Apsara | Providence

As far as I know this was the first Thai restaurant in RI and back in 1990 it was novelty for me and my broke friends to get a great inexpensive meal. Not long ago, I went back to this old standard for lunch with my brother and his two kids - who love it as much as we did.

This visit we chomped on fresh spring rolls and had some Satay noodles with shrimp - crunchy asian veggies with a special sauce that none of us can figure out - awesome. I also recommend the Hai Kaing if you're up for it. Get a giant Thai ice coffee too and become wide awake for the next few hours. Yum.

note: there are now two locations of Apsara's
Review | Public Street | Hope Street (new location)

Ba Xuyen | Sunset Park, Brooklyn, NY

When Alyssa and I lived in Brooklyn on 10th Ave. in 98-99 the asian food scene was, well, either much smaller or somehow unknown to us (the latter is most likely). Fast-forward to 2009 and some of NYC's best asian dining has come south and east from Chinatown and Queens. Case in point- Bahn Mi sandwiches have been enjoying huge attention in the last year. Yesterday I got onboard the band wagon at Ba Xuyen in Sunset Park and I can't wait for my next Bahn Mi- crusty bread, spicy vietnamese "mayonnaise", paté, ham and bbq pork with carrots, dikon, cilantro and thai chilies.

(image credit: The Pufflist)

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