the land of authentic

back in the land of authentic ethnic food-

when you have two places you live (understanding the blessing of options for varying climates - LOL) you end up missing things all the time... when here you miss the X of there and when there you miss the X of here....

one of the things I miss most when "suffering" from warm sunny days and meals outside along the water in various venues is ethnic food.  There are ethnic restaurants in the Sarasota/Bradenton/Anna Maria/Long Boat Key area but they are but a shadow of real Thai/Mexican/Szechuan/Bosnian/Greek/Shanghainese/Vietnamese/etc...

so the first thing I asked for was Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwiches with pickled daikon, carrot, cilantro, onion, and jalapeno and your choices of meat and pate) our favorite place is about five minutes from our house-

Ba Le- This is the place- and there is always a line inside... but they work quickly...

and here is the menu for the  banh mi-  plus they have specials each day as well - and we always get the shrimp spring rolls-

our favorite shrimp spring rolls - very fresh! they actually made ours up for us!

various banh mi- photos from the Ba Le facebook page- we had the roast pork, the BBQ pork and the sauteed shrimp... but pretty much any one is excellent- this time my favorite was the roast pork- excellent!!!

OK- mouthwatering, No? and I didn't mention this is a full fledged bakery as well with macarons and other beautiful pastries....

So then when Phil asked where we should go to dinner tonight I said (sticking with the Asian) how about Lao Sze Chuan? and so tonight I got my authentic Chinese - this chef has several chinatown restaurants but this one is in New Chinatown or Uptown- on Broadway south of Argyle and the food is really good without having to drive to 22nd street (we will be close enough on Monday night for our Duck Inn dinner)

a hot (spicy) amuse bouche brought to the table when the water glasses are filled (you'll need the water- LOL) kind of kimchi like-

above- world's best hot and sour soup-    below - crispy shrimp with lemon sauce

orange beef tenderloin (below) and not shown salt & pepper scallop and scallion pancake

So tomorrow night Rotisserie Duck at the Duck Inn with foodie friends! - then we have a quick trip out of town but when we return it's going to be Mexican, Thai and Greek - along with high high high end at the Michelin starred goosefoot and next:Bistro menu....

so stay tuned - some great food at all levels coming up!