This is for Linka...
Today we discussed having Hawaiian BBQ, but after much debate on the health concerns of that much fried meat and carb and which of the three Hawaiian BBQs within office distance had the best pork ribs, we scrapped it all and drove over to the Pho place.
I usually order bun with grilled shrimp, but I was craving broth. So I ordered the chicken pho and filled it with fresh cilantro, lime, jalapenos and a little rooster sauce. The spicy broth made my eyes burn, but it went so well with the delicate pieces of sliced chicken. It was the perfect winter lunch.
We discussed our favorite Japanese ramen place and we all agreed that they make the freshest and tastiest gyoza. Lunch there next week or perhaps on my birthday. But really, I think I want fried Japanese small plates for my birthday lunch, with perfectly grilled bits of mackerel and dancing bonito flakes and sweet slices of fish cake and crunchy, julienned daikon pickle.
To round out this afternoon of Asian cuisine, I drove myself over to Cafe Verde, because of the 7,000 tea places in the immediate vicinity of my office, they make the best bubble milk tea, not too sweet, plenty of pearls. I stood in like and watched the skinny college kids nibble deep-fried cuttle fish balls off of chopsticks. And then, this is a first, I ordered my drink... in Mandarin.