Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Restaurant Review

13 Apr 2009

Golden Deli – San Gabriel

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Golden Deli is considered to be Los Angeles’ best Vietnamese restaurant by many discerning diners. It’s too early in the game for me to chime in on which Vietnamese eatery I think is the city’s best, but Golden Deli is definitely an all-around solid joint.

In comparison to Cơm Tấm Thuận Kiều and arch-nemesis Vietnam House, Golden Deli has a spiffier and warmer interior. Pleasant ambiance isn’t something I seek out in Vietnamese restaurants, but I appreciate it where it’s found. The people who work here are also really fantastic—I had fun conversing with our waiter in my growing-worse-by-the-day Vietnamese.

My friend Carissa and I dined at Golden Deli on a random weekday for lunch. Even though the space was packed to the rafters, we didn’t have to wait long for a table to open up. We started off our midday Vietnamese banquet with an order of Golden Deli’s famous cha gio ($5.75). According to LA Weekly’s Jonathan Gold, “Golden Deli has the best cha gio, fried Vietnamese spring rolls, in the observable universe.”

The cha gio here are hefty and generously stuffed with ground pork, wood ear mushrooms, glass noodles, and carrots. The plate of greens and herbs served with the rolls was plentiful, and the nuoc cham was just right. There’s no doubt that Golden Deli churns out a tasty cha gio, but like a lot of Vietnamese foods found in these here parts, they’re far too large. As a result of their bulk, oil tends to cling to the wrappers, creating a heavier overall package.

Vietnamese food, even of the deep-fried variety, should always be light and fresh. The title of best cha gio in the observable universe goes to my great aunt Ba Sau—her pinky-sized rolls with perfectly blistered wrappers are unrivaled.

Carissa requested that I order her something fabulous, so I chose one of my all-time faves—com tam bi cha thit nuong trung opla ($7.95). The broken rice platter was comprised of three awesomely delicious and awesomely different pork preparations, along with two fried eggs. Carissa’s favorite was the tender pork loaf. She gave me a taste and I was very impressed—the loaf was steamed to perfection and tasted just like grandma’s.

I ordered a bowl of bun thit nuong chao tom ($6.25)—cool vermicelli rice noodles topped with grilled pork, grilled shrimp paste, crushed peanuts, fried shallots, and scallion oil. Beneath the noodles and meat were a heap of bean sprouts, shredded lettuce, and herbs. The bun thit nuong chao tom was highly enjoyable but would’ve been better if the shrimp paste had been served with its traditional sugarcane skewer. In a city brimming with great Vietnamese eats, it’s the little details that give one restaurant an edge over the others. Show me the sugarcane.

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Golden Deli
815 W. Las Tunas Drive
San Gabriel, CA 91776
Phone: 626-308-0803

Recipe

11 Apr 2009

Fresh Mango Bread

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15 Comments

Dorie Greenspan’sBaking: From My Home to Yours has been a tremendous source of baking inspiration for me recently. This Fresh Mango Bread is the third recipe of hers that I’ve prepared in the span of two and a half weeks—my oven and measuring spoons have been getting quite a workout.

This quick bread sets itself apart from the banana and zucchini breads of the world with its deliciously caramelized crust. When I took the bread out of the oven after an hour-and-a-half of baking, I was afraid that I had burned the exterior to an unpleasant crisp. At first bite, I realized this wasn’t the case at all. Whew! Another winner from Dorie.

3 large eggs
3/4 cup flavorless oil, such as canola or safflower oil
2 1/2 cups (13.5 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 cups diced mango (from 1 large peeled and pitted mango)
3/4 cup moist, plump golden raisins
Grated zest of 1/2 a lime

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. Put the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other. (This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from over-baking).

Begin by dicing the mangoes. Set aside.

Whisk the eggs and oil together.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Rub the brown sugar between your palms into the bowl, breaking up any lumps, then stir it in.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, switch to a sturdy rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix until blended—the batter will be very thick (really more like a dough than a batter) and not easily mixed, but persevere, it will soon come together.

Stir in the mango, raisins and zest. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake the bread for 1 1/2 hours, or until it is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. (If the bread looks as if it’s getting too brown as it bakes, cover it loosely with a foil tent). Transfer the pan to a rack and cool 5 minutes before running a knife around the sides of the pan and unmolding. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.

Serving: As good as this bread is freshly baked, I think it’s even better the next day. one day spent wrapped in plastic seems to intensify the fruit and spice flavors. Of course, if you can’t wait, don’t. Just cut the loaf into thick slices and serve with tea, hot or iced, or coffee.

Storing: Wrapped in plastic, the cake will keep for about 4 days at room temperature.

Recipe from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

[For Printable Recipe Click Here]

Restaurant Review

10 Apr 2009

Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles – Pasadena

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Remember the show House of Style on MTV? It was hosted by Cindy Crawford in the late 80s. The weekly occurring, hour-long program explored the world of celebrity, modeling, and style before the ultra-intrusive paparazzi era. Even though it’s been a good fifteen years since I’ve actually seen an episode, some segments have stuck in my mind all these years, like the do-it-yourself projects with Todd Oldham and the episode where Dennis Rodman tried on Speedos for Cindy—talk about a plantain hammock.

There wasn’t really much food talk on House of Style because models and food go together like oil and water. The one exception was when the incredibly-stylish Lenny Kravitz took Cindy on a tour of his favorite Los Angeles haunts, including a stop at Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles.

Taking a cue from Lenny, The Astronomer and I took our Hawaiian visitor Luscious Liana here for her final dinner in the City of Angels.

Roscoe’s menu goes above and beyond the well-known chicken and waffles. Soul food staples like grits, biscuits, chicken livers, giblets, and collard greens are also on the bill of fare. For our inaugural visit, we stuck to the house specials. Afraid that Roscoe’s only dished out high-fructose corn syrup instead of 100% maple syrup, I brought along a bottle of the real deal in my purse. I don’t like to leave my fate in the hands of strangers.

The Astronomer and I shared half a chicken prepared Southern-style with two waffles ($15.30). As anticipated, the chicken was killer. The skin was crispy and well-seasoned, while the meat was splendidly moist. I selfishly hogged up the dark meat and left the poor Astronomer with the hefty breast. It was a lot of food for two people, but chicken and waffles don’t taste nearly as good the next day, so we rallied like champions.

The waffle portion of our meal was served on separate plates with two shots of Aunt Jemima and two blobs of butter for each of us. The waffle was decent, but not as crisp as we would’ve liked. Even though the waffle wasn’t perfect, The Astronomer still happily dug in because he hasn’t seen this style of waffle since he left Waffle House Territory.

Everyone at the table agreed that chicken and waffles tasted best when eaten together. Take a square of waffle plus a hunk of chicken, add to it a piece of crispy skin, a shmear of butter, and a dousing of syrup, and you’ve got a handsome sweet and savory delight.

In addition to the chicken and waffles, The Astronomer and I also shared a side of cornbread ($2.40). Unlike traditional Southern cornbread, these muffins were done sweet, Yankee-style. The cornbread was good, but not good enough to order on our next visit to Roscoe’s.

Bonus: Click below to see how Luscious Liana likes to eat her chicken and waffles. Warning—it’s a heart attack on a plate.

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Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles
830 North Lake Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91104
Phone: 626-791-4890

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