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Admin wrote:What ingredient(s) are you avoiding?

That would be MSG. Or an item used in the soup that contains MSG.

I've eaten soup (crab & corn) there before with no ill effects.

However, sometimes bottled ingredients contain MSG (and if they are imported don't always say so). It has a very strange long term effect on me & it's just not worth it to risk it. I've learned this the hard way and not just at Asian restaurants. Canned broth is a major culprit & some manufacturers use way more than others.

I would think that Cafe Minh would be true to their word about ingredients.
I'll have a friend order it & eat a few bites. I'll know soon enough!

FYI, Isabella, Three Crabs brand of fish sauce (a very popular one) has MSG, as do many other brands of fish sauce. It is commonly used in marinades, dressings, sauces, soups--in short, all over viet cooking.

hungryone wrote:FYI, Isabella, Three Crabs brand of fish sauce (a very popular one) has MSG, as do many other brands of fish sauce. It is commonly used in marinades, dressings, sauces, soups--in short, all over viet cooking.

Thanks HO, precisely why I have to be careful! I usually never can order soup. There are certain dishes I just have to avoid.

Now, the truth is in extremely minute amounts the effects are not too bad.
But it can't be the only thing I am eating & I can't do it all the time.
If a dish has a few splashes of fish sauce & I eat other things then the side effects are lessened. But if I haven't eaten all day & start off with a bowl of soup, it would be disastrous.

RE: msg, I get a respiratory reaction from excessive amounts of it. In my tasting, only the pho from Kim Ahn in Harahan has enough MSG to trigger a reaction in me....but the thai food at Siamese makes me wheeze, and I eat it anyway.

hungryone wrote:RE: msg, I get a respiratory reaction from excessive amounts of it. In my tasting, only the pho from Kim Ahn in Harahan has enough MSG to trigger a reaction in me....but the thai food at Siamese makes me wheeze, and I eat it anyway.

Well, enough of a dosage makes me feel dizzy & numb . . . and about to be flattened. It lasts a while.

Oddly enough, my last encounter was at a good ole N.O. style restaurant.... with Chicken Stew. Good thing I only usually eat half of a dish, as I did that day. I was dancing with the doorway at Sherwin Williams a few minutes later.

The folks at Pho Tau Bay, Tan Dinh, MiMi's & Siamese basically have told me that there are little to no dishes on the menu that I'd be safe eating.
There were a handful at PTB & MiMi's but really, with the severe reaction I have, I'd rather not take the chance. My MFDC brought me some treats, including a Bahn Mi from Duong Phong. How sweet! And torturous because I called & they said it all had MSG in it.

Thankfully 9 Roses takes good care of me & I love their food.

I wish someone would open a cheap bahn mi place uptown! Don'tcha think a bahn mi shop on the streetcar route would make a buck or two?

hungryone wrote:I wish someone would open a cheap bahn mi place uptown! Don'tcha think a bahn mi shop on the streetcar route would make a buck or two?

Not quite uptown, but the Gambit did a nice review of Eat-Well Food Store today

Sorry, I'm out of the loop. Where did Chef Pete go? I used to run into him every time I went to HK Market.
By the way, Pho Tau Bay makes good Ban Minh (sp) too!