it’s no brodard, or even hy… but this (apparently famous) restaurant is close to my house and is not half bad. we had cute little banh beo (each in their own little sauce dish), roll-your-own goi cuon (nem nuong only… where’s the chao tom?), bun thit nuong, and flan-from-a-box courtesy of Happy Donut. the decor is nicer than most vietnamese restaurants, and the strange paris-by-night-esque music in the background made us feel like we were right back in little saigon. it was crowded on the weeknight that we visited (lots of large parties)… i’m not sure i want to see how bad it is on the weekends. the parking is scarce enough as it is.

ryan and i decided to try xiomara one modestly busy saturday night. we were seated promptly, but that’s where the service ended. Our waiter was MIA for most of the night… we waited patiently to order, for our drinks, for our appetizer, for our meal. The mojito was decent, the $13 tamale was good (although miniscule). The seared ahi special of the night was awful– it came out a fully cooked, grey waste of a tuna steak. When we mentioned this to the waiter, he looked confused and was completely unhelpful. There was no apology or attempt to change the dish.

Their famous 45 minute wait chocolate souffle was good, although a bit to cakey for my taste. I might have enjoyed it more if my night had not already been spoiled by the poor, incredibly rude service.

We will not be returning.

we had some suprisingly good food while camping out at the bar here. the curry fettucini was my favorite, but the pad thai pizza was yum, too.

1. seafood egg rolls, 2. pad thai pizza, 3. curry on fettucini, 4. singapore angel with prociutto

dim sum without the wait, the crowds, and the smell! it’s pricey, but the shu mai are better than usual, and they have soup dumplings. the turnip cake was good, but there was no taro option. the mom got a giant bowl of chao… enough for a few breakfasts. we ordered enough to take home for annie… which scared the waiter. you want HOW MANY chow fun?

the service wasn’t bad until we wanted to pay and leave… that took about an hour. where’d they go with my credit card?

overall, i think it warrants another visit. after all, they have ample parking, and i was not ONCE shoved by some overzealous asian woman screaming obscenities while waving a numbered ticket.

now that’s progress.

1. seats of honor?, 2. empty, 3. fancy, 4. tea, 5. the checkbox menu, 6. turnip cake, 7. food everywhere, 8. banh cuon!, 9. chao khong?, 10. spooning up the chao

william and i went out to our friendly neighborhood culinary arts school for a lunch of escargot and alligator yesterday. as usual, the service was impeccable. the escargot wasn’t as scary as i thought it would be, but it wasn’t something i’d order again. the dessert was fantastic, i loved the gelato with the crunchy crunchy apple crisp.

1. amuse bouche, 2. Ragout of Escargot, Shallots, Garlic, Parsley and Mushrooms, Consomme Film, Malpec Oyster sauce, 3. Alligator and Crawfish Risotto, Parsley, Pear d’Anjou, 4. Strawberry Lemonade, 5. Porcini Crusted Halibut with a Minted Ham Hock Cassoulet, 6. Braised Wild Boar Shoulder with a “Mole” Sauce, 7. Humboldt Fog with a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, 8. Apple Crisp with Cinnamon Gelato

the newest restaurant to open in old town is fan-tastic… as long as you don’t go when it’s busy. we snuck in early on a weekday for some tongue, seared ahi, and filet mignon with ponzu sauce. so good!

after all the meatiness, we finished with green tea ice cream (covered in maple syrup) and mochi– which you grill until they puff up like little marshmellows. apparently, ryan and i have not mastered the grilling of the mochi yet… ours turned outa bit singed. still quite tasty.  i love me some burnt mochi.

after a long day of being cooped up in the house (i was studying, he was warcrafting), ryan and i ran off to old town. we ended up at malagueta- a brazilian mediterranean restaurant with seat s outside perfect for people watching. i had a fantastic garlic chicken dish. it smelled SO good, and tasted better! it sat on a green (very spicy) sauce and this wierd breadcrumb thing that was al together quite satisfying. ryan had a salmon with a herby tomatoey sauce– also quite good. just… not as good as the chicken.