Better than Chicken Soup: Pho at Vietnam Restaurant

If there ever is a worst time to get sick, last week was definitely it for me. I had a three-day business trip planned and had a Half Marathon I had signed up to run on Sunday. I spent Monday and Tuesday terribly sick in bed (but with my Blackberry and laptop sleeping beside me) and spent a good part of Wednesday in a boxy Seat 12B of Southwest Airlines, and all rest of the week in a tiny, crowded conference away from home. I didn’t go out during the week except for one night for a little business dinner and slept as much as I could, but sleeping in a cheap, uncomfortable hotel bed only worsened my condition. I was sicker by Friday than I was on Monday

As soon as I got home, I begged my boyfriend to take me to a good Pho place and he rushed me to Vietnam Restaurant in San Gabriel Valley (god bless him). I don’t usually crave Pho or any South East Asian cuisines but the only thing that would make me feel better that day was a hot, aromatic bowl of the rice noodle swimming in a clear broth. It’s strange what your body craves when you’re feeling under the weather. Now I totally know why people go for Pho to get over their hangovers!

(The pungent basil, cilantro, lime, been sprout, and jalapeno peppers on the side)

Just because I was sick didn’t mean that I had a decrease in appetite. It was quite a contrary for me that day, and I ended up ordering a big bowl of Pho, accompanied by the yummy Spring Rolls and a red bean and coconut drink.

(Spring rolls with rice noodle, shrimps, beef, and cilantro)

The Pho was so cozy, comforting and delicious that I wanted to just take it home and cuddle with it in bed! I felt immediately better after finishing it and felt good enough to run the Half Marathon in Pasadena on Sunday.

After lunch, we headed over to the Convention Center to pick up the packet with race T-shirt and bib. I was so psyched to see all the fellow runners and reconnect with the running community and I was certain that I was going to feel good enough to run the race the following day. I met Dane Rouschenberg, an author of a book, “See Dane Run,” that chronicles his journey of running 52 marathons in 52 weeks (that’s one marathon every week!). He was totally cool and super motivational! My boyfriend even drove around the course for me.

Unfortunately, when the morning came, I still felt like shit and didn’t think it was a good idea to put myself through the race. I had already gotten fully dressed (with my running shoes and all) but could not stop coughing … so I decided to take it easy and nip this Flu in the bud, once and for all, by staying home and rest. I’m so bummed that I didn’t get to partake in this special, inaugural race that I had been looking forward to for so long. I was feeling depressed for almost the entire day today but I’ve decided to stop dwelling and focus my energy on upcoming races.  Tomorrow is a brand new day

Vietnam Restaurant
340 W Las Tunas Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776
★★★★☆

A Sweet Lullaby: Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot and Grill

I know it’s a terrible habit, but I like falling asleep with the TV still on in the background. I don’t know what it is about a human voice that comforts me so much, but I feel safe and protected when the voice melts into my unconsciousness as a sweet lullaby.

I would sometime fall asleep with a Chinese program (can’t tell the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin) in the background by accident, usually when I doze off while watching a Japanese drama on one of those international, multi-lingual channels that switch languages regularly during the day. Although in a bright daylight, Japanese and Chinese languages have a very contradicting cadence, they often end up transforming into a one, giant blob and I’m not able to tell the difference between the two when shadowed by drowsiness and a daydream. Since Japanese is a derivative of an ancient Chinese language (evidence in its usage of Chinese characters called kanji), I suppose it is not too surprising to find commonalities between the languages that once shared the same root.

It’s also like that in the culinary world for these two cuisines where some dishes go beyond the gastronomic borders and become the very similar entity. Take Japanese Shabu Shabu and Mongolian Hot Pot for instance; these dishes are virtually identical with a few, simple tweaks in the sauce and the broth.

If Shabu Shabu and Mongolian Hot Pot were to fight it out in a culinary battlefield, I wonder who would come out victorious as the royalty of hot pots. I would be a close one. I would personally crown Shabu Shabu as the king (I just love the dipping sauces too much), but the Mongolian type with flavorful broth of herbs, spices and roots are equally impressive.

Lita took me and Maya to Little Sheep in San Diego over the weekend, a perfect destination for the ultimate comfort food for Asian food lovers like us. It was also the perfect way to settle our tired stomachs after the weekend of excessive meat-eating and a fun overdose

Our Mongolian Hot Pot adventure began with the selection of the broth, the boiling soup that serves as the cooking vehicle for meats, seafood, vegetables and noodles of your choice, as well as the actual soup you can enjoy. What you see here is the order of half mild and half spicy broth. The soup was filled with countless aromatics, making the soup deeply rich in flavor, and ticked all our culinary senses. It was pretty amazing how much different flavors are in this simple soup! I liked the mild broth better than the spicy one (spicy was a bit too oily and way too spicy just to enjoy as a soup). The mild broth reminded a little of the rich, milky tonkotsu broth in Japanese ramen that I love so much.

We ordered lamb, beef, chicken and meatballs for the protein. They come frozen but cooks in seconds in the bubbling liquid. The lamb slices had a very distinct game-y-ness to them but I really liked the flavor and the texture. Lita swore by the chicken and they were good too!

We also ordered tofu, daikon raddish, mushrooms (oysters and shiitake), bak choy and two kinds of vermicelli noodles on the side. Needless to say, we absolutely loved everything here! The broth will become watery and will evaporate over time but you can always have the soup added to the hot pot.

The meal was so filling, I fell asleep right when we got home and my friends’ comforting voice guided me to a deep, satisfying sleep. It was heaven.

Little Sheet Mongolian Hot Pot and Grill
4718 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92117
★★★★☆

Girls Just Want to Have Fun: Gaslamp Strip Club

I remember when the topic of sex was very much a taboo. Then an establishment like Hooters came to town, bringing together men’s fantasies in beautiful girls in orange hot pants and spicy chicken wings to a bright, PG-13 daylight. And the recent emergence of a show like E! Network’s The Girl Next Door introduced the once-risqué magazine to the mainstream masses, making it acceptable to watch sexy women jump around naked while having dinner with your family (and no more excuses about how much they love the article). What can we say? Sex sells!

If you thought Hooters were sexy, you’ve got to try Gaslamp Strip Club in the heart of Downtown’s Gaslamp District in San Diego. This place is like Hooters on steroid, with much better food and way hotter waitresses and bartenders (girls-next-door type, totally NOT sleazy). It was our special friend Lita’s birthday weekend, and Maya and I traveled to San Diego to celebrate it in a bachelorette-party-meets-girls-night-out style, while our husbands and boyfriend stayed home

In addition to the unique concept, Gaslamp Strip Club is not just another place where sexy waitresses serve you food. It actually allows you to cook your own steak on a smoking hot grill. Say goodbye to getting a piece of well-done meat when you ordered a medium-rare steak (my pet peeve), or complaining about its lack of seasoning, when you’re on the driver’s seat!

So this is how it goes. First, you order a piece of steak you like. Maya and I ordered the Porterhouse steaks (very reasonably priced at $21.95) and Lita ordered the Strip Club Skirt steak ($14.95). Once you get your uncooked, 21-day aged, Mid-Western, corn-fed Angus meat, you walk over to one of the two grills in the restaurant. Season the steak to your likings from the various available seasonings and slap that meat on the grill!

Look at this big ass Porterhouse steak perfectly cooked medium rare!

All meals come with garlic bread and a delicious family style house salad with creamy Italian dressing.

You can order other side dishes from the XXX-tras selections like the crisp onion rings!

The food offered here is pretty average but it’s the ambiance and the price that makes it irresistible for people looking for something unique and affordable.  As you can imagine, majority of the patrons were men, but the atmosphere is so non-threatening that any women can walk in and have a great time.

It was so nice that our beautiful and wonderful waitress brought us a complimentary dessert of chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich with a candle for Lita’s birthday! (All three of us had a little girl crush on her.) This night was so much fun, we really thought it should have been illegal. And if you ever thought good girls don’t know how to have fun, you’d be very wrong!

By the way, Maya and I had several of the cocktail called, “Kinky Key Lime Martini,” which was absolutely delicious and potent! When we got back to our hotel room right around the corner, I totally fell asleep (I’m a total light weight), while Lita and Maya watched Sex and the City, the movie. Talk about an ultimate slumber party! Happy birthday, Lita baby!

Gaslamp Strip Club
340 Fifth Avenue, San Diego, CA
★★★★☆