Oddly enough, I'd never had pho for breakfast before. This was decent. Of course, my mom and grandma's pho is far superior. ;) But there was a generous amount of meat and I could tell that there was no MSG in the broth.
A tasty coconut boba drink. I still don't like tapioca pearls though due to their texture.
Lunch at Noodles & Company (top to bottom: Japanese udon, tomato & basil soup, beef stroganoff, side salad) If you have to eat fast food, this is up there with Panera in the "makes you feel like you're eating something healthy" department. I enjoyed my udon very much. There were too few noodles and too much meat and vegetables, which is not a bad thing. :D The tomato soup was creamy and not as tasty as Panera's but it was cold outside and it is one of my comfort foods.
Eithiopian dinner at Queen of Sheba. My friend and her sister had never had Eithiopian before. It was so much fun to introduce them to it! The beef in the forefront was the best. I also enjoyed the collard green and potato/lentil dishes. This was the meat combo for two (with an additional order of lamb tibs in the middle) and it easily fed the three of us. The service was wonderful and we even got to chat with the chef/owner after our meal.
Day 4:
Baked goods at Wholly Cannoli
I wasn't blown away by my cannoli ($3.50 + tax). It was almost too sweet, very heavy, and definitely too big. Their other offerings looked good though, and my friends enjoyed the raspberry twist and eclair.
We had lunch at Star of India. Their lunch buffet only costs $8! The chicken curry was moist and had a great flavor, while all the vegetarian dishes were savory. However, I didn't relish the chicken tikka masala because the chicken was tough and the sauce was bland. I don't remember being impressed by the tandoori chicken either. The naan was soft but soggy with oil.
Arash Grocery features foods from the Middle East, most of which I had never seen before. It was so much fun! I loved the rows and rows of pita, lavash, and barbari bread, as well as yogurt soda, bulk bags of nuts and spices, pistachio candies (which weren't good), poppy seed pastries (which are!) and lots of fresh vegetables. My friend bought the chickpea cookies above. They were very dense and chalky, but had a good flavor.
Continuing our international food tour, we visited Dah Won Rice Cake. The owner was nice, although a bit difficult to understand The rice cakes were very chewy and filled with red beans. Not my favorite thing, but I'm glad that I tried it.
Next door to the rice cake shop is Paris Baguette, which I assumed to be French on first glance. But I was very pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a Korean bakery. I LOVE Korean bakeries, and have not been to one since I went to Dallas 3.5 years ago. I wanted to buy one of everything in the store. (And at $1 apiece, I guess I could've, but I'd spent too much money by this point...)
Last but not least, we visited a Mexican bakery, Panaderia Tlaquepaque. I purchased an elephant ear, which was dry and tasteless, and a cinnamon pastry that needed to be reheated before being good. I guess the latter was due to us visiting later in the afternoon.
Our loot---I actually didn't try the barbari bread until I returned home. (It was dry, flat, and tasted like white bread. Not a fan.) The poppy seed pastry tasted like "a gigantic Fig Newton" in Mr. S.'s words. I bought a red bean pastry and a cross between a cinnamon roll and a red bean roll at the Korean bakery. Both were delicious. My friend bought tahini and halva, but we didn't try either. Her dulce le leche empanada was marvelous though- sweet, tender, and flaky- and enough to redeem the bakery in my eyes.
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