Having come from the Twin Cities, which has the largest population of people of Hmong descent in the United States, I have developed a taste for Southeast Asian cuisine. Merced County has the highest concentration of people of Hmong descent in the U.S., and I hoped this demographic fact would equate to tasty restaurants. So far, the Southeast Asian restaurants of Merced have not disappointed.
The chicken larb was flavorful and the Thai-style papaya salad was perfectly spicy and reminded me of a trip to Hmong Town in St. Paul I took with my friend Mao last winter. Deliciously crunchy and cool. Perfect for the hot valley weather.
While paying my share of the bill at the register I chatted with our waiter who imparted his culinary knowledge of the subtle differences among the Southeast Asian cuisines as well as the Laotian names for the Thai and Vietnamese dishes I was familiar with from St. Paul. When I inquired whether he was aware that the restaurant had been featured in a national magazine, he asked whether I had written the article. I sadly told him I had not, but promised to bring him a copy of the article which he plans to hang on the wall.
What Merced restaurants may lack in trendiness, they definitely make up for in pride and personal attention. Hearing this young man's pride in his family's business and lament over loss of business due to the relocation of the hospital and major construction on the main road leading to the restaurant made me want to spread the word about this gem of a place.
Houa Khong Restaurant
85 East Street, Merced
209-722-5541
When we bought our sofa/love seat combo from Hansen's Furniture in Winton, our saleslady Liz gushed about Houa Khong when we mentioned we ate there the night before. She strongly suggested we re-visit the restaurant this winter and try their pho.
ReplyDeleteGood to know! When I was paying, our waiter was telling me about their soup and how they don't call it Pho, but it's basically the same thing. I don't even think I can wait until winter to try it, but I bet we will want to frequent it when the weather cools.
ReplyDelete8/12/11 update: I took Sean to Houa Khong for dinner tonight and he enjoyed the stir fried ginger pork with steamed rice. The waiter was grateful that I gave him my copy of Saveur magazine to post on their wall and he told me how, when I order my papaya salad spicy, I got the non-Asian (a.k.a. white people) version of spicy. Only 3 Thai chilies. He makes his with 10 or more. I can't even imagine that amount of heat because, as it was, my lips were on fire. Thank goodness I had a Thai iced tea with which to cool my mouth.
ReplyDelete