WHERE TO GET A TASTE OF LITTLE SAIGON IN THE SGV
THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY IS KNOWN FOR ITS CHINESE FOOD, BUT IT’S ALSO HOME TO UP-AND-COMING VIETNAMESE SPOTS.
BO R N A N D R A I S E D in the San Gabriel Valley, I can tell you that it has been an absolute pleasure as someone who loves food: The culinary landscape is bountiful, exciting and ever-changing. My entire family would pile into the car and drive along Valley Boulevard, scanning for new restaurants, looking left and right for unfamiliar signs or grand opening banners. The prominence of Chinese and Taiwanese restaurants in the SGV is evident on virtually every strip mall sign bearing Chinese logograms (with translated English business names that usually mean something else entirely). But I was always intrigued by the occasional romanized words with diacritcal marks that signify a Vietnamese establishment. They planted the seeds of an obsession. ¶ I still remember my first bowl of pho in the ’80s when it was $3.75. To a Chinese American kid, the noodles and broth looked familiar, but the aroma and taste were unlike anything I had experienced. It would be the first of hundreds of Vietnamese noodle soups I have eaten across Southern California, other Vietnamese enclaves in America and ultimately in Vietnam.
Dozens of Vietnamese restaurants are strewn throughout Rosemead, San Gabriel, El Monte and South El Monte. But the number is minuscule compared with Orange County’s Little Saigon, the most prominent Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam. In that sense, the San Gabriel Valley is always in its shadow. Even my parents knew it was better to make the one-hour trek each way to Westminster and Garden Grove, the two cities that Little Saigon straddles, for the best Vietnamese food and groceries. We’d spend hours at shopping centers such as Phuoc Loc Tho (Asian Garden Mall), absorbing the culture through food.
Driving down to Orange County for a “Little Saigon-athon” became my monthly tradition — in which I would visit as many new and old restaurants as my stomach could bear in a single trip. But everything changed during the pandemic (and once gas prices skyrocketed). I shifted my attention back to the Vietnamese restaurants of the SGV. Longtime businesses such as Golden Deli, Summer Rolls (formerly Nem Nuong Ninh Hoa), Nha Trang and Newport Seafood are still around, but more recently, I’ve focused on several places that are notable and newish (they’ve opened in the last couple of years) and as delicious as many favorites in Little Saigon. They also show that there’s more to Vietnamese food than pho, bun and banh mi.
Golden Delight
Not to be confused with Golden Deli, this was a postpandemic discovery that really put Vietnamese food on SGV’s map for me, mainly because it offers so many great hits under one roof. Golden Delight has two menus, overseen by two chefs: During the day, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., find a Vietnamese menu; from noon to closing, the restaurant offers a Chinese Vietnamese seafood menu (à la Newport Seafood). Note that the Vietnamese menu isn’t available in the evening. On it you’ll find hu tieu nam vang, a Vietnamese Cambodian pork and prawn noodle soup (served with the broth, or order it on the side). Or order the banh canh cua crab noodle soup; bun bo Hue, the famous beef noodle soup named for the central Vietnamese city; and cha gio crispy egg rolls. If you feel your pho broth is never hot enough, this
is your place. The signature beef or chicken pho arrives at your table bubbling in a stone pot, similar to Korean dol sot bibimbap. It’s best to dine here with a large group so you can try more of the menu. From the evening Vietnamese Chinese menu, try house special lobster, house special fish fillets, and shaking beef and basil clams. Bonus: The giant 4K TV screens loop cooking scenes (and waterfalls) so you can watch videos of food while you’re eating food.
● 8479 Garvey Ave., Suite 101A, Rosemead, (626) 656-6262
Pho Dakao
Do most pho lovers associate their favorite pho with beef ? Probably. But there’s also the chicken pho camp of believers. Chicken pho restaurants aren’t new to the San Gabriel Valley, but Pho Dakao, which originates in Little Saigon (where it’s been open since the 1990s), offers a traditional pho ga and pho ga only. A sign outside the restaurant clearly states that beef pho is not offered here. What Pho Dakao also offers, unlike other Vietnamese chicken pho restaurants, is the regional dish pho ga kho — “dry”-style chicken pho with a sidecar of clear chicken broth — from Vietnam’s central highlands. Rather than poached chicken, the chicken (white or dark) is stir-fried in a wok and served with lettuce, bean sprouts and a special dipping sauce, made of Maggi seasoning sauce, vinegar, ginger and sugar. The sweet ginger dipping sauce that accompanies the dish just makes the chicken that much more delicious. Also try: goi ga (chicken cabbage salad), canh ga chien nuoc mam (fish sauce wings) and mien ga (pho ga with glass noodles).
● 8150 Garvey Ave., Suite 105, Rosemead, (626) 545-2144
Boston Lobster
If you love seafood, check out the new Boston Lobster, which recently upgraded to the massive space that formerly housed tiki restaurant Bahooka in Rosemead. More room to accommodate the masses means less waiting time for a table than at its previous strip-mall location (where you could be standing around for a punishing 2½ to three hours). Boston Lobster offers Chinese cuisine fused with the f lavors of Vietnam and other regions of Southeast Asia, like Newport Seafood and Golden Delight. The house lobster served over noodles is what you come for, but stay for the shaking beef (bo luc lac), clams with basil (ngheu xao la que), soy sauce scallion steamed fish and stir-fried morning glory with garlic (rau muong xao toi). Some massive tables can accommodate 12 to 14 people — with huge Lazy Susans too. Just remember, no reservations. Go early.
● 4501 Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead, (626) 288-4388
Bun Mam Cay Dua
For those interested in venturing beyond the comfort of noodle soups like pho and bun bo Hue, Bun Mam Cay Dua offers its namesake dish, bun mam. Bun mam is a popular dish from southern Vietnam (Soc Trang) where the region borders Cambodia and shares its f lavors. Mam is a fermented shrimp paste and the main ingredient for this robustly pungent, sweet, tangy yet balanced noodle soup topped with crispy pork belly, steamed pork belly, fish, shrimp, shrimp paste, squid, eggplant and bell peppers and served with the usual accoutrements of bean sprouts and herbs. Don’t miss the banh canh cua, which is usually described as Vietnamese crab udon and comes in a delicious, starchy broth. If you’re a fan of banh xeo — the crispy, savory, stuffed rice crêpe (the name refers to the sound the turmeric-tinged rice batter makes when ladled or poured into a hot skillet) — Bun Mam Cay Dua’s is distinctive. This one is taco-sized, which is key. If banh xeo is too big or overstuffed, it gets soggy, fast. What I like about the smaller size is you can consume it much more easily and quickly, so it stays crunchier (and you still have room for bun mam — or com tam, “broken rice”).
● 8526 Valley Blvd., #106, Rosemead, (626) 545-2103
Bánh Mì Saigon 168
Also from Orange County (with locations on Brookhurst Street and Bolsa Avenue in Little Saigon) comes this new banh mi specialist known for its beautifully baked baguettes. Sandwiches come in two sizes, categorized under “baguette” and “round bread,” which is more an oval than round per se, and though chubby, it’s smaller than the baguette; it’s also the same price, except if you buy two of these, you get one free. Anyway, the baguette makes a proper banh mi with quality bread. When you bite into it, you’ll notice it doesn’t shatter and leave a pile of crumbs but instead cracks like a broken windshield, maintaining structure and its airy texture. Choose your favorite banh mi filling (grilled pork, grilled beef, sardines, etc.) or try the special fried fish cake, banh mi cha ca. This is a great snack spot for crispy egg rolls (three for $2.95) and pâté chaud (also three for $2.95) — here it’s pork liver pâté in flaky pastry. Drink options include Vietnamese coffee and avocado smoothies.
● 8118 Garvey Ave., Suite I, Rosemead, (626) 288-2132
Pho Saigon Pasteur
Named after French scientist Louis Pasteur and his namesake institution in Vietnam, Pho Saigon Pasteur is the second location opened by the family that also runs Pho Saigon Republic (formerly Pho Hoa) in Chinatown. But the menu in downtown Alhambra is far more extensive, and it’s evident that it is quickly becoming the pho specialist in SGV. For those who want a unique pho experience, you can order rib-eye pho, shabu shabustyle, where a separate pot of broth heated by Sterno candle comes to the table for cooking the raw rib-eye meat and maintaining the temperature of your pho. For a beefier punch to your pho, ask for nuoc beo, golden oil skimmed from beef bone broth. Other favorites here include the beef stew with bread or noodles (bo kho) and Vietnamese-style steak ’n’ eggs in a cast-iron skillet (bo ne).
● 235 W. Main St., Unit A, Alhambra, (626) 545-2088
King Com Tam
If you’re more into rice than noodles, Viet diner King Com Tam (formerly Com Tam Thuan Kieu) specializes in com tam, “broken rice” plates. Depending on your appetite, the signature combo platter comes with either seven or 10 items over your broken rice and a sidecar of pork spare rib broth. You can opt for banh hoi, which are bundles of woven vermicelli (bun), with your combo choice of toppings such as grilled meat (chicken, beef ribs, pork), Chinese sausage, steamed egg, shrimp cake wrapped in bean curd skin and fried, sugar-cane shrimp paste, shredded pork skin, shrimp and/or egg rolls. It’s a hands-on dish served with mo hanh scallion oil for dipping: Take a piece of lettuce, line it with a bundle of noodles and herbs, then choose your toppings, dip and repeat. With more than 200 items on the menu, there are almost too many choices. But the specialty is the broken rice.
● 120 E. Valley Blvd., Suite I & J, San Gabriel, (626) 280-5660
Mien Tay
Mien Tay offers a different kind of breakfast, a two-handed meal of banh mi xiu mai. A large steamed meatball is lathered with a glossy sauce made of tomatoes and tapioca starch, served in a bowl; the meatball is studded with diced jicama and at the center is a quail egg like a hidden treasure. Tear off a piece of the baguette that it comes with and spoon the xiu mai and sauce into it, add some herbs and chile sauce and enjoy for breakfast or lunch. In the evening, Mien Tay’s specialty is goat hot pot called lau de.
● 10012 Garvey Ave., El Monte, (626) 542-3129
Happy Buddha Kitchen With
a large population of Vietnamese practicing Buddhism, it only makes sense that there would be vegetarian offerings that are healthy, delicious and creative. For pho lovers, the vegan “beef ” is none other than Beyond Meat. Many Vietnamese standards are available here in vegetarian and vegan versions, including bowls of vermicelli with crispy egg rolls, noodle soups such as the aforementioned pho and bun bo Hue. The clay pot peppered “fish” is wrapped in seaweed for its of-the-ocean f lavor.
● 5551 Rosemead Blvd., Temple City, (626) 703-4570