After the fusion pho at MOPHO, the next afternoon after walking and being attacked (by biting insects) at Jean Lafitte NP, we stopped by another carpark restaurant this time for more traditional pho, BBH and avocado smoothie.
Standard and nice.
When in New Orleans, cajun cuisine came up and it was great to see a Cajun-Vietnamese restaurant there. I found it unusual that a fusion place would be in a building smack in the middle of a shopping strip carpark, but I suppose that's a more normal place to frequent in the USA.
Our American Asian waitress was inquisitive about our accents. I was inquisitive about the food. The menu certainly reads interestingly, with not only Vietnamese but Burmese and Laotian influence. The Hangover pho certainly looked the most unusual (reminiscent of the breakfast ramen from the now closed Melbourne location (https://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/hammer-and-tong-melbourne-11-2015) and what she recommended as the most popular.
- Crispy drumsticks (nuoc mam caramel, lemongrass, ginger, Thai chili) USD10 - chicken was cooked ok but not that succulent. Skin was thin and crisp at least. But the coating of sugar, fish sauce, fresh ginger and spring onion was deliciously excellent;
- The Veggie Pho (veggie broth with Ms. Le's tofu, mushrooms, braised greens, roasted eggplant) USD12 - vegetable broth, lightly spiced with some odd eggplant that was firm (grilled maybe?), served with tofu and kale;
- The Hangover Part II Pho (beef broth with Burmese pork, meatballs, double smoked bacon, mushrooms, slow poached egg, jalapeño American cheese) USD17 - beef broth was spiced but not standard pho. It was still nice. There was strong flavours from the meaty balls and pork strands and fatty bacon, and some simpler mushrooms. It was quite odd to have poached runny egg in pho, and the cheese was even more bizarre. I think it ruined the broth by making it too cheesy.
The pho came with a very small (considering it was for 2?) plate of beanshoots, Thai basil, coriander, jalapeno and lime. This is just the right combination of additives that I'm familiar with (although usually bird's eye chilli rather than jalapeño).
We definitely couldn't fit in dessert after these American-sized servings, but the banana brulee with fish sauce icecream, caramel sauce and coconut shavings sounded really good.
I'd definitely try this place again, but maybe target it on a day where a special I wanted was on - like Thursday for the BBH. And the fried chicken for that combination with the sauce again. I'm not that familiar with Cajun, but the restaurant seemed to be more of a modern take on Viet rather than Cajun I think.
New Orleans is known for po' boys (aka sandwiches) and I did really want an oyster one. Even though we didn't get around to actually trying one (even with 4 nights), there also seems to be a banh mi movement going on here (aka Vietnamese sandwich I suppose). The best rated one in town actually isn't in town. It's a solid drive looking like a highway pit stop with loads of parking. It is close to the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge (which is a nice little walk, but it really is little and there isn't a whole lot to see).
The takeaway counter is next to a restaurant - I'm not entirely sure what the restaurant serves, but probably Vietnamese cuisine.
It's certainly an excellent price for banh mi USD5.50 inc. tax. Compare that to NYC getting into USD12+. Even the local prices in town are around USD8-10.
Cold cuts was very generous with lots of meat layers and also quality vegetables, pickles. Nem nuong was also very generous and deliciously seasoned, and I would get that one next time. Unfortunately though the bread was too soft with the outside having no crunch/crackle to it. Maybe it was a bad batch, too old or that's just the way it's done here. Or maybe it has something to do with the humidity? Not sure.
They also sell pate chaud $2.50 (aka "meat pie") which uses a wet char siu type filling rather than the dense pork patty usually. It was alright. There is also a variety of che which I didn't try. They also ran out of bread/banh mi by about 1pm this day.
Nice to have something Vietnamese although I don't think people here know how good banh mi can get if this is their mark. It got better in Houston though...
On the 4th of July, we headed into the French Quarter to explore the street festival atmosphere (although I'm sure quieter than usual due to Covid and the lack of tourism) and fireworks. It was an easy walk from Marigny and lots of people were out and about. All of the more well known restaurants in the area had queues outside (such as the Original French Market restaurant with people wanting their crawfish). A simpler and less busy place along the way was Coop's. For whatever reason the staff were keen to keep the tables empty and the central bar area full, and so there we sat.
Creole is the local cuisine of New Orleans, a mix of the flavours from the settlers of many regions in Europe, Africa and the West Indies. Coop's was one of the few I found online that was well rated, well priced and served jambalaya (thanks Seinfeld for introducing this word into my vocabulary).
Coop's Taste Plate had it all (cup of seafood gumbo, cajun fried chicken, shrimp Creole, red beans & rice, rabbit & sausage jambalaya) USD15.95.
Seafood gumbo (Creole stew served with rice, prepared using dark brown roux, French Market vegetables, ground sassafrass leaves, drum fillet, shrimp, oysters, crab claws) was tomato based with little crab and meat parts. Decent Southern fried chicken (not Nashville level though). Shrimp Creole was a disappointing tomato and prawns on watery unflavoured rice. Smoky beans were good though. Finally the dish I wanted most had arrived. I expected jambalaya to be a soup (from Seinfeld's Soup Nazi episode) but it was an actual rice dish (like paella). It had a smoky flavoured rice with pieces of sausage and was pretty good overall.
The food was fine without being anything mindblowing. Nonetheless good to try authentic Creole food at its origin.
New Orleans was absolutely steaming. Temperatures in the 30s, humidity in the 90s - wow. Going outside the air conditioned room was little being hit in the face was a wet blanket. The old house turned hotel we were staying in was beautiful though, even if it had some musty humid air and rainforest insects would come in at any opportunity. Marigny was a pretty and colourful area to stay, seemed relatively safe, nearby jazz clubs and a short walk to the French Quarter for chaos and 4th of July celebrations (thanks Will Smith for funding these fireworks).
Our first meal there was brunch - Ruby Slipper was packed, with several waiting outside. There was no way we were getting a table, except that we were one of the few willing to sit outside (well we weren't prepared to wait for inside or try somewhere else). In the end it was fine, sitting under the shade of an umbrella and not moving too much to avoid sweating.
After seeing but not trying "biscuits" in Nashville, it was nice to see the opportunity to try a traditional Southern biscuit elsewhere.
- Southern Breakfast (2 eggs poached, stoneground grits, applewood smoked bacon, fried green tomato with a buttermilk biscuit) USD11.5;
- BBQ Shrimp & Grits (gulf shrimp sauteed with pork tasso, bell pepper, red onion, beer & rosemary-butter reduction, over creamy stoneground grits served with a buttermilk biscuit) USD 15.5.
Biscuit are like a scone-cake mix with lots of butter flavour (not surprising given it's buttermilk...). Mine in the shrimp & grits came with cane syrup butter, and strawberry and grape jam. Grits were thick and similar to polenta (not surprising since I discovered both are made from corn, just white corn vs. yellow corn). Nice prawns in tomato sauce too.
Good way to start the day and load calories just to sweat them out.
After visiting the Elvis Graceland museum (which was an expensive but probably should-see-once experience, albeit a little disappointing in that it didn't really explore deeply his personality or his demons), it was off to New Orleans. After the delight of Central BBQ, we didn't want to justify driving backwards and spending time getting more, and so found a well rated place along the way. It was off a road in a little town somewhere in Mississippi that really noone would expect two tourists to be on for any other reason.
People stood outside waiting for their takeaway from this red hut, that wasn't allowing any inside dining. Nonetheless it was pleasant enough using the outside table with some shade from the heat.
Bar B-Que Ribs plate (with corn, coleslaw and bread) USD11.75 had some thick big ribs which had some chew to them. Good but not Central BBQ in our opinion. I thought I'd try some local fried delicacy of catfish plate (with coleslaw, fries & hush puppies shrimp) USD8.4 which was soft fish with thin crisp coating but not seasoned. It was a massive serve that I couldn't finish. Hush puppies were like a fried dough ball, I didn't think it was anything special.
A nice break enroute.
We couldn't decide if it was worth stopping somewhere between Nashville and New Orleans. Going direct would mean one helluva long drive that day, our first day of the car rental on a 10000km journey. It seemed reasonable to go easy to start with - then it came down to a stop in Memphis or Alabama. In the end the appeal of blues, ribs and (to a lesser degree) Elvis won out.
We stayed in the room of an Airbnb where our host confirmed my online reading that Central BBQ was the place to try, and he said particularly the midtown location. It was a little further away but still easily done, and maybe that location would be easier to park and have a shorter queue than the downtown one.
It was also a memorable day because Australia decided to half its international arrivals - meaning we ended up paying an extra USD12000 to upgrade our return flights to maximise the chances we would be able to get home. On the one hand going out to eat wasn't in the spirit of saving money; on the other hand as if some ribs would really make that much difference to our budget. And so in the end we drove out there and found an easy parking spot in their carpark in front of a large mural advertising meat and blues. For a Friday night, it was less busy than expected although there was a bunch of people at the counter in front, but only a 10min wait.
The reality is I wanted to try everything. But we knew American sizings are more than we can handle and we didn't want to get takeaway. Getting a full slab of pork ribs USD27 (with sides of bbq beans and green beans) was easy - I ordered half wet and half dry. I was keen to try a whole smoked wing and even though they came as 3 for USD9, the waitress was happy to give me 1 for USD3. She recommended wet over dry, and so wet it was.
What can I say about the food - these were simply the best pork ribs we've ever had. No exaggeration and no doubt. They were thick meaty ribs, fall off the bone tender. There was contrast between the salty dry rub with slight sweetness, and the more sweet wet version. Both were good with my preference probably being the wet. My single wing was also delicious, sweet and an excellent combo with blue cheese sauce.
My oh my. Then it was time to head to Beale Street for some music.
Payne's BBQ was the other option I had read about, but was only going to go if I couldn't get into Central. Maybe worth a visit next time.
On the hot Nashville days, after spending some days wandering and experiencing the honkytonks, we were up for a more casual afternoon. Of all things, the local new hip shopping mall L&L Market was a bus ride down the road and something to do whilst embracing air conditioning.
There were a few food options like Five Daughters Bakery or the enormous looking (American sized) sundaes at Gracie's Milkshake bar. But this highly rated Italian place drew us in.
It specialises in pinsa - a Roman bread that crosses pizza and foccacia. And the Pinsa pazza (tomato sauce, mozzarella, pesto, burrata) USD17 was a thicker denser chewy salty base with enough bready crispness to pick up without flopping and enjoy by hand. Lasagna (spinach pasta, ragu meat sauce, mozzarella) USD16 was a nice version with the green striking pasta burnt with flavour at the edges and topped with a thick bit of melted and dusted cheese.
A great and tasty lunch.
Victoria Street has never really been one to have any Malaysian food. It was refreshing to see that although sadly some classic restaurants had closed, that it had brought a little bit of new Malaysian blood to the area. Google named one called D'Lemongrass with excellent ratings, but it looks like that closed not long after opening sadly. Malaya is the other highly rated one (4.9 from 10 ratings currently) further toward Church Street.
Our first time there, the two of us ordered 2 dishes - seems quite normal. The Malaya curry fish head noodle soup $15 was delicious, and full of fish (not just bones) and huge serve. Malaya curry laksa $15 was also very good with a rich coconut broth and both vermicelli and thick egg noodles (a tick for that). It was too big to finish and we ended up leaving behind some noodles and broth.
I then brought my (discerning Malaysian-cuisine) parents here on Christmas day lunch. Luckily they were open and it was easy to get seated. They agreed about how generous the curry fish head noodle soup was, and much better than the offerings they get in the Asian east area around Doncaster. Golden egg yolk king prawns $31 were served with fried wonton skins and an item I've enjoyed since an excellent one in a Sichuan restaurant in Canberra, but have so often since been disappointed by either a lack of crispness or a lack of that rich feel and salty seasoning. This one was a huge flavour hit though and lit up all the taste buds simultaneously. Mee goreng $15 was also nice and a more Malay style.
Seals of approval all around and we'll all be back.
Coming back to Victoria Street after a long absence, there's a noticeable reduction in Vietnamese restaurants. Some of the old ones have turned over, some are vacant and advertising for new owners, and of course some are still there with variable numbers of patrons. The long stayers have tended to be around the Nicholson Street area, maybe because it's the most frequented by foot traffic and closer to the main tramstops, train station and shopping complex. However the shops toward Church Street have (in my mind at least) always seemed a little bit nicer and newer? Additionally the central ones between Nicholson Street and the train station are (for better or worse) more full with non-Vietnamese people, whatever that implies.
Up toward Church are some new Vietnamese places. On this random December Tuesday, there were a few places open. Co Thu Quan which is supposedly Vietnamese street food was doing a good trade and a table for us would be about 20-30mins away. So we wandered onto the next one, which was the fancier named La Chanh (for some reason it sounded a bit more French to me).
Inside is a pretty standard restaurant, and the host lady was single-handedly managing the entire floor. It was unexpectedly busy for her so she apologised for the food taking a little while. But it was worth the wait.
The beef of bo luc lac with tomato rice $17.5 was sweeter than I'm used to but my favourite version so far. The meat was tender and lovely. Mekong prawn noodle soup $15 was also good and a more unusual dish to find. It had a clean soup boosted by the hot mint. Unfortunately the interesting sounding pho satay is no longer on the menu. 3 colour drink is also an exceptional version with high quality ingredients and ice shaved well rather than chunky bits.We went again a couple of weeks later. Due to an unexpected busy day time, they had run out of pho and che. The bun thit nuong cha gio had delicious grilled pork and the nuoc mam was well balanced. Fish sauce chicken wings were expertly fried and coated in a sweet savoury sauce.
My favourite (granted the only one I've tried recently other than bun bo hue at Co Do) Vietnamese restaurant around.