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We had a limited glimpse of Hokkaido when we visited Japanese friends in Sapporo a few years ago. That was fall, and the leaves were turning, the air was brisk --- perfect nabemono weather (which our hosts prepared at home). Hokkaido's scenery is unforgettable and the seafood *is* spectacular. One day we drove north to a beautiful hot spring, stopping on route at a low mountain pass for potatoes. (Hokkaido is famous for them.) It was the strangest thing --- at the top of this pass, overlooking a valley, a very popular rest stop devoted to produce. Golfball-sized yellow potatoes any way you like them (baked and topped with the freshest butter were best --- served in single-purpose potato-ball holders), and corn on the cob. On the way to the hot springs we also passed through, and stopped at, vineyards and a small cheese production facility. After soaking in the indoor-outdoor hot spring baths we turned east to Otaru, a Monterey (CA)-like former canning town. (Better preserved and less touristy than Monterey though.) Where we had an amazing sushi dinner and some delicious boiled crabs. Would have liked to spend the night there to fit another couple meals in. The part of Hokkaido we saw that day reminded me, strangely, of the American midwest (better food though). I would love to explore more of Hokkaido's coast (our friends were born and raised on Hokkaido's west coast and had some specatular photos of the area), the north, and the islands off of the northeast edge.

Dosa King is good but for snacks only a small Indian cafe on Silom Soi Dtai (steps from the Hindu temple on the corner) is better. Everything is made by the granny in the kitchen, one at a time --- dosa, idli, and another large flattish pancake thing of fermented batter name of which I can't remember ... lovely chickpea curry and chutneys to go with. You may wait a while for your food and I can't say the service is super friendly, but one taste and it's worth it. Good sweets too.

Why hasn't anyone mentioned laksa? Laksa laksa laksa. Curry laksa is good but I love a nice sour laksa assam even more. Nasi lemak is such a humble dish and you can get it everywhere but it's one thing I would want first thing upon touching down in KL. I just love how the rice is coconut scented, but not gloppy or gluey with coconut milk. So lovely with a bit of sambal. Rojak! It's delectable (sweet stickiness of the sauce) and repugnant (belacan stinkiness of the sauce) at the same time and I love it. Pineapple is best. My partner told me on our next trip to Malaysia I have to go rojak hunting by myself, bec. he can't stand the smell of it.

Chinese food in Bangkok --- there is an excellent place on Soi Ngamduplee, off of Rama IV (across from Lumpini Night Market). Don't remember the name, just look for the Chinese characters. No atmosphere whatsoever but truly authentic homestyle cooking, mostly Sichuanese and northern. The jiaozi are fantastic. Also Xian Restaurant, 10/3 Sukhumvit Soi 40. If you take the BTS get off at the Thonglo stop and exit the side of the street opposite Thonglo (Soi 55). Walk ahead and turn right at Soi 40. More Chinese spoken here than Thai. Some excellent dishes (in Thai) are muu sen phad phet (yuxiang rousi or "fish-taste" fried pork), yam taohuu sen (cool tofu threads tossed with chili oil), soup makhyya gap kai (tomato-egg soup) and the zhajiang mian. This place is not upscale, very reasonable price, and very yummy. For congee and a few dim sum items there is a place on Silom, on the lefthand side of the street as you're heading away from Rama IV. It is on the second story of a shopping center, right above a McDonald's, maybe a 5 minute walk from Soi Convent. Unfortunately I don't know the name ... but the congee is very nice. Decor is sort of tacky/tatty upscale. There is a Shanghai restaurant on Sukhumvit somewhere between Phrom Pong and Thonglo BTS Stations, on the even numbered soi side of the street. It may just be called Shanghai. Haven't eaten there but checked out the menu which was in Chinese (promising) and looked to have a good variety of Shanghai cold dishes. J Lor (or is it J Ngor?) is a restaurant in the YMCA building on Sathorn, they also have a branch on Narathiwat. I have had excellent Cantonese-style seafood there, and stir-fried pea sprouts. But the dishes that stray from that sort of thing are just OK. It's pretty expensive.

I think I mentioned this in an earlier food in Bangkok thread (you should check it out) but Dalat Aw Taw Kaw, across from Chatuchak market, is an excellent place to try not only these two (I've not seen the namtaan anywhere else in Bangkok) but all kinds of small sweet and savory treats. I'm heading to Bangkok in less than 2 wks and this will be the *first* place I hit (salivating just thinking of it). It's on Kamphaengphet Road, take a taxi from the BTS Mo Chit station or if you want to walk, get off at Mo Chit and follow the signs to Chatuchak. You will pass the stalls of Chatuchak on your right (on Paholyothin Road), then turn right on Kamphaeng Phet, keep straight past Kamphaeng Phet 2, and Dalat Aw Taw Kaw will be right across the street. Can't miss it ... there's a couple rows of spaces for cars in front. Peruse that first row of vendors nearest the street carefully --- you'll be amazed at the variety of things on offer -- don't be shy, no English necessary, and do try at least one of everything! (if you can). The khanom namtaan lady is the row closest to the street, near the exit on the right-hand side (if you're facing the market). She's got a big bowl of batter that she ladles into a muffin tin-like round thing with 6 or so indentations. These babies are best fresh-made. It's covered, so rain's not a problem. Daytime only, mid-late morning on a WEEKDAY is best if you want to avoid the crowds. Another place to go strictly for khanom and savory snacks is Dalat Nang Lyang. It's near the Parliamant Building down a soi off of Nang Lyang Street. Hard to find, I admit, and most taxi drivers won't have a clue what you're talking about. But if you make it inside (weekdays are best, go early bec alot of things sell out when the folks working in the govt offices spill out at lunch time--- Sat it's only half-operational) you will NOT be disappointed. There is talk of tearing this historic market down (hopefully it's not been done already) ... this is a place to search out khanom not much found in Bangkok anymore. Other than that, the weekday market in the two sois behind Sindhorn Bldg. (next to American Embassy on Wireless Road) --- follow the office workers at noon --- offer alot of tasty treats. Other than that, keep your eyes open as you walk the streets. Soi Thonglo (Sukhumvit 55, Thonglo BTS stop) is a great place to be about 3 or 4pm if you want to do some street snack cruisin'.

For me the taste of Chengdu will always be hongyou shuijiao. Those silky-skinned dumplings floating in hot-sweet chili oil mixed with other stuff. And dao shao mian. They're all over China but the soupy ones we used to eat for lunch in Chengdu (3 bowls each!) were topped with minced diced pork/pickled veg and interlaced with tender pea greens.

Tonkichi, how does the Le Meridien Nogawa rate? What are prices like? As for the non-member surcharge, we paid about U$240 for many courses including lots of sushi and sashimi and two flasks of sake. Expensive, but for the quality cheap compared to what you'd pay in Japan. We didn't order from the menu, just asked Nogawa to give us whatever was good. A very memorable starter was tiny Hokkaido potatoes, whipped flawlessly smooth and presented sprinkled with the freshest salmon roe. A simple, but truly inspired combo of textures, tastes, and temperatures.

I too love Thai sweets (not all "khanom" are sweet, some are savory) and there are too too many to try in a lifetime it seems. My favorite (it is difficult to choose just one) is khanom thuay, a two-layer treat of coconut "jelly" topped with rich coconut cream. It is steamed in and served from small shallow cups (more like mini saucers). Very easy to find on the streets of Bangkok. Khanom taan (from "namtaan" for sugar) is another steamed sweet, cake-like and spongy ... lightly coconut-flavored batter (not too sweet), and topped with shreds of fresh coconut. I also like coconut-flavored sweets wrapped in banana or pandan leaves, like khao tom kathi (sticky rice steamed with coconut milk) and khao tom mat (the same, but with the addition of a banana .... if it is one of the berry-flavored small pink bananas, so much the better). I recently tried a delicious sticky rice sweet sold in squares, heady with the taste of darkly caramelized sugar. Don't know the name, unfortunately. Some sweets are particular to certain regions or towns, or even villages. No Thai visitor to Phetburi heads home without a few containers of khanom maw kaeng, which is sort of a cross between a custard and a cake. David Thompson's Thai Food has a few sweets recipes. Few Thais make them at home because most are fairly difficult and time-consuming to do and they are so easily and readily available from specialized vendors. One of my favorite sights in Thailand is the mobile sweets vendor --- glass-topped and sided cart filled with a mouth-watering variety of sweets, pushed either by hand or attached to the front of a motorbike. Fast disappearing from the streets of Bangkok, unfortunately, but still easily found in smaller provincial towns.

Royal Kitchen ... do they serve Chinese food as well? If so it is still in existence, on Soi Thonglo (Sukh 55). I've not been

Ah, Shiewie, there you are. I just sent you a PM. Yes it is a private club, and the lady answering the phone directed us to the Nogawa at the Meridien when my hub called for a reservation. But he is a very good wheedler, and told her we'd heard so much about their food, and she relented. I wouldn't just show up without trying to arrange beforehand though.

Answering my own question --- Akane has *got* to be the best sushi in town. If there's better I'd certainly like to know where. We had an "omakase" dinner, featuring a fair amount of sushi, sashimi, a mini nabemono, grilled or roasted fish, exquisite goma ice cream, and other sundry (but lovely) items. With 2 flasks of sake about U$220 for 2 pple. Extremely worth the splurge, and actually a bit more food than I'm normally comfortable with. Nogawa-san is the sushi master here (33 yrs in Sing), fresh fish arrives from Japan Tue, Thu Fri and Sat. A "branch" restaurant (Nogawa Restaurant) at Le Meridien Hotel, but I for one would much rather be at Akane where Nogawa is in residence, bec. he is a genius.

I dunno -- it seems unlikely that Vietnamese "learned" to eat snails from the French. Snails are eaten in Vietnam's neighboring countries -- China, Cambodia, Lao, Thailand .... more likely that they were eating them long before the French arrived. One common way to prepare snails in Vietnam (in Saigon, anyway) is minced with lemon grass, coriander, maybe some other herbs, stuffed back into the shell and speared with a longish outer stalk of lemon grass. The snails are steamed and you get the meat out by tugging on the lemon grass stalk. They are eaten with a large leafy veg (don't know the name --- the one with sawtooth-edged, heart-shaped leaves that are dark green with a tinge of red).

Stayed at the Conrad on Wireless 10 days ago ... very good rates available on the website, and this location is excellent for within-walking-distance eating. Eg. the Mon-Fri lunchtime food market behind Sindhorn Bldg, Sara Jane's for Isaan inside Sindhorn (better at lunch), many many food vendors and some mighty tasty fried noodle huts across from the American Embassy right next to the Diethelm Towers (and IMO one of Bangkok's best versions of muu yang -- grilled pork--sets up his BBQ by the curb at this location about 3pm), and heading up towards Ploenchit, a vegetarian prepared curry shop and a few more vendors stuck in among the travel agents. Round the corner at Ploenchit and you're once again smack in the middle of snackland, with more shops and vendors (I like to hit this area first thing in the a.m. for breakfast noodle soup). Plaza Athanee is also on this strip of Wireless ... 5-star and good rates.

What I got out of the long Singapore thread is Akane, in the Japanese Association Building. Is this still the best sushi in town .... (I can't find it in the phone book!) .... if not, other suggestions? We haven't had sushi in ages and one of us is a year older this wknd .... want to have an unforgettable dinner.

"The only noteworthy restaurant west of Genoa is in Vado Ligure..." menton 1, you're kidding, right? We had a spectacular lunch at Lilliput in Voze (didn't mention it bec. the poster was looking for Sestri Levante area) and an equally delicious dinner in the medievel village of Zuccarello at La Cittadella. Dearth of information? The Slow Food osteria guide lists no fewer than 9 places on the coast west of Genoa, and 8 more inland. There's Plotkin, there's Willinger (both maybe a bit outdated now, to be sure, but still useful references). Now if you're looking for Michelen stars that's one thing .... but your characterization of the entire Ligurian coast west of Genoa as a gastronomic wasteland seems a bit of an, um, exaggeration.

I love ketupat -- haven't eaten it in Malaysia, but know it thanks to our local Malaysian restaurant. Regarding Malay immigration to SL, my guidebook says that "many" Malay Muslims (as opposed to Arab, Indian, or Pakistani Muslims) went to SL with the Dutch from Java. Beyond that, I've no information (though now I'm inspired to google). Ummm... though it sounds a worthy topic for a "research" trip.

Malay immigrants have also contributed to Sri Lankan cuisine. Some uncooked Sri Lankan sambols, eg pol sambol, resemble Keralan (I think -- no expert on Indian cuisine here) chutneys of grated coconut + chiles + spice -- but others, like seeni sambol, which is a cooked sambol of onions, various spices, dried fish, tamarind and lime, among other things, more closely resemble Malay sambal. The banana leaf-wrapped packets of curry and dal and rice that Colombo office workers buy at lunchtime seem Indian-influenced .... unless you happen to get one that is smeared with seeni sambol and topped with a piece of dried fish --- almost identical to Malay nasi lemak. Pittu, flour mixed with grated coconut and steamed in bamboo (top with sambal or curry) reminds me of the pressed rice cakes served with Malaysian sate (but probably also resembles an Indian dish). The Sri Lankan dessert vatalappan/watalappan (baked or steamed) is supposedly of Malay origin (I don't know the corresponding Malaysian dish though). Rotti (dough packets --- soft or more crispy/flaky -- stuffed with veggies, fish, etc.) seem obviously a version of stuffed roti, which are Malaysian-from-India. What would be interesting is to know how regional variations in Sri Lankan cuisine might reflect the origin of the region's first immigrants. I've only had one example of northern (Jaffna) Sri Lankan food, a soup called kool. Tomato and chile base, with lots of small bits of seafood, a few vegetables, and bits of broken rice. Does this sound similar to anything in one of India's regional cuisines? To me food in Sri Lanka seemed like a wonderful cross betw. that of India and Malaysia (with a bit of Indonesia thrown in).

We loved Sestri (though it was early April --- much quieter than June, I imagine). The proprieter of the Bermuda Bar, if it's still there, is manic about the nibbles he offers with drinks --- a lovingly assembled individual wooden board of the highest quality parm reggiano, prosciutto, lardo, salume. We had one of the best meals of that trip at the tiny Buon Geppe, on the main street leading to the sea (again, if it's still there) .... only 5 tables, a kitchen about as big as a closet with 2 burners. We left the meal to the waiter and rolled out about 3 hours later. Another great meal at Fiammenghilla dei Fieschi (just outside of Sestri), 0185-481-041, artichoke ravioli and fish primi to die for. The setting is beautiful -- an 18th-century villa that is the summer residence of one of the Genovese noble familes, surrounded by olive trees. Elegant but not snooty -- the owner's cats wander about at will (fine with us). Our meal there was dinner but I'd go back for lunch to better enjoy the setting. This was 3 yrs ago.

I second the recommendation for lunch at Madonna della Neive in Cessole. The view fr. the dining room is lovely, fantastic wine list. You are within day-tripping distance of Cuneo to the southwest, a bustling little hilltop town with a large arcaded piazza and arcaded main street, Via Roma (reminiscent of Turin), as well as some interesting little back streets. For some reason it rarely pops up on the tourist itinerary (presumably bec it's out of the wine region). The lady in the tourist info office there is a goldmine of info on any and everything to see in Cuneo province. At any rate, lunch at Cuneo's Osteria della Chiocciola, and shopping the enoteca's wine selection afterward, is worth the trip alone. tel 0171 66277, closed Sunday. Stylish but not snobbish, and if raw artichoke salad, carne cruda, or risotto with asparagus are on the menu, order them! Never a disappointment in 6 meals there. To the northwest, the restored 12th century abbey at Staffarda is definately worth a visit, esp if you can manage to be there when there are few other visitors (not wknds). It's rather eery, with a beautiful, simple chapel. You can make a day of it by stopping en route in Saluzzo to visit the castle (some amazing pastries in Saluzzo), and/or in Savigliano. Sav. and the upper parts of Saluzzo are lovely and good for wandering. Not far south of Saluzzo is Verzuolo --- several years ago we had a memorable lunch there at Trattoria Societa, tel 0175 85495, closed Wed (at least a few yrs ago). I remember spaetzle with white asparagus, fabulous trout, and a fine selection of cheeses.

Stupid_American, that's very interesting. I've been making laad naa for years, using broth, oyster sauce, and fish sauce in the gravy (and tapioca flour for thickening). It's a pretty close match, if I do say so myself, to any laad naa I've had in Thailand. Last week I tried the yellow bean variation .... it tasted nothing like I've ever had in Thailand. (Didn't like it.) A couple months ago I watched laad naa being made on the street in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Sukhothai -- no bean paste. So please ask your wife .... is bean paste used in laad naa in some regions and not others? And what does she use in her laad naa gravy? 'Cause I have yet to encounter it in Thailand.

And, apparently I have yet to figure out how to use the "Quote" function. Duh.

Looking for excellent Khmer food of course, but really suggestions for anything tasty would be welcome.

Doesn't get you away from green vegetables, but it's wonderful stir-fried with shredded or sliced Brussel sprouts OR with sugar snap peas. All that's needed is a dash of shaoxing wine and some soy (ginger and garlic to taste).

Geez I hate to waste a meal on Malaysian soil but sounds like a sandwich it is. Thanks folks for the replies!