Eating from SoCal to Paris
While cleaning out my hard drive after all the hardcore photo sorting I’ve been doing lately, I came across this series of food photos that I had designated for a separate post. Paris is one of the great food cities of the world, but we didn’t indulge in any fine dining because we had so much sight-seeing to do. Besides, when you’ve been walking around all day, you’re not in the right state of mind to properly appreciate exquisite meals like that. So most of our meals consisted of eating at whatever random restaurants or delis we would run across. What follows is a selection of edible goodies from the past month or so, starting the night before the trip and ending at Boston, MA where we went to help my brother move into his new apartment.
Whenever I go back home to Los Angeles on a break from school, I always head to the Mandarin Noodle Deli in Temple City at least once. It’s cheap, tasty Taiwanese comfort food. Scallion pancakes pictured above. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, just the way I like it.
Taiwanese beef noodle soup (niu rou mien). Mandarin Noodle Deli’s version of the ubiquitous Taiwanese favorite isn’t very spicy but has a hearty soup, big chunks of beef and thick noodles.
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When in London, gotta get the fish and chips!
A Japanese restaurant close to our London hotel had sushi individually packaged sushi for take-out. First time I’ve seen something like this.
Notre Dame is located on a small island, and the adjacent island is called Ile Saint-Louis, home of Berthillon ice cream. I’ve read online that it’s one of the best ice creams in the world, and after having tried the delicious treat, I have to agree. The ice cream is made of all natural ingredients and heavily relies upon the fruit or beans/plants to provide the flavor. The result is a very fresh-tasting frozen treat that convincingly and intensely captures the essence of whatever flavor it’s supposed to be. The grapefruit and peach scoops I chose tasted quintessentially like grapefruit and peach. The same could be said for the other flavors that we chose. It is powerful stuff, I just wish they shipped it internationally.
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Laduree is a well-known bakery that I discovered while looking for Paris shops online. The store pictured has a great location right on the Champs-Elysses.
A long line awaits inside the store.
Sneak preview of all the tasty goodies as we inch closer…
Variety of aromatic and rich French bread
A festive array of mini-macaroons
We bought a dozen. Macaroons are pastries with two crispy exterior halves and creme in the middle. I thought they tasted alright, but not nearly worth the long wait for them.
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I’ve been to Koreana in Boston, MA three times. It features a slightly expanded menu compared to most of the Korean restaurants I’ve been to. While I’ve never been to South Korea, I would guess the food is very authentic. Dishes have great flavor and they are generous with the banchan (side dishes).
Korean BBQ is definitely one of the world’s great culinary delights.
Ddok bok gi, a rice cake with vegetables and sweet Korean chili sauce. Korean food can be extremely spicy, but many dishes look deceptively hotter than they really are.
Soft tofu chigae, a tofu soup with all sorts of vegetables and meat.
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