Whenever I order a bowl of the Vietnamese noodle soup, pho, I always ask for the raw steak on the side. That way, I can swirl the thin slices of beef in the steaming broth to the perfect pinkness that I like. The waiter at Blossom on Main Street in downtown Los Angeles obliged when I ordered the beef pho as such on Friday night and cheerfully set another small round table next to the two that were already placed side by side to hold the various plates, bowls and cups for me, Eileen and Bruna. Sometimes it's hard to tell if a Vietnamese restaurant is Vietnamese-Vietnamese or Vietnamese-Chinese. The authentic ones automatically bring the steak on the side for pho tai, or noodle soup with thin, rare slices of beef. The Americanized or Chinese-run joints usually dump everything together. I wasn't sure about Blossom because it caters to the upwardly mobile professionals and hip folks who work and live in the high-rises and modern lofts downtown. I concluded that Blossom is Vietnamese-Vietnamese because the waiter understood when I ordered my food in Vietnamese and didn't give me that "you-want-your-meat-where?" look when I had my unusual bout of being a fussy foodie. The shrimp and sweet potato fritters were also tasty, though not as good as my mom's, which always have at least three pieces of shrimp in each cluster. After dinner, Eileen and I headed to her friend's place in Hollywood for some red wine, chocolate, figs and Stilton cheese. Just back from a British tour promoting his new album, Eileen's friend, Thomas, showed us videos of the English countryside and booty-shaking groupies taken on his cell phone. It was a very yummy and entertaining evening.
0 Response to "Steak on the Side"
Post a Comment