ASIANC1 PROJ December 2013 | Page 8

A Palette of ASIAN

FUSIONS

Asian Cuisine is truly my favorite out of all the other cuisines in the entire world. I love their characteristic style of cooking practices, traditions, ingredients, and the cooking methods that they commonly use. Another reason why I favor Asian Cuisine above the others is due to my palette preferences. I am a big fan of spicy and savory dishes that uses different kinds of flavorings and spices, which are the characteristics and components of most Asian food. So when I found out that we were required to eat in two Asian restaurants of our choice for our final project, I couldn’t wait to start on the project as soon as possible!

Wandering around and tasting new dishes or comparing old ones are my favorite hobbies and source of joy. The pleasure and delight that you get when your taste buds are able to savor a combination of different new flavors is one of my simple happiness in life. Last Saturday, November 23, 2013, our group decided to eat at Trinoma since there are varieties of restaurants to choose from at that mall. The first Asian restaurant of our choice was Pho Hoa, a Vietnamese fast-casual dining chain that specializes in naturally flavored, well balanced, healthy meals. We ordered Gỏi Cuốn, Beef Pho, Chicken Bahn Mi, Pork Bahn Mi, and Breaded Mushrooms. The dish that I loved the most was the Gỏi Cuốn! It is a Vietnamese spring roll made out of rice noodles, lettuce, bean sprouts, pork slices, and other ingredients. It was very refreshing and light to the taste, in addition to that the sauce really stimulated my appetite! It is indeed the perfect appetizer and the perfect way to start a meal with! The Bahn Mi was disappointing the moment it was placed on the table, instead of using French Baguettes, they used hot dog buns instead. Another thing is that we had no choice but to order the chicken and pork Bahn Mi due to the reason that the Vietnamese Meat Bahn Mi was not available. It was very ironic due to the fact that the flavor that was the closest to the traditional Bahn Mi was not available. The Beef Pho was okay though in my opinion it lacked flavor, on the other hand the breaded mushrooms were surprisingly delicious and appetizing as well!

Vincent Rinuelle L. Rabasto