fresh and plump but nothing memorable.
Before picture of MSOH’s Châteaubriand of Blonde d’Aquitaine which he finds “very good.”
After picture of the steak – looks just like a piece of raw meat unpacked from a supermarket Styrofoam and slapped onto the plate.
The two wines of the night.
A portrait of the Blonde d’Aquitaine and unknown farmer.
Verdict: Hubby is a die-hard Japanese beef lover!
Update (Nov. 7, 2008): this post has been edited. See my About page for details.
What does one eat when all the restaurants (well, all my favorite ones) are closed in August? Instead of just resorting to a constant stable of instant noodles and hotel restaurants, Hubby and I had been frequetning places that, oh, that’s still open in August. Call it necessity or possessed by the Ghost of Laziness to cook, but I refuse to sweat over a hot stove come summer. Even if summer in Paris this year is behaving more like autumn.
We didn’t expect much but it did gave us a chance to explore parts of Paris that we seldom venture into. One such place is 14th arrondisement. We decided to try A La Bonne Table. French food by a Japanese chef. With many Japanese chefs showing their stellar talents here, we thought why not.
A very thin slice of foie gras over a crispy bed of greens. We both agree it was well-done. Our only complaint was the foie gras could have been thicker.
My entrée of girolles. Sauteed lightly in butter with shallots and sprinkled with parsley. The best way to eat girolles.
Again I forgot the name of the fish (I think it was a dourade.) The skin was very crispy and goes well with the tapenade. The only complaint was, the cooking oil wasn’t well drain, making it a little greasy.
Dessert of Tarte de Mirabelle which the both of us liked. The tarte was crispy and flaky and the mirabelles seems to be presoaked in liquor.
Lao Thai is indisputably my all-time favorite Thai restaurant in Paris. While its specialty is in Laotian dishes or Thai dishes with Laotian origins, the place makes a mean Red Curry Roast Duck in my opinion. True, there are other Thai restaurants that make just as delectable curries but they tend to be a little too sweet for my palate. While I love Thai food, I always have to ask the chefs to hold back the sugar when in Thailand. In fact this reminds me of a comment made by a prominent food connoisseur, M.R.Thanadri Svasti, in one of his TV shows when I was a kid – he had remarked that Thailand was invaded by a “sweet epidemic”, meaning that modern day Thai food has become increasingly overtly sweet as compared to the past. I couldn’t agree more. Every time I return back to Bangkok, the food just seems to get sweeter and sweeter and sweeter and sweeter……………… Anyways, lucky for me (although not for long), there is always Lao Thai.
Last night, I went there with two friends and, as always, I thoroughly enjoyed every bite. The dishes I never fail to order are Laab Ped (Spicy Duck Salad) and Kaeng Daeng Ped Yang (Red Curry Roast Duck.) Another dish that I highly recommend is the Pla Som (Fried Fermented Fish) – it is unbelievably better than any I have tasted in Thailand. The restaurant also makes Isan Sausages that, though delicious, taste more like Sai Oua (Northern Thai Sausage). Again, it is good but for the best Sai Oua in this world, if I dare say so, hop over to Sala Thai. I will write more about Sala Thai later, as for now, feast on the only food picture I took at Lao Thai. 
Lao Thai, 128 Rue Tolbiac, Paris 13e
Update (Nov. 7, 2008) This post has been edited and some parts rewritten. See my About page for more details.
Hubby took me here for lunch yesterday. He had a great meal there with Bald Shrimp and Iceman. Apparently, the restaurant is operated by a “famous chef from Hong Kong” as touted by the red sign posted on the restaurant’s window. If it weren’t for Hubby’s assurance that the food is good, I would normally back away from any restaurant that makes such claims. It is also one of the few places in this City of Light where chefs made their own noodles Cantonese-style.
I wouldn’t say it makes the best noodles I have ever had, but for Paris, Noodle Bar is definitely one of the better places for near-authentic noodle fare. Apart from noodles, it also makes other “spécialtés” that are not necessarily Cantonese. One such dish is Hainanese Chicken Rice. I ordered it to go for breakfast (yes, I am one of those people who eat Chicken Rice first thing in the morning) and I must say I prefer it over the Tan Tan Mien that I ate there.
Tan Tan Mien – this is what I had for lunch. The noodles were just a teeny-tiny bit too doughy and thick. According to Hubby, the chef must be having a bad day because it was “perfect” when he was last there. I haven’t written this place off my list and want to come back again. Hopefully Monsieur le Chef will be in a good mood then.
Noodle Bar
31bis, rue Nationale
Paris 13e
01 44 23 85 74
31bis, rue Nationale
Paris 13e
01 44 23 85 74
Update (Nov. 7, 2008): This post has been edited and parts of it rewritten. See my About page for more details.
Memory can be a treacherous thing. The first time I ate at L’Avant Goût, I remember I liked the food. Not that I didnt enjoy it last night. The ingredients used were fresh, but the food was lacking that little something from the last time. I still had a great time. Nothing beats drinking, eating, and joking with wonderful friends. The place is now open on Saturdays. As opposed to four days a week.
Entrée of Ravioles de Canard Nage de Shiitake au Curcuma - the duck ravioli filling was a little dry and the soup tasted just like the seasoning packs for instant noodles cooked with cumin seeds. The star was the tender fresh shiitake.
Poitrine de Canard Sauvageon Simplement Rotie, Girolles et Gâteau de Pomme de Terre – the duck was roasted just right but it could have used more seasoning. On the other hand, the gâteau de pomme de terre was lovely – crispy on the outside and soft and creamy inside.
Chaud et Froid Moelleux de Chocolat, Glace Vanille et Caramel.
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