Is it sacrilegious to dine at a Vietnamese restaurant that serves pho and not order it? Especially on a perfect-weather day for the bowl of slippery noodles in steamy broth, one that was rainy and gloomy?

Probably. But because I regularly commit a dining faux pas—I always ask for a fork at Chinese restaurants despite being very proficient in using chopsticks—I’m okay with it. Besides pho, there’s another dish I really like to order at Vietnamese restaurants, which you’ll see.

A cup of pleasantly non-bitter green tea. It offered a similar comfort that a bowl of pho would have.

The ubiquitous fish sauce that accompanies so many Vietnamese dishes.

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They beckoned me each time I came near them. The monstrosities called my name like an issue of Us Weekly featuring photos of Stars Without Makeup!

I’m unfortunately talking about Stuffed Squid available in the hot-foods station of my local Japanese supermarket.

Y’all know how I feel about squid…the ones in the above photo were unnaturally stretched, like Faye Dunaway’s face. (On a side note, I get sooo excited when the Celebrities and Pop Culture categories appear on Jeopardy.)

I obviously had no desire to try the squid, even if they were stuffed with rice and shiitake. But I had to take a photo of them through the glass case, for you. (When the station lady’s back was turned, natch. My photo-taking suspicion was confirmed when she turned back around and said with a glare, “Otherwise, you can’t take pictures here.” I feel like I should start wearing a sign around my neck with a drawing of a camera, a smiley face, and the words “I click in peace.”)

Now, this is much more pleasing to my palate, Shrimp Tempura. You may not be able to tell from the photo, but the tempura was rather large in size (as was the squid…you know, from the stretching…*shudder*).

I was only able to take two photos before I got caught, so let’s see what other photos I got to fill this post about food court fare…

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I returned to the scene of the scolding. This time I’m talking about the Japanese dollar store because yes, I’ve been reprimanded a few times for snapping photos during the course of this blog. (I think those people need to eat an ice-cream cone with sprinkles, or something.)

Anyway, I bloggered-up and faced the back of the girl who scolded me, as she went to get on her broom or stick needles into cushioned dolls. She could have also been getting inventory from the stockroom, I’m not certain.

So, my finds. This bowl? I think it says it all.

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There’s a word missing in this snack’s name on its label, yet it’s the most important one: butter. Thai Tea Butter Cookies? There, that’s better.

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Chicken Satay, a $5 weekday-only lunch special. Holla! (Do people still use that word? Wait, don’t bother to respond if your answer will be no.)

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