I was a little hesitant trying a food trailer that sells banh mis but dubbed their trailer, “Bahn-Bahn.” My friend Nam was a skeptic as well but he went and he said it was one of the the best banh mis he’s ever had. Knowing the amount of banh mis we’ve had together, it was all the nudging I needed to try this new food trailer out.

The Vietnamese owners were goodnatured and sweet when I teased them for their spelling “banh” as “bahn.” What I’ve learned is to not judge a food trailer by its name. I want to go on record and retract my skepticism. I tried their chicken lemongrass banh mi and it was spectacular. Fragrant and flavorful lemongrass chicken with the traditional pickeled vegetables, herbs, and perfectly toasted baguettes. I’ve been missing good banh mis ever since I’ve relocated to Central Austin and I’m happy to have Bahn-Bahns closer to my neighborhood.

Would you like a free Vietnamese lesson? Ca phe sua da is Vietnamese Iced Coffee. (Chicory coffee brewed over condensed milk and poured over ice.) “Sua” is “milk” in Vietnamese and “da” means “ice.” (Don’t be too impressed, I am a bad Vietnamese girl and do not know how to read Vietnamese.)

The takeaway of this post is this: Bahn-Bahn, simple menu and really great and filling sandwiches. Go try!

P.S. Parking in this area can be challenging. Try not to be ravenous when you come here, it will make it easier to be patient while trolling for parking.

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• February 21, 2012 -- Lunch in the Life: Pulled Pork at Jackalope

Photos by Thomas Chen Photography.

Underbelly
1100 Westheimer Rd
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 528-9800
http://www.underbellyhouston.com/

Post to come soon! Just got back from Vegas this week and my brain is still mushy.

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Local Foods

2424 Dunstan Rd
Houston, TX 77005
(713) 521-7800
http://www.houstonlocalfoods.com/

The best egg salad sandwich I’ve ever experienced was last weekend during a lunch date with Cindy at Local Foods in Houston. I ordered the Truffled Egg Salad, served on pretzel bun. The truffle oil really made the sandwich a decadent treat. Also, this was my first experience with pretzel bun and uh, why did it take me so long?

Truffled Egg Sandwich, $9.50 with either 2 sides or a soup

I’m attempting an “eat less meat, and do not overeat” lifestyle change. I took off the top slice of pretzel bread and attempted to make an open-faced sandwich. I couldn’t do it, guys. Buttery pretzel bread is impossible to resist.

Sexy Side View

I opted for the TX Tomato soup which is tomato soup with feta, olive crumble, and extra virgin olive oil. ($3.50/$5.50 on its own). The flavors were wonderful in this soup but I prefer the creamy variety of tomato soups and this was sans cream.

Bonus food porn shot: Cindy’s Falafel Sandwich, $9.50

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• October 4, 2011 -- Lunch in the Life: Noble Pig

For those of you who missed out, definitely see what I have to say about the book here and look into buying it. Definitely worth it. Thank you for entering!

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• May 8, 2012 -- Giveaway: Herbivoracious

Rice Bowl Cafe
11220 N Lamar St
C306
Austin, TX 78758
(512) 835-8888

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• March 27, 2012 -- Lunch in the Life: Rice Bowl Cafe

Recipes in the book I’m excited to try:

• Chickpea Fritters
• Brussels Sprout and Apple Hash
• Chanterelle Banh Mi Bites
• Shitake Tacos with Asian Pear Slaw
• Asparagus with Nori Butter
• Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding
• Rustic Peach and Nectarine Crostata

Michael is giving me a copy to give away. You can try your luck at owning a copy by entering or if you want a sure bet, definitely consider buying Herbivoracious online (Amazing affiliate link). Contest ends midnight on Monday, May 14, 2012. I will pick a winner at random and announce it later on that day.

To Enter the Giveaway:

• You need to have a U.S. or Canada mailing address.
• Leave a comment. Don’t forget to include a way for me to contact you if you win.
• For an additional and optional entry, follow me on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway. Don’t forget to mention me, @lindaeatsworld.

Good luck!

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• May 14, 2012 -- Winner of Herbivoracious Giveaway

Did I mention I went to Arkansas a couple of weekends ago? One of my goals in life is to see all 50 states and I’m slowly trucking along. Arkansas was my 16th. I went with my friend Treavor, who wanted to climb Mount Pinnacle. So we went and we climbed. After which, we rewarded ourselves first with Krispy Kreme donuts and then with some barbecue at Whole Hog Cafe.

I got the pulled pork baked potato with the works, chives, sour cream, cheese, and butter. How else do you reward yourself after climbing a mountain? It was carbtastic. Pulled pork was succulent. I really loved that they have a six pack of barbecue sauces at each table available for every palate. I chose the spicy traditional barbecue sauce after sampling all of them. So good. The service was friendly and pricing inexpensive. Definitely worth a visit if you’re ever in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Meat and Potato Lover, $7.49

Trophies like these line the entrance!

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Purple Cow Diner
8026 Cantrell Rd
Little Rock, AR 72227
(501) 221-3555
http://www.ilovepurplecow.com

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1001 Studewood
Houston, TX 77008
(713) 880-1001
http://www.stellasolahouston.com

My friend Kim and I have a lot of fun planning our dates together when I make it down to Houston. For my last visit to Houston, we wanted to indulge our cravings and try the bone marrow at Stella Sola. We made reservations and tweeted our enthusiasm to them and their response blew us away.

Dry aged beef tartar with pickled egg, jalapeno crema, and bone marrow powder

Our first course was steak tartar served in marrow bone. I love the colors of this course. The pickled egg brightens the course not only visually but also gustatorily. The steak tartar was tender and had a light kick to it from the jalapeno crema. The bone marrow powder tickles your taste buds with promises of more marrow in the immediate future.

Beet cavatelli, bone marrow and duck blood sausage, ragu, carrots, beets

Our second course was a pasta dish. I loved how the bone marrow came together with the duck blood sausage, giving the cavatelli a hearty and rich coating.

Sea scallops with salty Italian chard, black lentils, and sweet potato bone marrow puree

This was my favorite course after the dessert. There’s something inherently pleasurable about the act of smoothly slicing into a perfectly cooked scallop. When you slowly and gently cut into a plump scallop, neurons fire messages to your brain, warning that you are about to bite into a piece of heaven! It’s seriously an act that’s meant to be savored and exactly my experience with the third course of our wondrous meal. Kim and I sliced into our respective sea scallop and murmured incomprehensible half thoughts and words.

I looked over at Kim and her response nearly distracted me from the perfect bite that was dancing on my tongue.

“Don’t look at me! I’m having a moment.”

The sweet potato and bone marrow puree was perfect even on its own. I seriously could have a bowl of it as a soup. Chef Dorris informed us that he pureed about four bones worth of marrow into it. Before this night, my bone marrow experience has been straightforward. Roasted and spread on toast or served as a Vietnamese side after using bone marrow to make pho stock. Never have I dreamt of combining bone marrow with a sweet starch!

Dry aged strip steak, creamer potatoes, spring onions, roasted bone marrow butter

Our fourth and main course was steak and potatoes. The medium rare steak was served with a dollop of roasted bone marrow butter. Bone marrow is already rich and fatty on its own and then to whip it with butter? Oh so decadent.

Roasted bone marrow, lardo wrapped strawberries, fig balsamic

The only thing that makes me sad about the grand finale was that I was so full. If I could repeat just one course, I’d do the dessert course one more time. It was the most marrow in one glorious bone I’ve ever seen. Roasted with fig balsamic, the perfect savory complement to the ripe, rotund strawberries. As if it couldn’t get any more decadent, the strawberries were wrapped in lardo!

Leaving that meal, I was completely satiated when it came to my persistent bone marrow craving but now just a couple of weeks later, I’m down to have this exact meal again.

Special thanks to Chef Adam Dorris who accommodated our adventurous palate by offering an off menu tasting at a very reasonable price. Photo credits go to my eating buddy and dear friend, Kim.

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Photo courtesy of my eating buddy, Kim.
Post to come.

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