Rochester, NY
1:38 PM
When you are used to food and you don’t have it, you feel different. It’s kind of an off feeling. You’re not sick or anything like that, but your body just craves it. I have that with pretzels. And ham sandwiches. I need them as part of my food cycle. I found out today I may need some Vietnamese food.
When I lived in Charlotte I had many excellent ethnic eateries at my disposal. Cuisine Malaya had the best Malaysian food around. From what I’m told, that place is one of the best in the country. I miss it. Pho 98 is the Vietnamese place we used to go to. They had the best buffet on Sundays. The spring rolls cannot be topped.
Before I moved to Charlotte I was not that versed in Asian food. That changed. I moved in with my cousin and his wife. My cousin’s mom (my aunt) is Malaysian. They introduced me to Cuisine Malaya. My cousin’s wife is Vietnamese. She was instrumental in Pho 98. We ate a lot of good stuff at the house too.
Once I moved out on my own, I continued my tasting of different things. The two spots stayed on the list. We’d all meet up at one of the places and chow down. Malaya was the site of cuz and wife’s after wedding dinner. Awesome.
So, I’ve been traveling all over the country. When you go to a new city, you don’t know where the local spots are. Sometimes you find them, sometimes you don’t.
I just found Doc Hoa. My sister and I met there for lunch today. She had not had Vietnamese before. My buddy Rick told me about it. And am I glad he did. The spring rolls were as I remembered. We used to eat tons of them at the house on special occasions. The fish sauce was tasty and not as pungent as I had remembered. My vermicelli bowl was awesome. The hoisin added just the right flavor. Caytie liked it. I was surprised. Colin and Kim would have laughed as she went back for more fish sauce. I think the ladies at the restaurant were impressed when we asked for it.
I sit here with a full belly and a smile. My comfort food feels good in the belly. Next up is to get mom and dad to give it a shot.