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
You must take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will suggest this website!
1When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!
2WONDERFUL Post.thanks for share..more wait .. …
3A lot of what you mention happens to be astonishingly precise and that makes me ponder why I had not looked at this in this light before. This particular piece truly did switch the light on for me as far as this particular issue goes. But at this time there is actually just one point I am not necessarily too comfy with so whilst I try to reconcile that with the core idea of your position, permit me see what all the rest of the readers have to point out.Nicely done.
4This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!
5Very interesting points you have mentioned, thankyou for posting. “My work is a game, a very serious game.” by M. C. Escher.
6I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Excellent work!
7Thanks for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were just preparing to do some research about this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more from this post. I’m very glad to see such fantastic information being shared freely out there.
8naturally like your web-site but you need to take a look at the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I to find it very bothersome to inform the reality on the other hand I’ll definitely come again again.
9I like this web blog very much, Its a really nice place to read and incur information. “One man’s religion is another man’s belly laugh.” by Robert Anson Heinlein.
10Keep up the great work, I read few blog posts on this website and I think that your web blog is really interesting and holds sets of fantastic info .
11Hello. impressive job. I did not imagine this. This is a fantastic story. Thanks!
12What i do not understood is actually how you’re not really much more well-liked than you may be now. You’re so intelligent. You realize thus significantly in relation to this subject, made me for my part believe it from a lot of varied angles. Its like women and men don’t seem to be interested until it’s something to do with Girl gaga! Your personal stuffs great. All the time deal with it up!
13Hey would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re working with? I’m planning to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a tough time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique. P.S My apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
14hello!,I love your writing very a lot! percentage we be in contact extra about your article on AOL? I require a specialist in this area to resolve my problem. Maybe that is you! Looking forward to see you.
15I have learn some good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how a lot attempt you set to create such a magnificent informative website.
16Nice post. I study something tougher on totally different blogs everyday. It’ll all the time be stimulating to read content material from other writers and practice a little bit one thing from their store. I’d want to use some with the content material on my blog whether or not you don’t mind. Natually I’ll offer you a link on your net blog. Thanks for sharing.
17You could certainly see your skills in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.
18Very interesting details you have mentioned, appreciate it for posting. “The surest way to get rid of a bore is to lend money to him.” by Paul Louis Courier.
19Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the internet. Shame on Google for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and visit my web site . Thanks =)
20Respect to author, some excellent information .
21Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with a few pics to drive the message home a little bit, but other than that, this is wonderful blog. A fantastic read. I will certainly be back.
22I was very pleased to find this web-site.I wanted to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you blog post.
23I admire your piece of work, thankyou for all the great content.
24Very well written story. It will be valuable to anybody who employess it, as well as yours truly :). Keep doing what you are doing – can’r wait to read more posts.
25Very well written post. It will be beneficial to everyone who employess it, as well as yours truly :). Keep up the good work – i will definitely read more posts.
26I really enjoy reading through on this website, it has got good posts. “Don’t put too fine a point to your wit for fear it should get blunted.” by Miguel de Cervantes.
27It is perfect time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I wish to suggest you some interesting things or tips. Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article. I desire to read even more things about it!
28Hey, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Opera, 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, amazing blog!
29I’m not sure why but this site is loading very slow for me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.
30Thanks a lot for sharing this with all of us you actually know what you are talking about! Bookmarked. Kindly also visit my site =). We could have a link exchange agreement between us!
31Would love to forever get updated outstanding website! .
32Thank you for the good writeup. It in truth was once a amusement account it. Glance complex to far added agreeable from you! However, how could we communicate?
33I was recommended this web site by my cousin. I’m not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my difficulty. You are amazing! Thanks!
34wonderful put up, very informative. I ponder why the other experts of this sector do not realize this. You must proceed your writing. I am sure, you have a great readers’ base already!
35Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information. Your website is very useful. Thanks for sharing.
36I genuinely treasure your piece of work, Great post.
37Hello, you used to write wonderful, but the last several posts have been kinda boringK I miss your super writings. Past several posts are just a little out of track! come on!
38Thank you a bunch for sharing this with all of us you really recognize what you’re talking approximately! Bookmarked. Please also visit my web site =). We will have a link trade agreement among us!
39It is actually a nice and useful piece of info. I am glad that you shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
40I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thank you, I will try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your website?
41Outstanding post, I think blog owners should larn a lot from this web site its very user friendly.
42Very efficiently written article. It will be beneficial to everyone who employess it, as well as myself. Keep up the good work – can’r wait to read more posts.
43I couldn’t resist commenting
44Great post. I am facing a couple of these problems.
45Hello, you used to write excellent, but the last few posts have been kinda boring… I miss your great writings. Past few posts are just a little bit out of track! come on!
46Perfectly written content material, Really enjoyed reading through.
47Definitely, what a magnificent website and instructive posts, I surely will bookmark your blog.Have an awsome day!
48I got good info from your blog
49Some truly superb info , Sword lily I noticed this. “The trick is to make sure you don’t die waiting for prosperity to come.” by Lee Iacocca.
50