tigertail in new york

I love spice. Hot spicy food, definitely, but also the strength and delicacy of spices and their flavours.

I love cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamon, lemongrass, galangal, star anise, cloves, corriander, tamarind.. the list goes on and on.

So, although I've been very happy with pumpkin spice and gingerbread lattes at Starbucks, foods I love, like fragrant pho bo, laksa, rendang, salt & pepper squid, and foods I love to cook - soy & star anise simmered chicken, whole steamed red snapper with chillies, lemongrass and Shaoxing wine, have been in short supply here in New York City.

Sydney has Thai restaurants like my neighbourhood here in NY has Chinese restaurants - they are everywhere. Within walking distance of my place back home were at least 8 Thai restaurants, and 6 of those had really good food. I miss the diversity of authentic food we had back home.

Because as much as I love spices, what I can't stand is bland food, and in particular bland food when an authentic version of the dish would not try and appeal to a generic american palate.

Chinese dumplings here have wrappers that are thick and tasteless - almost like a pancake has been wrapped around the delicate shrimp inside. No delicate see-through Har Gow to be found at local chinese restaurants. And generally Thai food has been boring, except for a few notable exceptions (like Sea in Brooklyn, and a mid-town spot my brother and I found).

For a few days now I've been craving pho bo - Vietnamese Beef noodle soup. In Vietnam I ate this almost every other day for breakfast, lunch, whenever the mood took me. In Sydney, I sampled several versions, always trying to find one that matched what I had tasted in Vietnam. Oh how I miss XIC Lo, Naughty Chef and Pasteur near my old work.

So today I'm on a mission - I'm going to try and find the best Pho in New York. I've had several suggestions, and think I'm going to check out a place on Mott St. And tomorrow my brother and I will try and find the best laksa, which he's been missing.

Suggestions are gladly welcomed!

Posted by Ness on Wednesday, December 05, 2007 at 10:54 AM | Permalink