Gastro Monkey // 美食家

The first time I had a muffaletta was at Baguettes in Elk Grove. Baguettes was pretty good, and at the time, I had no idea what a muffaletta was. It had olives, salami, mozzarella, ham, and provolone. At least, that was the best I could gather from looking at the one someone else was eating in the shop. So I bought one too. It was layers upon layers of meat and cheese. Of course, the combo was gold. Eventually, I learned that muffalettas are from New Orleans. Then, since I knew I would be going to New Orleans, I had to find the best places to get it. Central Grocery kept popping up everywhere I looked. How would it compare?  It was so good, that when I went again this year, I made a point of going there to get another sandwich. Central Grocery is located a few blocks down from Cafe Du Monde, in case you want to plan for dessert right after lunch. Or dessert before lunch--no judgement. The grocery is mostly that - a grocery. Lots of Italian food it...

Ah, The Carousel Bar. It looks so awesome once you're inside. It's a playground for adults. Kind of. The best is if you can snag a seat at the carousel, but each time I've gone, the seats are all taken, or there's a random seat for one. Instead, w e nabbed a cushy sofa not far from it and hung out for an hour just enjoying the surroundings and jazz.  I definitely like The Sazerac Bar more, even though there isn't live jazz there. That and the Sazerac there was much better. The tastes just came together there, while the one at Carousel tasted like I was drinking straight whiskey with an orange peel in it. Worth coming just to see, and great on nights with live music!  The carousel. Of course it's packed. Live jazz, of course! Sazerac ($12). Blue crab & crawfish beignets ($13). The locals with me all said that these are not beignets. There was quite the discussion and they ended up agreeing that these are indeed, hush puppies. Eith...

Usually when I go to San Francisco and look for something to eat, I don't go for pho. I've had it before at random places in the South Bay and Oakland haven't had anything that stood out as anything special. Why would I get pho in the Bay if it tastes the same as in Sac? And then, I saw a bowl of pho on a friend's Instagram that looked different. The only other time I had seen a bowl that looked like that was in Sydney. And that pho is my favorite around the world (haven't been to Vietnam yet, so then there's that). Because the pho at Turtle Tower looked like the pho from An, I had to give it a try.  I ordered the phở gà (chicken pho) and cà phê đá (iced coffee). I just have to say, I haven't had iced coffee like this in a long time. I think the more mainstream Vietnamese coffee has become, the more watered down it's been. The only other times I've had it where it tasted like this was at someone's home, or in San Jose. It made my day. It's...

I'm not usually a cocktail person - give me a beer any day and I'll be pleased as punch. But, when it comes to cities like New Orleans it feels like part of the territory. There is just so much history to this fantastic city and it seems sometimes, like so many dishes and drinks were created here. Case in point, the Sazerac. Incidentally, the Sazerac is Louisiana's official state cocktail. Yeah, I didn't know official state cocktails were a thing either.  Plus, Anthony Bourdain was here and that guy knows his booze. There are two drinks that are worthy of note - The Sazerac, of course, and the Ramos Gin Fizz. The Ramos Gin Fizz is worth ordering just to watch the show of the drink being created. Drinking it is just as fun. It tastes like a light dessert. If you are a lightweight, this drink is a better fit for you. If you are a booze hound like Bourdain, and  if you like your bourbons or whiskeys, The Sazerac is for you, my friend. The Sazerac Bar is aptly name...

If there's a Taiwanese restaurant that looks pretty close to the real thing, best believe I'm going to give it a try. When picking restaurants, I look at blogs/articles first to see. Why reinvent the wheel? I know I'm definitely not the first to find these places especially with blogging being so mainstream and everyday. From there, I check out Yelp reviews and look for pictures. Again, I don't rely solely on Yelp reviews. Even after reading reviews and blogs, I would suggest checking places out that may not have the best reviews, or average reviews because you never know! I am a big proponent of check it out for yourself.  I typically don't like menus that have too many options, but in this case, the pages of options that included Hakka food was too much to pass up. It just happened that we were in the Bay area for the CAAM Festival. Perfect opportunity to try a new place.  It was hard to choose what to order. Everything sounded so good. Firstly, I ended up ...

Food is always the first thing when I plan a trip. My first trip to New Orleans last year started with food (and honestly, ended with food too). What should be the first thing to be devoured upon arrival? Our flight landed at MSY around 6:30pm. I knew it would take around an hour to get to the hotel after getting our luggage, so I had to plan for dinner. It was no easy feat deciding where to go first. I read a ton of articles of which there are no shortage of before going bookmarking a location. Basically my methodology revolves around reading articles, blogs, looking at Yelp pictures and reviews, and Foursquare--it really is a production!--before deciding on which places to bookmark. From there (wherever I am), I look at my bookmarks to see which places I'm closest to. That night, we went with Deanies. I knew that the first thing I wanted to eat was crawfish. We get them in Sacramento around August, but not lately as the prices have gone up a lot since I first moved here in 1...

This may seem weird, but I actually like getting to the airport early when SeaTac is involved. Even if I'm not flying from an airline close to the food court (that's right, I said food court), I still go by for my customary I'm-leaving-Seattle meal. Sometimes I've already eaten so I just stop by for a Bloody Mary and some steamers. Anthony's is the type of restaurant I would go to anyway, so having it in the airport makes it that much more convenient for me.  The Caesar was a pretty good size and a healthy dollop of bay shrimp on top. I am sure I could just have this for dinner and call it a day, but I love steamed clams too much. They're steamed with garlic, water, salami, olive oil, basil, diced tomatoes, and some chopped pistachios. When I'm finished with the clams, I like using the bread to dip it in there. They serve full sized entrees of salmon and other Northwest specialties, but I prefer just having orders of these not quite appetizers. Check it ...