Restaurant: Indochina - 199 Setthatilath Rd.

 
I’ve walked by this place so many times wondering where/what Indochina is
.

(I honestly hadn’t heard of it before, but  Wikipedia has been very helpful in furthering my education)

The restaurant is very smartly executed. An obvious French influence is discernible throughout the restaurant, from the presentation of some dishes to the design of the interior.

This lovely green foliage was very traditionally served alongside the fried spring rolls. 

Many places I have tried, leave out this little detail. I believe that the inclusion of lettuce (at least!) and mint or basil, etc. make an incredible eating experience and that by not including it, the diner is being “robbed!”
(OK a bit dramatic, I know, but I seriously LOVE food too much to accept being robbed of an incredible dining experience)

MMM YUMMY! These were some beautiful (though not my favorite) spring rolls. They had a delicious crunchy exterior and a nice vegetable filling.

In Moscow I could only find spring rolls made from блины (absolutely unacceptable!) They were soggy, poorly fried and had a terrible tasting interior. The sauce often served was either unpalatable or made from mayo (or both!) I digress…

The sauce served with THESE spring rolls was a nice sort of citrus/cilantro/fish sauce with a hint of peanut and chiles. (and no mayo)  The way that it should be..

For my main meal I ordered the stir-fried chicken with vegetables and ginger.

I have been favoring these protein/vegetable, i.e. healthy, dishes for a while. I finally have access to such dishes here. (No restaurant in Moscow would have me be healthy..)

The ginger in this meal gave the food a very healthy essence/taste. I feel that ginger in nearly any dish gives the same healthy essence.

It tasted MUCH better than the picture. I will definitely be returning to take a better photo of it and try more food…

And lastly, a picture of me! I don’t have too many of these on here. The big reason is that I am the photographer and don’t like to do too many self portraits. Another reason is that I made this blog for food not for people pics. I will put some up from time to time though, don’t worry!

Trip to the Huang Market

Unfortunately I was unable to make it to this trip but I did get some goodies. Laos used to be a French colony. Because of this there are still a lot of things written in French and of course, MANY French influenced items in stores, restaurants, there are also French bakeries and restaurants on nearly every corner. The bread here is phenomenal! This bread that I got was a slightly sweet croissant coated with black sesame seeds. The only thing I can't figure out is how they were able to get the croissants sliced so evenly Any suggestions?

This region has some interesting flavors for the potato chips. Some of them are pretty out there (fish sauce flavor perhaps...) but there are also some that are slightly more familiar if not found in the states. I got the sweet Thai basil flavor, with chiles!! MMM! I don't usually eat potato chips, they get all stuck in my teeth and it's not that fab. These chips were incredibly worth it soooo good. (almost nommy)

Saving the best for last, I introduce: orange-flavored M&M's. I have already had a request for these from one of my stateside friends. Order is shipping out this week Along with some Lao coffee.(apparently it's the good stuff)

Now if anyone wants any of the things that I've found or any other souvenir requests, let me know, I'll do what I can!