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You know how sometimes you want to update your website, but you really have no idea what to write about? No? Before I evolved TB to center around recipes, I used to post pictures everyday (sort of) without anything more than a simple caption of what your eyeballs were glancing at. Now that I’m forcing myself to write something witty & interesting with every post, I can no longer do food photo dumps without some purpose. This has led to a bunch of my photos sitting on my computer from last year & beyond, unseen by my regular visitors. Well, one of my solutions is to simply create a new series that will be more specific to an all encompassing theme. Foodie Fridays will be my food dump days, so I guess there might not be a real point to any of these future posts other than to tell you about some restaurants, grocery stores, or how good/bad/mediocre the food I consumed was. Since not too many people visit a food blog to read anything, Foodie Fridays will fully appreciate the, “wow, this post is making me hungry & my desk has accumulated some drool from my mouth,” comments more than ever!
Mitsuwa
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Mitsuwa is one of my favorite supermarkets with its delicious food court restaurants, bountiful produce, & food products. Their pre-made meals are affordable & perfect for a quick lunch such as this unagi don. Unagi don is barbequed fresh water eel over a bed of rice & eel sauce. Mitsuwa added green onions, tamago (sweet egg), & ikura (salmon roe). 10/10 would buy again.
Brodard Chateau
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Banh Hoi Chao Tom is a Vietnamese dish made with vermicelli “sheets” with ground shrimp, served with fresh herbs, vegetables, & fish sauce. It’s probably one of the most underrated Vietnamese dishes & deserves a little more attention. Vermicelli sheets are pretty much what you’d imagine: vermicelli noodles clumped together in the shape of a sheet of paper. This dish is from Brodard Chateau, a snazzy Vietnamese restaurant that stays true to its roots with fine ingredients, in addition to fusion flavors & beautiful food styling. This is a great dish from Brodard Chateau, but I’d probably recommend trying their other specialty items before settling on this one.
Trader Joe’s
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Sometimes when you’re watching a movie or your favorite show, you just want to snack, but you’re also kind of hungry for more so what do you do? Call me posh, but my favorite go to snack to whip up is a simple cheese plate consisting of cheese, dip, fruits, pita crackers, & vegetables. Trader Joe’s has some of the best prices for the best cheeses, dips, & pita crackers. Alternative varieties of cheese from Trader Joe’s frequently adorn my desk. Just a few weeks ago, my parents walked into my room while I was watching New Girl with my cheese plate, chuckled, & said, “you’re so French!” Embracing that colonial heritage, I guess? Cheese plates are so quick to put together, & make great appetizers whether you’re eating solo or with guests.
Happy Friday, everyone! What’s your favorite underrated dish?
Lately, I’ve struggled with things to write about. I used to post regularly, and now people are lucky if I get a post out once a week. Oops. xD
You always make fish look so good. >.> I don’t understand it, because I don’t normally like fish at all. (I don’t know why I feel like it’s so different from mammal meats, but the fishy taste/smell could have something to do with it.)
Are those green sticks cucumbers? o.o And I love cheese plates (but not cream cheese). I prefer cutting cheese into slices/cubes and eating them with fruit. c: YUM.
The phrase “mammalian meats” is so off putting to me, it practically sounds cannibalistic since we’re mammals. *shudders* Fresh fish shouldn’t actually taste “fishy” & if prepared correctly, it should be a great texture with nice light flavors. Even smoked salmon doesn’t taste fishy, it’s just very salty & smokey. It is completely different from red meat & poultry given that they’re in completely different phyla. Thanks for the compliment though!
Yep, those are cucumbers!
;l Meh, I don’t really consider humans mammals. ;x I just couldn’t think of another word for that… animal, but fish are technically animals, too? >.>
Maybe I just don’t like fish in general. Idk. .-. But it’s still interesting to see all your recipes for them (and how delicious you make them look). :]
Liz, I don’t really know what to say to your comment. I’m completely shocked by your misunderstanding of the animal kingdom & taxonomy. Mammals are classified by some specific characteristics: neocortex, three middle ear bones, & hair. So, humans are mammals. We’re warm blooded, we have the three middle ear bones, hair, mammary glands in females, & a neocortex. By that same classification, humans are absolutely mammals. We are genetically closely related to many animals.
& yes, obviously fish are animals. If it moves by itself & can eat, it’s pretty much an animal. For someone your age, I’m just so shocked that this information isn’t known.
I’m so glad that I’m eating supper while reading this post, otherwise I’d definitely have to go eat something. 🙂 I think food posts are just perfect without any words…but maybe that’s me. As for trying to figure out what to write, I’m going through the same thing myself – been feeling completely uninspired, unmotivated, and a bunch of other un-s. 🙁 But anyways, all of the food looks real yum!
Surely many people look at food photos & just think, “cool food photos, bro,” but I usually have some sort of backstory to the photos I take. You know that popular saying, “a photograph tells a thousand words,” so I aim to take photos of food with a colorful description in mind.
Today, I had that exact same problem. I felt like I needed to update my blog, but I just didn’t know what to write! It’s like that sometimes! I like your Foodie Friday idea! Granted, this will make me crave things I don’t need, but who cares!?!?! I am here for this! 😛 My favorite dish was definitely the unagi don. It looks so delicious! In a previous post, I asked you about what sushi to try and you recommended eel. Well, I tried it and it wasn’t bad! Although the look of the fish still scares me, it tastes so good, lol! I can’t wait to try more. I forgot to take pictures though! >_< Next time!
I also like the idea of a cheese platter! I usually grab chips or something unhealthy, but a cheese platter sounds great! I haven't been to Trader Joe's in awhile! Maybe I can go this weekend! I heard about their Caramelized Onion Cheddar Cheese from a few vloggers and I really want to try that one!
I think that my favorite underrated dish would have to be fettuccine. I L O V E pasta and fettuccine is one of my favorites. I could eat it any time of day!
— Ciara 🙂
Haha just think of eel as barbecued chicken of the sea or something. The actual eel itself is quite unappetizing to stare at though. I’m glad it wasn’t bad for you though. I think spicy tuna or salmon rolls are pretty good starters because they’re not too fishy, depending on how fresh the fish is though. Sometimes you just have to try things multiple times at various restaurants because they may be serving you poor quality fish without you really knowing. It took me a few times to enjoy uni (sea urchin) because my first experience with it wasn’t too great.
GIRLLLLLL!!! I just bought a block caramelized onion cheddar cheese last week. It is AMAZING. Eat that with some nice whole-wheat pita chip crackers & you’ll be in heaven. It’s delicious. All of their cheese is, really!
Interesting underrated dish! It is a bit underrated, isn’t it? I’m not the biggest fan only because of how full I get from it, but when I have it, I wonder why I don’t get it more often! hahaha. Strange.
I understand the feeling of wanting to update but unsure what to update with. That was pretty much the cause of my most recent entry, haha. I like the idea of Foodie Fridays!
Ooh, the unagi don looks awesome. I’m a big fan of unagi dons, unagi sushi, and well… just unagi in general, haha. I also like anago, but I don’t see it on menus as often as unagi.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen vermicelli sheets! I’ll have to check if my usual Vietnamese places have it on the menu. I also think making a cheese plate is a much better idea than grabbing junk food to snack on 🙂 I really should buy more things like that to have on hand.
As for underrated dishes, I love simple breakfast dishes like scrambled eggs with a side of potatoes, sausage, or toast. I never have time to make stuff like that in the morning, so I end up making it for dinner instead XD
Haha right when I scheduled my post to be published, I read at least two blogs that were about not knowing what to write so I guess May has us all jumbled for words. I love your idea of what you’ve been up to. I think I may have to do a “What’s What Wednesdays” or something, with a similar theme.
Anago is good too! You’re right, it really doesn’t show up on too many menus around here either. When prepared poorly…well, it just tastes horrible.
Definitely check out banh hoi if you’re at your favorite Vietnamese restaurant. It comes with BBQ pork or shrimp usually.
These cheese plates have legitimately helped me curb my snacking so much that I’ve lost weight haahha even though they’re high in calories.
Great choice of underrated dishes! Love breakfast food too. Breakfast for dinner is fantastic. You should be allowed to have eggs anytime of the day!
Foodie Fridays is a great idea! The pictures made me feel hungry and these dishes look healthy too (sadly for me, I don’t eat vegetables). That Unagi Don looks very tasty. I would really like to try it. I hope I can fine those around here!
You can find fresh water eel, pre-marinated in some Japanese grocery stores fresh or frozen. Cut that up & lay it over a bed of rice = unagi don! Thanks for stopping by!
Love this idea for Foodie Fridays. I guess I also have these kinds of “lazy” post ideas. I’ve been keeping to more of a blogging schedule lately, which is kind of nice because I don’t have to think “oh what do I blog about today?”
There are certainly some photos I have lying around and I am still moving my photoblog to my blog… ah it will take a while. 😛
I will definitely have to try that Vietnamese dish. I don’t think I’ve tried very many Vietnamese dishes, at least not a lot that I can actually name. xD
Everyone’s go-to Vietnamese dish is pho anyway. I’d like to kindly inform everyone that the Vietnamese culture is more than just pho just like Japanese cuisine is more than just sushi! But yes, if you’re ever at a Vietnamese restaurant & they’re serving this dish, I hope you’ll give it a try!
You always eat the most amazing looking food, and I am completely jealous! I’m pretty adventurous when it comes to food but there just aren’t enough diverse restaurants where I live. I’m coming to America to eat all of your food!!
My favourite underrated dish is prawns/shrimps, simply fried in garlic, served with rice. So simple yet so tasty. It’s at times like this I wish my veggie boyfriend ate fish.
haha aw thanks, Holly! 🙂 I’m sure one trip to Chinatown in London & you’ll be satisfied with all of your diversity cravings!
I had no idea your boyfriend was a vegetarian! That’s pretty amazing. There are fake shrimp/prawn meats I’ve had at some vegetarian Thai restaurants before. It’s pretty interesting actually haha, I would probably rather just not eat it to be honest. I think the best substitute for that kind of texture is probably a king mushroom to be honest. It’ll still taste really good!
“Wow, this post is making me hungry & my desk has accumulated some drool from my mouth”
Haha I’m kidding, I will definitely come up with a more original comment than that.
Anyway, I struggle to find blog topics too, but I like Foodie Friday! There’s already Fit Friday, Flashback Friday, Flex Friday, etc … Foodie Friday is a great addition (;
All your food looks delicious, especially the Unagi Don. I’m always so surprised by all the different foods you’re able to find, despite being pescetarian. Being a lactose-intolerant, I find eating out difficult to do sometimes, but you seem to manage that quite well. I’m probably just not adventurous enough to try new things.
Although slightly off topic, your food pictures are also so aesthetically pleasing! I love the backgrounds you put in your pictures. They compliment the food perfectly.
I LOVE Trader Joe’s. I’m extremely excited, as my dorm room this fall will be literally right across the street from a TJ. I commend you for snacking on something healthy as opposed to a box of Oreos our something though (:
I didn’t even know about Fit/Flex Friday! Bahaha. Interesting!
Truthfully, when you exclude some food group from your diet, you might think how it would be so difficult for you to eat X without the Y, but you quickly learn that it’s really not that bad. Although when I stroll through TJ’s, I’m always disappointed with their salad options because they all have chicken in them….& it’s just so unnecessary.
Girl, if you’re lactose-intolerant, you shouldn’t have that difficult of a time finding food. You live in California & North to boot, which means you’ve got soy product alternatives up the wazooo. It doesn’t hurt to ask them for alternative products. You’d be surprised how accommodating some restaurants can be. 🙂
Thank you for your kind words, Chelsey!! 🙂 I need to step up my background game a little more though. I’ve just been using parchment paper lately & although it’s a cheap white background, I need to be more creative!
I’m excited for you!!! TJ’s is the bestttttttttttestestestest. You’ll find lots of soy alternatives for your lactose-intolerance & be a happy camper. 🙂
That’s a good idea, making it into a theme every week for friday. This is making me hungry and I like looking at all the different foods peolple eat. It always introduces me to new and yummy things – even though most of the time it is hard for me to ever find stuff like that in the town I live in.
Aw I’m sorry to hear that. Sometimes you really do have to just take a really long trek to an Asian market to find these things.