Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

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April 11, 2015 By cheryl

Café Andamiro (Edinburgh): Stellar Korean

Yuk Gae Jang

As you’ve probably gathered from some mutterings on this blog, I’ve had rather low expectations of the Asian food scene in Edinburgh.

There is one Vietnamese restaurant in town. (Well, two if you count Saigon Saigon, which really is a Chinese restaurant that decided to go with a slightly more exotic name.) And my trusty Edinburgh food gurus over at Asian Cajuns inform me that there’s pretty much only one place that serves good ramen in the city.

There is, however, a narrow street right by the University of Edinburgh that is speckled with ethnic food joints. When I mentioned to Lar over at Asian Cajuns that I’d sampled — and adored — the Korean place Kim’s Mini Meals along that stretch, she immediately asked, “Did you go to the other Korean place a few doors away? It’s good.”

Another Korean place? I had to see for myself.

The very next day, I headed straight over to the charming Café Andamiro …

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Asian, Comfort Food, Japanese, Korean, Scotland, Soup, Stew, Tales From the Road, Travel Tagged With: Bulgogi, Burdock root, Cafe Andamiro, California roll, Chicken teriyaki, Dessert, Edinburgh, Japanese, Korean, Korean fried chicken, Okonomiyaki, Pork katsu curry, Scotland, Spicy, Stew, Tea, Yuk gae jang, Yuzu

July 3, 2009 By cheryl

A Mouth Full of Booger


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Slowly and carefully, Greg and I chewed, on the verge of both laughter and disgust as we tried to put a name to what it was we were tasting.

“It’s like a bad taco,” Greg said.

“Tequila or margaritas — regurgitated,” I said, thinking suddenly of a college night long, long ago.

It was actually vomit that we were sampling — vomit-flavored jelly beans, to be precise.

When we had passed a display of rather unappetizing-sounding new Jelly Belly flavors at the Fancy Food Show in New York City, we had known it was a silly gimmick but hadn’t been able to resist. And so we spent some unpleasant minutes with mouths full of centipede (which tasted like grass and earth), skunk spray (as billed) and canned dog food (think Chef Boyardee). (Canned dog food and centipede are new this year.)

Drawing the line at Baby Wipes, we decided to walk away while our tastebuds were still intact.

“I still taste Booger in my mouth,” Greg whispered as we slunk away.

Well, somewhat intact, I suppose.

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Filed Under: New York, Snacks, Sweets Tagged With: Acai, Baby Wipes, Bacon Lollipops, Baltimore Sun, Blood orange, Centipede, Chef Boyardee, Chocolate, Citrus, Das Foods, Dog Food, Earl Grey, Efferve, Fancy Food Show, Green tea, Grits, Houston Chronicle, Jelly beans, Jelly Belly, Knipschildt Chocolatier, Marmalade, National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, New Hampshire, San Francisco, Sara Engram, Sid Wainer, Skunk Spray, Smart Spice, Tcho, The Seasoned Palate, The Spice Kitchen, Toblerone, Village Mixes, Vomit, Yorkshire Tea, Yuzu

May 29, 2009 By cheryl

I'll Have The Genitals, Please


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There’s something a little inappropriate about Pho Sure/Baoguette, Michael
Huynh’s new Vietnamese noodle-slash-sandwich joint in the West Village.

There are the kneeling Vietnamese maidens in barely-there tops plastered all over the wallpaper in a comely repeat pattern. And then, there’s the bull’s penis, practically waving at you from the menu. 

Yes, that would be the sliced up genitals of a bull served either with pho or a simmering hot bowl of soup.

Feel uncomfortable yet?

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Filed Under: New York, Restaurants Tagged With: Baoguette, Beavis & Butt-Head, Bull's Penis, Bun, Genitals, Kiwi, Michael Huynh, New York, Peen, Pho 75, Pho Sure, Soft shell crab, Steak, Vermicelli, West Village, Yuzu

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