Category Archive for ‘Restaurant Review’ at gas•tron•o•my

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Cơm Tấm Thuận Kiều - San Gabriel

Published

on November 6, 2008

in Bun Thit Nuong/Xao, Cha Gio, Com Tam, Restaurant Review, San Gabriel Valley and Vietnamese

. 13 Comments

For one of our first meals out on the town, The Astronomer and I met up with veteran L.A. blogger Wandering Chopsticks. The evening’s destination was admittedly unoriginal, but I was craving a cool bowl of bun (vermicelli rice noodles), and WC knew a great place in nearby San Gabriel.

The San Gabriel Valley has the largest concentration of Chinese-American communities in the United States and a robust Vietnamese population as well. Driving to the restaurant, we passed by all sorts of awesome looking ethnic eats that I am muy excited to try—exploring this culinary landscape is going to rock!

Prior to arriving at Cơm Tấm Thuận Kiều, WC warned us that the place was a bit dirty, but after surviving the squatters in China, I wasn’t too worried.

Our group of three started with an order of cha gio ($5.50), which came with herbs, greens and a few cucumber spears. Nuoc mam was served on the side for dipping. The rolls were served hot out of the fryer and tasted fantastic—crispy blistered skin with well-seasoned porky innards. Unlike Ba Sau’s pinky-legnth cha gio in Saigon, these were super-sized to satisfy American appetites. After eating my portion of the cha gio, I was quite full and could’ve called it a night. However, I still had an entree coming my way.

WC and I ordered the same dish—bun chao tom nem nuong cha gio. Now, that’s a mouthful! Literally! The bottom of the bowl was covered with fresh bean sprouts, shredded lettuce and herbs. Next, a nest of vermicelli rice noodles. And lastly, the meat—egg rolls (cha gio), meat balls (nem nuong) and shrimp paste wrapped around sugarcane (chao tom). The bowl of bun was garnished with pickled carrots and daikon, scallion oil, peanuts, and fried shallots. The noodles were solid, with the exception of the sugarcane-less chao tom and slightly rubbery nem nuong. WC postulated that the meat balls were reheated rather than grilled to order, hence their unsavory texture. Portion-wise, the bowl was the size of a stadium. If there’s a next time, I’m definitely sharing my noodles with another.

The Astronomer stuck to the broken rice side of the menu and settled on com tam bi suon nuong ($4.99)—broken rice with grilled pork chops and shredded pork. It’s been three months since Vietnam and I still can’t get over how ginormous Vietnamese-American portions are; the slab of grilled pork was the size of my face. It’s a good thing The Astronomer is a powerful eater.

The three of us left Cơm Tấm Thuận Kiều stuffed to the gills.

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Com Tam Thuan Kieu
120 E Valley Blvd., Unit E
San Gabriel, CA 91776
Phone: 626-280-5660

Broken Yolk Café - San Diego

Published

Gastronomer

on November 3, 2008

in Breakfast, Restaurant Review and San Diego

. 0 Comments

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day because after hours of solid sleep, my palate wakes up well-rested and game for another delicious day. On the Friday morning before my move to L.A., Cousin Phil took me out for a breakfast of champions at his favorite spot—Broken Yolk Café. Broken Yolk Café does brisk business on the weekends, and hungry breakfast-goers are often greeted with lines out the door. Luckily on our weekday visit, the crowd was thin and under control.

As we walked through the restaurant’s entrance, the host on duty asked if we wanted to dine outside or in. Since the sun was shining brightly and the air smelled of the sea, we settled on al fresco. Although we expected the host to take us to the outdoor seating area on the second floor, he lazily led us to the staircase and handed us menus to take with us. Phil and I are big kids and didn’t have difficulty walking ourselves up the stairs and finding a table, but as a courtesy, he should have guided us to the second floor and properly seated us. Aside from this initial blip in service, the customer care at Broken Yolk Café was friendly and dependable for the rest of our stay.

Whenever I go out for breakfast, I almost always order French toast, because unlike pancakes and omelets, French toast is difficult to prepare well at home (unless one has brioche on hand). Broken Yolk’s French toast is made from three thick slices of brioche, which results in a slightly crisp exterior and fluffy interior. Although the French toast were prepared well, the restaurant’s lack of real maple syrup made for a seriously lacking package. Serving high fructose corn syrup with maple flavoring is a cheap shortcut that demonstrates an establishment’s lack of care and good taste. I can’t wait for the day when real maple syrup is the norm at breakfast places.

Cousin Phil went for his standby—chicken fried steak. A Texas creation, “chicken fried steak is a piece of beef steak (tenderized cube steak) coated with seasoned flour and pan fried. Its name is likely due to chicken fried steak’s similarity in preparation to fried chicken.” The chicken fried steak came doused in gravy; scrambled eggs, buttered toast and hash browns were served on the side.

A connoisseur of chicken fried steak, Cousin Phil ordered an extra boat of gravy to spoon on his tenderized cube steak. Although the combination of thick gravy and fried meat was too rich for me, Cousin Phil was more than pleased with his choice and could never order anything else at Broken Yolk Café.

Broken Yolk Café is a good breakfast place, but they could be more mindful about the little things like seating customers properly and investing in real maple syrup. What makes a casual breakfast eatery great are the small details. But with a tagline like “We’ve Got Huevos” and gratis extra gravy boats to boot, I’m not surprised the customers keep coming back.

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Broken Yolk Café - Pacific Beach
1851 Garnet Ave. Pacific Beach, Ca. 92109
Phone: 858-270-YOLK (9655)

Bánh Mì and Moving Trucks

Published

Gastronomer

on November 2, 2008

in Banh Mi, Cha Gio, Che, Deli, Restaurant Review, San Diego and Vietnamese

. 3 Comments

The Astronomer is not a casual stargazer. In fact, he takes his science very seriously. After a year of quant-free fun in South East Asia, his brain was more than ready to delve into the rigors of graduate school. The Astronomer flew into San Diego from Birmingham the day before orientation started to pack up our worldly belongings and haul them to our new pad in Pasadena—home of the Rose Parade, Jackie Robinson and Dr. Drew.

Before sending him on his way, we lunched on banh mi, cha gio and che from A Chau, my favorite Vietnamese deli in San Diego. I’ve blogged twice prior (here and here) about A Chau’s wonderful sandwich offerings and continue to sing their praises.

Prices have gone up slightly since my last visit, but only by a quarter or two. The banh mi thit nguoi ($2.25) was solid, and like with all Vietnamese-American offerings, contained a more than generous portion of protein!

The banh mi thit nuong ($2.75) tasted of smoky lemongrass and reminded us of the delicious, stupendous, and fabulous sarnies we downed just a few short months ago.

We also shared three cha gio ($1 for three) because a gas•tron•o•my reader named BAM! once commented that he went out of his way to procure them and that they tasted even better than A Chau’s sandwiches. The Astronomer and I both really dug the cha gio, which was stuffed with pork and carrots, and appreciated that A Chau’s cooks made the extra effort to roll them using rice paper. I never knew the joys of blistered cha gio wrappers until spending time in Vietnam and now I consider them an essential component of the dish.

I also bought a portion of che dau hu la dua ($1.85)—sweet pandan-flavored tofu—because there’s something kinda magical about the subtlety of pandan. The che turned out to be a disappointment because the overall flavor was sweet, rather than pandan. Food coloring can be so tricky! I guess I’ll just stick to the tried and true ginger tofu from now on.