Best Pho in the world (in a restaurant in Melbourne, Australia)
 

We made a trip down to Melbourne, Australia for the Pho, which according to a famous Hong Kong food critic, " ...worth flying down from Hong Kong to Melbourne just for this Pho." It's much better than all the Pho in Vietnam we sampled in Saigon,where we visited in this past Feb. 2nd Best Pho is in a restaurant in Paris.

50% of the taste is enhanced by MSG. :D

Red Iguana in SLC is the best Mexican I have ever had. And I have been to Mexico three times.

Pretty Bold statement... Challenge accepted! Will try it,thanks.

After seeing an episode of "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" that featured a Fish and Chips shop that made Haggis in Santa Barbara, I was determined to take a road trip from San Jose to taste it. As it happened, a friend of mine from the UK will be visiting LA and wanted to meet up with me in SB. So the plan was solidifying. To top it off, I need just a 1K more miles on UA to get an award. So I just joined UADining and made a reservation for dinner at a restaurant in SB that gives me triple miles on food and 1K miles for signing up.

Hitting the road this morning!

I've been in SLC since August and have yet to go... I really need to do that sometime. They had a stand on Saturday for the TRAX airport line opening at the North Temple Frontrunner station and were serving free chili verde which was pretty good. Now that the TRAX is open, you can literally go from the airport to Red Iguana for $2.50 each way with no transfers.

The best Mexican food I've ever had was not in NYC or Mexico, but two hours west of here in Wendover, UT, at the Salt Flats Cafe (exit 4 on I-80, attached to the Sinclair gas station). That is worth a trip, and I will hopefully go again before I leave for the summer.

-J.

Safe Traveling!

I am renting a car,but have been hearing about their public transportation,I am all about public transportation,but since it is my first time there to visit a friend I am renting. Wow,two hours for some Mexican Food,sounds awesome,I am from Los Angeles,and I travel 2.5 miles for great tacos and Lobster,so will look into having some great Mexican Food.

I drove 7-1/2 hours to dine at a particular restaurant in Belgium and used that as the basis for a long weekend trip so I am not sure if that counts or not.

I really went over there to explore the Bonneville Salt Flats :p The Salt Flats Cafe was an extra bonus :)

-J.

we made the dining run around sicily. sort of like the Targa Florio of dining. 10 days. the food is outstanding. fish is the big deal. supposed to be super fresh. where they get the sword fish, the tuna, and the baccla that they take off the boats?

To the best of my knowledge, yes.

The "happy hour run" originally scheduled to Roy's in SFO tomorrow (4/24) has now expanded to include lunch since they are one of the few in the chain open for lunch. In between lunch (1 pm) and happy hour start (4:30), will shop for sourdough. Back to SFO for a 9pm home. Will be in the Admirals Club about 7:30 pm.

Almost 11k AAdvantage miles, breakfast and dinner courtesy of AA (along with many drinks), lunch and happy hour courtesy of Roy's if I can talk them out of it, fresh sourdough, and a ticket price of $163 plus tax......roflmao

If flyDubai had deals to Tbilisi or Yerevan, I'd consider a dining run. Though, I'd have to move to the UAE...

just back from the "bridge" here on 95th. Calumet fisheries and still no smoked chubs. They say they haven't had any in awhile and its my third trip there since Easter.

Anyone know where I can make a run to get some?

Quite a few years ago I was persuaded by a friend in the wine business to make a run to Alsace for an incredible lunch at the now-closed Michelin 3-star Auberge de l'Isle. We started with a couple of wineries in Burgundy and continued on to the Pfalz. Alas, this was well before I began collecting miles.

These days I'm more likely to break up a NYC/SFO MR with a trip to the Ferry Building for Hog Island Oysters, followed by Blue Bottle coffee and Michael Ricchiutti chocolates. Next time I might instead try the Slanted Door.

My PURE DR was a drive from OKC to In N Out in Dallas, TX. It was purely for the food, no visiting friends, not to shop, and i drove so it wasn't an air MR, so PURE DR!

I had a huge craving for In N Out and it was about two years or so since i had one. The In N Out had just opened up a few months ago. I drove to Dallas from OKC which was about 4 hours, ate In N Out, sat there for awhile, drove back home. Although I may add on the way home I did stop by an Ikea, but the Ikea was not in the original plan whatsoever so it still counts as a DR =). Plus I didn't buy anything at Ikea.

Ask SweetWillie - he knows it all about the Windy......

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Try dirks on clybourn?

yes I did and unfortunately they don't have them. I'm going to call Hagen's too

Thanks

merci !I like Dirk's a lot, I've even taken classes from his shop, he is a great guy, but his prices send me into sticker shock. I now am a fan of Boston Fish Market (BFM) in Des Plaines (3 miles north of ORD). BFM is open 8-5pm Mon-Sat, closed Sun. Selection & quality of FRESH fish, shrimp, squid, clams, mussels, etc is terrific and prices are so damn low. BFM is the largest processor of whitefish & salmon in the Midwest. If one has time and is looking for lunch or an early dinner, I HIGHLY suggest trying BFM as they also fry or grill any seafood they offer. I've been giddy since this place opened (in case you couldn't tell, I'm a fan:D) www.bostonfishmkt.com
--What did Hagen's say? If they have them I can stop by on my way to the Sox game this Friday to drop off w/you.

To clarify, by chubs, do you mean the entire smoked chub (whole lake chub) or a chub of say whitefish or smoked lake trout? (also called chubs)

Yes I meant the whole lake chub seems there are none around. Thanks for the offer but they don't have any.

But I think I may take a ride to the Boston seafood one weekend.

Thanks!

Not quite a "dining run", but we often go to Paris over Christmas and New Years, and knowing that many restaurants close for part of that period we make sure which days our favorites will be open before we book the trip and plan accordingly.

Three times a year, SFO to Chicago to have dinner at Next.

upon your comment, I started to realize that an item I used to buy quite frequently hasn't been readily available. While this article is from 2009, it states why chubs are not as prevalent as they used to be: http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/80387372.html
--

I just recently made a dining run, to Manado, Indonesia.

Though it's known for diving, for me it is the source of spicy smoked skipjack tuna and various carnivorous dishes you aren't as likely to find in the rest of the country. Not to mention, that region has a Christian majority, which translates to more restaurants being open during Ramadan.

Ha! Here's a sign I haven't been to an airport in a while... I was wondering (and had to google) since when is there a good Mexican restaurant in Santiago? :p

Great Mexican in Salt Lake City, now that makes sense. :: right ::

Don't know as much about chubs as Sweet Willie, but apparently there's a shortage this year. There's a discussion about this on the LTH Forum, but it's down for the weekend for maintenance/upgrading.

When I was 16 and had my first car and license my friend Dion and I decided to drive to Pennsylvania to go to the King of Prussia Mall. Once we were there he said "hey I know this place called Jim's Steaks in Philly, want to go get a cheesesteak?". Now this was before GPS and Smart Phones so we, without any forethought, got on I-76 until I saw a sign that said "I-676: Central Phila" and I said "yeah, that looks right". We then drove up Market Street asking police officers until one gave us directions. Then after we were done, I followed my compass east until I found an interstate.

These days I'm way too big a planner to do something like that without lots of directions and my phone as a backup.

I saw this while searching for Michelin-starred restaurants in Copenhagen.

I have two stories:

I was watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and saw a Portland episode about Pok-Pok, which is Thai cuisine. I was so convinced that I called up my parents right after seeing the episode,

"Hey. We have a long weekend. What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"Pack your bags. We're driving to Portland."

"Why?"

"Thai food"

And off we went the next day. It was the best time of my life.

Another one is right now booking restaurants for my Euro trip. I got lucky with a cheap flight to Copenhagen and I remember watching Anthony Bourdain's CNN show about Copenhagen,

"One day I hope to go"

I'm still hoping. :)

A friend told me about the Harris Ranch Restaurant and Inn by Coalinga, CA. I knew about and had purchased Harris Ranch beef in supermarkets before. I called up a few friends and we did the 4 hour drive from Orange County up Interstate 5 to have a steak. After dinner, we headed right back home.

It was very good steak, and priced below what the fancy steakhouses like Ruth Chris or Morton's would charge.

Agreed. Second best steak I've had in a restaurant in the US.

Oh I am glad this thread got bumped. Here are a few of my adventures from the last several months...

• Lunch at Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY (home of the Buffalo wing)
• Quick turn to PWM to get fresh lobsters (they sell them live at the airport!)
• Cabot cheddar and Ben & Jerry's ice cream in Vermont
• Po-boys in New Orleans at Domilise's

This Saturday, I'm planning on sneaking down to FLL to get a key lime pie to surprise my mother with on Sunday :D (EDIT: well, I was planning to, but my father said not to bother :()

I also need to get Crystal Hot Sauce... supposedly I can get it in ROC, which is much closer than MSY.

-J.

What's the first one? Might head there. ;)

I have never seen Crystal Hot Sauce in Rochester. Where did you hear that it is carried? I can try to check it out for you

You would not be disappointed IF you prefer your meat cooked over burning wood/charcoal as I do. If you like it cooked for a few seconds in a blast furnace, don't go.:)

http://www.menuclub.com/californiare...house-1769.php

I was told Wegmans in Pittsford has it. I used to go to U of R and still know many people there (as well as a couple of FTers in the area), so I could use the excuse to head up that way.

-J.

Aside from an In-&-Out run via LAX (yes, I flew transcon and caught the Parking Spot shuttle, had a burger, and flew home the same day), our Croatia vacation was inspired and built around Konoba Batelina, which we'd seen on a Tony Bourdain episode... Basically a dining run. Don't get me started on last fall in Spain...

I was already going to be in NYC for work, but on a whim I tried to get a reservation at Per Se for the day after my work obligations. Miraculously, I got it on the first try, so we booked my husband a ticket and got ourselves a hotel. We managed to do some other things while we were there, but dinner at Per Se (our first ever Michelin experience) was the only reason we went.

Let me know if you need tips for Copenhagen. I'm Danish and happy to provide recommendations for michelin (have tried them all), bistro level or lower priced options.

In any case, happy travels.

PM'd you. Taking you up on that offer.