L'As du Fallafel - Paris

34, rue de Rosiers (Marais district)
4th Arrondissement, Paris, France
(Closed Fridays at sundown)

I have to quote pastry chef David Lebovitz, who sums it all on his blog:
"...you can't come to Paris and not have a fallafel at L'As. It just isn't done."

When we first landed in Paris and dropped off our luggage, we walked over to the Marais district, home to the Parisian Jewish community, to the bustling Rue de Rosiers to get a fallafel at the highly raved L'As du Fallafel. After a 13 hour flight, I was starving and smelling the chickpea fritters while standing in line made my anxious mouth water.

The line to the ordering window was pretty long, but worth the wait. There were 2-3 employees out there - one handing you a ordering sheet and others to draw in more visitors.

Once at the walk-up window, tell them what to order ("Fallafel Special") and then they systematically, yet somehow with grace, stuff the warm pita bread with crunchy cabbage, grilled eggplant, hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers, and the crisp fallafel. You can also add piquante (hot sauce) if you wish. Then they slather on top the sauce blanche, which is made from tahini or chickpea paste.

There is inside seating, but most people just eat in the middle of the street. It didn't matter though, seating or not, in people's way or not, because once I had my hands on the sandwich, I quickly took my first scrumptious bite. To my satisfaction, the fallafel was so delicious that I was salivating even before I took my next bite. I loved the balance of fried fallafel with the freshness of the tomatoes and crunchiness of the cabbage, along with the hummus and tahini together.

Quan Hy - Westminster

9727 Bolsa Avenue
Westminster, CA 92683
714.775.7179

Quan Hy specializes in foods from the central region of Vietnam - Hue. Whenever we come here, we always order the same thing: Banh Beo, Mi Quang, and the most popular dish of all, Bun Bo Hue. The restaurant is inviting.. clean with modern Asian decor. As you enter the restaurant, you'll walk across a bridge over a shallow koi pond (but be careful...my friend had accidentally slipped into the pond).

Here's the Banh Beo (steamed thin rice patties topped with fresh shrimp).. yes that's fresh shrimp. Each order includes 8 individual saucers. The rice cake is so soft and freshly steamed. Just spoon some nuoc mam over the shrimp and you're ready to enjoy!
The bun bo hue (spicy beef noodle soup) is intensely spicy and very flavorful. This dish will surely clear up any sinus problems. The soup includes pork hock and slices of beef tendon and shank. It also is served with a plate full of cut lettuce, cabbage, and bean sprouts.
Mi Quang is another favorite dish I usually order, which consists of pork, shrimp, chopped romaine, mint leaves, peanuts and toasted sesame rice paper. It's not as intense as the bun bo hue, but has a more mild, yet tasty flavoring. The ingredients must be eaten altogether because each ingredient stands for its own purpose in this delicious dish.
Can't go wrong here with the Bun Thit Nuong. It serves a generous sized bowl of grilled pork, vermicelli noodles, cucumbers, and pickled carrots and daikon, with a ramekin of nuoc mam on the side. (I usually order an extra nuoc mam).
Quan Hy is never disappointing. The food is fresh and delicious and is better quality than other restaurants in the area. My relatives from out of town always make sure they come here several times on their trip. You can't go wrong with what you order... It may be pricier than other places in Bolsa, but I think it's definintely worth it!

Brodard - Garden Grove

9892 Westminster Avenue (inside Mall of Fortune)
Garden Grove, CA 92844
714.530.1744

Tucked through a long alleyway, past the parking lot, and behind a 99 cent store is the Brodard Restaurant. This place is always packed as it is not only popular for its signature dish, nem nuong cuon, but the other Vietnamese dishes are also just as delicious. Most of the Vietnamese restaurants in Little Saigon usually specialize in certain dishes. So one would go to this restaurant for pho, or go to another for rice dishes, or others that specialize in a region. But Brodard is pretty much consistent with their foods that all the items I've tried on the menu are good.

There is usually a wait, but very short. Just hurry in and write your name on the clipboard. As you wait, you can view the assemblyline of women wetting the rice paper and rolling the grilled pork patty strips with the vegetables.

Nem Nuong Cuon (Pork Spring Rolls)
The grilled pork patty strips are wrapped in rice paper with lettuce, cucumber, carrots, daikon, mint leaves, and a scallion in a skinny, deep fried egg roll wrapper. It's served with the house special sauce containing garlic, red chili and minced pork. Once I dunk the roll into the warm sauce and take my first bite, I close my eyes in blissful happiness. All the ingredients just add the perfect flavors and texture, especially the crisp of the mini egg roll wrapper. This is the warm special sauce. This is what makes it so good. The cuon by itself is good, but with the sauce, it adds 10x more flavor and contentment to your belly. I usually add more red chili for an extra kick.