August 22nd, 2014
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is full of ethnic restaurants. From street food to fine dining, it is a fabulous place to spend some time crawling the City of Brotherly Love.
Pho is the street food in Vietnam that was, originally, sold at dawn and dusk by roaming vendors. My son invited me to crawl Philly and our first stop was Pho 75. This soup parlor has been visited by Anthony Bourdain several times. When my son visited for the first time, he told I, definitely, needed to try it.
There are 2 Pho 75 in Philly. We went to the one located at 1122 Washington Avenue. Tel. 215-5866. Other locations are: Maryland; Langley Park, Rockville, Virginia; Arlington (my son just visited that one, as well), Falls Church, and Herndon.
Pho 75 was immaculate, the service was prompt and no sooner it had opened…..customers kept coming in.
You have to understand that pho is a soup. The soups are served with rice noddles. You can order either a small bowl or a large bowl for sharing like we did. Then you have to order cuts of beef as toppings or do like we did and order the pho straight from the menu.
We order the pho with slices of eye-round steak, well done flank, soft tendom, and beef tripe. The large bowl arrived quickly with extra bowls on the side and bean sprouts, hot pepper, slices of lemon and fresh basil leaves.
Then it was up to me to fix my bowl to my liking.
The broth was delicate, full of flavor but not overly salted, which I was surprised.
Totally recommend it. Great value…I think lunch for 2 including tea and tip was about $10.00.
Note: This soup is gluten free.
Have a great day!.
December 9th, 2010
“If you are ever at a loss of converstion, introduce the subject of eating.” leigh hunt
That was not our problem tonight. Actually, that does not happen too often. But, the subject of eating is always there. I have mentioned before that I do like interesting food; not afraid to try many types of cuisines.
It has been pretty cold in South Florida. Mentally, you are prepared for the sun, the swaying palm trees, the beach. But sweaters? I don’t think so. Too early.
Atlantic Avenue, on this Village by the Sea was quiet tonight; the perfect night to visit Lemongrass. This Asian Bistro is right in the heart of Delray Beach. Only one couple was brave enough to dine “al fresco” tonight. The rest of us, inside was our preference. Before I forget Lemongrass is located at 420 E. Atlantic Ave. Tel. 561-278-5050. Website is www.lemongrassasianbistro.com. Besides the location in Delray Beach, Lemongrass is also in Boca, Boyton Beach and Ft. Lauderdale.
I have only been to the one here in Delray and I was so pleasantly surprised as I came in and saw the new dining section. All remodeled, clean lines and a very comfortable bar for either eating or drinking. It was definitely needed.
The sets of tables are arranged at closed proximity. It does not bother me. People usually check what is arriving at the table. I do the same thing.
An appetizer of sashimi was ordered; but it came with a hot stone. You were to sear the fish. A hit with everyone passing by. I don’t think people realize that this dish gets the table going and sets the mood for the evening.
We laughed and we joke in Spanish and English. It was time to get down to the serious business of ordering entrees and the 3 of them were different, interesting and delicious.
I ordered the Holly Snapper. I have ordered this dish more than a few times. It is one of my favorites and tonight it was just as good. This fish is whole, boneless and fried; topped with a garlic sweet chili sauce.
Another dish ordered, a most popular one, was the Lobster Monster Roll. It had crispy lobster, cucumbers, scallions, asparagus, masago, spicy mayo and sesame seeds. Amazing looking and tasting.
A new addition to the Lemongrass menu was Grilled Shrimp with a Red Curry served in a young coconut. Great presentation because the coconut was filled with the red curry and the grilled shimp surrounded the coconut. It was served with a spoon, as well. As you ate the broth and put the shrimp in it you could also scrape the side of the coconut and get the pulp, which, if you really like coconuts, I don’t have to tell you that the pulp of a young coconut or “tela” is the best part.
Of course, we wanted to find out how the coconut was prepared. It looked perfectly peeled and smooth. Well, they are bought that way and all that needs to be done is to cut the top and fill it with the food, in this case the Red Curry.
Even though we did not exchange names our neighbors on one side of the table were so friendly and gave us tips about the area. They are locals. The other young couple on the other side was so nice, as well.
I have mentioned before that part of what makes this Village by the Sea so unique and special is the people; and in this case a smiling face is half the meal.
Note: Lemongrass was very gracious to make us a special sauce since my husband has to eat gluten free, and the sauce that accompanied the appetizer had soy sauce, which has wheat. Organic Tamari, gluten free soy sauce is readily available in many supermarkets and specialty foods shops. It would be a great to have it available to their customers with gluten allergies.
A little blog from Delray, another one from Delaware….the best of both worlds….talk to you later….
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