Eating My Way Ethnic

So the latest Creative Loafing just caught my eye while I was passing through our break room at work. Leafing through the "Food" issue, I came across an article by Jennifer Zyman entitled "10 Ethnic Dishes to Eat Before You Die". Being the extreme foodie I am, I was intrigued and as I read Zyman's picks my stomach started rumbling. I raced to the office copier to make a copy of her list and made a decision to give each of her picks a try.

First up, Quoc Huong Banh Mi Fast Food (5150 Buford Hwy) and the BBQ Pork Bahn Mi. We found our restaurant, tucked a way in a tight conglomeration of shops and restaurants. Quoc Houng Banh Mi Fast Food is a tiny restaurant with limited seating which didn't seem to matter since folks seemed to eat and not linger. Another thing to note is that this is a cash only establishment a big deal to a hard core debit card carrier as myself.

We ordered our sandwiches and iced tea. Our sandwiches appeared first on crunchy, fresh french bread with tasty pickled carrots, cilantro, hot, HOT, HOT jalapeno slices and fresh cucumber. I was suprised that they were skimpy on the BBQ pork and I had to pick off the raw jalapeno slices, they were just too much. Most people ordered the varied noodle dishes which I admit intrigued me to no end with the accompanying plate full of fresh, green condiments. I recognized cilantro and Thai basil but little else. My 6 year old who came along, kept yelling for Chinese noodles and when I told him for the 100th time we were NOT in a Chinese restaurant, he opted to chase the pigeons that hung around the door. Not long after, we were pushing back from our table, slightly pressured by the lack of tables and the continuing stream of customers through the door. After paying for our meal, we headed out and down the road to the Buford Highway Farmer's Market where I could of spent the rest of the day, but that is fodder for another blog entry. All in all our experience at Quoc Houng Bahn Mi Fast Food was a good one and definitely due another try. Although next time I'm ordering the noodles.