Saigon City – Albuquerque, New Mexico
My brother in blogging Ryan Cook describes his first day in Vietnam: “So, my first stop in Vietnam was the capital, Hanoi. My honest first impressions… what the hell have I let myself in for. …
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Ikigai ABQ – Albuquerque, New Mexico
While ikigai (pronounced ee-key-guy) may sound like what grade school girls called me many years ago, in Japanese the term ikigai is a Japanese concept combining the terms “iki,” meaning “alive” or “life,” and “gai,” …
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Bamboo Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico
In his 30s, curmudgeonly London food critic Jay Rayner who’s been called the “enfant terrible (literally “terrifying child) of the gastronomic scene,” came to the realization that he hated hangovers more than he hated being …
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Dragon House – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Admit it–every time you dine at a Chinese restaurant, you peruse the Chinese Zodiac paper placemats at your table describing the characteristics of people based on their birth year. Every new year of the lunar …
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Poki Poki Cevicheria – Albuquerque, New. Mexico
Having settled comfortably into middle age (perpetually 39-years old), my favorite participatory sports of basketball and tennis have been replaced by more sedentary, safe and slothful pursuits. Instead of getting my shot rejected (almost as …
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Kamikaze Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico
In the 1970s and 1980s, Reese’s Peanut Butter cups commercials consisted of a series of vignettes. Each vignette depicted the collision of two daydreamers–one eating peanut butter and the other eating chocolate. The peanut butter …
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Heaven Dragon – Rio Rancho, New Mexico
From Norbert, the Norwegian Ridgeback of Harry Potter lore to Smaug, the greatest and most powerful of all dragons in The Hobbit, dragons are a familiar icon in modern literature, movies, music and pop culture. …
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Noodle Works – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“To witness the birth of a noodle is a glorious thing. I have listened, spellbound, as an 85-year-old noodle chef in Beijing told me why the act of making noodles helped him make sense of …
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Oni Noodles – Albuquerque, New Mexico
In retrospect, the monsters and bogeymen who frightened impressionable children of my generation were pretty lame. Perhaps the most lame of them all was Frankenstein, a lumbering behemoth who walked around with his arms outstretched …
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T & T Gas N Mart – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“Eat here and get gas.” Even in more naive and innocent times, the connotation of that double-entendre wasn’t lost on adults or children, all of whom giggled when they espied the classic sign on the …
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Umami Moto – Albuquerque, New Mexico
In the vernacular of the cannabis culture–as I learned growing up in Northern New Mexico–the term “moto” translates from Spanish to “someone who enjoys “mota,” a slang term for marijuana.” Visitors to the Duke City …
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Pho Kup – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Virtually from infancy, my brother George was a prodigy with Lincoln logs, Erector sets and even Tinkertoys. He could literally build anything. That’s when he played indoors. He preferred being out in the elements where …
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Thai Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“There is no good meat that their stupid cooks do not spoil with the sauce they make. They mix with all their stews a certain paste made of rotten prawns…which has such a pungent smell …
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Pacific Paradise Tropical Grill & Sushi Bar – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Shangri-La. Eden. Paradise. Heaven on Earth. The concept of a remote and exotic utopia, a faraway haven or hideaway of idyllic beauty and tranquility, has long intrigued mankind. Paul Gauguin, the famous French post-impressionist artist …
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Kawaii Boba Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico
I have a confession to make. I just don’t get anime…and can’t figure out the pokemon craze. That’s a rather starting admission for an Information Technology (IT) professional to make. Maybe I need help? …
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O Ramen – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power, has that ability to comfort.” ~Norman Kolpas According to most online definitions, the term “soul food” defines the cuisine associated with African-American culture in …
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Saigon Far East – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED*)
NOTE: In November, 2020, Saigon Far East closed its doors and relocated to 25 The Way where it is now called Saigon City. Breaking a paradigm. That’s a modern corporate buzz phrase that essentially means …
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Soo Bak Seoul Bowl & Soo Bak Foods – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Announcer: “The story you are about to read is true. The menu has been changed to showcase the delicious mashup of Korean and Mexican cuisines. Roy Choi: “This is the city: Los Angeles, California. I …
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Sushi & Sake – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“If white wine goes with fish, do white grapes go with sushi?“ – George Carlin A reader once asked Washington Post humorist Gene Weingarten what he was a snob about. His reply, “I am also …
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Iron Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“Ramen is a dish that’s very high in calories and sodium. One way to make it slightly healthier is to leave the soup and just eat the noodles.” ~Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto America may be …
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Asian Pear – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“Careful Father, this stuff will melt your beads.” ~Lt Colonel Henry Blake, MASH 4077 Just as Hogan’s Heroes helped establish the perception many Americans (at least of my generation) had about German food, the television …
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Saigon 2 Restaurant – Rio Rancho, New Mexico
In Chinese and Vietnamese cultures, numerology is very important. If you’ve traveled extensively, you may have wondered why the term “Pho” followed by a number is so commonplace. Often these numbers are considered lucky–and not …
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Happy Chickenzz – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“And believe me, a good piece of chicken can make anybody believe in the existence of God.” ~Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Two things came to mind when my friend …
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Viet’s Pho – Albuquerque, New Mexico
“”Vietnam. It grabs you and doesn’t let you go. Once you love it, you love it forever.” ~ Anthony Bourdain Most of us have never been to Vietnam. It’s possible, maybe likely, that most of …
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Fun Noodle Bar – Albuquerque, New Mexico
By definition, many, if not most noodles are fun. No, not fun as in luxuriating in a tub filled with ramen (albeit non-edible, synthetic noodles) with real tonkatsu (pork bone) broth. Yeah, that really is …
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Thai House – Albuquerque, New Mexico
American fashion designer Zac Posen observed that “Chefs have the ego of an actor and fashion designer combined.” In comparison to private cooks, however, chefs are as modest as a cloistered nun. In a recent …
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Ohana Hut – Albuquerque, New Mexico
In horse racing, the Triple Crown signifies winning all three of the sport’s most challenging thoroughbred horse races—The Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. This is considered the greatest achieved in thoroughbred racing, a …
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It Dim Sum – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Shortly after “moving on up to the east side, to a deluxe apartment in the sky,” George Jefferson was uncharacteristically late returning home. Knowing George had gone to a Chinese restaurant after work, his dutiful …
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Saigon Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico
According to some stereotypes, when you eat Chinese food, you’ll be hungry an hour later. That stereotype is known as the “Chinese food paradox.” One of the culprits behind that stereotype is rice, a …
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Pho 505 – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)
“Eating slowly is good for the stomach; plowing deeply is good for the fields.” ~Vietnamese Proverb Imagine if the village of Hatch was granted a trademark that awarded it exclusive rights to the name “chile.” …
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Thai Heritage & Vegan – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Who among us hasn’t learned at least one thing about Thai culinary heritage from The Big Bang Theory? In a 2011 episode, for example, we learned that according to Thai tradition the last morsel of …
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Spring Rollin’ – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Reclusive American poet Emily Dickinson insisted a light exists in spring that’s not present at any other time of year. If you’ve ever spent a winter in the Northern Hemisphere at a latitude of 42° …
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Albuquerque / Asian / Closed in 2020 / Gone But Not Forgotten / Korean / National Chain / New Mexico
Bonchon – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)
Hawkeye Pierce had a very unique (and very sarcastic) take on the Korean War: “I just don’t know why they’re shooting at us. All we want to do is bring them democracy and white bread. …
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Bubblicitea Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico
According to the United States Census Bureau, by 2016 the Asian American population–including those of multiracial, Hispanic and Latino ancestry–had reached nearly 21 million, constituting about six-percent of the Fruited Plain’s total population. As the …
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CAFE DALAT – Albuquerque, New Mexico
While the term “Vietnamese cuisine” is broad and overarching, any attempt to pigeonhole this very diverse and eclectic culinary culture is a failure to consider its complexities and nuances. Even when culinary taxonomists compartmentalize Vietnamese …
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Pho Kobe – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jim Millington, a long-time friend of this blog, contends that “there must be a bad Vietnamese restaurant somewhere on this wide earth but I have never found it.” If the Albuquerque metropolitan area is a …
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