- nice and relaxed atmosphere in the Las Vegas Venetian courtyard
- service was prompt and professional
- we only had the sorbet and the “mocha porter” . Both very tasty desserts.
- a little on the pricey side, but definitely nicer than sitting next to some sweaty fat tourists gorging themselves on the buffet
- authentic tasting Pho noodles. Taste is similar to the top vietnamese restaurants in Toronto.
- opens late daily, until 11:30 pm . On the weekends, it’s open until 2:30am.
- staff looks tired and worn out. Probably because we showed up at 10:45 pm.
- lots of seats available, but they seat based on number of waitresses available… I still had to wait 5-10 mins before getting seated, even though there were plenty of empty tables.
- definitely recommended to those looking for a break from the buffets
- bowl of noodles - “Pho Chay” $9.95
- the place automatically puts a 10% tip onto the bill
The thing that really pisses me off with North Americanized japanese cookbooks is that they don’t mention the miniscule details that are necessary to make authentic japanese meals. For example, the soup stock, or dashi , which is a fundamental core of a lot of japanese foods - you get this wrong, and everything tastes like crap. For this blog entry, the dashi is made with iriko, which is a small dried anchovy-like fish . Your basic cookbook will say something like:
X amount of water
Y amount of iriko
Z amount of kombu
Dump ingredients into pot of water, then boil. Strain out contents and discard solids, and enjoy the soup stock.
What they didn’t mention is :
- You have to tear off the heads and abdomens of the iriko. These impart a bitter taste to the stock.
- bringing it to a roiling boil will also make things taste bitter and have an “off” taste
- you must scoop out the bubbles - these will contribute to the off taste
- the kombu should be lightly wiped wiped with a cloth - but do not remove the whitish residue on them as a lot of the flavours are in these residues. I suspect that these are a form of natural MSG , which is not a bad thing, since these glutamates also show up in mushrooms and tomatoes.
Living in North America doesn’t get you easy access to the basic ingredients, especially the good quality stuff that the conscientious japanese cook would use… so you’ll have to make do with whatever you can get. I haven’t had a chance to try out which iriko brand and sizes are better…. but so far, as a general rule, smaller iriko will impart a lighter more delicate taste, whereas larger iriko will impart a stronger, smokier taste.