Le Regal – Old food, new taste
When asked about Vietnamese food, Americans usually think of phở busily churned out in small noodle houses crowded with plastic chairs and formica tables. Naturally, since most immigrants gather in their community, the variety of traditional food can only circulate in specific areas. A small fraction of the people have settled in a predominantly American neighborhood long enough and are acquainted with the system enough to set up a business, but they often target the young customers with adventurous taste. Meanwhile, most young customers can only afford low price, hence phở and other easily-made noodle dishes make their way to the top.
Careful circumspection would show that pasta alla carbonara requires no more effort than bún thịt nướng, so is it just a matter of gaudy names, flashy advertisement, and aging familiarity that brought one into fancy menus but not the other?
By no means do I want to sound like a snob, but every now and then I get cravings for a nice dinner in a restaurant aptly labeled “restaurant”. Ladles of this melting cheese and mounts of that grated cheese just no longer light the candle. A retouch of Far Eastern eloquence was much needed to make the aesthetic night.
The price is a little steep, but here are clothed tables, warm lights, an all-English menu, little to no disturbances from foreign chattering in the kitchen and among customers. A middle-aged woman, busy like a humming bird, scampered from kitchen to tables with plates in one hand, orders and bills in the other. For a restaurant with a fair size like Le Regal, one-person play seems a little overwhelming. But it works, our food was served within the time it took for us to make a few glances at the decor and exchange some daily news.
Fried rice is an easy dish, if you throw in some meat, some egg, some legumes, some salt and soy sauce, it can be called well done. Its volatility allows the cook to break free from shackles of recipes, and the eaters to relax from judging its missing-this or extra-that. There’s no fixed list of ingredients, no fixed standard other than appealing to the mouth, hence no objective criterion to rank a plate of fried rice among others. But if we were to nitpick, creativity would pump this one fried rice on top of all other Asian concoctions I’ve had, simply because of the addition of pineapple. There were only a few wedges in that mount, but pineapple is not one to be bullied by other ingredients, its tamed acidity seeps through every grain of rice, sweeter and more thorough than a squeeze of lemon. It helps lowering the guilt of consuming chicken, shrimp, scallops, pork, fried egg and zillions of molecules of saturated fat in frying oil. The rice also made tasty leftover for the next day.
As much as the cook was generous with the protein and the starch, they also gave us enough veggies for ten. At other Vietnamese restaurants, a small plate of sprouts topped with some basil is the usual allowance. Here came a basket of mounting garden goodies. I hadn’t seen any bunch of greens this big for years, especially since we weren’t asking for phở. Not sure what to do, we made lettuce wraps with bean sprout, a couple of leaves of basil and mint, and grilled beef from the other dish we ordered. Dipped in nuoc mam, the wraps were rad.
I’ve blogged about bánh hỏi thịt nướng before, so instead of blabbing about the lacy texture, I’d just say that this was delicious. Now clearly it’s a bit disproportionate, nowhere in Vietnam would you find so much meat accompanying so little banh hoi, the rice vermicelli must be the base. But the food pyramid seems to be upside down in America, where meat is vital in keeping you thin and at all cost one must say no to starch. The cook also went bizerk with deep fried shallots and crush peanuts, but those are easily brushed off if you’re not into contaminating grilled beef with relatives of vegetables.
Together with Tomatina, Alborz, some Mexican eatery, and Top Dog, Le Régal makes Center Street a road of international cuisine, of course an addition of kangaroo ragout and kitfo would be nice.
Bill before tip: $26.23 – dinner for two and leftover lunch for one.
Address:
Le Regal
2126 Center Street (between Oxford & Shattuck)
Berkeley, CA 94704
I truly enjoy reading through on this internet site, it has got superb content. “And all the winds go sighing, For sweet things dying.” by Christina Georgina Rossetti.
1You have brought up a very excellent details, regards for the post.
2hello!,I like your writing so much! share we communicate more about your article on AOL? I need an expert on this area to solve my problem. May be that’s you! Looking forward to see you.
3Very interesting information!Perfect just what I was looking for!
4Normally I don’t read post on blogs, but I would like to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do it! Your writing style has been surprised me. Thanks, very nice post.
5Excellent goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you are just extremely wonderful. I really like what you have acquired here, certainly like what you are saying and the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep it wise. I can not wait to read far more from you. This is really a tremendous website.
6hi!,I love your writing very a lot! proportion we communicate more approximately your article on AOL? I need a specialist on this house to resolve my problem. May be that’s you! Taking a look ahead to look you.
7Those are yours alright! . We at least need to get these people stealing images to start blogging! They probably just did a image search and grabbed them. They look good though!
8You can definitely see your expertise in the work you write. The world hopes for even more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.
9Hi, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam feedback? If so how do you protect against it, any plugin or anything you can recommend? I get so much lately it’s driving me crazy so any assistance is very much appreciated.
10This design is steller! You most certainly know how to keep a reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Excellent job. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
11Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having a tough time locating it but, I’d like to shoot you an e-mail. I’ve got some ideas for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great site and I look forward to seeing it develop over time.
12I just could not depart your web site prior to suggesting that I actually enjoyed the standard info a person provide for your visitors? Is going to be back often in order to check up on new posts
13Hey there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this website? I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform. I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
14Thank you for another wonderful post. Where else could anybody get that type of information in such a perfect way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I am on the look for such info.
15You made some clear points there. I did a search on the subject matter and found most individuals will approve with your website.
16That is the proper weblog for anybody who desires to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost laborious to argue with you (not that I actually would need…HaHa). You undoubtedly put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, simply nice!
17fantastic issues altogether, you simply received a new reader. What may you suggest about your put up that you made some days in the past? Any certain?
18I likewise believe therefore, perfectly composed post! .
19I have fun with, result in I found just what I used to be having a look for. You’ve ended my 4 day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye
20You have brought up a very fantastic points, regards for the post.
21I got what you mean , appreciate it for putting up.Woh I am glad to find this website through google.
22Very interesting points you have mentioned, appreciate it for posting.
23I’m impressed, I have to say. Actually not often do I encounter a blog that’s each educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you’ve gotten hit the nail on the head. Your thought is excellent; the difficulty is one thing that not sufficient people are speaking intelligently about. I’m very joyful that I stumbled across this in my seek for one thing relating to this.
24I conceive you have mentioned some very interesting details, thankyou for the post.
25Thanks for another wonderful article. Where else could anyone get that kind of info in such a perfect manner of writing? I’ve a presentation next week, and I’m at the search for such info.
26Good, I should definitely pronounce, impressed with your web site. I had no trouble navigating through all tabs as well as related info ended up being truly easy to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it in the least. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, site theme . a tones way for your client to communicate. Excellent task.
27It’s truly a nice and useful piece of information. I am glad that you simply shared this useful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
28You have observed very interesting points! ps decent website .
29An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers
30I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back later. Many thanks
31Hi, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, fantastic blog!
32Very interesting info !Perfect just what I was looking for! “Justice delayed is justice denied.” by William Gladstone.
33I have been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or blog posts on this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this site. Reading this info So i am satisfied to show that I’ve an incredibly excellent uncanny feeling I came upon just what I needed. I most undoubtedly will make certain to do not forget this web site and provides it a look on a relentless basis.
34I am often to blogging and i really appreciate your content. The article has really peaks my interest. I am going to bookmark your site and keep checking for new information.
35An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers
36There are some attention-grabbing points in time on this article however I don’t know if I see all of them heart to heart. There’s some validity but I’ll take maintain opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we wish more! Added to FeedBurner as well
37Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store. I’d prefer to use some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a link on your web blog. Thanks for sharing.
38I’ve recently started a site, the information you offer on this site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work.
39Rattling informative and good anatomical structure of written content, now that’s user genial (:.
40Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store. I’d prefer to use some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll give you a link on your web blog. Thanks for sharing.
41Yeah bookmaking this wasn’t a speculative determination great post! .
42What’s Happening i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve discovered It absolutely helpful and it has aided me out loads. I hope to give a contribution & help different customers like its helped me. Good job.
43Some truly quality articles on this site, saved to favorites.
44We stumbled over here different page and thought I should check things out. I like what I see so now i am following you. Look forward to exploring your web page for a second time.
45Enjoyed examining this, very good stuff, regards. “While thou livest keep a good tongue in thy head.” by William Shakespeare.
46Hey this is somewhat of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding experience so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
47Wonderful web site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to a few friends ans additionally sharing in delicious. And naturally, thanks for your effort!
48I simply couldn’t go away your site prior to suggesting that I actually loved the usual info a person supply to your visitors? Is gonna be back frequently in order to check up on new posts.
49Throughout this awesome pattern of things you’ll get an A+ with regard to effort. Where you confused everybody was first in the facts. You know, as the maxim goes, details make or break the argument.. And that could not be more true in this article. Having said that, allow me inform you what exactly did give good results. Your text is certainly incredibly convincing and this is probably why I am making the effort in order to comment. I do not make it a regular habit of doing that. Secondly, although I can easily notice a jumps in logic you make, I am not really convinced of how you appear to connect the details which inturn produce the final result. For the moment I will, no doubt subscribe to your issue however trust in the near future you link your facts better.
50