On the streets of Siem Reap, Cambodia, we enjoyed some cookies n' cream ice cream made fresh before our eyes on a slab of ice! The experience was too cool (pun intended) not to share. Sorry we can't share the taste!
ADD VIDEO
On the streets of Siem Reap, Cambodia, we enjoyed some cookies n' cream ice cream made fresh before our eyes on a slab of ice! The experience was too cool (pun intended) not to share. Sorry we can't share the taste!
ADD VIDEO
Soon after arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, I was texting back and forth with my dad. (For those who don't know, I definitely inherited my food obsession from him, and not from my mom, whose favorite food is toast.) He is always ahead of the game when it comes to different foods and restaurants to try. Sometimes he even asks where we're planning on eating and then, after checking out their menu online, offers advice on what we should order. It may sound crazy to some, but I love him for it.
Anyway, that was how we heard about Noir. (Full name: Noir. Dining in the Dark.) He hadn't been himself but heard about it from a friend. I Googled and ended up on TripAdvisor (sigh...), where I saw that it is #1 of 2,000+ Restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City. As if that wasn't enough to convince us that we needed to check it out, Noir is a dining experience totally unlike any other Mike or I had ever had... you eat your three course meal in total darkness.
So, we made a reservation for the following night. This is how it goes when you dine at Noir:
Upon arrival, you're greeted and led to a table in their casual lounge area, which is dimly lit. They offer a welcome cocktail, asking "alcohol or no alcohol?"
"Alcohol!" - Mike and I in unison.
Then, things get really fun. You're brought a game that looks like it's for preschoolers - a wooden board with nine indentations in different shapes and nine blocks in corresponding shapes. You put on a blindfold and try to complete the puzzle. Doing so is a brief but helpful training session on using your hands when you can't see what you're doing.
The only task left before entering the dining room is to pick which menu you want, east or west. You don't get to select based on specific foods (because that would ruin the surprise), instead it's based on flavors. Wary of fish eyes and snake meat and who knows what else, we chose west. (Given how weird some of those foods ended up being, I'd say we made the right choice!)
Now, there's one more really interesting element that I haven't mentioned yet. All of the servers in the blacked out dining room are blind. Read more about the restaurant's dedication to hiring and empowering local blind and visually impaired people here.
At the transition point between the lounge and the dark room, you meet your server and line up with hands on shoulders so he or she can lead you in to your table.
The entrance is a short maze through thick, black material. It's crazy how quickly you're enveloped in total darkness! Almost immediately, you can feel that your other senses have heightened. Everything sounds louder, each smell is stronger and lingers longer. It's surreal.
Mike and I giggled as we sat there, unable to see each other or anything around us. We talked about what we were feeling and seeing in a way we never have after sitting down in a normal restaurant.
Your heart starts racing a bit when they set the food in front of you. My first thought was, "Surely all food doesn't smell so strongly?" The waiter instructs you on which order to eat. Each course was actually four separate small dishes, all served in bowls, making eating a bit easier.
The bowls all sit on a single tray, with indentations for each bowl. I noticed with a small smile that its design mirrored the game we played before entering the dining room.
There are also no knives required, and no knives on the table, because duh.
For someone who considers herself to be well-versed in food, I took my first bite and had no idea what I was eating. As the meal went on, other tastes stood out as more familiar, while there were some that completely stumped us. Those were the most fun, even if we didn't like the taste, because we had little debates in the dark about what they could be.
After dinner, you exit the dining room and head back to the lounge, where another restaurant employee brings over an iPad to show you what you just ate. This was really cool - there were some that made sense and others that were completely surprising.
Feeling blind, even if only for an hour or so, was very interesting. While the overall experience was fun, it was also enlightening how helpless we felt without one of our most-used senses.
Although it was the most expensive dinner we've had yet on this journey, it was also the most memorable. We'd definitely recommend dining at Noir for anyone looking for something different or celebrating a special occasion.
So we’ve got ourselves a series! Make sure you’ve eaten before reading on to avoid drooling on your computer…
We were starving by the time we rolled into Portland on Monday afternoon so we went straight to Bunk Sandwiches and ordered the meatball sub and pork belly cuban. These sandwiches were all-caps-worthy. I’m talking GOOD. Straight-forward, hot, filling and delicious. I wish I could try every sandwich on their extensive menu.
We stopped by Lovejoy Bakers in the Pearl District to take a breather in the adirondack chairs that line their patio. This was where we first tried our new favorite coffee, Stumptown. A friend told us about Stumptown in Seattle and after trying the cold brew, we bought a bag for french press mornings at campsites.
Blue Star Donuts wins the award for first restaurant we hit up twice in one city! We had heard that Blue Star was better than the now-famous Portland original Voodoo Doughnut and needed to confirm the rumor (we had Voodoo a few times in Denver). Well, consider it confirmed, folks. On our first try, we got a coconut coffee cheesecake donut that was decadent and just the right density. Interestingly, for a donut, it wasn’t super sweet, so all the subtle flavors were able to come through without being overpowered by tons of sugar. The next day, breakfast was another Blue Star donut, this time the buttermilk lemon poppyseed. Again, just the right density and not too sweet, even with a glaze. These donuts are the real deal.
We drove to Hood River before dinner one night so we ended up having pizza at Double Mountain Brewery. Although you’d probably go there for the beer, it was actually really tasty thin crust pizza. (And I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just the beer making it taste so good…)
If I lived in Portland, I would be at Pine State Biscuits at least once a week. The Reggie (fried chicken, bacon and cheese on a biscuit smothered in sausage gravy) gives even a Charleston favorite, the Hominy Grill’s “Big Nasty,” a run for its money. The biscuit was big and fluffy, the chicken was crispy - this was so(ooo) delicious. Mike and I split one - we’re learning self control one meal at a time!
Before meeting our friend AJ for dinner on our last night in town, we stopped at The Sweet Hereafter for a beer and appetizer. It’s a vegan menu, which I would normally roll my eyes at, but everything sounded great and the antipasto plate full of hummus, olives, pickled veggies and piled high with slices of baguette, which we split, was epic. And, it was only $8. Paired with a $2 tallboy PBR, it doesn’t get much better.
We’ve found that local recommendations are almost always the best meals we have. This was true again in Portland when AJ picked the dinner spot and met us at Güero PDX. The food truck is located in a food cart "pod," or lot, an area with three food trucks and a microbrew truck, complete with taps sticking out of the side. Very Portland. We split a torta, which we hear they’re known for. It was big, so splitting it left us both happy and full enough to round out our food tour in Portland.
Sampling new and unique cuisine is one of my favorite things (if not my very favorite thing) about traveling. This is especially true when visiting a foodie paradise like Seattle. On the drive in, I was already reading articles on Eater, Thrillist, Buzzfeed and others about Seattle’s best, essential restaurants. Though we’re sticking to a budget (or at least trying to), we were still able to enjoy a range of delicious Seattle eats - more about each of them below!
Marination Ma Kai in West Seattle was the perfect first stop for us, thanks to both an incredible view and easy parking. (If you can’t find a spot in their parking lot, there’s ample street parking in the area.) You can eat Hawaiian fare while overlooking the water, taking in the awesome city skyline and watching ferries come and go. How “Seattle” is that? Better yet, low prices mean you can sample a decent portion of their menu. For $22, we tried the miso ginger chicken taco, kalbi beef taco, SPAM slider, kimchi quesadilla with kalua pork and hawaiian mac salad (with SPAM). If you haven’t already guessed, SPAM is what they’re known for. The slider was salty but surprisingly tasty! I read that Marination got its start as a food truck but became so popular that they were able to expand to two storefronts (including Ma Kai, where we ate) with another opening soon. After eating there, we totally get it. We’d definitely recommend this place!
After spending the greater part of our first afternoon looking for parking, we finally met up with our friends Nicole and Lance, who just moved to Seattle, at Elliott’s Oyster House's Cafe 56. A few cold beers and fish & chips was just what we needed to de-stress and satisfy my seafood craving. This place checked all the right boxes with good food, a great location and even better company. (Thanks again for dinner and letting us crash at your place, Nicole and Lance!)
Mike had read about The Wurst Place, a Belgian-inspired bar known for frites. It was our first stop while riding the Ruckus around downtown and we were not disappointed. It was just before noon in Seattle but 5pm somewhere, as they say… No matter what time of day, cold beer with double-fried fries, plus tater tots and creative dipping sauces (we had basil aioli and honey mustard), is a righteous pit stop. Seems like it would be a great choice for happy hour, too!
After our beer and fried potato indulgence earlier in the day, we weren’t hungry until late in the afternoon, which is a sort of awkward time to eat. Luckily, Nicole and Lance were in need of a packing break and Lance suggested Pike Place Chowder. Stoked to eat more seafood and even more stoked to explore Pike Place Market, we accompanied Lance on the food run. Pike Place Chowder's sampler, with four 5oz cups, was just the right amount for sharing. We tried the seafood bisque, new england clam chowder, market chowder and southwestern chicken and corn chowder and they were all delicious. I also love that they aren’t shy about giving you as much sourdough bread as you want. (I would dip my bread into bread if i could...)
On Saturday night, we were looking for casual food at a casual place not too far from Nicole and Lance’s new apartment. I stumbled upon an article that called The 5 Point Cafe out for being one of the best, grittiest dive bars in Seattle and, after taking a glance at their menu, knew we had to try it. While some of us were super happy with our meals (the hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes that I ordered probably weighed about five pounds and I ate the entire thing), two of five in our group ordered the buffalo chicken sandwich and were served the wrong thing twice. I guess even though they have a buffalo chicken sandwich on their menu, they don’t actually know what it is? So, this one seems to be hit or miss.
It’s hard to pick a favorite because we ate so much yummy food in Seattle but I think the brunch we had at Oddfellows Cafe + Bar may have been the best. The recommendation came from the lovely Mina, a 6+ year Seattle resident, who met us there. We sat in their charming back patio area, where there are only a few small tables, and filled up on homemade biscuits with eggs, cheese and bacon as well as a huge piece of french toast covered in raspberry compote. (To be honest, it was more like a cake than french toast, but I wasn’t complaining.)
Din Tai Fung popped up on a few “best restaurant” and “Seattle staple” lists. Mike and I both love dim sum, so we penciled it in for dinner. But, since we had eaten such a big brunch, we kept it light, ordering the sweet & sour spare ribs, potstickers and the pork XiaoLongBao dumplings, Din Tai Fung’s most popular. (We were also able to side-step the hour-long wait by snagging two seats at the bar, which is full service!) The food was well worth it but the location was kind of odd (in a corporate shopping mall), so we’d recommend checking out one of the other locations.
On our way out of town, we stopped at Husky Deli & Catering, a gourmet food store that’s also known for their homemade ice cream, which I discovered easily by Googling “best ice cream Seattle.” There was a line when we got there but it moved quickly and within 10 minutes we were happily monching rich, creamy ice cream. Mike got coconut and coffee oreo, I got swiss chocolate orange and “husky chip” (a classic vanilla with dark chocolate shavings). Hands down, it was some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. This one is a must if you’re in the area. (We also heard great things about Seattle ice cream chain Molly Moo’s but never had a chance to check it out!)
Honorable mention: Cherry St. Coffee. Would you believe me if I said I didn’t drink Starbucks once while in Seattle? Well, it’s true. The only coffee shop stop was Cherry St., where we picked up morning joe for everyone on our first full day. While we only grabbed coffee and didn’t eat there, the smell of everything bagels combined with super helpful staff was as welcoming as it gets. Plus, I guess it means something for a coffee chain to be able to survive on Starbucks’ home turf?
PS. we were loving the food in Seattle so much that we forgot to take photos before we devoured most of it! We’re working on that for future posts…