Mrs saw going in their Michelin Bib award and got excited, but I said, 2nd tier, dear, 2nd tier . . .
we almost didn't find it hidden in behind the flea market at Vltavska, but it's easy to get too, the second time...I was so frozen I ordered Horky Saki right off the bat -- well, yeh, I woulda done that anyway, but I pressed upon the waiter the urgency!
the waitress did her duty and talked us into one serving at least from each category . . . too much food, but we ate it anyway. . .
first we had Empire Saigon Roll and Hong Kong Roll . . . the waitress was kind enough to structure our orders lightest to heaviest. . . we were instantly transported . . .the saigon roll was good enough as it was, but the dilly white sauce for it was picquant as all get out, when we finished the staff whisked it away before we could lick the platter. the Hong Roll was more -- ordinary in a very good way, an excellent execution of the expected, rather than unexpected is what I mean . . . as if Vince Lombardi were a sushi chef. All the flavours, burns, picques we have come to love in asian cuisine were in both of these dishes.
the Hanoi Shrimps were just to die for, the sweet prawn flesh contrasting with the spicy coating; the soft (not rubbery) contrasting with the crusty spicy coating. came close to blows over the odd shrimp.
my least favorite dish this day -- which is to say, I only noshed it with ecstasy . . . maybe too much meat with the losos AND tunak, but the black sesame sauce had Mrs scratching her head and me rubbing my tummy. Exquisite.
I never seen pad thai like this, wrapped in a crepe for serving . . . not sure about it . . . I like the presentation without the crepe, but whatever, dude. Was very, very good once I broke the skin and stirred it around a little bit, looked normal again....
as you might imagine we were totally stuffed by now . . .we weren't sure how to plate our servings but I just heaped the glass noodles onto the lettuce leaf then drowned it in curry and ate it with my fingers and let the juice fall where it may. messy. but of the picquancy that one cannot stop devouring . . . like at the Tandoori Times in Scottsdale, where I start shoveling lamb vindaloo with mint and chilli chutney in my mouth washed down with hot chai, delirious with exquisite agony until every last ort is et. This was like that too. Washed down with our 3rd round. Hadda be done.
something so sensual, no, sensuous -- is THAT right? -- about Thai Chilis.
apparently they have a cooking school too. what an interesting idea. Tao doesn't have a cooking school. They do have a disco, and I like to buy the house music CDs when they have a new one, but SaSaZu doesnt. so see, it's totally different.
They're seriously in danger of getting that Michelin Star, too, I think.
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Next Visit:
Cha-zu-Rha. . . one of those roll-your-own dishes . . . put the chicken & banana roll into the lettuce leaf garnished with the fried onions, noodles, and basil, and dip in the sauce. This is one of those savoury delights only possible in oriental cuisine.
Steam dumpling with ginger sauce. Never gets old.
Chicken Sate.
Spicy Crispy calamari. After we finish fighting over the last ort, we look at each other and wonder "where did all that food go? That pig must have hogged it all".
Stone Oven Duck with Mandarin Pancake. A small letdown . . . but maybe the previous dish(es) had blunted our appetite.
Still had room for Coconut Tiramisu. A very pleasant and refreshing change from the standard.
We just love this place. Horribly expensive, but worth it, sometimes, when the cabin fever reaches a , er, uh, fever-pitch . . .if you see how I mean . ..
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