one of the reasons james was excited about moving to new orleans, was the variety of vietnamese food available, he craves it all the time and, if possible, would eat it every day. he also likes hole in the wall type of restaurants, but to be honest that’s just not my thing (let’s keep it real, folks!). so when we found magasin cafe, a modern vietnamese restaurant, located just a few blocks from our house, we hit jackpot finding a good compromise for both.

we come here for a meal at least once a week, it’s usually easy to get a table and the staff are super friendly, so we kind of feel like at home. it’s also very kid friendly, and that’s how we roll these days :)

when i like a certain dish, i find it difficult to be adventurous, so i always order the same thing – vermicelli (rice noodles with lettuce, cabbage, mint, bean sprouts and peanuts) with grilled pork or sometimes grilled shrimp – filling, yet light and delicious.

james likes the shrimp spring rolls (rolled in rice paper and dipped in peanut sauce, not fried like the chinese version),  steamed pork bun and then pho, vietnam’s national dish (a brothy soup with rice noodles, lot’s of fresh herbs and a variety of meat options). (there are of course a ton of other things he likes and craves, this is just a ‘sample’)

oh, and i’m a big fan of their vietnamese iced coffee, cafe sua da, so sweet and very refreshing (remember my first new orleans picture?)

also, they’ve just recently opened magasin kitchen, their new restaurant in new orlean’s central business district. i haven’t had the chance to try, but it looks pretty cool too.

ps – another new orleans favorite spot here