Vietnamese crepe @ Tamarind Tree

I am lying down in bed as my cat licks his butt above my head, taking over my pillow. I don't know why but he decided to abandon his bed lately and sleeps above my head. He is looking over my head into my phone screen as I type this. Creep.

Anyway. Trying to blog more often now. We went to Tamarind Tree tonight. It is a Vietnamese restaurant in the international district with a contemporary twist. For everything I've tried there, the presentation is always the opposite of my expectation but tastes phenomenal.  Tonight we ordered the "Vietnamese crepe," which was, by far, the weirdest thing I've eaten lately.  But pretty good. You can see in the pic, its almost more appropriate to call it Vietnamese taco.  It had a crispy shell, and on the inside was bean sprouts, pork, squid, shrimp, mushroom stir fried in coconut milk.  It came with a plate full of greens which included Thai basil, perilla, mint leaves, cilantro and lettuce. So many ingredients, so much flavor! I can't say it was my favorite, but definitely a difficult dish to pull off if i were to make my own.

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Absinthe @ Snoose Junction Pizzeria

The last time I tried Absinthe was in my freshman year of college.  My roommate/bff Sasha B brought a bottle of Absinthe her mom brought back from her trip to Ukraine. Absinthe is weird.  It has very high alcohol content but it really does not taste or feel like it.

This time, our friend Paul brought us to his neighborhood pizzeria, which has a cool loft/bar upstairs and they carry a selection of absinthe.  This was the first time I had it at a bar.  The bartender prepared our glass by first pouring a drop of absinthe on to a sugar cube, and then he lit it on fire.  Like mentioned, absinthe has high alcohol content so the sugar cube goes in flames instantly.  Then it slowly melts, through the spoon/spatula looking thing with holes, into to the glass.  Lastly they slowly pour iced water into it. 

When I looked at the menu, there were local made absinthe as well as the ones from overseas.  The first thing popped in my mind was that painting by Picasso so I decided to go with the Spanish brand called "Obsello Verte."  It had 50% alcohol content, so less than normal, it took several tries before the bartender successfully lit the sugar cube on fire.  It has a light subtle flavor, I'm not a huge fan of licorice so I was able to enjoy it to its last drop.

Normally when I have a shot of any hard liquor at least 80 proof, I feel the drunkenness in my veins almost instantly.  But with absinthe, the effect is less dramatic.  It really put me in a calm state of mind, my vision was hardly altered.  Almost reminded me of doing drinking kava tea, not the physical numbness of it, but the psychological effect.  Overall an enjoyable experience.  I think its good to try at least once.