Fish heads bar and grill photos6/7/2023 ![]() He is “Laod and proud,” he said, with a broad smile.īut sharing the cuisine of their homeland wasn’t always easy for his family when he was growing up. There’s a sense of pride knowing that more and more people are taking an interest in Laotian cuisine, he said. It’s a topic at the forefront of his cooking, thanks in part to being in an interracial marriage with mixed-race children. Xayavong, a 41-year-old father of four, chatted about the intersection of food, Southeast-Asian geopolitics and the idea of authenticity. “It’s essentially a minced-meat salad made with aromatics: lemon grass, kaffir lime and galangal, which I call the Southeast-Asian mirepoix.” “It’s the national dish of Laos,” he said. So is laab, or larb as it’s sometimes written on Thai restaurant menus. But Xayavong added, its origin is “true Lao.” “Lao immigrants would come here and open restaurants but label them Thai restaurants because, at the time, Thailand was more well-known.”įor example, the papaya salad on the menu at Savor, the Vietnamese cafe on Montgomery Drive in Santa Rosa where we met to chat, is ubiquitous on menus at Southeast-Asian restaurants, he said. “A lot of Lao food has been hidden on Thai menus,” he said. I’m really happy to showcase my culture.”Ī lot of people already have tried Laotian cuisine without ever realizing it, Xayavong noted. “It allows people like myself to showcase another ethnic cuisine you don’t normally have at restaurants and do more authentic food. The banh mi were the most popular item, but he got a lot of people to try the soup - rice vermicelli noodles cooked in a complex sweet-and-sour broth of red curry and coconut milk infused with the heady aroma of lemon grass and makrut lime (also known as kaffir lime). I did give a rating of 2 instead of 1 because the French fries were pretty good.The crowd at Shady Oak Barrel House on a recent Friday evening noshed on skewers of lemon grass beef and chicken satay, sampled Laotian sausage in banh mi and slurped bowls of khao poon, a chicken noodle soup.Ĭhef Keo Xayavong sold out of everything at his pop-up, which coincided with the start of Songkran, the Lao New Year. ![]() In sum, there was an extended wait which is hard when you have a little one+ no high chair+ no straws=Frustrated Momma. I also asked the waiter for a straw just as we were finishing our meals so he could have a drink without spilling it on himself. When we were nearly done eating I spotted a big stack of booster seats by the waiter's station so I helped myself. When the waiter brought our drinks my 1.5 year old was brought a plastic cup of water, no lid, no straw. We had to put my little boy in one of the chairs between 2 adults. The table we were seated at was high top with 2 tables put together that did not match in height and no high chair. The hostess was very unfriendly but said she would seat us then. When 5 more names were called we once again went to check. ![]() After we had waited for an hour we went to check what was taking so long and was told there was 1 party ahead of us. We had 5 adults and a 1.5 year old so we knew we would have to wait a bit to get a table to fit our larger party that accommodated a high chair. We arrived at 6pm, had our name put on the wait list, and was told it would be a. But, we're sadly disappointed with our experience. We were so excited to eat at Fish Heads after staying close last year and seeing it's great reviews. Restaurants for Special Occasions in Nags Head.Restaurants for Group Dining in Nags Head.Seafood Restaurants for Families in Nags Head.American Restaurants for Special Occasions in Nags Head.Restaurants near Fish Heads Bar & Grill.Nags Head Hotels with Laundry Facilities.
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