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Ni Hao You Doin’? – A new Hepnova shirt on Zazzle in collaboration with Joey G.
We were hanging out in Little Italy/Chinatown tonight and Joe came up with this brilliant bilingual pun that celebrates the confluence of cultures in a pizza/scallion pancake slice of Lower Manhattan with classic New York wit and attitude. Here’s to pasta and to potstickers and to Sino-Italian-American friendship! Ni hao you doin’?
I had dinner at Yamo, a hole-in-the-wall Burmese place in the Mission tonight. When I say hole-in-the-wall, I really mean it, it’s just 10 seats along a long, narrow counter looking on to the kitchen area with three Cantonese ladies engaging in a frantic ballet of taking orders, cooking, pouring water and collecting money. I had the fish chowder noodles (above), which consist of rice noodles in a velvety turmeric-spiced broth with shredded fish, and topped with crunchy fried lentils. The noodles, like most of Yamo’s entrees, were only $5.25. CASH ONLY!
I also recommend the fried rice. They don’t serve alcohol, but if you want more than water, I suggest the fresh young coconut, which is literally a whole coconut that they cut open with a cleaver in front of you.
As far as Burmese food goes, Yamo is not as good as Mandalay in the Richmond, but it’s much closer to home and the prices can’t be beat.
Yamo
3406 18th St
(between Mission St & San Carlos St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
415.553.8911
Michelle and I headed out to hitherto terra incognita Flushing, Queens today in search of some authentic Taiwanese and Chinese food. Armed with a printout of a New York Times what-to-eat-map, we walked over from the last stop on the 7 train to the Flushing Mall.
Above: Michelle and Mouse.
When we walked into the Flushing Mall, it looked strangely deserted (and a little run down), but we followed our noses and finally found out that all the action was in the food court.
Above: We shared some Taiwanese favorites: oyster omelette (蚵仔煎) and steamed rice cake in a bowl with pork, mushrooms and shrimp (碗粿). I had to go off the veggie wagon when dealing with the food from the homeland! 😉
Below: A bowl of handmade beef noodle soup (手拉牛肉麵). The noodles were thick and chewy and the beef extremely tender. The broth was a little different from the typical Taiwanese-style beef noodle soup broth, which tends to be darker because it contains soy sauce and sometimes tomatoes. This broth was light-gray and fragrant. It reminded me of Vietnamese pho soup.
We also shared a scallion pancake (蔥油餅) and a cup of soy milk (not pictured). The scallion pancake was amazingly crisp and light, but the soy milk had a strange off taste that happens when one burns the soybean pulp while making the soy milk.
I couldn’t help snapping this photo of the “Bland Houses” sign. Funny, creepy, and definitely spot on. Despite the savory food, Flushing was indeed very bland architecturally.
