Roast Beef Cravings
Saigon 48
I immediately asked the Glamazons, who have recently been on the cover of Big Girl Knits, about plus-size outfits.
"Hanarama.com wants to start designing plus-size burlesque costumes," said Ladyfinger. "And I found some gold go-go boots so we can do 'It's Raining Men!'"
Ladyfinger started the four-woman singing and dancing group because she got tired of being lonely as the only big girl at the endless round of burlesque nights.
I was just glad to not be the only one returning to the dishes on the table until every morsel of protein was gone, especially small chunks of teriyaki marinated cube steak ($12.95), terrific quality beef in a light Vietnamese sauce.
"That cube steak is slamming!" Carmella said.
Peter, the maitre d', who started out working in his family's Egg Foo Young-style Cantonese restaurant in Philly 30 years ago, kept bringing out the hits, among them the pork chops ($9.95), which are grilled for ten minutes at a temperature of 500 to 700 degrees.
"We sell a few hundred pounds of those a day," Peter told us.
"Do you think we need to eat meat?" I asked the girls, testing out a favorite theory.
"Definitely. I get roast beef cravings!" Ladyfinger said.
There were some things I could live without, like sate, which I can get any old where. But the string beans ($8.25), sautéed with shallots and garlic, making them crispy and almost sweet, were my favorite. Ladyfinger loved the sweetened Vietnamese coffee, which comes with condensed milk at the bottom.
"This is really good! I won't have it if it's just milk-you need half and half," she raved, confirming all I've ever suspected about skim milk. Who really needs it?