We went out for Vietnamese tonight at a new place about a mile away from our new apartment. It’s called Pho Little Saigon. We both got pho (noodle soup) of course! Bobby got something beefy and I got one of the non-beef options:
It had 2 pieces of each: shrimp, squid, chicken, pork, fish balls, and fish cakes. I ate all of the meats, all of the veggies (sprouts mostly) and some of the noodles. I dipped everything in hoisin and chili sauce (on the left). I had a few bites of Bobby’s beef soup, but the broth was pretty oily… though the beef was amazing tender and lean.
The only problem with this place (which I discovered once I got home) is that they use a ridiculous amount of MSG. I should have assumed, because most pho places use it. After I eat MSG I get this pressure in my temples and my head feels tight. It’s kind of like dizziness, but it’s more just a weird sensation. I’m not sure if we’ll go back. I love pho but I hate the way MSG makes me feel. Does this happen to anyone else?
I’ll be back soon with my Monday menu plan…
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MSG sensitivity is pretty terrible (but also kind of useful since you can detect the MSG in food). I don’t have any sensitivity to it myself, but I typically assume that every Asian restaurant uses it (unless they put up a sign that says otherwise).
I love a really good bowl of pho, so your pictures got me craving it now! Yummm.
I have had that happen after eating at a few Asian restaurants, and assumed it was the MSG.
I have yet to find a Vietnamese place in our town though, pho sounds good!
I usually feel lightheaded and kind of spacey after eating MSG – sometimes worse than others. Once I was physically sick and had to go to the dr. and they said I must have eaten so much that it was elevated to MSG poisoning.
A lot of chinese take-out places around here advertise MSG-free dishes or they’ll make menu items MSG-free by request! If you liked that restaurant (apart from the MSG) you might want to ask and see if they’ll oblige.
This doesn’t happen to me, but my mom always has really vivid, strange dreams the night after eating something made with MSG.
Myself, I’m not affected… So I am grateful!
i get really uncomfy after eating so much MSG, too – bloating and all that faaaaabulous stuff occur :/
[...] to follow is that Bobby and I are rarely in the mood for the same thing. Tonight we lucked out – both of us were craving pho, so we went for it. But take this morning for instance [...]
[...] high right now from the Maple Nut flavor, but I don’t like it. It feels like how I feel after I eat MSG (ugh – slightly dizzy, and some pressure in my head). I haven’t even had fruit (aside from [...]
[...] have to say that in general, I love ALL Asian food… but my favorite is definitely Vietnamese (without MSG), or Thai. My favorite dish of all time is papaya salad (especially with shrimp) and both of [...]
I’m totally the same. MSG makes me feel like crap. I even saw once that a fellow student of mide had to be brought to the hospital because she got an MSG shock after eating at the mensa. I usually get bloating, water retention, swellings, dizziness, and cold sweating from it. It’s very uncomfortable.