Taste of Brazil - Los Angeles

Cousin Q first mentioned Taste of Brazil to me long ago as a non-churrascaria Brazilian restaurant in case I wanted to try it. Last September, I finally went with Tony and Mrs. SinoSoul and their friends.

I did not realize there would be live music that night. And two big tables celebrating a birthday. All Asian people too. In a Brazilian restaurant? What was going on? The combination of live music and raucous eaters meant WE HAD TO TALK LIKE THIS TO BE HEARD. And I did not like that.



Nonetheless, we persevered.

Oriental Food Value Supermarket - Portland - Oregon

On my last night in town, my mom asked me to pick up some cilantro and bean sprouts because she was making Bun Bo Hue (Vietnamese Hue-Style Beef Noodle Soup) for dinner.

For quick Asian grocery store trips, I go to Oriental Food Value. It's owned by a Chinese husband and Korean wife, so there are Chinese and Korean groceries, as well as Vietnamese. But located just off SE 82nd Avenue and Foster Road, in a heavily Russian area, there are Russian and Polish groceries as well. Kinda cool, eh?

(I won't even go into how much I hate the word Oriental and how behind the times it seems that it's still used in Portland. See the last few paragraphs of this post for the more detailed explanation about why the word Oriental is offensive.)

Look! There's even an aisle dedicated to Russian food.