This is an amazing town for food. There's still a follow-up post that I need to write about Cochon, a restaurant that's similar in spirit to The Publican. But I've run into all sorts of great food down here, including Boucherie, which has some great modern American bistro food (definite write-up), Crabby Jack's, an uber-casual place with great 'po boys and cajun/creole food (definite write-up), and a number of small po' boy places (probably a combo write-up). There are two good sushi places I've been to, Ninja and Sake Cafe, and apparently a couple more worth checking out. And I wandered into Squeal, where I not only got comped a great plate of barbecue, I also got to chat up one of the owners, Patrick, who works for John Besh out here, and got some inside info on places to eat here.
This is 2 weeks in. I think that I can go out to 5 new places a week, and I wouldn't make a dent on the food scene. But that doesn't mean that I'll try. And hopefully, I'll be able to put up some posts that do the food justice. And one more thing. I'm going to try to remember to take photos... I've been remarkably Web 1.0 in my blog ventures. If I can include some pictures, maybe we can become a little more Web 1.5... right in time for everyone else to go Web 3.0, whatever that means.
-foodgeek
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
New Beginnings
We've made a change in honor of our impending move to New Orleans. Thus, we are reinventing this blog as the Adventures of the NOLA Foodgeek. We'll still have a few more posts from the cornfields, but hopefully we'll start making this thing a little nicer, and add a few more photos, as well!
-foodgeek
-foodgeek
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Restaurant Review: Bahn Mi So Tasty - Xinh Xinh Cafe
Our little village in the middle of nowhere has recently picked up two relatively new Vietnamese restaurants. The first is Saigon, a converted Chinese place, that apparently has the same ownership. If you look at the reviews on Yelp, you'll see that the reviews aren't all that great. I've been there, and thought that the pho (Vietnamese soup noodles, with a killer broth) was alright, though I'm no expert on pho. The spring rolls are OK, not great. The rest of the food that I've tried is pedestrian. I don't go out of my way to head out there, so there's not much point in talking more about this place.
However, the second place, Xinh Xinh Cafe, has become a regular spot for me. To be honest, I haven't tried the pho out there. Part of it is because it's summer, and it's been hot. But the real reason is that I love the Bahn Mi. Bahn Mi is a Vietnamese hoagie. At Xinh Xinh, they come with lightly pickled carrots and daikon, onion, slices of cucumber, cilantro, and jalapeno. There's a little mayo on there (I think that it's cut with fish sacue, not positive). And then there's the meat. My favorite is the combo. It's got pate, headcheese, ham, and some cold cuts that I'm not super familiar with (pork, based, I'm sure). And it's awesome. It's meaty and just plain tasty. There are a number of other meat choices, including one with sardines (sort of like a Vietnamese sloppy joe, which is great). I swear, I can't go a week without dropping in for a bahn mi. But the rest of the food is really good, as well. The one thing that I'd say wasn't top notch was the bread, which was OK, but not great. If they could get par baked bread in there, it would be phenomenal. But what is phenomenal is the price - sandwiches for $3.95.
One thing you gotta try is the spring roll (I've seen them called summer rolls in other restaurants). These things are great. Rice paper wrapper (not fried), and filled with lettuce, Thai basil, cilantro, cucumber, and carrots, and either shrimp or pork. And a secret ingredient. A "cigar" or fried egg roll wrapper (the thin kind). It adds an incredible crunch to the spring roll. They serve it with a peanut/hoisin sauce (basically chunky peanut butter and hosin). And it's definitely worth it.
The fried spring rolls and egg rolls are all solid, and come with nice dipping sauces. The wings were pretty tasty, but were tiny, and not worth the price. But in addition to the spring rolls, there's one killer app that you have to try: the Nataing. Basically, it's ground pork, cooked with chilis and coconut milk. And it's incredible. They give you sliced baguette and shrimp crackers to eat with the meat.
They're also doing cold noodles (no broth), that come a bowl, above a bunch of veggies (sprouts, cilantro, Thai basil), and under your choice of grilled meats. It comes with a nice sauce (fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, and carrots, I think) that you can pour over everything, before you go to town. Again, great crunch, great fresh taste, and a lot of flavors that are just fun to eat.
Now, this may be sacrilege, but I think that I like bahn mi better than the 'po boys that I was getting down in New Orleans last week. I didn't hit up all of the great 'po boy shacks in the city, but I've had a few of them from a couple of the good places, and it just didn't compare to the flavors and freshness of the bahn mi over at Xinh Xinh. I'm sure that I'll find a place in NOLA that will do bahn mi, but in Champaign, Xinh Xinh is the place.
Update 07/08/09: Wednesday is Pho Happy Hour. $5 for a bowl of pho. Plus, the weather was cool and rainy. Perfect for a bowl of hot soup and noodles. Broth was nice - more spice notes than beef. Nice clove and star anise flavor. The meat was all cooked nicely. And the veggies were fresh. No argument from me. The other thing I tried was the beef skewer bahn mi. Awesome. Instead of the normal veggies, it had a nice papaya salad (with strong ginger notes) and a chili sauce that wasn't too spicy. Really good stuff.
-foodgeek
However, the second place, Xinh Xinh Cafe, has become a regular spot for me. To be honest, I haven't tried the pho out there. Part of it is because it's summer, and it's been hot. But the real reason is that I love the Bahn Mi. Bahn Mi is a Vietnamese hoagie. At Xinh Xinh, they come with lightly pickled carrots and daikon, onion, slices of cucumber, cilantro, and jalapeno. There's a little mayo on there (I think that it's cut with fish sacue, not positive). And then there's the meat. My favorite is the combo. It's got pate, headcheese, ham, and some cold cuts that I'm not super familiar with (pork, based, I'm sure). And it's awesome. It's meaty and just plain tasty. There are a number of other meat choices, including one with sardines (sort of like a Vietnamese sloppy joe, which is great). I swear, I can't go a week without dropping in for a bahn mi. But the rest of the food is really good, as well. The one thing that I'd say wasn't top notch was the bread, which was OK, but not great. If they could get par baked bread in there, it would be phenomenal. But what is phenomenal is the price - sandwiches for $3.95.
One thing you gotta try is the spring roll (I've seen them called summer rolls in other restaurants). These things are great. Rice paper wrapper (not fried), and filled with lettuce, Thai basil, cilantro, cucumber, and carrots, and either shrimp or pork. And a secret ingredient. A "cigar" or fried egg roll wrapper (the thin kind). It adds an incredible crunch to the spring roll. They serve it with a peanut/hoisin sauce (basically chunky peanut butter and hosin). And it's definitely worth it.
The fried spring rolls and egg rolls are all solid, and come with nice dipping sauces. The wings were pretty tasty, but were tiny, and not worth the price. But in addition to the spring rolls, there's one killer app that you have to try: the Nataing. Basically, it's ground pork, cooked with chilis and coconut milk. And it's incredible. They give you sliced baguette and shrimp crackers to eat with the meat.
They're also doing cold noodles (no broth), that come a bowl, above a bunch of veggies (sprouts, cilantro, Thai basil), and under your choice of grilled meats. It comes with a nice sauce (fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, and carrots, I think) that you can pour over everything, before you go to town. Again, great crunch, great fresh taste, and a lot of flavors that are just fun to eat.
Now, this may be sacrilege, but I think that I like bahn mi better than the 'po boys that I was getting down in New Orleans last week. I didn't hit up all of the great 'po boy shacks in the city, but I've had a few of them from a couple of the good places, and it just didn't compare to the flavors and freshness of the bahn mi over at Xinh Xinh. I'm sure that I'll find a place in NOLA that will do bahn mi, but in Champaign, Xinh Xinh is the place.
Update 07/08/09: Wednesday is Pho Happy Hour. $5 for a bowl of pho. Plus, the weather was cool and rainy. Perfect for a bowl of hot soup and noodles. Broth was nice - more spice notes than beef. Nice clove and star anise flavor. The meat was all cooked nicely. And the veggies were fresh. No argument from me. The other thing I tried was the beef skewer bahn mi. Awesome. Instead of the normal veggies, it had a nice papaya salad (with strong ginger notes) and a chili sauce that wasn't too spicy. Really good stuff.
-foodgeek
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