L'Os à Moelle

I regret that I didn't pay more attention to all the cafés, restaurants, boulangeries, and patisseries I've visited in Paris. The only place I thoroughly documented was L'Os à Moelle (3, Rue Vasco de Gama, Paris, France 75015 Tel : 01 45 57 27 27), and that's because I visited it at least 4 times.

I found out about this restaurant from my friend in Paris, who referred me to the NY Times review, and I also googled and found Chez Pim's review.

You have to make a reservation; this place gets packed every night. I know. I ate two nights in a row before I left France. :-)

The service is prompt while managing to make you feel unrushed, polite, and unpretentious. That alone is a luxury. L'Os à Moelle goes on to serve amazing 6 course menu dégustation every night for only 38 euros! Their menu reflects the season, which is a sure sign that they use fresh ingredients. The seafood dishes here exceeds those served in other restaurants I've visited in France.

Amuse Bouche
The amuse bouche is always a fish consummé with bits of seafood and topped with froth. This always makes me hanker for more.

Fish Consommé

Soup Course

In the Fall and Winter, the soup is usually fish based. Eat up because you won't find broth this rich in the states (at this price). The server always presents the soup dish sans liquid first and then pours the soup from a pitcher. I chose to post the soup from my Spring visit because it's visually more interesting than the dollop of crème fraîche they put on the dish for the Fall soups. There's almost always a choice of refreshing chilled soup during the Spring.

Chilled Melon Soup-with prosciutto, cantelope, and herbs

Chilled Pea Soup-with prosciutto, chives, and croutons

Salad or Seafood Course

A light course follows the soup. This is the fun course for me because the dishes change more than the other courses throughout the seasons. It can either tingle and refresh your taste buds after the consommé and soup, or it can prepare you for the meal take-off by transitioning your palate to warm, luxurious morsels of juicy seafood. ALWAYS order the Saint-Jacques if they have it.

Squid Salad and Seared Foie Gras with Asparagus

Salad with Quail and Quail Egg and Salad with Saint-Jacques

Frog's Legs and Grilled Oysters

Grilled Saint Jacques-with peas and prosciutto and Grilled Saint Jacques-with wild mushrooms

Fish Course

L'Os à Moelle reaches the climax of its dinners with this course. The fish is always firm yet tender, the qualities of fresh, well cooked fish. Chef Thierry Faucher crafts this course masterfully. Nothing overpowers the natural flavors of the fish, not even caviar sauce!

Sea Bass-with watercress purée

Some Kind of Fish-with caviar cream sauce and Roasted John Dory-with bone marrow, mashed potatoes, rosemary, and poultry sauce

Meat Course

The only quibble I have is their meat course served after the fish. Whenever I order lamb, it is always cooked to medium. I end up grinding the meat around in my mouth without any success in breaking it apart enough to swallow. The veal was cooked medium well and was too tough. The pheasant was cooked well done and was too dry. The best meat dish I've had was the roast beef, which was juicy, easily chewable, but only one thin slice.

Roast Beef-with bone marrow and diced root vegetables Lamb-with carrots and peas

Veal-with some kind of screw-shaped root vegetable and Pheasant-with truffles

Cheese

The cheese course is optional, but you're in France so why not? The menu does not show the type of cheese they will serve, so it's always a surprise. All the cheeses I had were strong. Once I smelled from afar an unpleasant and strangely familiar odor. Ah, yes. Smelly tofu from the streets of Taiwan? I was embarrassed when that cheese arrived because I stunk up the neighboring tables while they were still on their soup course. The first two cheeses here are my favorites. The soily brown rind one is the best tasting cheese I ever had. Unfortunately, I forgot to write down the name of it! I never thought that I would be food blogging 2 years later!

Super Stinky Cheese on the left

Dessert

The desserts here are always gentle, almost timid. Perhaps this is an ingenious maneuver to ease us back into our mundane lives. I always get depressed when I reach this part of the meal anyways, knowing that it's all over. A Pierre Hermé stunner might put me to tears.

Strawberry Rhubarb Soup and Fruit Gratin

Quenelle de Chocolat Guanja with Saffron Sauce and Feuilleté de Banane et Framboise

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Tarte aux Pommes with Cheese Sorbet and Rum Raisin Cake with Boiled Grapes

Caffeine overload with une tasse de café au lait, du sucre, et du chocolat

South Congress Cafe

South Congress Cafe has become the spot for reunions with fun drinks and creatively conceived food with a Texas twist. The restaurant gets packed around normal dining hours, so we always come in at 6PM.

I always make it a point to order dishes that are unique to the restaurant. Generic dishes bore me. There's certainly plenty to try here! I'll have to order their wild boar chili pozole and duck gumbo with oysters next time.

The following photos are from 2 reunions with friends from college.

Cucumber-tini and Pomegranate Margarita

Queso Flameado-asadero, fresco, and panela cheeses with ground chorizo, cilantro, green onions, and tortillas.

Blackened Beef-beef tenderloin, horseradish Gouda potato pancake, sautéed spinach, chipotle hollandaise and toasted almonds.

Smoked Duck Breast-with port cherry chipotle glaze, guajillo mashed potatoes


Lollipop Pork-mesquite grilled pork with blueberry habanero gastrique and roasted garlic mashed potatoes


Seared Tuna Salad-with field greens, pear tomatoes, jícama, tortilla confetti, sesame seeds, spicy avocado vinaigrette

Crab Enchiladas-with tomatillo-jalapeño cream sauce, poblano and saffron rice

Carrot Cake French Toast-with Amy's Mexican Vanilla ice cream

Caramalized Banana Cheesecake-with coconut macaro0n and toasted crust and mango sauce

Mussels

I never had mussels before my year in Paris. Actually, I don't think I would have known to try mussels (moules) if my former TA hadn't requested to meet up with me at Léon de Bruxelles on Champs Elysées. The Champs Elysées location is better than the one near Saint Germain. I've been to the one at Saint Germain twice, and I felt queasy after both meals. Everytime I went to the one on Elysées, I would walk out in a satisfying state of lethargy.

Bucket o' moules with fries and mussels baked with marinara sauce and cheese

After I got back to the states, I tried my hand at cooking moules with the help of my stash of Monoprix's sauce Nantua. I thank the Electricité de France (EDF) for making it so difficult for me to end my service. I made countless trips to the EDF office where I opened my service, but each time I went, the office was closed contrary to the working hours posted on its door. I acquired various awesome sauces from a nearby Monoprix, including sauce Nantua, while waiting for the EDF office at a different location to reopen from their lunch break, which of course went way beyond the hours marked on their door.

My recipe is super simple, but contains more ingredients than the traditional cocotte de moules.

Ingredients:

fresh mussels washed and scrubbed (available in months that have the letter "r")

1 can of lobster sauce or lobster bisque

half a leek (sliced)

minced garlic

some olive oil

salt to taste

as much white wine as you want

Heat a deep pot with some olive oil. Sauté the garlic and leeks; then add the mussels. When one or two start to open up, add wine and the can of lobster bisque/sauce. Stir and cover, letting it simmer on low-medium heat.

You can virtually dump anything you want into your pot of mussels. Bacon, crème fraîche, mustard, tarragon, even absinthe like the moules at Péché! Just add white wine and pair the finished product with a baguette for absorbing the liquids.

Shuggie's Weekend Brunch

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and also the most problematic. I always wince a bit at Western breakfasts. I need savory food in the mornings. Sweet beginnings make me feel sick for the rest of the day. And Western breakfasts tend to veer toward the sweet side of the divide (cereals, pancakes, pastries, yogurt). And of course, in the U.S., you can always opt for gigantic lumberjack meals with sausage links that oooze sticky grease. Ugh.

I'm used to eating hot rice porridges in the mornings with dried, shredded pork and Japanese pickles with a hard boiled egg. But that gets tiring.

When I saw that Shuggie's offers Shrimp n' Grits, I drove myself there as soon as I could. The grits impressed. It was savory, warm, and fresh. This surpasses any expectations of trailer food. The shrimp was plentiful, plump, and gives a good snap when you bite into it. No worries of unfresh, mushy shrimp here!

Shrimp n' Grits

I have never had migas before today. Shocking, I know, considering that I've lived in Texas for 15 years! It sure beats scrambled eggs any day. The accompanying bacon and potatoes were cooked with as much care as the migas. Usually bacon and potatoes are prepared sloppily and thrown on your plate of eggs as a ruse to make you feel like you're paying for your money's worth of breakfast. The bacon and potatoes this morning are worth every penny.

Migas Breakfast Plate

I took a risk with ordering the french toast because I wanted to see if Shuggie's can pull off a french toast that doesn't rely heavily on syrup and powdered sugar. This hit the spot even for someone completely sweet adverse. The pecan coating prevented the toast from becoming soggy, and I didn't have to use alot of syrup and butter because it was just that good.

Texas Pecan French Toast with fresh fruit, maple syrup, and butter

I ordered to-go; that's why these photos don't look trailer-park-ish.

And no, I didn't order all these for myself. ;-)

The Uchi Omakase Experience

We celebrated mum's birthday last summer at Uchi without knowing what to expect. We've never been to or heard of Uchi (Remember? I'm still new to the Austin food scene). Plus, my parents are Japanese food traditionalists. Executive Chef Tyson Cole's menu and Chef de Cuisine Paul Qui, who prepared our dinner, took us for a culinary ride that tingled, tickled, and awakened our taste buds.

This is going to be a long post since we had a 10-course omakase plus amuse bouche and 2 dishes outside of the prix-fixe.

I ordered for my mom the Choya Plum Wine Spritzer. My friends will attest that I'm far from a wine connoisseur. I can never drink one full glass of anything with alcohol, so I judge the quality of alcoholic beverages by my ability to consume it. This outranks everything on the list of alcoholic beverages I've tried, given that it's a very short list. The only other spritzer that tops the list is a French sparkling peach that's like 2 euros from Monoprix.

Choya Plum Wine Spritzer

1. Amuse Bouche: So many flavors in such a tiny bite! This was an unusual amuse bouche because the flavors were very pronounced (especially for such an unassuming set of ingredients) for something that is supposed to ease you into the meal. I wanted a gigantic bowl of greens topped with these ingredients for lunch one day!

Amuse Bouche-red beet gelee, julienned breakfast radish, pickled garbanzo beans, lemon vinaigrette

2. Hirame Usuzukuri: I've never been fond of sashimi. The idea of eating fish that tastes like jell-o dipped in soy sauce and wasabi always made me think of the chills I get when I eat something that looks like it should be savory but is in fact sweet. This was the beginning of my semi-conversion. That's right, I said, "semi" because I'll only enjoy raw fish à la Uchi or something comparable. This was light, refreshing, save a couple of right punches. The lingering taste of the amuse bouche carried over to this dish masterfully.

Hirame Usuzukuri-thinly sliced flounder, spanish olive oil, smoked sea salt, yuzu zest, daikon, crispy quinoa

3. Nairagi Toro: My favorite dish of the night. When the waiter walked in our direction with this dish, we thought that it was a cooked dish because there was a smoky aroma that hovered over the plate. The fish, definitely wasn't smoked. We suspect that it's the shishito pepper puree. I love this because it threw me off guard. From the looks of it, I was expecting another light and refreshing dish, but the nairagi toro had body and substance. Throwing in yellow watermelon also won some brownie points with me.

Nairagi Toro-Hawaiian billfish, ugly ripe tomatoes, shaved yellow watermelon, shishito pepper puree, sundried tomatoes

4. Aji Viche: I don't think I've ever had Spanish jack. I didn't like how flavor slides off the fish; the jack joins tofu as one of the few flavor retardant foods. I liked the texture of eating it with its flash-fried bones though.

Aji Viche-Japanese Spanish jack, oven dried cherry tomato, spring onions, ichiban dashi, flash fried bones of the spanish jack, breakfast radish

5. Hotate Tataki: I would have preferred less fiddle heads because its bitterness was enhanced by the citrus. The scallops with everything else on the plate tasted warm and comforting, especially after the Spanish jack.

Hotate Tataki-seared maine diver scallops, fiddle head, citrus confit, fennel marmalade, nori-green tea cloud

6. Kare Sake: This may be colorless compared to the preceding dishes, but this was the most mature dish of this omakase set. The halibut was uncharacteristically tender. The dish focused on the sweetness of the fish. Something about this dish reminds me of a homecooked meal at a rural fishing village. I guess I'm trying to say that this dish felt intimate.

Kare Sake-sake lees-poached dayboat halibut, melted leeks, fresh garbanzo beans, karashi mustard

7. Tombo Crudo: This is my best friend's favorite dish. This certainly was good, but for me, the tuna somehow had that same natural ability to repel flavors like the Spanish jack even whilst soaking in the sauce and mingling with shallots! If I were more of a purist, I would have appreciated the freshness of the tuna. But this review is coming from someone who's timid about raw fish.

Tombo Crudo-seared Hawaiian albacore, pomegranate zu, pickled cipollinis, california cherries, sweet chili

8. Opaka Paka Ume: The skin was especially nice and crisp. By this time, I was already worried about the meal ending.

Opaka Paka Ume-grilled snapper, nectarines, ume, parsley cream

10. Tako Pops: (added to the omakase) This was super fun to eat. I wanted more.

Tako Pops-sesame oil marinated baby octopus

11. Foie Nigiri: This is my 2nd favorite dish. It's ranked second only because of the fact that there's foie gras, and it made me feel guilty. This tasted like a Japanese BBQ-ed rice balls.

Foie Nigiri-hudson valley foie gras, chicken crackling, sansho, lime juice, radish

12. Wagyu Tomorokoshi: I cringe at big chunks of fat, and they were expectedly present all over this steak. The parts where the meat was marbled with fat were brilliant.

Wagyu Tomorokoshi-grilled kobe-style ribeye, bluefoot mushrooms, baby eggplant, ramps, miso-corn butter

13. Bacon Steakie: (added to the omakase) This tasted very similar to my mom's braised pork belly, which is fab so this wasn't as mind-blowing as the other dishes

Bacon Steakie-twice baked kurobuta pork belly with green apple onion salad and Indonesian soy sauce

14. Cuvee Panna Cotta: The fleur de sel gives this dessert a hint of savory intrigue.

Cuvee Panna Cotta-cuvee panna cotta, mango gelee, shiro chocolate sorbet, coffee soil with fleur de sel, mango & "yolk"

I would dine here every month if I can afford it! It pains me to write this review because I know I'll have to wait for another celebratory excuse to eat here again.

Sunflower

After living in the U.S. for 22 years, my parents prefer Vietnamese food over Chinese food this side of the ocean. Why can't Chinese restaurants in the states prepare a dish without MSG or cornstarch? Show me a dish that's not covered in transparent gooey mess! Cornstarch is used to make the ingredients look fresh and stir-fried dishes look glossy, but to me, it's a sure sign of a lazy chef.

So the Asian cuisine that is to our liking in the U.S. is Vietnamese. There's also an occassional problem with the overuse of MSG, but at least the chefs tend to resist cornstarch.

The family usually goes for pho and banh mi, which all began in Hawaii at My Canh (1152 Maunakea St, Honolulu, HI 96817). That's until we came upon Sunflower in north Austin (8557 Research Blvd # 146, Austin, TX 78758). I suspect that the dishes served here are Northern Vietnamese because the restaurant's forte is in stir-fried dishes (intermingling with southern Chinese cuisine?).

You can not go to Sunflower without ordering Shaken Beef and Lemongrass Tofu. Those two dishes are indispensable. The Shaken Beef is tender with a subtley sweet coating (thin tamarind glaze?), and it comes with lime juice with black pepper on the side. I'm usually not an admirer of tofu because it does not retain flavor. Sunflower proves that tofu can be flavorful. I also love that they use firm tofu.

Shaken Beef

Lemongrass Tofu

All the dishes on Sunflower's menu are safe bets so take your pick after ordering the 2 must-haves.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee

Pineapple Soup with bean sprouts and tomatoes

Seafood Egg Crepe

Sizzling Cod in black bean sauce

Beef and Rice Claypot

Combination Flat Rice Noodle

Five Spice Chicken with salad

Green Beans and Tofu with salad and tofu spring roll