pho dynasty

Met up with friend Len for Vietnamese food at Pho Dynasty

He said this place was rather new and that he enjoyed the pho here

Another blazing day so I ordered the grilled pork with spring roll on rice noodles 

Too bad they put everything into a bowl, there was a lot of veggies and noodles that were hidden 

The pork was tasty and very tender 

A nice promotion that they had was if you ordered a pho that was under $25, they gave you 50% off

Was nice to catch up and appreciated Len bringing me back to Pearl City

Thanks for today Len

Pho Dynasty

1341 Kapiolani Blvd

Honolulu, Hawaii

Open daily: 10:00-22:00

this and that

Every time I pass by Donkey, I see their photo of their hotcakes pasted on the window and want to try them.

Well, I finally did and was totally disappointed.

First off, they cut the hotcakes before serving them.

Am thinking these were the frozen type...bummer.

Satoshi’s dry curry looked ono.

There was talk about snow at the beginning of the week, everyone around Tokyo got the snow, we just got fahreezing temps...was kind of bummed, I mean if it is gonna be fahreezing...

Now, there is talk that Tokyo might see some snow over the weekend, we'll see.

Since Satoshi was working from home, most of this week, and there was that talk about the snow, I stocked up so I did not need to go out of the house for groceries.

Well, Wednesday night, just before Satoshi's German online class, the gas range’s light came on saying it needed new batteries...so guess who had to go out to get some batteries?!

At least the nearest covenience store is only 3 minutes walking away...

And as luck would have it, after buying the batteries, it seems that "someone" didn't turn off the range properly, which is why the light on the range was blinking...grr.

oh well, at least we have spare batteries...

This shirunashi (no soup) tan tan men...it had the perfect balance of ma (numbing) and la (spicy).

Tried a new (to me) banh mi place. 

The other day, I happened to pass by and noticed them.

Apparently they opened sometime last year...

I ordered their grilled pork...680 yen (tax included)

Loved the bread and the grilled pork was similar to the sweet char siu flavor we have in Hawaii.

I think they could've put a little more veggies, but overall I enjoyed this, I'll be back to try other items on their menu.

Satoshi is having implant work tomorrow, so he needs to get a PCR test done today.

On top of that for the past two weeks he had to take his temperature and record it.

I'm going to go with him to the PCR test so I can see where the hospital is.

Hoping all goes smoothly, he will have anesthesia and will be allowed to "sleep" it off, he said he'll be able to come home on his own, but I'm worried he won't, so I will go to "pick him up" tomorrow afternoon.

Hope you all are doing well, have a safe weekend.

Banh Mi Xin Chao (UPDATE: 10/2025 out of business)

5-19-10 Nishikamata

Ota, Tokyo

Phone: 03.6715.8087

Open daily 10:00-20:00

banh xeo

1st time making banh xeo and I think even 1st time eating it.

It is a fun word to say...ban-say-oh!

Somehow I thought it was made with eggs, but looking online, this is only made with rice flour, coconut milk, turmeric and some water.

I used this recipe and cut it down to make 2 crepes.

Adapted from the internet, makes 2 crepes

42 grams mochiko

14 grams flour

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

water

66 milliliter milk

coconut oil

Mix and let the batter sit in the refridge for at least 3 hours.

Heat oil in a pan and swirl in 1 ladle of batter to make 1 thin crepe

Add your filling, and cover to steam, fold the crepe in half, repeat to make another crepe, serve.

NOTES: Originally this is supposed to be gluten and dairy free, but I didn't have rice flour and used mochiko. 

Not sure, but I think using rice flour might make a difference as to how light the crepe comes out.

Also, I didn't have coconut milk and used regular milk.

When I cooked the crepe I used coconut oil so it would have a slight coconut fragrance.

I had some leftover gapao filling, so that is what I put into our banh xeo.

I know Thai filling, Vietnamese crepe, still it was delicious.

You are supposed to cut off pieces of the crepe and wrap it in some lettuce, but we just ate it with wilted spinach.

I think I need to thin out the batter a little more, but we thought it was delicious.

I'll make this again and make sure we have lettuce to wrap it in.

thit kho

Have been wanting to try Kathy’s recipe for thit kho ever since I saw it on her blog, Onolicious Hawaii.

My only problem was finding coconut water.

I got lucky sometime last year when I stumbled upon a nearby food import shop and they had one serving sized boxes of coconut water!

I made half the recipe because I wasn’t too sure Satoshi would like the flavors.

Plus he doesn’t really care for pork…

This is similar to Okinawan style rafute.

Instead of hard boiled eggs, I wanted oozy, but kinda failed.

Mine came out too soft to peel to make “ajitama”, so I ended up scooping them out of the shells instead.

Still we enjoyed this.

The pork came out quite tender.

NOTES: find a pot that will keep the pork submerged while cooking.

I ended up having to turn/flip the meat throughout the cooking.

My caramel seized but I reheated it with some of the coconut water before adding it to the braising liquid.

I would also make this a day ahead so you can scrape off the fat.

I’m glad I got to try this and if I come across coconut water again , I will make this again.

back to gakugeidaigaku area

My host mom's birthday is coming up so I went back to Patisserie Sourire to send her something sweet.

It had been about 3 months since the last time I was in this area.

With Valentine's coming up, they were also selling chocolates so I purchased this salted caramel tablette for myself.

I love that it comes in a mold, will wash it and try to use it again.

The chocolate was not very dark but matched the salted caramel, there were also some cashew pieces as well as some dried mango.

Before heading home, I picked up some lunch from Stand Banh Mi.

There is a little pun with the pronunciation of the name.

In Japanese banh mi is pronounced "bai-n-me"

So "Stand Banh Mi" sounds more like "Stand By Me"...

Anyway...

I tried their Bo Bun.

They only serve 10 of these a day.

Loved this! lots of cilantro and mint, lime to brighten the flavors and a sprinkle of peanuts.

The meat was a disappointment though, lots of gristle and very very hard...

But the cha gio (spring rolls) had lots of shrimp in it.

Everything was packed nicely and there was more than enough nuoc-cham.

I hope to try other items from their menu...I'll be back when I am in this area again.

Stand Banh Mi

2-16-23 Takaban

Meguro, Tokyo

Phone: 03.6451.0827

Closed Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays

Hours: 11:00-15:00 (lunch), 17:00-20:00 (dinner) 

thi thi

We've been trying to eat at Thi Thi, but every time we've tried, they were fully packed and only taking people with reservations.

This past Sunday, we finally got to try their food.

This shop was featured as one of the spots that the main character of the J-drama (soap opera), "Kodoku no Gurume" eats at while out on sales calls.

I actually saw this episode on a plane ride to Hawaii and was excited that it was nearby to where we live.

Satoshi had this Larue Beer.

We shared this Cha Gio (fried spring rolls), I loved all the veggies and herbs.

We also shared this Bo Cuon Tom (shrimp and veggies that are wrapped with beef)

We loved this dish as well.

It is hard to tell from this photo but the beef wrapped shrimp were huge!

Thank goodness they sliced these in half.

Here's a shot of one half.

There was lots of thinly sliced beef wrapping the shrimp and veggies. The five spice flavor was nice too.

This is a small restaurant and there were quite a lot of Vietnamese eating here.

We want to try some of their noodle dishes...we'll be back!

Thi Thi
5-26-6 Kamata
Ota, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3731.1549
Closed Mondays
Hours: 17:00-22:30 (Tuesdays-Fridays), 12:00-22:00 (Saturdays & Sundays)
*cash only

grey friday

Last night they shut off our water from 23:00 until 6:00 to work on the water mains in our area.

Just before 6:00 I heard everyone in our building using their water, so I knew that the work was done and we had water once again.

I usually wake up at 5:30 to make Satoshi's bento, but since we couldn't use the water until 6:00, I got to sleep 30 more minutes...whoo!

Today was grey and cold..single digits..9C (49F)...there is talk of maybe some snow or flurries this weekend.

I went to check out the new Pig and the Lady restaurant that opened up in Ebisu.

I was asked if I had reservations upon entering.

I didn't and was glad I was able to get a table for lunch.

The menu has some of the popular items that the Hawaii restaurant has, but since it was fahreezing, I ordered a bowl of pho ga (chicken).

It was delicious, the chicken tender and hit the spot.

Hope to bring Satoshi here, so he can try their food too.

I noticed this line of ginkgo trees near the station.

The yellow really brightened up the grey and gloom.

Hope you have a nice weekend.

Pig and the Lady
1-4-15 Ebisuminami, Ebisu Ginza Cross 2F
Shibuya, Tokyo
Phone: 050.1743.1650
Hours: Weekdays lunch 11:00-14:00, dinner 17:00-23:00, Weekends & Holidays 11:00-23:00

canh khổ qua

Blog friend, Passthepocky introduced me to a bittermelon soup called Canh Khổ Qua.

She said her father makes this soup and gave me a link to a recipe that is similar to what he does.

Since the video didn't give measurements, I used parts of this recipe

Canh Khổ Qua adapted from the internet : makes two servings

150 grams of minced pork
1 bittermelon, cut into 2-inch rings, cleaned.
4 pieces of dried woodear mushroom, reconstituted
several strands of harusame (glass noodles), boiled for 3 minutes until soft
pepper

Soup: 5 cups chicken stock
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce

Garnish: chopped cilantro

Chop up the reconstituted woodear mushroom and noodles and mix them with the pork.
Use the backside of a fork or spoon to clean out the insides of the bittermelon, then stuff each piece with some pork mixture.
Put everything into a pot with the stock and fish sauce
Bring to a boil then down to a simmer, skimming off any scum that rises to the top.
Cook until the bittermelon is tender with the cover off. (About 20 minutes)

NOTES: No need to pack in the pork mixture as it will expand when cooked. Keeping the cover off while cooking keeps the broth clear. The bittermelon I had was a bit "skinny" so it was kind of hard to stuff. The soup was super bitter because I didn't parboil the bittermelon before stuffing it. The weather was super hot and not really soup weather but I'm glad I got to try this. If I can find bittermelon in the Fall, I want to try to make this again.

Thanks Passthepocky!

foodie tuesday in kobe

I got a chance to meet up with my host brother's wife for lunch the other week.

We went to Ha Long Son, a Vietnamese restaurant she'd been interested in trying.

I went with the Pho Ga, the cilantro that came with this was kinda sparse, though they had lots of lettuce and bean sprouts on it.

I liked the broth...1000 yen.

This came with a side dish. I chose their Cha Gio (fried spring roll).

We both agreed that there were better Vietnamese places out there.

After lunch we walked a bit and stopped in to Mont Plus for something sweet.

It had been about 5 years since I been to this shop.

I chose the La Plus, a chocolate cake, layered with dark chocolate mousse, milk chocolate mousse & pistachio mousse. On top of this was a streusel cookie topping.

This was perfect with some black coffee.

After talking we walked up to Kobe Grocers and Kobe Halal Foods, where I bought some spices.

Lunch wasn't so great but the company and conversation was.

Thanks for a great day, Kazumi!

Ha Long Son
2-2-8 Motomachi-dori
Chuo, Kobe
Phone: 078.331.0477
Closed Tuesdays

Mont Plus
3-1-17 Kaigan-dori
Chuo, Kobe
Phone: 078.721.1048
Closed Tuesdays

foodie wednesday in kobe

Wednesday I was supposed to meet up with a friend, but had to change plans because she had a bout of anemia.

So, instead I went to Kobe to pick up my sample of Mariage Frères' summer tea, Violetta.

It is a very floral tea and has a violet fragrance, (the guy at the counter let me smell it), I think as an iced tea, it is going to have a refreshing taste.

In order to get the sample, I had to buy something, so I'm trying their Yunnan.

I hope both are good.

I then walked up Tor Road to Kitano Groceries, which I found the last time I was in Kobe.

They sell all sorts of foods especially spices.

I picked up 200 grams of ground cumin, some whole cumin seeds and cardamom pods...870 yen. I don't think we get spices this cheap in Hawaii, do we?!

It was funny though, as I was paying for them, the owner, who is also a foreigner says to me in Japanese, "are you going to make curry?"

I told him, "how can you tell?"

"Because most people making curry buy these items", he said.

We then had a nice chat in Japanese about how he makes his curry.

I was pretty hungry after that conversation, and ate at a restaurant that my host-family took us to earlier this year called Kokaen.

They serve Vietnamese-Chinese food.

I had their sweet sour fried won ton set...700 yen.

Crispy won ton is covered with a sweet sour sauce and some veggies. On a humid hot day like it was, this really hit the spot.

There was also a nice daikon salad, some zasai (szechuan pickles) & egg drop soup.

On the way home, no one wanted to sit by me on the train...the cumin I bought made me smell like I had b.o. There were even guys, thinking that they smelled and sprayed themselves with cologne...funny yeah?!

It was crazy hot & humid, but it was still nice to get out and about.

What have you been doing lately?

Mariage Frères
BAL Kobe 2F
Kobe, Hyogo
Phone: 078.391.6969

Kitano Groceries
3-3-3 Yamamoto-dori (In front of the Mosque)
Kobe, Hyogo
Phone: 078.230.6860

Kokaen
2-21-12 Nakayamate-dori
Kobe, Hyogo
Phone: 078.231.7079
Closed Tuesdays : Lunch 11:30-13:30, Dinner 17:00-21:00 (Sundays: Lunch 11:30-13:30, Dinner 17:00-20:00)

hi sandwich

A Vietnamese sandwich shop opened recently in Waimalu called Hi Sandwich. (Not sure if it meant "hi" like "hi there" or the abbreviation for "Hawaii").

They also serve bubble drinks and smoothies.

Mom tried their lemongrass tofu sandwich on croissant...meh, she though it was too spicy and didn't have much lemongrass flavor.

I think the burning of incense in the shop kinda turned her off too.

I tried their BBQ chicken sandwich on french bread.

Where's the chicken?!

I gave some of this to my mom since she wasn't eating her sandwich, the BBQ chicken was mild, like a grilled teriyaki chicken, except drier. The bread was crumbly, definitely not good french bread.

Unfortunately, they are related to Pho Five-O, which we've tried in the past and liked.

For about $6 + tax for each sandwich, I think you could get better quality sandwiches elsewhere...I think we'll pass on going back to this place.

omiyage

Satoshi went on a business trip last week.

I asked him to buy me Trung Nguyen coffee if he had a chance. They are supposedly the "Starbucks" of Vietnam.

I can't wait to try this.

Thanks Satoshi!

pho bo (beef pho)

I think I've told you that whenever I get a craving for something, most times I need to make it from scratch if we don't have access to it.

The other day, the temperature was kinda brisk and I was craving something for dinner that would use some of the cilantro on my lanai.

I decided to try my hand at...pho (fah)

I roughly followed this recipe.

I say roughly because our supermarkets don't sell the bones of beef. You can't even find a t-bone steak!

For my broth I used a fatty sune-niku (shank) and cooked it for an hour with the various spices and fish sauce.

Anyway, by itself, the soup was awesome and the beef really tender, but with the noodles, the flavor was a little lacking, but, it was perfect for Satoshi (who is supposed to watch his sodium intake).

I added thinly sliced yellow onion, bean sprouts, snow peas and the cilantro when I served it.

Talk about using all my pots, pans and burners! A little hectic because the noodles shouldn't be made in advance, just right before eating.

For dessert we had coconut milk with tapioca, which I bought and jazzed up with some nuts and fruits.

I think I have enough broth for us to have this one more time...mmm!

foodie thursday in kyoto

Met up with Tamakikat yesterday. It had been awhile since we had seen each other, so we had a lot to chat about.

We headed to Com Ngon for lunch. We got there a little early, but they were kind enough to let us come in and look over their menu.

We both chose their Pho Ga set...880 yen and decided to share an order of their rice paper spring rolls...330 yen.

The warm broth really hit the spot, we were a little confused with the noodles in there though, a mixture of skinny and flat ones.

There was also some chopped pork with peanuts over rice. The pork was seasoned with shoyu and some other spices.

Also with this set was a salad that came with a shrimp cracker and some pickles.

Filling but really delicious.

After lunch we walked around a bit and then went to check out the Salon de The Au Grenier d'Or.

I've checked out the pastry shop with friends before, and they changed that shop to mainly a "take-out" place.

Kitty-corner from this pastry shop is the tea salon.

They renovated an old home and put tables and chairs in. There is also a "fukinuke" (inner garden) which you can gaze at while having tea.

I chose their fig tart.

This was interesting because there was also leaves of shiso (perilla).

When you ate the crust together with the fig and shiso it was a really refreshing taste.

Different but delicious.

Tamakikat also sent me home with some sweets from Demachi Futaba, they are known for their mame mochi, a soft mochi filled with sweet bean paste and studded with black beans. The lines to purchase this can sometimes take hours.

She gave me some mame mochi and kabuki dango. It was my first time to try kabuki dango, there are 3 flavors-- nikki (cinnamon), plain & matcha (green tea) on one stick.

Both were great with some green tea.

It was nice to catch up with Tamakikat and I hope she had a nice time too.

It's Friday here, hope you have a great weekend.

Com Ngon
304 Ichirensha-cho
Nakagyoku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.223.3337
Open 11:30-23:00

Salon de The Au Grenier d'Or (UPDATE:2018 no longer in business)
519-1 Kikuya-cho
Nakagyoku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.468.8625
Closed Wednesdays and one Monday (call if you plan to go on a Monday)
Hours: 11:00-19:00

pho five-o

It was the last day my brother would be in town, so we had lunch at somewhere he wanted to check out...Pho Five-O.

My mom went with the fried noodles with seafood...this had more veggies than seafood, in my opinion, but she enjoyed it.

My brother chose a vermicelli with a spring roll and barbecue meat, this looked tasty. (sorry no photo)

And I went with the short ribs and rice...this was a bit on the fatty side, but the meat was pretty tender.

We enjoyed their food and want to try their take-out.

Pho Five-O
98-202 Kamehameha Hwy.
Aiea, Hawaii
Phone: 808.487.5091

phở my lien

This week I'm kinda busy helping my mom bake and get things together for O-bon and her church's bon dance which is next week.

Last week, she kinda injured her shoulder (nothing major just from overuse) so I had to help the ladies at her church cook chili in her place.

Most days, I usually take her around to do some of her errands...lifting the heavy items and doing the driving.

Tuesday was the only day this week that I had free to meet up with my Aunty M1 for lunch.

We decided to try Phở My Lien, a Vietnamese place in the Westridge Shopping Center.

I had seen a photo that one of my Flickr friends had taken of her food and asked her about it.

Apparently this shop was in Waikiki before and moved out to Aiea last year?!. With the weather being too hot for phở, my Aunty and I chose bún (rice vermicelli) dishes.

I chose Bún chả giò (topped with spring rolls) while my Aunty chose to top hers with grilled chicken (sorry don't know the name).

I loved all the fresh herbs (mint, thai basil), bean sprouts, peanuts and lettuce tucked underneath the bún.

Really refreshing and filling!

It was nice catching up with my Aunty and trying a new place...we'll be back.
(Thanks for lunch Aunty!)

Phở My Lien
Westridge Shopping Center 2F
Aiea, Hawaii
Phone: 808.488.4900

leftovers

The weather has gotten pretty warm during the daytime. Still, nights and early morning are cool and comfortable.

Satoshi has not been eating at home because of his business trip and a drinking party (oh man, I could rant about the after effects of that drinking party...but it would be TMI (too much info) and this is a food blog..ahem!)....

So anyway, while he was gone, I tried to use what I had in my fridge as much as possible.

On one night, I had a repeat of the summer rolls for dinner.

Then the other day, I bought some mini spring rolls with some leftover nuoc cham for lunch. (Along with a musubi and some iced earl grey tea)

In Japan, spring rolls usually have bean sprouts, some minced pork, carrots, sometimes harusame (vermicelli)...the taste and texture reminds me of what the Filipinos call lumpia.

These were freshly made at the supermarket and only 150 yen (about US$1.50) for three....mmm!

I love how most supermarkets have their own kitchens to make different foods instead of having other vendors bring them in.

Then for dinner on another night, I bought some fried squid and some harusame namasu.

Harusame namasu is vermicelli noodles, carrots, cucumber and kikurage (wood ear) marinated in a vinegar-sugar mixture...quite refreshing during the summer months.

I drained the vinegar mixture then placed the namasu on top of some lettuce, topped it with the fried squid which I heated in the oven, then drizzled on the last of the nuoc cham.

Wow! this version was awesome and I love how the flavors didn't overpower one another.

What have you been eating?

p.s. if you enjoy our blog, would you please "like" our Facebook page?! Thanks in advance.

summer rolls & nuoc cham

It was my first time making these summer rolls. I had bought the rice paper awhile back and the expiry date was coming up, so I thought it would be nice to make some for dinner.

I followed the directions on the rice paper package.

The harusame (vermicelli noodles) I bought were kinda too fat.

After blanching the shrimp, I cut them in half, because I saw online that they are easier to roll.

I also added some thinly sliced carrot, cucumber, a few pieces of lettuce & some cilantro.

Actually, the cilantro I had on the lanai, had "fainted" with the heat, so I used what I could salvage.

For the dipping sauce, I adapted a recipe I copied down from Saveur's May 2008 issue, which I found online here.

I didn't have Thai chili and subbed Chinese chili paste instead. I also didn't add the garlic.

The sauce could've been a little more spicy, and maybe I could've rolled these a bit tighter, overall the hardest part was getting all the components together.

But for a first try, these were good.

I have a couple more sheets of rice paper, and have a feeling I'll be having these for lunch this week.

Hope you have a good week!

ba-le

Lunch on Tuesday was from Ba-Le.

I love their banh mi sandwiches. If you search this site, you'll probably see several posts on Ba-Le.

This time around I tried their BBQ chicken sandwich...US$5.50 + tax (the tax in Hawaii, actually just Oahu, now is something I can't remember)

An Asian style barbecued chicken with a little mayo, the pickled daikon, carrots, cucumber and some cilantro on a toasted crusty baguette. (I love their baguette!)

I also got a sweet potato tapioca to try...US$1.65 + tax

Coconut pudding with tapioca and chunks of purple sweet potato, how can you go wrong with this?!

The tapioca pudding is on the firmer side, rich coconut milk and there are just enough pieces of sweet potato in there.

Life is good!

rainy foodie saturday

Friday, the rain came down in sheets at lunch time and didn't really let up.

Saturday, we awoke to a light drizzle, which picked up and poured.

Satoshi had to go to Umeda for his German class, so I tagged along so that we could eat lunch together.

We decided to pick somewhere that wasn't too far from the station and not too far from his class.

The restaurant we chose for lunch served assorted Asian cuisine...Baku, in the Yodobashi Camera building.

Satoshi chose the Baku Ramen which came with gyoza...870 yen (about US$8.70). Satoshi really enjoyed this, though his gyoza looked a little overdone.

I chose the chilled Pho which came with summer roll...1030 yen (about US$10.30). This caught my eye because usually Pho is served hot. I gotta admit though this wasn't Pho...more like hiyashi chuuka (a Japanese cold noodle dish), which had rice noodles instead.

Even though it wasn't authentic Pho, it was still delicious, I loved the sesame sauce/soup.

The summer roll was also not authentic, it had avocado, some ham and veggies in there...different, but still hit the spot.
After lunch, we wanted some coffee, so we went down a floor to the Sweets Museum, this is a food area with some restaurants and sweet shops.

After being seated at Dear Cafe, we looked at their menu and realized a cup of coffee would be 500 yen! (about US$5)....or we could get the cake set and pay 800 yen (about US$8), this would be 500 yen for coffee and 300 yen for cake.

We checked with the girl behind the counter and you could choose from whatever was in their showcase...So, we each chose the most expensive ones...worth about 480 yen (about US$4.80) each! (I guess we could look at it like we made about 180 yen (about US$1.80?? from the set)

Satoshi chose the waguri (Japanese chestnut) tart which was like the Mont Blanc. Sweetened chestnut puree, cake, chestnut cream and crust.

I chose the Blueberry tart...blueberries, cake, cream cheese and crust.

Their crust was good, crisp and flaky because they coat it with a layer of dark chocolate!

Our only gripe is that if you are going to charge 500 yen for coffee, don't use a machine to make it!

Hope your weekend is sunny!

Baku : UPDATE as of 2012, this restaurant has closed
1-1 Oofuka-cho
Yodobashi Camera 8F
Phone: 06.6486.2240
Hours: 11:00-22:00

Dear Cafe : UPDATE as of 12/2011 this restaurant has closed
1-1 Oofuka-cho
Yodobashi Camera 7F
Phone: 06.6371.8078
Hours: 11:00-22:00