cauliflower soup with fried oyster

just wanted soup for a change. i like cream-based soup; i never had tomato-based soup that made me crave.

sawadee's po tak (thai)

sawadee (thai restaurant) serves one of the best seafood soup dishes in town, po tak. although sawadee easily competes for the best-tasting resto in SLC i think their dishes are somewhat americanized. it's cause every meat or fish they serve is served as fillet, no bones, which is not true in other thai resto's. that doesn't detract from the quality, service and taste though (hmmm, gotta elaborate more later which to try and avoid). but i still want to try authentic street food in thailand and compare...

i tried to make po tak sometime ago, and fortunately found this recipe online. it was yummm and tasted just like sawadee's! (with a little tweaking on the measurements)

Sawadee Thai Restaurant, 754 East South Temple, tel# 801-EAT-THAI

tahong tonight

i often make tahong (mussels) for dinner because they're easy to defrost. cooking it the traditional way, or should i say the way i learned to cook it at home, i put in a little twist. i add in a different spice each time. tonight it was basil (found out it doesn't go well with the ampalaya leaves). the extra shrimp also wasn't a bad idea although it didn't add much to the taste since it has been shelled and headless. i prefer the head-on shrimp for a really tasty soup....

last time it was just the traditional sautee with ginger, garlic, tomato and some green onions plus lime leaves! add the mussels, patis (fish sauce), spinach leaves and some green chilies--that was yumm (at least the friends loved it). i think i learned what not to do tonight :)

koko kitchen (japanese)

if homey is what you want, koko kitchen is it. family-owned and family-serviced (the mom takes the cashier), this restaurant is located in a quiet corner on 300E and 700S. restaurant? it's more like an exalted cafeteria, but this is not meant to be an insult at all, it's just because cafeteria gives one more of the relaxed aura than a restaurant does. the food is ok, but good enough for the price. i only had the combo once (pictured), never had their sushi. i would say it's more home-cooked than any other because their recipes aren't 'strict'--tis is the only place where i found unexpected veggies in my miso soup. i would come here when i'm in my walking shorts on a rainy afternoon, and i did, to find out ten other people had the same idea in that small cozy place. apparently it's a village favorite.

address/tel#: 702 South 300 East, (801) 364-4888

shanghai pavilion [chinese, manhattan]

so i went to the met museum in manhattan and when i was ready for lunch, i figured i'd dine there to save time but the in-house restaurant was a li'l pricy so i ventured outside. i wasn't expecting a cheap lunch but i happened to ask a local who pointed me to shanghai pavilion (this one had a combo lunch for $7).

one of the things i like to order in chinese resto's are the duck, to get variety from chicken or pork. when i'm dining with my mom she usually would stop me from ordering duck because she says the meat is stenchy. i wish she were there when i ordered this cause it was done perfectly! fried salted duck, the texture was soft inside but crunchy outside. not any bit stinky. their cook surely knows how to fry duck.

ok having said that, the egg drop soup was a bit mmm... burnt i guess. it wasn't the best, but i would try their other dishes if i were in the Met again. oh and the only thing, they served the fried duck over fresh cut cold lettuce which if you chew them together the taste of the duck weakens a little bit (because lettuce is watery right, and the rice weakens it a little bit more). i wish they had served some gravy or sauce with it.


address: 1378 3rd Avenue, New York, NY  - (212) 585-3388

bamboo grill [filipino, new jersey]

so one thing i miss in salt lake is pinoy (filipino) food, cause there are just not many pinoy restaurants here (namely one). i got to have sisig again last weekend after more than 3 years! ... in new jersey. i can't believe there were 3 pinoy restaurants in one street alone in that area. sisig is (usually) pig's ear, and it's called 'sizzling sisig' cause it's served while it still sizzles on a metal plate. i wasn't disappointed, this one was yummmmm....

bamboo grill in bergenfield, new jersey is truly authentic filipino food and i recommend it. it's a tiny restaurant with only a few tables but they have a good variety of filipino food, and the price is great! i saw their fresh lumpia and although i didn't taste it, the presentation was great (it was huge). the halo-halo was ok. it's not far from manhattan so if ever you do get to visit new yohhk city, stop by!

address: 54 South Washington Avenue, Bergenfield, NJ‎ - (201) 384-5951‎