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SpeakFree Series
Copyright 2009 SigProductions. All Rights Reserved.
PART ONE
FOON HAI IS FOON-TASTIC
As the clock strikes 12, Foon Hai begins filling up with business people from the Exchange District. A group students sit at the big round table in the middle of the room. We order drinks and look over the extensive menu. Categories range from chicken to seafood including rice and vegetable dishes. (One confusing point is how there were some chicken dishes in the seafood section of the menu.)
The server recommends that since there are so many of us we each order a dish, share them in the middle of the table so we all get a taste of the different dishes Foon Hai has to offer. I go with the pickerel. The server then asks if we have lots of time because it takes a long time to cook. I ask around and am told we have plenty of time. Thinking about the odd question I begin wondering. Is it frozen? Does it have to be thawed? Thick fillets?
I get a hunch. The server passes by and I ask point blank- “It’s not the whole fish, is it?” He smiles and says that it is. I roll my eyes and almost pass out. Although this may sound ignorant, I am not accustomed to ethnic foods but since I’m a trooper out to get my story I will order the big guy and see if I’m not too afraid to eat it.
Sure enough, the fish comes to the table and is completely breaded. Eyes, fins, tail… it’s all there. On his side he strangely looks at you as you dig in with your fork almost saying, “you better enjoy this, buddy.” My group mates around the table are reluctant to try my new friend but I convince a couple of them to take a forkful. (The eyes pretty much grossed everyone out.)
But the pickerel is tasty and a little tough to negotiate with the scales inside. A little salt and soy sauce and the fish tastes fantastic. The price in the menu isn’t listed as the price of fish varies by season with the market price. But pickerel is expensive but worth it depending on the restaurant. If you don’t mind “picking the meat off the bone” so to speak, Foon Hai’s pickerel is for you.
Cheers & Jeers: Restaurant Reviews
As a journalism student, JB quickly got the reputation of being the outspoken member of any group. So it was only a matter of time before a big group of classmates went out for lunch with JB to see what he has to say. This is a two-part series that looks at two restaurants right next door to each other with similar cuisine.
The mission was to order the same dish and compare each restaurant’s presentation and taste of the meal.
PART TWO
THERE’S NOTHING LITTLE ABOUT THE FISH AT LITTLE SAIGON
As with the last restaurant visit, I go to Little Saigon with a group of classmates. This time it was nearly 20 of us and we almost scared the chopsticks out of the hands of staff at this eatery. It takes a while for us to be seated but once we are there we divide up into meat eaters and vegetarians since we all can’t fit at one long table. Again, this is done so that we can each order a dish and share to have a little taste of each category of food.
Drink orders are taken and we look over the menu. As with the last restaurant we went to, I ordered the pickerel. Again, I’m told that it will take a while and it will, indeed, be the whole fish delivered fresh to my table. But I’m ready for him this time. Or am I?
The plates are slowly brought out as the nearly half-hour wait has made us even more hungry. My fish will still be a few minutes, I’m told. They must be making him up pretty for my plate. But to my surprise, they really were!
My plate comes and my fish is sitting upright on the plate with its fins out to the sides looking like it is swimming. The vegetarian table is completely grossed out but I love it! Some of the meat eaters at my table were a little grossed out too but everyone was intrigued with the fish’s eyes.
Perhaps it was the way the fish was sitting on the plate, but it was a little difficult to cut into and attacking the fish from the top was almost impossible considering the way the fish is built. Eating from cutting at the sides was the best bet to get the tender fish meat into the tummy.
The portion size of the fish (well, it is the entire fish) is excellent for the price. The price varies depending on the season but in most restaurants you can only get a fillet for the price that I paid for a whole fish on this particular visit.
