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Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Papa Vito's Reopening in Belleville
According to their facebook page, Papa Vito's is reopening at 318 East Washington in Belleville.
Their website also notes that the Belleville location is coming soon.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Thai couple offers a tasty adventure at Belleville's sole sushi restaurant
http://www.bnd.com/2011/08/01/1807497/thai-couple-offers-a-tasty-adventure.html
Posted on Mon, Aug. 01, 2011
Thai couple offers a tasty adventure at Belleville's sole sushi restaurant
By Maureen HoustonNews-Democrat
The couple who own Sushi Thai by Samran came to Belleville by way of Ohio, Massachusetts, New York and Thailand.
Both worked at restaurants before, Samran Chokengarm in Boston, Cleveland and upstate New York; Saovarat "Mui" Serechumroenrot in Cincinnati.
Their dream was to open their own.
How did they choose Belleville?
They researched the Internet's Wikipedia website.
"We looked up cities without sushi restaurants," said Mui, 42. "We looked at income, housing, culture." Belleville fit their bill.
They found a small 20-seater on the southwest corner of North Illinois and C streets. They hung paintings on the paneled walls and a banner of kittens for good luck.
"We don't need a too big place," said Mui. "This is the right size. This fits (our) budget."
Samran, 33, is the chef; Mui, the waitress, also cooks stir-fry and fried rice.
For customers unsure of what to order, Samran will tune the flat-screen TV to an array of sushi dishes, and proudly show sushi shaped like snakes, alligators and dragons.
The dish that looks like two goldfish is Black Gold Fish Maki (maki means roll), made with eel, cucumber and avocado, topped with raw salmon and a taile made of cooked shrimp.
Eyes are octopus. The little dots around the eyes? Tobiko (fish eggs).
"When I bring it out for a customer, they take a picture," said Mui.
Samran has been making sushi for five years.
"I started at a busy restaurant," he said. "I learned to work fast. I had to learn so my boss could go on vacation to Thailand."
He acquired a variety of knives, a wealth of skills.
"Now, it is easy for me."
Samran and Mui serve both sushi and Thai dishes.
Sushi, a Japanese dish, consists of small rolls of vinegar-flavored cold cooked rice with vegetables and tuna, squid, shrimp, salmon and crab. Some is cooked, some isn't. The word "sushi" actually means "vinegar rice."
Thai dishes range from Pad Thai, a choice of meat or seafood with stir fried noodles with egg, scallion, bean sprouts and ground peanuts ($6.95 or $7.95, lunch; $9.95-$14.95 for dinner) to Green Curry, chicken, pork, beef or shrimp with bell pepper, zucchini, bamboo shoots, snowpeas in green curry paste and coconut milk ($6.95 or $7.95, lunch; $9.95 to $14.95 dinner)
"Some customers will eat Thai food," said Mui, "some only sushi. Some eat both."
Their current promotion is all-you-can-eat sushi for $9.99.
"Some can eat three (pieces); some can eat five," said Mui. "It depends on you."
Alex Sims, a 19-year-old SWIC student, took advantage of the special, trying tako (raw octopus) for the first time.
"It was good ... It's as good as any sushi restaurant — at a much better price," said his friend, Kody Scott, 23, an associate at St. Louis Bread Co.
Jim Bolen Jr., a studio engineer from Belleville, ordered a bowl of miso soup (with tofu, seaweed and onion) and shrimp tempura for starters, followed by salmon nigiri (rice with raw fish), seaweed-wrapped octopus and eel with hoisin sauce.
He dips his sushi in a combination of wasabi (horseradish-based sauce) and soy sauce.
"I love sushi," he said, sitting at a corner table. "I've had a very stressful day. I'm ready to eat some good food."
A friend introduced him to sushi.
"I worked with a guy who was a UFC fighter, Steve 'The Boa' Berg. He brought it in one day. I laughed and said, 'What is that nasty stuff?' I tried it. I loved it."
A couple tables away, Jessica Duco, of Belleville, shared an order of edamame (soybeans steamed in their pods) with her mom Mary Duco, of Millstadt, and niece, Bella Duco, 11, as they awaited their lunch.
"Two weeks ago, I saw a sign that said 'Sushi,'" said Jessica. "I tried it and wanted to come back."
If you go:
What: Sushi Thai by Samran
Where: 229 N. Illinois St., Belleville
Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; noon to 9:30 p.m. Sundays
Call: 355-9693 or email sushithaibysamran.com. Carry-outs are available.
On the menu:
Kanisu sushi appetizer — crabstick, avocado, tobiki, rolled in thinly sliced cucumber, $7.75 Fried Tofu, $3.95
Shrimp tempura — flaky crisp battered shrimp, onion rings and green beans, $6.95
Spicy salmon maki — raw salmon with spicy mayo and cucumber, (six pieces per roll) $5
Belleville maki — cooked shrimp tempura, eel, avocado, $11.95
Thai lunch specials:
Salmon teriyaki — vegetables served with rice and terriyaki sauce, $8.50
Sweet and sour — meat or fish sauteed with bell pepper, zucchini, tomato, carrot, onion and pineapple, $6.95 or $7.95, depending on meat or fish choice
Dinner:
Crazy Salmon Maki — Spicy salmon, cucumber and avocaco, $11.50
Maki Combo — California maki and spicy tuna rolle, ell, avocado roll, $13.95
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
Peachy Yogurt Bar
It looks like the new yogurt bar adjacent to Quizno's in downtown Belleville will be opening soon. They're still doing some work inside, but there are now chairs up near the storefront windows.
