Pho Nhi Vietnamese Noodle House: East Tulsa's Hidden Pho Delight!

     Just when I thought I'd tasted the best Pho in town, I stumble across this little hidden gem of a pho delight.  It's located in the same building as Nam Hai Vietnamese Asian Market east of 21st and Garnett.

     

     Seriously good eats. My favorite dishes to eat at Vietnamese restaurants are traditional Pho with all the meat and fixin's you can get or the Bun Cha Gio. It has the fresh and light noodles, with a sliced up crispy spring roll, carrots, cucumber, scallions and the meats of your choices. Oh, and the citric sweet sauce. You just drizzle that sauce all over and mix the dish all up.  It has the perfect balance of crispy comfort food, with fresh crisp veggies and sweet noodles. This is such a must try dish. As you can see from the photos, they don't mess around. The dish is prepared to perfection from the noodles, to the proteins and the beautiful crisp, clean sauce.  Such a party-in-my-mouth foodporn kind of yum. 

     Please, if you've never had traditional  Vietnamese food, try this place first. It may ruin your taste for other places but it's worth it :-)  chúc mừng! (cheers!)


 

Ike's Downtown Pub and Eatery: Hit Me Again Ike, and Put Some Steak on It!!

     

     Wow, this place was worth the drive.  It's unique in the combination of food items on the menu. I wanted to try everything on the menu, but settled for three items. My favorite item can't be found on the menu but it was beyond foodgasmic.

     I started with a Chicken curry soup...it had the flavors of a Thai restaurant. It was rich and flavorful, but each ingredient stood on it's own.  I was seriously impressed from the start. Delicately prepared with potatoes, chicken, green leeks, a few other healthy ingredients. It was creamy curry delicate yet hearty goodness. 

  

     I also tried the Fried Pepper Jack Cheeseballs...they weren't like what you get in other places. Not overly greasy with a great crunch!!

     I ended my meal with the Shrimp and Fries basket.  Shrimp AND fries were dipped  in a very light batter. The quality of the shrimp was outstanding.  I loved this place.

     The service was excellent, people were friendly and the atmosphere was awesome.  You can tell people working there enjoyed what they do...which is making great food and providing awesome service.  This place made me want to get a hotel room and hang out at the bar until dinner time, it was that sweet!  Keep it real Ike, keep it real :-)


 

The Vault: Retro Swank... You Can Bank On It ;-)

     The Vault is pure retro swank. Located in what was formerly a bank and appropriately named.  The food, phenomenal.

     

     I went for the first time during a company function. We rented the Tom Tom Room. It was a bit warm, but the food, good Lawdy the food, was soooo good.  They had the most amazing Mixologists mixing up creative and tasty cocktails, which were as beautiful and delicious as the food.  A must try for everyone!!

Alton Brown's Avocado Ice Cream Recipe!

http://altonbrown.com/avocado-ice-cream-recipe/

Via Spin Magazine : Queen to Release Own brand of Beer

Queen Bohemian Lager

http://www.spin.com/2015/06/queen-official-beer-bohemian-lager/?utm_source=spinfacebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spinfacebook

Spicy, Sweet Asian Turkey Burger Salad. It's good.

 

 Spicy Sweet Asian Turkey Burger Salad...yum. No, it's truly yummy-licious goodness.

My recipe for Asian Turkey Burger salad:
Ingredients
-Ground turkey
-Tamarind soy sauce
-sesame oil
-Sriracha
-lime juice
-salt
-pepper
-one egg
-honey
-scallions(aka green onions)
-garlic
-cilantro

Just add everything to your liking. I made it by adding the following amounts/measurements:
1 pound of ground turkey
1 tbsp tamarind soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp sriracha (add more or less according to the level of heat you desire)
1 squeezes of fresh lime juice (less than half a lime)
dash of salt, dash of pepper
1 egg
1 tbsp honey
1/2 chopped scallion
2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1/8 cup chopped cilantro
Mix it all up and with a spoon, drop into hot pan with olive oil (I used melted bacon fat) and lightly tap the tops of the turkey mixture so it spreads out to the size of patty you want. I cooked it over medium low heat. When all is cooked, serve over mixed greens, spinach, kale, whatever greens you like.
Tip: Turn the pan heat down to low, add a drizzle of water to the pan that you cooked the turkey patties in and de-glaze the drippings aka fond and use as a dressing and drizzle it over the Asian turkey burger salad.

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