#38 at Pho Pasteur - Chinatown

Sorry, blurry lady on the left, I didn't mean to catch you there (picking your ear?). Re-taking the picture was out of the question, as I did not feel like it.

Moline (IL), Richardson (TX), Rosemead (CA), Boston, Sydney, Toronto, San Diego, and New York City. What do all of these cities have in common? According to Google, they are all home to Vietnamese restaurants named 'Pasteur' or 'Pho Pasteur' (apparently unaffiliated) - and I am certain there are more.

So, what's the deal with Vietnam and Pasteur? Who really knows? Not I. I was unaware of how extensive the connection was until I started writing this post and googled "Pho Pasteur," which turned up numerous results from all over the world.
Curiosity and further googling led me to this:

Fully aware of the international importance of his work, Pasteur's disciples dispersed themselves wherever their assistance was needed. In 1891, the first Foreign Institut Pasteur was founded in Saigon (today Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) launching what was to become a vast international network of Instituts Pasteur.

And then questioning my (questionable?) authority on all things Vietnamese, and dear friend, Arthur (Vietnamese by descent, but Texas born and raised), got me this response:

Arthur: something about french colonial influence
especially re: pho's origins in french consomme

Thanks, Arthur!

I don't know about other people, but to me the words 'Pasteur' or 'pasteurize' or 'pasteurization' do not really get my tummy grumbling. And if they do, it's not in a good way. But hey, that's just me.

Festive signage.
That waiter that appears to be delighted about the lower half of his body disintegrating into an amorphous blob roughly the shape of South Vietnam...really creeps me out.

Now, you might be assuming this post is going to be about pho, but you would be wrong. SO WRONG. You have never been so wrong. Shame on you.

Why the hostility, Susan? I don't really know. I'm sorry, it was a joke. I'm at work and not working (because who works on Friday?), and my mind wanders. I'm sleepy, and I have actually never had the pho here.

BBQ Pork Chop! AKA 'pokchap,' AKA 'pokechop,' AKA Com Suon Bi Cha, AKA #38 on the menu.
Pretty, no?

In my estimation, this has to be not only one of the most pleasantly polychromatic, but most satisfying meals $6 ($6.50?) can get you in this city. Or in Manhattan, at least.
It's nothing spectacular, nothing knock-your-socks-off about it. But it's hearty, and homey, and delicious. And the portion is very generous. Also, I am one who really likes to have a lot of variety packed into one meal, and this plate's got it. The pork chop itself is nicely cooked, sweet and salty (the chili sauce in the squeeze bottle provided adds a nice kick), and just moist and fatty enough without being greasy. Not once in the 8 or 9 times I've had it has it come out the least bit dry.
In fact, twice in the past month M has actually gotten 2 of these for take-away, biked them home to Greenpoint in styrofoam containers, and I'll be darned if they weren't still lip-smackin' delicious*.
Then you have the dry, shredded pork [stuff] on the side. Pork 2 ways! That's fancy. As one would expect, it is dry, and also has a sort of grainy texture. And a bit salty. I wouldn't say it's not tasty, it's...interesting. I usually eat a few bites of it with some rice and some of the crinkle-cut pickled carrots or daikon, and then try to pawn the rest off onto M, who's usually cleared his plate by the time I make it over to this part.

*FYI: thesaurus entries for "tasty" are sucks.

Egg...thing.

My second favorite part of the dish is what I like to endearingly call the "egg thing." I don't know what it is. A cupcake-shaped omelet? Anyway, it's good. Very dense, and packed with glass or rice noodles, bits of pork (pork 3 ways!), and seems to have a hint of some kind of spice that I can't place. I want to say it almost tastes a tiny bit cinnamon-y, or cardamom-y, but that actually doesn't sound very good, so I won't say it. Consider it not said.

Not the most appealing cross-section shot.

And then you have the rice, and the ornamental vegetables (which I always eat, because they're there).

For a quick, cheap, and satisfying meal downtown, to stay or take-away, this a great stand-by. The restaurant itself is a little tight, and has weird feng shui* issues (if you're not careful, you'll trip right over a 4-top directly in front of the door), but the service is fast and friendly enough. Highly recommended. I do want to try other things on the menu, but M and I are creatures of habit (lazy brains), and it's not really a place to take a group, so I can't make any promises.

*I know approximately nothing about feng shui.**

**Man, I need to cool it with the footnotes and parentheticals.


85 Baxter St (btwn Walker and White)
New York, NY 10013-4433
(212) 608-3656

Er.

Blog inertia. Fuckfuckfuck.

So many pictures.

Soon, soon.

Someday, I'm gonna be a real blogger, and this will be a real blog. Again, not today.

Tonight we are doing a Miracle Fruit get-together, because we are old and behind the times, so we are partying like it's 1970. Or 2007. Or whatever.

Also, I started culinary school! Lots of things happening.

Me in about 4 hours:



This day is dragging like blargh.

Yun Nan Flavour Snack Inc. - Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Perpetually catching up on posts. This happened...a while ago.

We made it back, and it was open!
Yun Nan Flavour Snack Inc.
No shutters!
This is the menu. Its modest simplicity belies the exquisiteness* of the actual food.

We let M take over the task of ordering for the four of us, which turned out to be a good move. He picked out the 2 items on the menu which he had had on previous visits, which were incidentally the 2 items on the menu with quirky misspellings or substituted marquis letters for the word 'sauce' (I assume they ran out of 'a's for the "Dumpling with hot and sour sduce." I also suspect the 'p' in 'crispy' is actually an inverted 'd.')

*'Exquisite' is probably not a word anyone would use to describe the food here - not even me. I just liked the way it sounded and contrasted with 'simplicity.' A better word would be 'drrrtylicious.' But such urban colloquial terms are not really my style, even though I just made that one up right now.
Hot 'Sause.'

M told me that the first time he went there, after he had placed his order, the owner[?] of the place asked his Chinese dining companion how he - a glaring, flaring, blaring gweilo - knew to order the two best things on the menu. Such is the mysterious wisdom of M.*
He got us 4 orders of #13 - Rice noodle with crispy meat 'sause,' and 2 orders of the previously mentioned #27 - Dumpling with hot and sour sauce. I'm usually not a fan of hot and sour, but I put my trust in him. And it was well rewarded.

*Chowhound.

Unidentifiable amoebic forms and noodles floating leisurely in a nebulous broth. How gorgeous is that? Intensified by a few plops of ripened (read: old, but better for it) chili oil from an ancient dollar-store ceramic cup: sweat-inducing bliss on a warm night.

What does "crispy meat sauce" mean? I, who have had the pleasure of experiencing this dish, still cannot say. There is no 'sauce' to speak of, but the crispy bits of 'meat' (left) were delicious. Kind of like deep fried beef jerky, but not any jerky you'd buy trapped in cellophane from a store. Richer. Untainted by processing and overseasoning. Pure, subtle meat flavor - and crispy. And those amoebic, tubular forms (right and bottom)? I think tripe - but unlike any tripe I've ever had. Exquisitely fatty and heart-rendingly tender*. Hands down my favorite part of the entire meal - I'd go back just for that. The rice noodles were also a pleasant surprise, as they were much more springy and substantial than I would ever expect from a rice noodle. This soup entails a lot more chewing than your average soup.

*Beer makes me spew maudlin descriptions like wat.
The dumplings also did not disappoint. The skin was just as thin as I like, but not overboiled to the point of turning limp. The broth, deeply imbued with meat and tangy chili flavor, was worthy of sipping on its own. The meat filling was plentfiul and had a nice bite. These, as well as the noodles, come out piping hot, which works out well because I think the flavors of both only get better after sitting in the broth for a few minutes.
Obligatory close up, in Blurry Susan Vision™.

The guy running the place, who I assumed to be the owner, was gregarious and I think very excited to have us, obvious non-locals who had journeyed out seeking his delicious 'flavour snacks,' in the place. He even remembered M from his few past visits long ago. He was extremely accommodating and pleasant - exuberant, even - despite the very tight space being slightly overtaken by the four of us, and always trying to make sure we were enjoying everything. We promised we'd be back soon, and I'm certain it'll be sooner than later.

BYOB to experience Maximum Exquisiteness.

Yun Nan Flavour Snack Inc.
774 49th St (between 7th Ave & 8th Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11220
(718) 633-3090