Archive for the 'Deli' Category

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Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery – Los Angeles (Santa Monica)

Published by Gastronomer on August 15, 2011 in Deli, Italian, Los Angeles, Restaurant Review and Santa Monica. 12 Comments

After spending Sunday afternoon watching “The Never Ending Story” with 80 diehard Weezer fans, I stepped out of the theater feeling positively hungry. It turns out that fantastical stories populated by a cast of strange characters bring on the pangs like you wouldn’t believe.

I remembered seeing Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery when we exited off the highway and couldn’t think of a better time than the present to finally experience “The Godmother.” Cue the singing angels…

The hype surrounding The Godmother is nothing short of tremendous. Its legion of passionate fans endure long lines, nightmarish parking, and gruff customer service for the pleasure found between two slices of hefty Italian bread.

When The Astronomer and I arrived at the market slash deli sometime past four o’clock, we made our way through the sizable crowd hovering around the counter to grab a numbered ticket. One Godmother sandwich with “the works” was in my hands within fifteen minutes.

All of the picnic tables along the L-shaped patio were occupied, so The Astronomer and I dug in on our feet over a slab of concrete railing.

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Schwartz’s Montréal Hebrew Delicatessen – Montréal

Published by Gastronomer on July 4, 2011 in Deli, Jewish, Montreal, Québécois and Restaurant Review. 13 Comments

Besides poutine, the thing to eat while in Montréal is smoked meat. There are a handful of purveyors around town, but Schwartz’s Montréal Hebrew Delicatessen is the most well known and highly regarded.

The restaurant was opened in 1928 by a Jewish immigrant from Romania named Reuben Schwartz. The smoked meat is prepared using a secret blend of herbs and spices and marinated for ten days. Schwartz’s has employed the same recipe and techniques for over 80 years and takes great pride in serving a preservative-free product.

The Astronomer and I, along with our friends Nina, Linda, and Dan, made our way here for lunch on our first full day in the city. Even though we arrived well past lunchtime, there was still quite a lengthy line outside the restaurant. After waiting for about 30 minutes, we were finally ushered in.

Due to the restaurant’s limited space and immense popularity, smaller parties are usually seated with strangers along the long narrow tables that occupy the room. Our group was large enough this afternoon to merit our own domain.

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Lee’s Sandwiches – Alhambra

Published by Gastronomer on July 10, 2009 in Alhambra, Banh Mi, Deli, Los Angeles, Restaurant Review and Vietnamese. 14 Comments

Lee’s Sandwiches wants to bring banh mi to the masses and in the process, redefine the concept of fast-food. All franchised locations are outfitted with Krispy Kreme-esque fluorescent signs, automated ordering systems, and full-color bilingual menus. With 37 operations in California, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, and a handful of international locations, for better or worse, Lee’s Sandwiches is the face of fast-food Vietnamese cuisine. This ain’t no Mom and Pop shop op.

Prior to my recent trip to The Aloha State, I swung by Lee’s Sandwiches in Alhambra to pick up some banh mi for my in-flight dinner. The store’s interior reminded me a bit of the air-con street food shops in Vietnam, but slightly less polished.

Ordering took longer than usual due to the bilingual menu—it was boggling to see photos of banh mi accompanied by English descriptors. The menu featured Vietnamese text as well, but the font was so small that squinting was required. Even though “banh mi dac biet” and “combination” are one in the same, the Vietnamese name is more familiar, and thus makes more sense.

While automated ordering systems and fluorescent signs add nice touches of modernity to Lee’s Sandwiches, the innovation that impressed me the most were the wrappers the sandwiches arrived in. Usually, banh mi comes wrapped in plain white butcher paper. If a vendor is especially mindful, she’ll scribble the sandwich’s name sloppily on the paper.

The sheets of butcher paper at Lee’s Sandwiches have the name of each sandwich neatly printed on them, which makes the process of figuring out which sandwich is which a breeze.

I picked up three sandwiches to sample; each one was priced at $2.45. From left to right—banh mi dac biet (cold cuts, forcemeats, pate), banh mi thit nuong (grilled pork), and banh mi xa xiu (sweet Chinese barbecued pork).

Firstly, an assessment of the bread. The baguettes at Lee’s Sandwiches aren’t a thick mess like some, but were so chewy that my jaws ached after a few bites. I’m not sure if I was served particularly old loaves, but dang, chew, chew, chew!

As far as fillings go, the “combination” banh mi was smeared with a great pate that moistened and seasoned the entire sandwich. The thit nuong was a major disappointment due to its saccharine-like sweetness, odd texture, and lack of charcoal essence. The xa xiu was solid.

The banh mi at Lee’s Sandwiches aren’t especially awesome, but compared to other fast-food options on the market, their product is easily tops. If there was a Lee’s Sandwiches for every McDonald’s, the world would be a better place.

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Lee’s Sandwiches
1289 East Valley Boulevard
Alhambra, CA 91801
Phone: 626-282-5589

Saigon's Bakery & Sandwiches – San Gabriel / San Jose

Published by Gastronomer on June 18, 2009 in Banh Day Kep Cha, Banh Mi, Deli, Mon An Chay, Restaurant Review, San Gabriel, Silicon Valley and Vietnamese. 15 Comments

The banh mi from Saigon’s Bakery & Sandwiches are so delicious that weathered street gentlemen wake up from their pavement slumbers to come for lunch. This silly thought crossed my mind as I walked into the Vietnamese deli and saw the scruffiest man waiting in line for a sandwich. His straight-outta-Saigon get-up signaled that this place was gonna be good.

The Astronomer and I recently stopped into Saigon’s Bakery & Sandwiches to pick up some grub for our road trip up to The Bay. Danny of Kung Food Panda recommended it to us—it’s his go-to place for fulfilling unruly banh mi cravings. Vehicular banh mi consumption is a messy affair, but dealing with a few stray crumbs is a small sacrifice for enjoying the most satisfying of sandwiches.

We picked up three sandwiches for the road, from left to right, banh mi bi (pork skin), banh mi thit nuong (grilled pork), and banh mi dac biet (cold cuts galore). Each sandwich was priced at $2.25.

Thus far in my quest for stellar banh mi in the San Gabriel Valley, I’ve been disappointed by the baguettes. Unlike the airy fairy, rice floured specimens in Vietnam, the ones I encountered at Ba Le French Sandwich & Bakery, Bánh Mì & Chè Cali, and Bánh Mì Mỹ Tho were super-sized and thick.

I was pleased like you wouldn’t believe when I bit into Saigon’s Bakery & Sandwiches’ baguette. It provided excellent support, a pleasant crisp, and not too much fluff as to overwhelm the fixins. I appreciated how the baguette was substantial without being heavy. Bravo!

Of the trio of banh mi, The Astronomer and I adored the bi the most. The stringy bits of pork skin were well-seasoned and melded terrifically with the bread and pickled vegetables.

On our way out the door, the woman behind the counter gifted The Astronomer and me a long and lean baguette. Perhaps there was a “buy three sandwiches, get one baguette free” deal that we were unaware of. Or maybe the woman was just being nice.

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A few days later, before loading up our car and departing for Los Angeles, we asked my aunt and uncle whom we were staying with in Redwood City for the name of a good place to grab banh mi for the road. “Saigon’s Bakery & Sandwiches,” they responded. Fancy that! It turns out that Saigon’s Bakery & Sandwiches is a chain four locations strong. There are two outlets in Little Saigon, in addition to the ones in San Gabriel and San Jose.

The prices in San Jose were 25 cents higher than at the San Gabriel branch, but fortunately, the bread and fixins were identical. This time around, we ordered another bi because it was our favorite, a xiu mai (meatballs), and a bi chay (vegetarian bi). All three were great.

I also picked up a wonderful snack called bánh dày kẹp chả, which was comprised of a thick slice of fried pork forcemeat sandwiched between two intensely sticky tapioca cakes. The cakes are so gooey and thick that choking is a real possibility, so do be careful.

With good tunes and even better eats, we were home in L.A. in no time.

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Saigon’s Bakery & Sandwiches
718 East Valley Boulevard
San Gabriel, CA 91776
Phone: 626-288-6475

Saigon’s Bakery & Sandwiches
953 Mclaughlin Avenue
San Jose, CA 95122
Phone: 408-271-9744

Lemonade – Los Angeles (West Hollywood)

Published by Gastronomer on June 11, 2009 in Deli, Dessert, Los Angeles, Restaurant Review and West Hollywood. 7 Comments

With my penchant for thoroughly researching good eats, there’s hardly ever an opportunity for impulsive food buys. What usually foils my neat and tidy plans is my metabolism. When my blood sugar’s taken a dip and dinner reservations are still three hours away, my inner calculated eater takes a backseat, and any calorie will do.

That’s how I found myself at Lemonade.

Given the adorable pale yellow cursive font advertising its presence to the neighborhood, I had a hunch that this joint would have cupcakes on hand. And if not cupcakes, than something equally cute and sugary. A jolt of the refined white stuff was exactly what I needed to tide me over until chow time.

While not officially a cupcakery, Lemonade has five varieties of cupcakes for sale at two bucks a piece. Even though the cupcakes didn’t look the freshest and the man behind the counter was completely clueless about frosting flavors, I did what I had to do to keep the party train running.

I tore into my chocolate squared cupcake on Lemonade’s patio. The cupcake was oddly shaped, with an uneven muffin top and a tall dollop of frosting. A disfigured cupcake begs to eaten sandwich-style to avoid sticky noses and stretched jaws.

The frosting was chocolaty and pleasant, but the cake was maddeningly dry and dense. The cupcake tasted like it was made with indifference, as if the baker knew that a starving cupcake-loving girl would buy it regardless of its flaws. I’m such a sucker.

The mediocrity of the cupcake was quickly forgotten as soon as I arrived at M+B Gallery, which is located down the street from Lemonade and was our chief reason for venturing to this part of town. Photographer Lisa Jack’s Barack Obama: The Freshman was currently on display.

President Obama was photographed by Lisa Jack while they were both undergrads at Occidental College. These photos, which were locked away for 28 years, offer a unique glimpse at a young and self-conscious man who went on to do some amazing things. For inexplicable reasons, my favorite portraits were the ones of him smoking. The exhibit will be on display at M+B until July 18.

Click below for larger portraits of “Barry” as a frosh.

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Lemonade
9001 Beverly Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90048
Phone: 310-247-2500

M+B Gallery
612 North Almont Drive
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Phone: 310-550-0050