Stop Draggin’ My Fruit Around

This weekend I went to one of my newer haunts, a NYC –style Asian supermarket. I bought my usual Mama spicy instant shrimp-flavored noodles & frozen dumplings. I also stared at the spice isle for ages (as I have before) wondering where I’d find a soup base for Vietnamese pho. Got some cilantro & green onions and then (see photo) a dragon fruit.

For any avid watcher of Andrew Zimmerman’s Bizarre Foods, we all know his aversion to durian (which I recently found out does smell like rotting gym socks & does have a sweet custardy consistency).  So, my BFF was reluctant to try dragon fruit but was not surprised when I was game.

Sooooo, dragon fruit is both a delight for the palate & eye; flashy pink on the outside and white with tiny black seeds on the inside. Yup, and it does taste like kiwi fruit.

Froyo on the Go-Go 

http://www.menchies.com/whatismenchies.php

Thank you Ebony, or A.K.A. Ghost Writer E, for introducing me to Menchie's-hey, I was wrong about the word Mensch-slightly-I always thought it was both a good and blessed dude/person, but actually-it's a good/generous one. Even better! At any rate-back to the post-I love froyo, (by the by-this word is most probably the invention of Ghost Writer E-she deserves credit for both the posting, & the introduction-I thought I was the Foodie Tour Guide for SOFL)! It also means Frozen Yogurt for you abbreviated beginners (like yours truly).

Lots of choices, with kawaii cute decor and spoonage-loved it and I am paranoid, granted, about soft-serve machines...too long working with infectious disease, but back to Menchie's froyo-delicious; also KOSHER! Now, I hardly give a care about keeping kosher (isn't organic nicer & more humane-just sayin'), all right, but this is a nice touch for those that do. So far, the raspberry pom. is the best & the chocolate mint tastes like those Thin Mints (Girl Scouts-look-out).

Location: University Drive/East side between Griffin Rd. & Stirling Rd. Check it out.

Food Truck Madness

And...it was madness to eat there! Ok-the Gourmet Food Truck Expo was not exactly the 25+ vendors advertised, but....it was at the Isle Casino in Pompano Beach/Park. The horse racing was more impressive, to be sure (however on that, read the stats before choosing from the prancin' exercisin' horses-these may not be those being raced later in the nite). As to the casino-you do get a gratuitous random amount of *free* card money to use in their slot machines. Not much of a gambler myself, but I do love the penny slots-I "won" back enough $$$ to pay for food truck meals (like $75 worth).

Am I purposely ignoring the Food Truck comments? Yes! Nothing to recommend another trip-the Korean food from "Seoul Food" was average/bland (and this coming from moi-who would eat garbage covered in chocolate). I do appreciate an interesting play on words, but my "aunt" from childhood once brought over Korean kimchi & "sushi"-much better. As to the Arepa Box-well, I make arepas. Especially disappointing-the cachapas (these are Venezuelan-style sweet arepa sandwhiches with cheese inside-normally Nom-Nom-not so much here @ the Expo).

Bubble Battle

Check out Red Mango, a cool new chain that sells yogurt in these cute wall machines that look like Japanese pachinko (machines)-also-they have BURSTING bubble tea (strawberry & mango flavor "bubbles" that burst). What's funny is I was teaching the staff at this new franchise how to make a bubble shake!

M & H...Bubbles

This post is for my darling Keiara who, I hope in a wee few months, I will see in Folkestone. I also hope she got her Valentine inspired regalo. No-I'm not drinking 2 bubble teas, but my fave Chai smoothie w/black bubbles. For those unfamiliar with bubble tea, the "bubbles" are actually black or multi-colored tapioca pearls (well....not your typical tapioca pudding pearls either-these are gigantic-check out the straw). I'm at M & H Cafe in Davie, Broward County (FL) where there is pretty tasty array of lunch wraps & panini (yogurt too-but who wants to eat yogurt at a restaurant really????????????). The chicken/swiss/avocado panini works for me, but not the Southwest wrap, which has live/giant garbanzos, which everyone knows are only delicious once pureed into hummus.

This is of course, just a 2012 follow-up on M & H Cafe, following discovery last year (it's first year, despite its fantastic location across from a very-busy university, was not very promising). Shall we look to 2013? My prediction, the bubble tea craze is just beginning.........

Chinatown...or Is It???

Montreal boasts a very picturesque Chinatown where the majority of the shop owners seem to be Vietnamese-here I am eating a curry beef bun with Kiwi Bubble Tea from my fave patisserie (bakery) Harmonie. For those who don't know, Harmonie is a very small chain of bakeries that feature the best of Vietnamese/French fusion in pastry (Indochine-represent!). From green tea shortbread cookies to Hello Kitty cakes, there is no place like Harmonie-I even went through customs & was asked what kind of "food" I was bringing out from Canada to the U.S. & was told by immigration (implied rather) that this was OK as a given that OF COURSE I WOULD WANT TO TAKE A FOOD SOUVENIR FROM HARMONIE!!! I didn't take a picture, but there is a place called Mai Xiang Xuan that makes the BEST dumplings in the universe (order boiled, not fried). Mai Xiang Xuan was the only Chinese restaurant on site that I could see-but there were lots of Banh Mi sanwhich shops to choose from & some place that specialized in "Dragon Beard Candy" which I missed out on (that & My Cup of Tea).

Get Your Drink On...

Just in case anyone is planning a fanstatic getaway to a place where alcohol content is a concern-look no further than Montreal-just above NYC & you get these beer bottles that are the size of a 1+ liter of soda! Apparently alcohol poisoning is of little concern (by the way-I didn't try the Molson-I tried the LaBatt which is another Canadian/Quebec brand of beer-way too much alcohol content).