Thanks so much for the kind words. We are working on some additions to the menu (top secret of course) but, will probably be out in June/July. Next time you are in town, e-mail me and let me know, I’d like to treat you to a taste plate and get your opinion on them. Thanks again for dining with us, we appreciate your business, and your endorsement.
Congratulations on your website..I love it.. I am a Mexican living in Germany and restaurants here (due to the lack of diversity) are most of the time a real torture… I love reading your reviews on restaurants and remember the good old times when I lived in New York…
Hi.
I would like to ask permission to be listed or how we can be interactive with our new company, Philadelphia Cheesecake at Darlings Cafe.
We would appreciate any plugs that anyone would be willing to give to us as mother’s day is approaching. We have won best of Philly, and Best Dessert/Bakery from AOL
on 21st and the Parkway, behind Franklin Institute we are the closest cafe to the start/finish for runforthecure.com here in Philadelphia
Hey there!
Wow! I must say, you have a cool looking website! And on top of that it is about my all time favorite topic, food and dinning! Thanks to your website I now have a clue to where I want to dine next! Also, props onto your yummy looking pictures of these various unique food! =]
We’d love to have you check out National Mechanics at 3rd and Market, 22 South 3rd Street in Philadelphia, in the old Revival building. More pub than gastropub, simplicity without the Old City drizzle.
I’m constantly referred to this site by the amazing pictures featured on tastespotting; it wasn’t long before I began reading the stories that accompanied them! I can’t say which I enjoy more now: the mouth-watering images or the words that describe them. Keep up the lovely work, your blog never fails to fuel my imagination for a delightfully good eat
Cathy, Vernon –
I came across your blog tonight and enjoyed it. Funny thing – I was born in Boston, my wife was born in La Mesa, we met at UCSD, and we live just outside Philly. Small world.
We still have Roberto’s withdrawals after being away for a while (last visit was 2002). We usually go to Kennett Square (Taqueria Moroleon) to satisfy our Mexican fix, but small places keep opening up around Philly, so there’s hope.
My name is Grace and I’ll be a grad student at UPenn this fall. I’m
at home (SoCal) right now, but I’ll be moving into my dorm on the
28th. I’ve been reading your blogs for a while now (I first saw it
after going on http://www.xanga.com/koreancooking, then clicking on the
various blogrings, and yours was at the very top since you had just
updated). At first I just really liked reading what you wrote and
looking at all the yummy pictures you took, but then I realized that a
lot of the places you were eating at happened to be in or near Philly,
and some of the street names sounded like they were actually right by
UPenn! I was so excited when it dawned on me that I would actually
get to visit some of the places you wrote about!
Other than the one time I went to UPenn for a few hours to attend my
grad school interview, I’ve never been to Philly before, so I was
wondering if you could help me out with something! I know that you
are in Vietnam right now and are probably really busy, but if you get
the chance, could you please tell me what restaurants you would
recommend for an anniversary dinner? My boyfriend will be coming to
visit me in two weeks for our second anniversary, and we wanted to go
eat somewhere nice that isn’t too far from campus, but we have no idea
where to go!
If you have a few minutes, could you please help me out with some
suggestions for restaurants we could go to? I would greatly
appreciate your advice!
I’m from Montreal and will be in Philly soon; I gotta tell ya I was dreading crossing the 49th parallel for gastronomical reasons, but your reviews and the pics on this website have sown some hope and really boosted my moral! Thanks for this great blog!
I just wanted to say that I love your blog and thanks for blogging frequently and saving us folks on this other side of the world (I’m in Virginia) from boredom throughout the typical workday. It’s really nice bc you both are great writers/food critics and you’re able to convey your feelings and thoughts so well. I def look forward to reading whatever it is you have to say each time.
I’m returning to VN for a month-long vacation (to celebrate Tet especially) from Jan 21-Feb 21 so i’m incredibly excited. I’ve been doing research on places to go and places to eat of course That is why I really really appreciate yours and the Astronomer’s blog. Keep up the fantastic work guys!!
I am about to go to Vietnam on my own, I really dislike big tours how many people were with you on your Mekong boat trip ? Sounds like a lot of other tour companies charge a lot like $80…..do you get what you pay for…..can you ask to customize the trip..
Any recommendations, if I walk around district 1 will I get swarmed by tour operators……..
I don’t want to book with the hotel as I know they over charge,
I think there were about 30 people on the Mekong trip, which sounds like a lot, but it really wasn’t bad at all. The delta is really mellow and people behave accordingly. No children were on the trip. The $18 trip was a steal, but you can coordinate your own tour as well. I saw a few boats with smaller groups, but they seemed to be going everywhere our group was headed. So… if you do plan your own trip, make sure to specify that you want to go off the beaten path.
All of the tour operators are in the “backpacker quarter” (Pham Ngu Lao Street). You will NOT be swarmed in District 1. You may be swarmed at the airport.
Hi,
I live in Nicosia. Searching for an interesting word for “bread-like”, I came across your blog because I wanted to check out the writing on the Metropolitan Bakery’s site (Philadelphia).
I have to save you from sounding ignorant about the bakery. You really missed out.
Try the French Berry Roll. Try their Miche (especially if you can deal with its size for a casual dinner party). Try their millet muffins. I don’t know who told you that the chocolate cherry bread would be a “signature” item, but you should know better than to test the merits of a bakery based on one item, especially one so specific.
just a little helping hand from the Eastern Med -
EHD
Astronomer/Gastronomer: this is so cool. My home street starting to make
it on the ‘net!
Of course, it should be expected, as HCMC keeps expanding.
I used to live in HCMC, from 1999 to 2000, and I lived at 209/7 To^n
Tha^’t Thuye^’t, in P3, Q4 of HCMC. I just saw your blog about Che`
Nha~n. I am curious: do you remember near which intersection the lady
sold you this?
I stumbled onto your blog this morning, and haven’t been able to stop reading, scroling, gawking and drooling!!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE it!!!
My name is Tram (Huong Tram) and I was born n lived in Saigon til I was 13. I’m currently living in Montreal, Cananda and I visit Vietnam when I can, and the last time I was there was in 2005. I’m supposed to go again this year!!!
Ok, enough about me, I’m rambling… sorry!!! I just wanted to say that I love reading your blogs, especially the ones about Vietnam (P.S: my favorite place that I have to go visit everytime I’m there is Phu Quoc!!!) I really enjoy it, as all the pics n articles bring me very fond memories of Vietnam, being with friends and family there and eating awesome food.
Again, thanx for creating such a great website, it is in my favorites!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! (Im cooking up a storm this Saturday to feast with my friends to celebrate)
omg! i’m so excited to find your blog!! in 2005 my friend karen and i spent 3 weeks in saigon, the mekong and phu quoc. we are meeting in saigon again in may (i’m from Los Angeles, she’s from Boulder, CO)… this time her husband will join us for 5 days on phu quoc. the cool thing about your blog is it’s about FOOD! and karen is not only a major foodie, she also works for the Culinary Institute of the Rockies… so last time we were in vietnam we were taking loads of photos of food and trying to figure out how to make it.
anyway, i just wanted to say thanks! for such a fabo blog! i’ll be reading it regularly!
Vegetation Profile: Khoai Mỡ
Published December 11, 2007 Phu Quoc , Vegetation Profile.
if I could have your permission to reprint some of your images. I am writing a special book for my Filipino Father in Law called, Beyond Rice-Memoirs of an American Daughter in Law in a Filipino Father’s Kitchen. This is the working Title. Basically it is about cooking with my Father in Law, my travels and food discoveries and stories of Filipino food, and general anecdotes revolving around food in our lives. If I could have permission to use some of your images that would be great. You should know that I am self publishing the book and as of know have no plans on distribution, I would be happy to give your credit in the book and send you and e-book. If your interested I would love to have higher resolution copies if possible.
hey! i have a problem. back in april you posted a recipe for red velvet cake. i made the cake … it was the best i ever had. i saved that page to my favories… so i could make the cake again….but when i went to my favorites it showed a different page. had the picture of that red velvet cake but the recipe is gone. can i get it from you again? you could send it to my e mail. i have tried several rvc recipes, but this was by far the best i have ever had. thank you so much for your time and i hope that you will be able to help me.
I live in Chiang Mai, Thailand and came across your blog when I searched for Dried Persimmon.
In our Nacha Coffee Estate we have grafted native persimmon trees with new varieties, among others Fuyu Type. August is our persimmon harvest time and we try learn diffrent ways to preserve them without additives and SO2.
I enjoy to read your food articles and anytime you are in Thailand please come to taste our fresh roasted coffee. Our roasting den is located near Chiang Mai Airport.
Hello,
I like ur website, would like to know whether you have drumstick leaves pls!
Let me know if u have it.
Thxs a lot
Pamela Kaech-Appavou
Island Keys
Thanks so much for the kind words. We are working on some additions to the menu (top secret of course) but, will probably be out in June/July. Next time you are in town, e-mail me and let me know, I’d like to treat you to a taste plate and get your opinion on them. Thanks again for dining with us, we appreciate your business, and your endorsement.
Sam Burn
Commissioner of Culture
Jim ‘N Nicks
Hola!
Congratulations on your website..I love it.. I am a Mexican living in Germany and restaurants here (due to the lack of diversity) are most of the time a real torture… I love reading your reviews on restaurants and remember the good old times when I lived in New York…
Keep up the great work!
Saludos!
Hi.
I would like to ask permission to be listed or how we can be interactive with our new company, Philadelphia Cheesecake at Darlings Cafe.
We would appreciate any plugs that anyone would be willing to give to us as mother’s day is approaching. We have won best of Philly, and Best Dessert/Bakery from AOL
on 21st and the Parkway, behind Franklin Institute we are the closest cafe to the start/finish for runforthecure.com here in Philadelphia
Hey there!
Wow! I must say, you have a cool looking website! And on top of that it is about my all time favorite topic, food and dinning! Thanks to your website I now have a clue to where I want to dine next! Also, props onto your yummy looking pictures of these various unique food! =]
We’d love to have you check out National Mechanics at 3rd and Market, 22 South 3rd Street in Philadelphia, in the old Revival building. More pub than gastropub, simplicity without the Old City drizzle.
http://www.nationalmechanics.com
I’m constantly referred to this site by the amazing pictures featured on tastespotting; it wasn’t long before I began reading the stories that accompanied them! I can’t say which I enjoy more now: the mouth-watering images or the words that describe them. Keep up the lovely work, your blog never fails to fuel my imagination for a delightfully good eat
- Evie
Cathy, Vernon –
I came across your blog tonight and enjoyed it. Funny thing – I was born in Boston, my wife was born in La Mesa, we met at UCSD, and we live just outside Philly. Small world.
We still have Roberto’s withdrawals after being away for a while (last visit was 2002). We usually go to Kennett Square (Taqueria Moroleon) to satisfy our Mexican fix, but small places keep opening up around Philly, so there’s hope.
Keep up the entertaining posts!
Hi Cathy!
My name is Grace and I’ll be a grad student at UPenn this fall. I’m
at home (SoCal) right now, but I’ll be moving into my dorm on the
28th. I’ve been reading your blogs for a while now (I first saw it
after going on http://www.xanga.com/koreancooking, then clicking on the
various blogrings, and yours was at the very top since you had just
updated). At first I just really liked reading what you wrote and
looking at all the yummy pictures you took, but then I realized that a
lot of the places you were eating at happened to be in or near Philly,
and some of the street names sounded like they were actually right by
UPenn! I was so excited when it dawned on me that I would actually
get to visit some of the places you wrote about!
Other than the one time I went to UPenn for a few hours to attend my
grad school interview, I’ve never been to Philly before, so I was
wondering if you could help me out with something! I know that you
are in Vietnam right now and are probably really busy, but if you get
the chance, could you please tell me what restaurants you would
recommend for an anniversary dinner? My boyfriend will be coming to
visit me in two weeks for our second anniversary, and we wanted to go
eat somewhere nice that isn’t too far from campus, but we have no idea
where to go!
If you have a few minutes, could you please help me out with some
suggestions for restaurants we could go to? I would greatly
appreciate your advice!
Sincerely,
Grace
I’m from Montreal and will be in Philly soon; I gotta tell ya I was dreading crossing the 49th parallel for gastronomical reasons, but your reviews and the pics on this website have sown some hope and really boosted my moral! Thanks for this great blog!
I just wanted to say that I love your blog and thanks for blogging frequently and saving us folks on this other side of the world (I’m in Virginia) from boredom throughout the typical workday. It’s really nice bc you both are great writers/food critics and you’re able to convey your feelings and thoughts so well. I def look forward to reading whatever it is you have to say each time.
I’m returning to VN for a month-long vacation (to celebrate Tet especially) from Jan 21-Feb 21 so i’m incredibly excited. I’ve been doing research on places to go and places to eat of course
That is why I really really appreciate yours and the Astronomer’s blog. Keep up the fantastic work guys!! 
thanks,
Nhu
Hi there,
I am about to go to Vietnam on my own, I really dislike big tours how many people were with you on your Mekong boat trip ? Sounds like a lot of other tour companies charge a lot like $80…..do you get what you pay for…..can you ask to customize the trip..
Any recommendations, if I walk around district 1 will I get swarmed by tour operators……..
I don’t want to book with the hotel as I know they over charge,
S
Hello Sandra,
I think there were about 30 people on the Mekong trip, which sounds like a lot, but it really wasn’t bad at all. The delta is really mellow and people behave accordingly. No children were on the trip. The $18 trip was a steal, but you can coordinate your own tour as well. I saw a few boats with smaller groups, but they seemed to be going everywhere our group was headed. So… if you do plan your own trip, make sure to specify that you want to go off the beaten path.
All of the tour operators are in the “backpacker quarter” (Pham Ngu Lao Street). You will NOT be swarmed in District 1. You may be swarmed at the airport.
Good luck,
CD
Hi,
I live in Nicosia. Searching for an interesting word for “bread-like”, I came across your blog because I wanted to check out the writing on the Metropolitan Bakery’s site (Philadelphia).
I have to save you from sounding ignorant about the bakery. You really missed out.
Try the French Berry Roll. Try their Miche (especially if you can deal with its size for a casual dinner party). Try their millet muffins. I don’t know who told you that the chocolate cherry bread would be a “signature” item, but you should know better than to test the merits of a bakery based on one item, especially one so specific.
just a little helping hand from the Eastern Med -
EHD
Hello and bravo for your blog I discovered today. I’m french and I foundit exciting and well done.
Cooking is one of my passions. I have a simple and personal site :
Passe-plats.com.
If you agree, I could insert a link to your blog.
Congratulations.
Guy Madesclaire
gas•tron•o•my makes an appearance on the epi-log: http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2007/12/vietnamese-eats.html
eee!
gas•tron•o•my makes two appearances on the tastespotting 2007 top 100:
http://www.notcot.com/archives/2008/01/tastespotting_1_1.php
Looking for a restaurant in B’ham that has good bread pudding.
How about Hot and Hot Fish Club? Do call ahead to make sure that its on the dessert menu
Astronomer/Gastronomer: this is so cool. My home street starting to make
it on the ‘net!
Of course, it should be expected, as HCMC keeps expanding.
I used to live in HCMC, from 1999 to 2000, and I lived at 209/7 To^n
Tha^’t Thuye^’t, in P3, Q4 of HCMC. I just saw your blog about Che`
Nha~n. I am curious: do you remember near which intersection the lady
sold you this?
Thanks!
Françoys Crépeau
Hey there!
I stumbled onto your blog this morning, and haven’t been able to stop reading, scroling, gawking and drooling!!!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE it!!!
My name is Tram (Huong Tram) and I was born n lived in Saigon til I was 13. I’m currently living in Montreal, Cananda and I visit Vietnam when I can, and the last time I was there was in 2005. I’m supposed to go again this year!!!
Ok, enough about me, I’m rambling… sorry!!! I just wanted to say that I love reading your blogs, especially the ones about Vietnam (P.S: my favorite place that I have to go visit everytime I’m there is Phu Quoc!!!) I really enjoy it, as all the pics n articles bring me very fond memories of Vietnam, being with friends and family there and eating awesome food.
Again, thanx for creating such a great website, it is in my favorites!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! (Im cooking up a storm this Saturday to feast with my friends to celebrate)
omg! i’m so excited to find your blog!! in 2005 my friend karen and i spent 3 weeks in saigon, the mekong and phu quoc. we are meeting in saigon again in may (i’m from Los Angeles, she’s from Boulder, CO)… this time her husband will join us for 5 days on phu quoc. the cool thing about your blog is it’s about FOOD! and karen is not only a major foodie, she also works for the Culinary Institute of the Rockies… so last time we were in vietnam we were taking loads of photos of food and trying to figure out how to make it.
anyway, i just wanted to say thanks! for such a fabo blog! i’ll be reading it regularly!
I am interested in reprinting your ube image from
Vegetation Profile: Khoai Mỡ
Published December 11, 2007 Phu Quoc , Vegetation Profile.
if I could have your permission to reprint some of your images. I am writing a special book for my Filipino Father in Law called, Beyond Rice-Memoirs of an American Daughter in Law in a Filipino Father’s Kitchen. This is the working Title. Basically it is about cooking with my Father in Law, my travels and food discoveries and stories of Filipino food, and general anecdotes revolving around food in our lives. If I could have permission to use some of your images that would be great. You should know that I am self publishing the book and as of know have no plans on distribution, I would be happy to give your credit in the book and send you and e-book. If your interested I would love to have higher resolution copies if possible.
thanks so much
amy
hey! i have a problem. back in april you posted a recipe for red velvet cake. i made the cake … it was the best i ever had. i saved that page to my favories… so i could make the cake again….but when i went to my favorites it showed a different page. had the picture of that red velvet cake but the recipe is gone. can i get it from you again? you could send it to my e mail. i have tried several rvc recipes, but this was by far the best i have ever had. thank you so much for your time and i hope that you will be able to help me.
Hi,
I live in Chiang Mai, Thailand and came across your blog when I searched for Dried Persimmon.
In our Nacha Coffee Estate we have grafted native persimmon trees with new varieties, among others Fuyu Type. August is our persimmon harvest time and we try learn diffrent ways to preserve them without additives and SO2.
I enjoy to read your food articles and anytime you are in Thailand please come to taste our fresh roasted coffee. Our roasting den is located near Chiang Mai Airport.
NACHA COFFEE
SCAA 2007 Asia’s Best Coffee.
Wimonlack Blom-Boonvises
Hello,
I like ur website, would like to know whether you have drumstick leaves pls!
Let me know if u have it.
Thxs a lot
Pamela Kaech-Appavou
Island Keys