The Unnoticed Immigrant Food

[Murph]

I had lunch at the Bombay Hall in San Antonio today while taking a break from spending time with Lupe at the hospital (she's home now, and going to be ok). I realized that in San Antonio there are over two dozen Indian restraunts which in Hispanic chow dominated San Antonio, is astonishing to me. I also realized that hot, fresh Naan bread can tempt me to the sin of Gluttony. There are also some Vietnamese restraunts in San Antonio mostly serving Pho. Also a suprising number of Thai places (Thai Dee SA is the BEST) which should not be that odd since there are so many Air Force bases in town.

 

Most of the Indian joints are clustered around the hospital/medical areas of town, for which I make no comment on why, just that is where they are. SO what food do you find in your areas from the unnoticed immigrants?

[Colin]

Zillions of sushi place and coffee houses. Several Malay places, a Palestinian, several Ethiopian have opened up, we lost an Afghan place and several Persian places shut down, Various areas evolve as immigrants move up the economic ladder to be replaced by a new group. I noticed several halal places have recently opened up and thankfully Dosa shops. We have a shortage of good Mexican places though and that's why I go to them when i go to the US.

 

http://www.welcometobc.ca/vanrestaurants/

[Mr King]

Indian food here. We now have two Indian joints, but outside of the Indian community, the majority of folks who seem to go to them are white yuppies with NPR stickers on their hybrid cars. So it is a small crowd outside of a already small crowd to begin with the owners are competing their business for. We recently had a Vietnamese shop open up serving Banh Mi, which is a first for the area. I have heard good things, but have not been able to try them yet. Edit to add. Mexican. We have crap Mexican joints a dime a dozen. However there is a little very mom and pop place that has daily Mexican specials and a small menu, that blow the other cookie cutter places out of the water. Every other place has almost the same exact lame items on the menu, and I refuse to believe Mexican cuisine is that crappy.

Edited May 18, 2014 by Mr King

[EchoFiveMike]

There's an Ethiopian place here that's surprisingly good, in spite of all the obvious jokes. But Chicago probably has every ethnic place known to Man. S/F.....Ken M

[T19]

Poutine Comes from Quebec. Omg some is good while others is crap.

Nice Indian place next to my school

Lots of sushi places too

 

What Ottawa lacks is a good fish and chips store. Most of the fish sold is wet and mush from not being cooked properly. And nobody sells in newspaper anymore

[Michael Eastes]

Tons of ethnic food up here, esp. in Portland. The Asian contingents are very well represented, and even Salem has some good Middle Eastern places.

[rmgill]

Atlanta has a VERY vibrant if geographically diverse immigrant regions around town. Near Emory Medical School/Hospital/CDC there is a decidedly Indian/Pakistani gaggle (with a bit of Nepalese sprinkled around) of restaurants as well as clothing stores and the like. You'll find a LARGE fraction of Medical School, research and Doctor types are from that part of the world and the Emory/CDC association is very strong in Atlanta.

We also have a Korean region up in Gwinett county, more or less isolated from the rest of the asian types. And a Japanese gaggle of stores (more spread out) up in the northerly/north west part of town.

[Mr King]

About a hour and a half a way from me is St. Louis. It has quiet a diverse range of ethnic culinary options. A acquaintance of mine and her husband on Facebook used to own a Thai restaurant in town where they also served Korean, Vietnamese, and Hawaiian dishes. She takes her boys down to St Louis and visits the Chinese restaurants. I make notes of all the great places she goes to, because the food looks amazing and authentic. Authentic Chinese is just not something available in my town. Also when I was down there while my mother was in Barnes Jewish Hospital, we found a Welsh restaurant / bar. "Irish" bars are a dime a dozen in the States, but I had never seen a Welsh establishment. There is also the Hill area of St Louis, which is famous for all its Italian restaurants and grocery stores.

[Colin]

This litle place is 5 minutes walk from my office and offers a great sub and tea for $5.00, one of the few places that is near that price.

 

[Mobius]

Pasadena has the City Thai food restaurant. If you watch South Park you know why that's funny.

http://citythairestaurant.com/

Edited May 20, 2014 by Mobius

[Corinthian]

McDonald's and Wendy's are active in our village, although I'm still waiting for Burger King to arrive.

 

[Colin]

Not entirely sure that qualifies as food.......

[Harold Jones]

Pasadena has the City Thai food restaurant. If you watch South Park you know why that's funny.

http://citythairestaurant.com/

 

There's a Vietnamese place near my house called 1-2-3-Pho.

[Mr King]

I mentioned St Louis and Italian food, but I forgot to give one warning. Beware St Louis pizza. For some silly reason there is a local affinity for putting Provel cheese instead of mozzarella on their pizza. It is a processed cheese like Velveeta, only Velveeta tastes better......... I ordered out one night down there not knowing this and learned it the hard way. Absolutely disgusting in my opinion.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provel_cheese

[Panzermann]

That provel cheese is disgusting from only reading about it. real italian provolone on the other hand can make a good cheese on pizza if combined properly.

 

 

 

When I was last to Berlin I found a chain of sudanese places going by the name of "Nil" (river nile). I could roll myself in their falafel (seasoned different from the usual arabic style) with their peanut sauce.

[Ivanhoe]

 

Any city that endorses such a thing should be nuked from orbit, to ensure that nonsense doesn't spread.

 

Plus, Bob Costas maintains a home in Saint Louey, so there's a chance you might take that little gremlin out and sanitize his infectious eyeballs as a bonus.

[snafu_72]

Come to think of it unless we're eating pemmican (dried buffalo meat with berries pounded into it), panfish (bluegill, crappie, walleye), northern pike, white tail deer, antelope, elk, or jackrabbit everything I eat is immigrant food!

[Juan Sosa]

I love Vietnamese food. We have a couple decent places in Miami. Miss Saigon being the best IMO. There is also a hole in the wall on Calle 8 called Hy-Vong that has great great food. Sadly the service is so bad and the waits so long, that I almost never go. My wife is obsessed with their soups.

 

I would nominate Venezuelan food to the list. Clearly the influence in Miami is growing, but NYC also has its good share of new places together with old classics like Caracas Arepa Bar. On TV I've seen several places serving Venezuelan food being featured all over the US.

 

Has anyone here tried it?

[shootER5]

There are a surprising number of Korean places here. I tried one a few weeks ago and liked it a lot. I was surprised that the side dishes (kimchee and such) were served cold, but enjoyed every bite.

 

And, Murph, the big reason for all the Indian places in an around the Medical Center is because of USAA.

[Murph]

True, but where are the Korean joints?

There are a surprising number of Korean places here. I tried one a few weeks ago and liked it a lot. I was surprised that the side dishes (kimchee and such) were served cold, but enjoyed every bite.

 

And, Murph, the big reason for all the Indian places in an around the Medical Center is because of USAA.

[Colin]

I love Vietnamese food. We have a couple decent places in Miami. Miss Saigon being the best IMO. There is also a hole in the wall on Calle 8 called Hy-Vong that has great great food. Sadly the service is so bad and the waits so long, that I almost never go. My wife is obsessed with their soups.

 

I would nominate Venezuelan food to the list. Clearly the influence in Miami is growing, but NYC also has its good share of new places together with old classics like Caracas Arepa Bar. On TV I've seen several places serving Venezuelan food being featured all over the US.

 

Has anyone here tried it?

My brief experience of Venezuelan cuisine made me wonder if you all took cooking lessons from the British. The truckstop sold that little bread pocket stuffed with processed meat immersed in a mayonnaise like substance that had been exposed to day time temperatures and likely a haven for billions of bacteria, then there was the cassava bread pizzas. Of course the working man's lunch of fried chicken with pasta and fries. Then who can forget the lovely undercooked fish in beautiful Cidud Bolivar. The bright spark was the Bakery in Esmeralda on the Brazil/Venezuelan which smelled wonderful and my brother and I stocked up on lovely baked goods. Also the cook at my brothers camp was a real chef and produced the best food I had the whole time I was in the country.

[Harold Jones]

I'm a huge fan of Peruvian rotisserie chicken. I first came across it a few years ago when I was attending some training outside of Baltimore. Shortly after I got back this place opened https://lapolleria.com/ fortunately it's far enough from the house that I don't go there every day.

[shootER5]

True' date=' but where are the Korean joints?

, on 06 Jul 2014 - 4:14 PM, said:

There are a surprising number of Korean places here. I tried one a few weeks ago and liked it a lot. I was surprised that the side dishes (kimchee and such) were served cold, but enjoyed every bite.

 

And, Murph, the big reason for all the Indian places in an around the Medical Center is because of USAA.

 

 

There's at least one off Marbach, another at either Rittiman or Eisenhauer and 35, another off Harry Wurzbach north of the Fort Sam gate, and one in a shopping center off DeZavala and Vance Jackson.

I know there are more that I'm forgetting...

Edited July 9, 2014 by shootER5

[Juan Sosa]

 

My brief experience of Venezuelan cuisine made me wonder if you all took cooking lessons from the British. The truckstop sold that little bread pocket stuffed with processed meat immersed in a mayonnaise like substance that had been exposed to day time temperatures and likely a haven for billions of bacteria, then there was the cassava bread pizzas. Of course the working man's lunch of fried chicken with pasta and fries. Then who can forget the lovely undercooked fish in beautiful Cidud Bolivar. The bright spark was the Bakery in Esmeralda on the Brazil/Venezuelan which smelled wonderful and my brother and I stocked up on lovely baked goods. Also the cook at my brothers camp was a real chef and produced the best food I had the whole time I was in the country.

 

 

Those sound like horrible experiences. If I remember correctly you were there in the 90's. Sadly that is not outside of what you can expect if you depend on road side food and most restaurants now days. Proper home made meals, good areperas and good restaurants are still awesome, but the country's deterioration has had a big impact in the food culture.

 

Luckily many good cooks have immigrated to the US and Canada. Now you can get proper Venezuelan food in North America. May it make up for your bad experiences when you were there.

[Juan Sosa]

I'm a huge fan of Peruvian rotisserie chicken. I first came across it a few years ago when I was attending some training outside of Baltimore. Shortly after I got back this place opened https://lapolleria.com/ fortunately it's far enough from the house that I don't go there every day.

 

Peruvian food is insane. Probably the best cuisine in South America and in my top 10 for the World. The chicken is something else, but it goes way beyond ceviche and rotisserie.