xanawu » congee

“Congee” on Bowery

xanawu — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:33:14 +0000

I was in chinatown when I suddenly remembered I’d been craving congee–and how convenient, there was a place across the street from where I was standing called: Congee (well, congee city in chinese: 粥城).

and though it didn’t look like the most elegant juk I’ve ever had, it tasted good! I had the fish and thousand-year-old egg congee (魚片皮蛋粥, “yu pian pi dan zhou”) and chinese bread sticks (油條, “you tiao”). the congee was well flavoured throughout and there were small pieces of mustard green that made a nice crunchy addition. the youtiao weren’t amazing, but generally this place was much better than the well-known Congee Village restaurant (which is more disney-esque and has mediocre congee) on Allen street.

while I was finishing up my meal, a couple of black women huffed out because of the poor ‘service’, though from what I’d seen they were treated in the normal way of typical canto restaurants. too bad for them, because this is the kind of service I like best: leave me alone, and if I want you, I’ll get you.

all for a total of $5.20

Congee (粥城)
98 Bowery
New York, NY 10013

breakfast weekend

xanawu — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 06:09:55 +0000

I found a housewares store on the new hanoian that’s semi-near my house, so I set off late morning yesterday to take a look (similar to ikea stuff, the place is called uma in case you’re interested). all this to say, my browsing brought me well past lunchtime, and I noticed I didn’t have enough cash to buy what I’ve been looking at anyway.

so I went to the nearest HSBC atm by my place. gloriously, just next to the atm (on the corner of Doi Can and Van Cao, to be exact) is a Bánh mỳ Huế restaurant.

and what is banh my hue? I’ve been wondering this for awhile, since this place is on my way to work and all I could see from the street were sizzling cast iron platters.

greasy goodness

can there be a heartier meal than a plate of sizzling eggs, steak, spring onions, tomato, & potato? don’t forget the side salad of pickled/chillied cucumber & tomato, and of course the bread (banh my). it might possibly cause your next heart attack, but it’s damn good. one dish + Fanta: 59,000 dong.

(btw, Hue is a city in central Vietnam, and presumably the source of this dish)

today I decidedly went more low-key with breakfast, and opted for cháo–essentially vietnamese style congee–with chicken added (gà).

the surprising difference from chinese or thai congee is the herbs that are mixed in, the usual mix of basil/mint-ish leaves that you find with other dishes, as well as green onion. red and white pepper, to taste. one bowl: 20,000 dong.

(small alley of chao places just at the start of hang bong street.)

food tent

xanawu — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:34:25 +0000

at phyathai there is crap all to eat compared to other BTS stations. still, there is a street food tent that’s open for breakfast and lunch:

(this is the entrance, right under the BTS station–you can see taxis and motocycle drivers waiting for fares under the stairs.)

And this is the view from inside. I’m eating congee here! it’s like HK style, but with fish sauce as the flavouring, and with meatballs and ginger…

quaker chicken mushroom oatmeal

xanawu — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 20:12:38 +0000

chicken mushroom flavoured

not as good as I expected (or hoped?)–though maybe I should have opted for the “anchovies flavor”. better to get congee at a restaurant…