Pho Orchid in New Orleans, LA

I was waiting to watch a few Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans when I stopped into a Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Orchid. I think I may have decided to enter Pho Orchid at a bad time. It seemed like they were transitioning from their normal menu to a special take out only menu that they had during parades. I entered and I was given their normal menu. I was ignored for a very long time before a server came back to my table to take my order. In the meantime, everyone else entering right after me was being told to order at the bar off the Mardi Gras menu. I was a bit confused as to whether or not I was given the normal menu by mistake until a server finally came back to take my order.

I ordered the Grilled Pork Bun. This consisted of vermicelli noodles topped with the meat, lettuce, bean sprouts, pickled carrots, cucumbers, and a side of their house sauce. Overall, it was pretty tasty. Some of the pork was pretty fatty, but otherwise I had no major complaints. The vinegar based sauce, along with hoisin and sriracha kept all the noodles nice and moist. 

Besides what seemed to be confusion among the staff about whether to take my order or not, my meal at Pho Orchid was very satisfying.

Joy Luck House in Washington DC

While visiting the DC area, we were on our way to the National Zoo when we decided to stop in Chinatown for some lunch. Much to our surprise when we emerged from the Metro, we happened to randomly decide to stop in Chinatown during the Chinese New Year, shortly before the big parade started. I've been to this Chinatown in the past and I've never seen it so packed, meaning wait times in restaurants were suddenly a factor in choosing where to eat. Joy Luck House was where we finally settled on.

The Chinese pastries from Joy Luck House seemed to be very popular. I tried a coconut bun while I was waiting for the rest of the food. This was a tasty, slightly sweet roll, filled with a coconut paste. I was planning on getting one of their baked goods filled with red bean paste, but the person ahead of me bought them all.

Since this was DC in the winter, it wasn't exactly warm out. That's why I decided to have one of Joy Luck's noodle soups for my lunch. I choose the shredded pork with pickled cabbage noodle soup. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with the pickled cabbage, but to me it tasted like normal cabbage in the soup. Besides the pork and cabbage, the soup was filled with carrots, snow peas, herbs, and thick noodles in a tasty broth. I was expecting something a little different with the pickled cabbage, but regardless, this soup was still good and very satisfying.

As soon as we finished eating, we ventured back into the crowds outside and watched the parade. Chinese dragons, especially when they were totally unexpected, completed my visit to Chinatown!

O'Leary's Tiki Bar in Sarasota, FL

I was in Sarasota for the day and decided to get some lunch at a restaurant called O'Leary's Tiki Bar. The restaurant was located in Island Park and had a very nice view of the bay.

I had the Blackened Fish Bun.The sandwich had to large filets of fish on a roll along with lettuce and tomato. Curly fries were served on the side. The fish sandwich was good, too big for the bun, but can't really complain about that. I liked the fries. They were the type that have enough flavor alone where they don't need to be dipped into anything. The curly shape was just an extra plus.

I'd come here again, but I discovered a nifty downtown section of Sarasota a few blocks away that I had never came across before as I was leaving with lots of restaurants to try. Think I'll be exploring the food in this section of town next time I'm in Sarasota...