Food, Glorious Food

For those of you who were loyal Peaches readers during the first incarnation of this blog, you have probably realized a notable absence in this version thus far: full and detailed descriptions of each and every meal eaten.

If it is not already obvious, I am a proud foodie. Certainly there are a handful of things I will probably never eat (brains come to mind, no pun intended) but there are only three things I've tried that I actually dislike the flavor of: papaya (tastes of vomit), beets (taste like dirt), and ketchup (just disgusting.) I'm proud to report that in addition to recently retrying ketchup, (yup, still hate it) during this trip I tackled both my papaya and my beet phobias. I had a piece of papaya a few days ago at breakfast, and while it remains my least favorite tropical fruit, I will admit that it is tolerable. Last week at Devi Garh, Bobo (also not a fan of the beet root) and I drank carrot-beet juice, and actually enjoyed it.

Anyway, onto much more exciting details of delightful Indian delicacies. The variety of food is, as one might expect in a country so large, incredible. Delicious lamb stews and kebabs in the north, aromatic coconut curry prawns in the beaches of the south, and tender, flavorful veggies just about everywhere. The food map of India very much resembles the geographic map of India; Food in the northwest of the country tastes more like Middle Eastern fare, whereas the spicier stews and sauces that flavor foods in the south resemble dishes I sampled in countries like Thailand and Cambodia.

In fact, it was while backpacking Southeast Asia that one of my travel companions, Fritz Ravine, bestowed upon me the epithet of "lady in the street, freak at the buffet." I. Love. Buffets. And last night's New Years' Eve gala here at the Leela Kovalam was a buffet to end all buffets.

A good buffet is like a culinary version of those choose-your-own-adventure books I used to read as a kid. If you start out with sushi, you might move onto BBQ lobster; If you begin with homemade pita chips, hummous and giant capers, you have a nice segue into veggie kebabs. You never really know exactly where the buffet will take you, and each trip up to the table is like a new chapter in an ongoing quest for satiation.

This buffet had it all: from calamari to cucumber salad, pasta to palak paneer. There were entire sections of this buffet that we did not even have the time to explore, much less the stomachs large enough to sample. Dessert stretched the entire middle section of tables, and featured triple chocolate mousse cake, pistachio napoleons, tropical fruit mini-tarts, yule logs of all colors and flavors, and a make-your-own-sundae station.

The delicious feast, coupled with entertainment that included fire-eaters, a Bollywood dance troupe, a bellydancer, and a live DJ, made for a fantastic New Year's Eve on the beach under the stars.

Fat Kids Don't Share

I haven’t been going a great job of keeping you updated on my Fat Kid exploits, so let’s just summarize by saying that Thailand has brought us to new highs. The reason for this is twofold: first of all, our breakfast is included, and despite it being a truly mediocre breakfast buffet, we certainly make the most of it.

Fritz is an animal at the daily breakfast buffet here at our resort on Tong Nai Pan beach; He piles three fried eggs, some toast, bacon, marmalade, hot sauce, and at least four or five mini croissants on his plate and then mashes it up together. I prefer to start with some fresh fruit, ease into my fried eggs on toast with cheese, and then follow it up with either a pancake or my own little bread basket of banana cake, mini croissants, and sponge cake.

Secondly, we have discovered the best bar/restaurant of the entire trip: it’s called Flip Flop Pharmacy, and in addition to offering a pool table, free wifi, great drinks, and a fantastic right-on-the-beach location, they have the. Best. Food. The chef, Pong, is Burmese. In addition to the fantastic Thai offerings (typical noodles, curries, fried rice, spring rolls, what have you) he makes the most amazing Burmese things you did not know existed. AND here’s the REAL kicker: we did not even notice them on the menu until he suggested we try them, but Pong makes some seriously awesome potato latkes. I am NOT even kidding right now (would I joke around about something as important as food? Seriously, guys.) Needless to say, we have probably eaten about six of the last eight meals there.

Yesterday was truly an epic night for me at Flip Flop: I polished off some Burmese pork meatballs, minced lamb on pineapple, a delicious Thai curry prawn dish, noodles, AND mango with sticky rice for dessert. I took the belt hands down. It was like a TKO before I even sunk my fork into that deliciously succulent mango and coconutty-sweet rice.

Fritz and I are already discussing how and where we might procure an actual, physical Fat Kid Belt. I can already see us e-mailing back and forth, going over everything we ate in one day just to see who won the belt. FedExing that thing back and forth is going

Lady in the street, freak at the buffet

If you ever find yourself in Hanoi, might I recommend the Metropole Hotel's high tea and chocolate buffet. I crushed those tiny tea sandwiches like Godzilla crushed Mothra. The chocolate buffet was something truly extraordinary: tiny pound cakes with shot glasses of Nutella, mini opera cakes, Napoleons, mousses, crepes, and truffles galore.

I should mention that Fritz and I have had quotidien contests for the Fat Kid Award of the Day. We are hoping to purchase an actual belt at some point in the near future, so that the daily Fat Kid Award recipient can properly bask in the glow of victory. I am proud to report that I have won the last two of three contests involving any sort of buffet. Breakfast is quickly becoming my specialty. Kobayashi, you're going down.

A Little R&R on China Beach

This afternoon, we hit up the beach at Hoi An, part of the stretch of coast known to American GIs as China Beach (see 1980s television show by the same name.) The beach itself is beautiful, We set up camp at a little bar/café bungalow recently openly by a French expat about our age. He lives right on the beach and in the past four months he has been here, has only made the 5 km trek into town about four times. C'est la vie!

After some body surfing in the wonderfully warm South China Sea, we enjoyed a Bierre Larue and some very fresh grilled squid. Tasty.

Pho Sure

I'm just going to throw this out there: I LOVE pho. For those of you not in the know, pho is the national dish of Vietnam: glass noodles in a clear broth, usually served with veggies and chicken or pork or seafood. It is delicious and I have consumed many, many bowls of it. My favorite thus far has been from Pho 24, a chain specializing in the soup. Pho 2000 "Pho for the President" was also very tasty. They renamed their shop after President Clinton ate there in 2000 on his first visit to Vietnam, and there are photos of him all over the dining area.

Hoi An

We arrived in Hoi An yesterday morning cranky and tired, having woken up early for a 7 a.m. flight. After a nice breakfast, chilling out in the breezy lobby of our adorable hotel, and a nice nap, we were ready to take in all that Hoi An has to offer, which, as it turns out, is quite a lot.

Hoi An Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and has some truly charming old architcture, musuems, markets, and hundreds upon hundreds of tailoring shops. The city itself is situated on a riverfront and is only about 5 km from the area known as China Beach, one of the most spectacular stretches of coastline in Vietnam.

Last night, we had a fantastic dinner at Mango Rooms, (Lonely Planet tells us that Mick Jagger dined there recently) a tasty Vietnamese-fusion restaurant right on the river. At night, the tiny. uneven streets of Old Town, are lit up with multicolored paper lanterns. It's absolutely beautiful.
While finishing up dinner, we saw the two BulCzechKian girls walking by the river, so we grabbed a drink together and hit up a bar called Salsa Club, which had absolutely nothing to do with salsa dancing but was fun nonetheless. There, we met another big ragtag group of travelers--Brits, Kiwis, Aussies--all on our same route, headed South-North and then to Laos.\

The ease with which you run into the same people while traveling in the off-season is one of the most fun things about it. It's pretty much the same people cycling through the same areas over a similar period of time. There are exceptions of course; Notably, the bartender at Angkor What? in Siem Reap who had been traveling for **eight years** and a few solo travelers (Cecilia, por ejemplo and some others we've met) who are on a six to eight month travel timeframe. I imagine it must get exhausting at some point--not the traveling and sightseeing itself, but the lifestyle of picking up and moving every few days or weeks, not having your own bed, carrying everything you need on your back. In any event, five weeks works just fine for me at the moment!

Today we're going to do some sightseeing around the Old Town and perhaps bike out to the beach in the afternoon. More to come on Hoi An!

Hoi An riverside by night!

Behold the wonder that is the dragonfruit

Neon pink, black and white, it's the most chic fruit around. So hot right now.

Watch out, Pinkberry

Just had the most phenomenal fro-yo. I know it's a bold statement, but I think it was better than Pinkberry. It's called YogenFruz, and in addition to offering a panoply of delightful fresh fruit and cereal/cookie/chocolate toppings, you can also opt to have the toppings blended into your yogurt. I enjoyed an amazing kiwi-mango non-fat vanilla yogurt blend. Delicious and especially refreshing in today's 91 degree Saigon heat!

In Defense of Absinthe

COUNTERPOINT --

For over a century, absinthe has been a forbidden pleasure for those of us in America. Romanticized for its potency and alleged hallucinogenic properties, it was the drink of choice for 19th century artists and poets such as the notoriously even-keeled Pablo Picasso.

The liquor has an exotic green flavor, and a delicious licorice taste. While best enjoyed in a Parisian cafe with a cube of sugar melted in from above, I believe that a warm sugarless shot in a backwater Cambodian bar can be just as pleasant. The Angkor What? bar in Siem Reap, loved by travelers since 1997, serves a drink called an "A Bomb," a shot of absinthe dropped into a cup of Red Bull; to quote Vincent Chase, "Good till your heart pops!" What's the use of leaving the country if not to enjoy liquors banned stateside?

Kangaroooooooooo! [Editor's note: Sneaky's first post!!!]

One of my goals in life is to eat every animal on earth. I want to go to "The Carnivore" Restaurant in Kenya to eat big game animals, and i have a trip planned to Alaska that involves a meal with Inuits so i can eat Polar Bear. However, despite the prevalence of Australian restaurants in Manhattan i have never eaten Kangaroo. I got to check this delicious marsupial off the list the other night at a restaurant called "Cambodian BBQ" in Siem Reap. Kangaroo is delicious; I think the closest comparison would be venison, which is not suprising considering that both Deer and Kangaroo live an active healthy lifestyle. All in all, Chef recommends. For those of you in NYC who are inspired to eat some Kangaroo, I believe they serve it at both Bondi Road and 8 Mile.