Banh Cuon

omen restaurant down in soho is an udon specialist (a branch of a famous udon noodle restaurant in kyoto), and serves very good freshy made noodles both in a soup broth or "dry" for dipping. a little pricey, if i recall, but worth it for the delicious subtle taste, as well as a very nice "zen" decor and service in the restaurant itself.

Just had a delectable cinnamon and pear torte from Petrossian over the weekend and quality still seems very high as when the boutique first opened, even with the change in pastry chefs a couple of years ago. Their pains au chocolat were also very well made; buttery, flakey, nice not overly large size, just perfect.

They have certainly have transplanted the operation faithfully from those I used to visit in Tokyo, from the white wooden cutout "Beard Papa" sign out front, the approximate same price for the goods (100 Yen per puff), and by the looks of it so far, the long line and mob scene out front (the Shibuya Crossing location in Tokyo always had a line about fifty people long at any one time). They're also giving away free stainless steel thermoses to the first 100 people buying a six-pack of cream puffs every morning through tuesday march 9th (six-pack is normally 7.50 but it seems that one of the managers there randomly gives out coupons reducing the price to 6.00). I got my six puffs and thermos this morning (got on line at 9.50am on my way to work and had the puffs by 10.10). The puffs were indeed fresh and tasty but somehow I don't see them taking away business from Krispy Kreme. I have to say the hilarious english translation of the company's sanitary and "deliciousness" policies on the side of the thermos packaging are almost more than worth the wait on line.