Green Papaya

 Next up on the Vietnamese food tour is Green Papaya.  Green Papaya was actually recommended to me when I first moved to Lincoln, but it took me a while to get around to trying it.  More recently, I was reminded that I need to go there and try their food when someone told me that they'll serve a whole shrimp (head and all) on one of their soups.  That clinched it for me as a must try place.

Green Papaya's menu offers a similar fare to Vung-Tao.  There are several Bubble Tea options, banh mi sandwiches, pho, other noodle soups, and rice noodle bowls.    There are also other fun drink options like Pennywort Drink, espresso, and ca phe sua da, or espresso coffee with condensed milk.  Two of the people I was eating with ordered the espresso and condensed milk, and it looked like fun.  You get a little metal container with the grounds and then you pass water through to make your own espresso at the table.

I got the Taro bubble tea.  I had sweet potato bubble tea in Korea and thought it was one of best bubble tea flavors I'd found.  I had heard that taro is supposedly the same thing; but, Taro was a little sweeter, almost marshmallow like, than sweet potato.  Even though it wasn't quite what I thought it would be, I still loved it.  The bubbles weren't at all stale and were squishy and chewy like they should be.   

For an entree, I should have made it a fair comparison to Vung-Tao by getting Green Papaya's pho. But, I was more in a seafood mood, so I went with the Special Rice Noodles with Crab, Shrimp, and Pork. It was  fantastic.  The broth was the rich, velvety quality you want from good stock, and the crab gave it a faint sweetness.  The meat was tasty, the shrimp really good (although there were only a few), and the crab (although imitation) a great vehicle for soaking up broth.

Dennis tried the Grilled Chicken with Egg Rolls bowl.  The egg rolls were unique with a hint of cinnamon and spice, and the chicken had a great flavor, but was a little dry.   I don't think he was that blown away, but his issues were what my issues with rice noodle bowls are.  They sound good, but are just kind of bland.  It is the only Vietnamese dish that I've come across that doesn't excite me.  I think it is because my noodle dishes from Asian restaurants usually have such full sauces, that rice noodle bowls just seem kind of straight forward in comparison; Plus, I also end up comparing it with all the flavor and nuance that you find in pho, which I will chose over rice noodle bowls any day.  

Between the tastier soup and fresher bubble tea, Green Papaya made a better impression.   

 

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Vung-Tau Deli

Vung-Tau Deli was the first stop on my Pho tour.  I drive by it all the time on my way to work and with every pass was increasing curious as to what a Vietnamese Deli entailed.  I also saw a sign for Bubble Tea, and I can't pass up a place with Bubble Tea.

I went for lunch on a Wednesday and the place was really well trafficked.  When I mentioned this to the waiter, he said that this was actually a slower day.  The place has about ten tables and those were rarely empty for long; so, if that is a slow day, I can't imagine the turnover of a regular day.

In overhearing the conversations at other tables (yes, I eavesdrop when eating on my own), I heard lots of oohs, aahs, and praises.  One table had three 20-somethings and one of them was orienting the other two on Vietnamese food, bubble tea, and how to eat the noodle bowls.  Another table contained four people visiting from Texas who liked the place so much that they had come two days in a row.

Over all the tables, the most common dish being eaten appeared to be a noodle bowl with pork and slices of small fried egg rolls.  I was going to try a banh mi, but they were out.  So, instead, I got a bowl of pho and a lychee bubble tea.

The lychee part was great; but, the bubbles were a little stale.  The bubbles weren't that jelly, squishy, and chewy texture so essential to bubble tea; instead, they were a little frozen tasting and a little hard.  I do give them props for offering lots of great bubble tea flavors, including durian, which I was a little too scared to try.  I'm working up to trying durian, but it is taking some mental prep.

As for the pho, I also wasn't completely blown away.  They don't offer tofu as a pho option and tofu is my favorite topper; it soaks up all the broth and becomes a little pho flavor explosion when you eat it.  Instead, I got slices of beef, which were good, but just not as fun as tofu.  The broth itself had a nice richness, but was really cinnamon strong.  Instead of a subtle warmth, you got all the aroma and taste of the cinnamon, making the pho a little sweet.

In this experience, I have a pretty strong disjoint between my own impressions and the positive reactions of others.  So, I think it sort of comes down to preference.  The other customers and Urbanspoon reviews give Vung-Tau a lot of high praise.  Plus, the waiter, who must also help run the place, was really friendly and nice.  He knew lots of the people who came in, suggesting that Vung-Tau has a strong following.  I was really impressed by how many names he knew, how often he remembered what they liked to order, and how well he picked up on small clues.  Those qualities alone speak to a restaurant you would like to keep going to. 

As for the food, I think I would go back and try the banh mi or a noodle bowl; but, as a far as the pho, I'd keep looking. 

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Lincoln’s Pho Food Fight

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As I mentioned in my first “Ethnic Side of Lincoln” blog post, Lincoln has quite a large Vietnamese population.  The population is so sizable that in applying for a public library position, one of the application questions is if you speak Spanish, Russian, or Vietnamese.  

The prevalence of Vietnamese food in Lincoln makes me super happy.  The bulk of my Vietnamese food experiences have come from my friend Kathy's mother.  Kathy's mom loves to feed me and I love to eat her cooking.  When she found out I was moving to Lincoln, she was worried about where I was going to get Vietnamese food.  So, I am pleased to report to her that there is lots of tasty Vietnamese food to be had here, and I am slowly but surely trying it all out.   

The bulk of the Vietnamese restaurants are on North 27th Street.  Within 1/2 a mile, there are about three Vietnamese restaurants, and that is not counting the Vietnamese/Chinese duos.  Traveling north on 27th, you hit Pho Nyugen, Vung-Tau Deli, and Green Papaya.  There is a fourth restaurant, Pho Factory, which is coming soon, making North 27th fairly pho centric. 

Over the next week or so, I'll give you a three post series giving the pros and cons of each.  This way, you’ll know where to go for the best Vietnamese and Pho in Lincoln.

Thai Cafe

For a long time, the two main Thai restaurants in Harrisonburg, VA, were Thai Café and Taste of Thai. I was introduced to Thai Café and it was love at first bite. When I eventually got over to try Taste of Thai, I was impressed by the interior décor, the comfy booths, and the soft romantic lighting. At the end of the meal, though, I couldn’t see why Taste of Thai got so much buzz when it was more expensive and not nearly as tasty. Taste of Thai is the place you might take your date to impress them, but Thai Café is the place were you are going to have a happier belly and leave with more money left in your pocket.

My favorite food from Thai Café is the pho. I tried the other pho joint in Harrisonburg, but I always end up back at Thai Café. Even by looking at the tables, you know they are serious about pho because each table has a small lazy susan stocked with hoisin, sriracha, red pepper flakes in oil, fish sauce, chopsticks, and soup spoons. However, as you can see from the picture, I did take-out and Thai Cafe does a great job of setting you up with all the fixings.

The pho itself is fantastic. It has hints of anise and cinnamon and you have the option of chicken or beef broth. I tried the chicken broth once and have been a dedicated meat broth person since. Although you can get the usual meat, steak, and pho balls (as my best friend calls them), I always ask for fried tofu because it greedily soaks up the broth. The portions are huge with a regular size bowl costing around $6.95 and a large, $7.25.

Besides pho, Thai Cafe also has a good pad thai, ginger chicken, and rich curries. Nine chances out of 10 at any Thai restaurant, I will get the green curry (because green curry is my favorite). Thai Cafe's has sharp hints of ginger and spicy jalapenos, lightened with fresh cilantro, and offset by sweet coconut and basil.

Thai Cafe is tucked away behind the Target in Harrisonburg and it is part of a strand of three of the greatest ethnic restaurants that are all in one little strip mall. Thai Cafe is sandwhiched between Inca's Secrets, that has awesome fried yuko and Peruvian chicken, and Cafe Jacko, that serves up sushi, bento boxes, and udon soup. All three are a deal and will make it hard for you pick.   But, who says you can't get a pho starter, peruvian chicken for a main, and then an eel roll chaser.  I wouldn't judge. 

Pho Magic

In my “Blog Manifesto,” I wrote about what people on death row choose as their last meal.  I know what mine would be.  It would be a bowl of Pho. 

Pho is my ultimate comfort food.  I had my first bowl when I was 21 and I have had many, many bowls since.  I’m very lucky because my best friend is Vietnamese, and her mom is an excellent Pho maker.  Her mom jokes about the fact that I am an “Asian Baby” because I find such joy and happiness in Asian cooking.  And, of all Asian dishes, nothing makes me happier than a bowl of pho. 

At one point I had thought about having Kathy’s mom teach me her secrets, but I never was able to find a good time.  When I first started eating Pho, I did look into recipes.  It usually entails a rich broth made of ox tails, vegetables, and spices like anise and cinnamon.  The soup itself is made by adding in rice noodles, meat (or fried tofu, which is my favorite), and onions.  In addition, most restaurants then provide Hoisin sauce and sriracha and a plate of cilantro, basil, lime wedges, and bean sprouts for you to add according to your desires.   

Even though I know the components, the exact chemical equation and construction is a mystery.  The odd thing is that as much as I love Pho, I have come to have no interest in learning how to make it for myself.   The closest I came was buying a ramen style pho packet that came with rice noodles and two secretive packets.  I guess the main reason I have no interest in learning how to make Pho is that I think of Pho as a magic healing spell and knowledge of the enchantment seems blasphemous. 

To me, it seems strange that someone like me who spends so much time thinking about food, dissecting recipes, and identifying nuances, compositions, flavor profiles, textures,  variations, and subtleties (basically just over-analyzing food) could be happy not knowing about the mystery of her favorite food.  But, I think for all of us there is one food that you accept whole-heartedly as is.  Either it is a food your mom makes like no one else or your favorite dish at your favorite restaurant.  For those foods, something is taken away by finding out it is just food, an equation, a permutation of ingredients. 

So for me, Pho is off limits.  It is magic.  I have no need to conjure it up or find out how the trick is performed.  I am content just to sit in awe of it.