I am watching Anthony Bourdain...No Reservations in Vietnam. Seriously, this is perhaps the funniest episode I have ever seen. Skizzle is Porcupine. Got it. I am really enjoying the voiceover. Twins, Basil, twins... funniest thing I have ever heard on his show. This makes me hungry for spring rolls at the place by my office. Maybe I will go there for lunch tomorrow.

Speaking of meals I ate...last night we went to Piccolos and they don't have a Monday Night special anymore... I mean really? NO? What is that about. They would do an all you can eat spaghetti dinner for like $5.99. But they would serve you a half order, which honestly with a salad and their fantastic yeasty rolls was just the perfect dinner amount. And now, the special is no more. I do have good memories of being in college, eating at the location (which is gone) by DU on Monday's and watching a friend of mine eat three orders. That was something. Sad to see it go, but there is always change in the wings and its ok. But sad.

Tonite, we went to the East Side Kosher Deli for dinner. Everything was "off". The service which is usually worth the price of admission was not up to par. It was just odd. I got the chicken fajitas but the chicken came out cold and a little gristly and so so so SOOOO salty. I could drink a gallon of water and still be thirsty (but such is the nature of kosher meat). But the gaucamole was delicious. I could have eaten a bowl of it. I think I very well might get out of having to go out for dinner tomorrow and Thursday nights, which is totally fine by me. I have absolutely had enough of being out for dinner. Although Thursday night might be dinner with a cousin who I haven't seen since I was like 10 so that would be so neat. And it won't be kosher which would make me really happy.

Back to tv.

I have Bizzare Foods on now from Northern Vietnam... I didn't watch it last night and its going to be interesting to watch Bourdain's take versus Zimmern's. I think this show will more closely match what my Brother and SisterInLaw have explained to me from their trip a few years ago. I hope that they show street food, the pictures they took made it look great and delicious. So the bugs don't interest me so much, but snakes... eh... ok. I mean I loves me the snake wine. It freaks people out (ok my mother) that I have some at home and enjoyed it when I had it. I mean its basically rice wine with some snake fermenting in it. Tasty.

Ok back to the show.

I don't think I would want to see my snake before I eat it, and I swear to god I wouldn't eat the beating heart either, but I will drink some snake wine thankyouverymuch. I like him explaining what it feels and tastes like. His enthusiasm is completely infectious I am still not down for snake heart or gall bladder I don't care how medicinally "good" it may be for someone...more rice wine please. Deep fried skin isn't weird, so snake skin doesn't seem so odd. Almost expected. I am glad that wasn't a disappointment.

Post commercial... STREET FOOD. And what is really interesting is how he explains that almost all the people are born post 1974, which is totally crazy to me. Huh, no more live poultry because of bird flu... interesting. We aren't going to see the one thing my brother took pictures of. I could scan his pictures that are still on this laptops hard drive, but I won't. They won't show it. I am not going to either.

But lets see what he actually eats.... dried beef with papaya salad? That isn't weird, it sounds really good. And looks absolutely delicious.

I am not so much a Pho fiend. I don't really like the anise in it, the licorice taste is a major turnoff for me most of the time. The last time I had it with a neighbor at Pho 79 on Havana it was so prevalent I had to order something else. Its the only taste next to mustard that I honestly just can't stand and it was overwhelming. They were so totally apologetic but it just was too much for me. They offered to remake it, but that wasn't fair.

OHHHHH ma gaw.... civet coffee! I have wanted to try it. I heard about it about six months ago and was amused as all get out just by the concept that someone actually was in the jungle and thought huh... whats in this pile of poop? Undigested coffee beans? Lets grind this up and try it. But I am not willing to pay for it (I mean for real.... its a minimum of eighty bucks a pound... thats expensive poop coffee). They jacked it up with cream though, probably condensed milk actually being that they were in Vietnam. It actually is probably really good. I love Vietnamese coffee.

Cha Ca doesn't really seem that odd. Its a fish dish. This dish that he had makes the Vietnamese rolls look absolutely so worth going for tommorrow...ooooh and coffee. Its a necessity now I think. I am just sorry my Bro and SIL won't be there to share, we went there for lunch one day when they were in town and it was such a nice lunch and special because I could share with them.

And the Australian ex-pat's bar and food looked busy. I don't think I would be down with the sparrow because I couldn't eat the entire thing bones, head and all. He didn't explain what it tasted like and we didn't see him actually swallow, just bite down. I would need some serious snake wine to get that down. Penis and Testicles wouldn't work for me at all...especially in a soup base. Sorry but the testicles need to be sliced thin and deep fried beyond all recognition and called Rocky Mountain Oysters for me to eat. But he described it and I promise I will just take his word on it. He said it tasted like lamb, which is something I can't bring myself to voluntarily eat because well... lamb is a really cute animal. Ok cows are too kinda, but Herschel is a little lamb like and that just won't work for me visually and mentally. Fish are ugly, lobster is ugly, chicken is ugly and cows kinda ugly (but beef is delicious) and ugly food is good.

His shots of the markets are teh gorge. I didn't need to see the guy's dolce and gabbana underwear band though. I love him explaining the vegetables and the homemade meal. Sorry but Bourdain really doesn't do that. And didn't really explain what the porcupine tasted like, sure he explained that it was a restaurant that his friend had open for them but I would have liked at least a little bit of a gastronomical take. Not so much his thing. I get it.

And haven't you always wanted to know how fish sauce is made? I thought that was really a pretty cool thing to see.

Thrilled he admits something is gross. The shipworms sounded gross I am a little glad that they are a little bit.

They were both beautiful shows and really what is nice is that there is an explanation about what the food tastes like or the qwirky characters coming in along the way, how Bourdain didn't know what he was eating and just smiled and went along for the ride and and how Zimmern takes it another direction and explains how it is prepared not just ooohhh I am eating sparrow... but I am eating sparrow and the beak is chewy (although he didn't actually say that, but that is what my guess is that he would have).

I am going to go to bed now with little bottles of snake wine slithering through my dreams.