Jay Eats Worldwide

Unfortunately Cilantro has closed in 2013 A Fresh Take on Old Mexico I had the pleasure meeting Chef Paris Nabavi at this year's Maui County Agricultural Festival. As some of you know, I'm quite the connoisseur of Mexican food, having grown up in Los Angeles. All of the years I've come to Maui, I would roll my eyes when I would hear them say that I needed to try the new Mexican restaurant. So, you could imagine my thoughts when my food expert friends told me about Cliantro in Lahaina. Cilantro is what I would think a taqueria (taco shack) on Maui would be like; casual, great food, an excellent salsa bar, the kind of place with the Aloha spirit AND it was just that... See What Jay Eats... Mother Clucker Flautas Two fried flour tortillas filled with chicken and spices, served with crema fresco and spicy - sweet roasted jalapeño sauce. Winner at the 2005 "Taste of Lahaina" It was packed with chicken and very tasty. A must...

On a recent trip to the Bay Area, my friend Curtis suggested that I try this pho place. Pho is a Vietnamese rice noodle soup, with either beef or chicken, and served with garnishes and a variety of sauces. Curtis mentioned that the place he wanted me to try is a Northern Vietnamese style pho place in San Francisco called Turtle Tower, which really intrigued me. I was wondering what the difference was between this Northern style and the style that I was familiar with? I asked around and not many knew the difference, hence this blog entry. Southern Vietnamese Style with Garnishes The style of pho that I'm most familiar with is the Saigon style (Southern Vietnam). This style uses a noodle similar to the size of linguine and served with a variety of garnishes: bean sprouts, cilantro, Thai basil, sliced jalapenos, limes, chili sauce, hoisin sauce, etc. Northern Vietnamese Style with Garnishes The style that I tried at Turtle Tower is Hanoi style (Northern Vi...