A friend from church talked several of us into going to a South African restaurant in Beijing, Pinotage. I was a bit hesitant because South Africa somehow does not scream out to me “awesome gastronomical experience.” I could not be more wrong though. It was a great place to eat. We had appetizers of Boerewors (a SA sausage), samosas and this type of bread stick with a savory sauce. I ordered a Caesar salad, a strawberry smoothie, and a Chicken Kiev. All of it was delicious, especially the chicken. It used a curry sauce instead of the traditional herb butter. I also tried the dishes selected by my dining partners. Each dish was excellent.

The only downside to experience was that it was difficult to find. It is out in Shunyi, which is quite far from where I live. There is one in Sanlitun, but we went to this one because of better reviews. Also, we had to get a taxi because it is not close to the station. This was not detrimental to the dining experience, however. I definitely recommend this restaurant to Beijing foodies. Unfortunately, I neglected to take pictures.

Address: Lane Bridge Villa Compound, Laiguanying Donglu  来光营东路9号

I was invited to this restaurant to meet up with some friends that I had come to know through our study abroad trip to Tianjin in 2009. I keep in touch rather regularly with Lisa using Gchat, but I had not seen or talked to Quincy since that trip. The setting for our reunion  was a delightful place up near Sugarhouse at 21^st South and 21^st East. The owner knew Lisa since she was a regular visitor to this place.

We ordered the hotpot (火锅) without spicy, thus avoiding my lifelong war with 花椒*, or Sichuan peppercorns. We had both chicken and beef with assorted vegetables and tofu. I asked the owner if she had any 木耳, literally woodears or black tree fungus. She did not but did recommend some tasty shiitake (香菇) mushrooms.

When we received the bill, I was quite surprised to note that the experience only cost $19 for each of us. Lisa stated that the more people there are, the less the bill for each person. This so reminded me of China. All in all, this was a great restaurant where I was able to enjoy delicious food and practice my very poor Chinese.

*I do not hate huajiao but only the frequency that it is used, especially in Sichuan. Having lived in Chengdu for a year, I was inundated with the stuff. While most of my friends love it, I never quite caught the bug. I do like it in small portions, though.

It represents the memory of my youth. Sliced pork loaded with sauce on a toasted bun accompanied by a side of chips and root beer in the bottle. Anytime my family got anywhere near to Hammond, Louisiana, we had to stop in for a Hi-Ho BBQ sandwich. My mother ate there during her time at Southeastern Louisiana University back in the 1960’s and I ate there as well during my stint at SLU.

I was quite excited when I heard that Hi-Ho was opening a location, its #4, in Denham Springs, the town closest to my hometown. I went there and was not too impressed. I went to Graduate School and China for a while and then accepted a job in Watson working for the parish library. Everyday, I drive by the Hi-Ho restaurant. I decided a week or so ago to give it another shot. I don’t know if it quite lives up to my nostalgia, but it was really tasty. The only two issues I had was that it had too much sauce and at $2.75 for a plain seemed a tad too overpriced. The first is easy to solve while the second complaint I can chalk up to memory and inflation.

As for the sandwich, it was really good and bore a great resemblance to what I remembered eating out in Hammond for so many years. Hi-Ho is not a traditional BBQ place in that it serves a great variety of meats. BBQ here means pork or beef on a bun. However, they have updated their menu with burgers, fries and some other selections. For me, however, the plain pork sandwich reigns supreme. No cheese or any other distractions – just pork, sauce and bun.

How can I describe my most loved burger? When I stepped off the plane from China after having been there an entire year, the first thing I did was look for the shuttle at LAX that would take me to the nearest In & Out Burger. My love of this place was consolidated around a decade ago during my mission to California for my church. While I enjoyed Cali, In & Out in a sense capstoned the experience for me. The burger was delicious, the fries were quite good, and in the days before I recognized my inability to process lactose, I downed it with their signature shake. This review is not about In & Out though.

Others, many of whom have the knowledge to make such a comparison, stated that 5 Guys had a burger that was up there with In & Out. I decided eagerly to try this hypothesis out, despite my somewhat low expectations. I found the burger to be almost as good as In & Out. It was certainly kicked up a notch by the selection of options to put on the burger. I chose grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, and jalapenos to marry up with the traditional cheese, lettuce and mayonnaise. Perhaps the only thing that could set 5 Guys above my beloved is the cajun seasoned fries. They just fill the bag up with them and overload you with a potato avalanche of tastiness. On this factor, In & Out is left far behind.

The only real issue that I had with 5 Guys was the price. The burger was $5 & something with a $2 drink and a $2.50 bag of fries. It was definitely going for the artisan burger feel while In & Out provides its food at more reasonable prices. However, while I hesitated to pay $11, I was certainly not disappointed by the burger. In my quest for burger perfection, I may have to try Mugshots in Baton Rouge as well. Several people indicated to me that they prefer this place to 5 Guys. I will certainly have to see how they compare to In & Out.

I love trying new cuisuine as anyone who knows me could well attest. So, several months ago during a visit to my brother in Biloxi, I heard about a great Caribbean restaurant from my sister-in-law, DeAnne. Since I have never tasted food from this part of the world, I thought I would give it a go. It turned out to be a great decision.

When you enter the restaurant it does not seem like much. A couple of tables and two or three booths. We were greeted by Raymond, who I think ownes the place. He was one of the friendliest waiters I have had in a long time. I decided on the chicken curry with a side of white rice and jalapeno hush puppies. Jason, my brother, ordered the jerk chicken with a side of french fries and hush puppies. DeAnne wanted jerk pork with a salad. Her second side was something called Festival, which Raymond described as a beignet without the powdered sugar. Each of these dishes were about $8.50. The portions were quite big allowing me to sample quite a bit from each of these dishes.

The jerk chicken was very good but I have to say that the pork was better. It had the flavor that you get eating beef jerky but as a sauce. It sounds unusual but I really loved it, especially in the pork as it had a little extra kick of something. The Festival was quite good, but my hands down favorite was the hush puppies. Reminded me of my childhood although my maman never included jalapenos in hers. The curry chicken that I had was fantastic. It had the chicken meat chopped up with the bones, so it really reminded me of my years in China. I spit out a lot of bones over there. :-) The anticipation and arrival of the food was so great that I forgot to take photos of the food so you will just have to accept my word on it.

If you get to Biloxi, do not forego a taste of the islands in this little joint. Excellent food and excellent atmosphere made for a great dining experience. It is located just outside the gates of Keesler AFB on Pass Rd. It is very close to a previously mentioned place, R&C Korean Restaurant. My brother observantly pointed out that Biloxi, despite its size, has some great little restaurants due to the Air Force Base. Very true and something that makes my trips there all the more enjoyable.

In the winter of 2006, I accompanied two friends on a journey through Southeast Asia for three weeks. We spent a week in Thailand, one in Cambodia, and a final one in Vietnam. During this time, I found paradise. When a man finds something close to heaven, it is difficult to replicate if it is not at the same place with the same people. Me and one of my friends – a beautiful, young lady – visited the Temple of Confucius in Hanoi. Outside of one of the gates, we sat down on a little curbside cafe operating out of a small stall. There, I had the best Ph? that man can taste. Heaven. Later that night, we attended a wonderful opera that capstoned the experience.