Restaurant Review
18 Mar 2009

Chicken Day – Los Angeles (Koreatown)

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Whenever I have an appointment or an errand to run outside of Pasadena, I always pencil in a feast near my destination to make the long drive and treacherous traffic worthwhile. Killing two birds with one stone is always a treat, especially if the bird in question is fried to perfection.

Prior to a meeting on Wilshire Boulevard near the Miracle Mile, The Astronomer and I cruised into K-town for some Korean fried chicken. My first taste of the awesomeness that is K.F.C. was at KyoChon Chicken, a Korean import located up the street. After my first snapalicious bite, my mouth was on fire and I was completely hooked.

Chicken Day is a local chain with a so-so reputation—some cats are crazy about the joint, while others aren’t as impressed. Going to KyoChon would’ve been a guaranteed slam dunk, but exploring new territory is half the fun. Just like the proprietors of Ducks Restaurant in San Gabriel, the owners of Chicken Day have drawn decorating inspiration from their namesake. From the walls to the glass cups atop each table, cocks abound.

The Astronomer and I shared a 14-piece spread ($14.90) featuring Chicken Day’s three flavor offerings—“special spicy sauce,” “teriyaki sauce,” and “fried chicken.”

Chilled daikon cubes and extra “spicy sauce” were served on the side.

The plain variety resembled traditional Southern fried chicken. The slightly under-seasoned batter yielded a golden and crispy exterior, while the innards were moist and dare I say, juicy. The drumsticks were good and all, but we came to Chicken Day for K.F.C., not Popeye’s.

The “special spicy sauce” nuggets were only partially true to their name; they were indeed special, but spicy they were not. The unidentifiable chicken parts were deep-fried and coated in a sticky sweet glaze comprised of 27 different ingredients, including cloves, cinnamon, and five-spice. The mounds of glossy meat were garnished with a sprinkling of crushed peanuts. The overall taste and composition of this dish was reminiscent of General Tso’s chicken, but with a more complex and intriguing flavor profile.

A more fitting name for the “teriyaki sauce” chicken would have been “soy sauce” chicken. This one was The Astronomer’s favorite. I thought the “teriyaki” marinade was decent, but in comparison to KyoChon’s pungent garlicky number it was thoroughly boring. Also, the chicken’s skin didn’t quite achieve the classic double-fried snap, which is a shame.

POWER RANKINGS

KyoChon > Bonchon > Chicken Day > Hite Kwang-Jang.

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Chicken Day
301 S Western Ave., Ste. 107
Los Angeles, CA 90020
Phone: 213-387-9933

Chicken Day on Urbanspoon

Chicken Day in Los Angeles

Restaurant Review
17 Mar 2009

Bánh Mì Mỹ Tho – Alhambra

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A couple weeks after rocking the party at Disneyland to celebrate my birthday, The Astronomer and I returned to Anaheim to cash in our 2fer California Adventure passes. Disney has been most generous to us this month. Grazie!

Sticking with tradition, we stopped in Alhambra to pick up some Vietnamese sandwiches for lunch and dinner. An amusement park outing just wouldn’t be complete without our third wheel—banh mi.

Bánh Mì Mỹ Tho was recommended to me by gas•tron•o•my reader William. “My favorite banh mi shop is Bánh Mì Mỹ Tho,” he writes. “The shop is small, but the taste is big at this place. I think they have the best tasting banh mi around. Even better than the fancy schmancy Mr. Baguette.” I really do love receiving reader recs, especially from folks who hail from the San Gabriel Valley. Thanks, William!

The petite shop was was crammed with banh mi-goers and prepared foods the morning we stopped in. In addition to sandwiches, Bánh Mì Mỹ Tho also sells com tam (broken rice plates), bun (vermicelli rice noodles), and banh uot (thin rice noodle sheets).

Not knowing how huge the sandwiches were going to be, The Astronomer and I purchased four of them to-go. I dug into the banh mi thit nguoi ($2) on the car ride down to Anaheim for breakfast. The array of cold cuts present were plentiful and mild in flavor—even the pate was quite subdued. The bread was firm and substantial.

The banh mi xiu mai ($2.25) was the tastiest of the bunch. The bits of ground pork were sauteed in a sweet and savory marinade with onions. The saucy marinade served to flavor the meat and moisten the bread.

The banh mi thit nuong ($2.25) was sweet and savory as well, but not executed as successfully as the xiu mai. We prefer our thit nuong with a deeper lemongrass flavor.

The banh mi nem nuong ($2.25) was decent—the meatballs provided more texture than flavor due to the overly bread-y baguette.

From what I’ve sampled so far, the downfall of banh mi in the San Gabriel Valley are the baguettes—they’re far too large and much, much too thick. A proper Vietnamese baguette is made entirely of rice flour, which yields a crisp exterior and hollow center, thus allowing the fixins to really shine through. (See: A Chau in San Diego and our banh mi thit nuong vendor in Saigon for some perfect specimens.) The banh mi makers in this town need to move away from super-sized baguettes because the resulting product packs a watered-down punch. Quality always trumps quantity, and good taste rules all.

The banh mi I’ve tasted in the San Gabriel Valley are good, but I’m looking for stellar.

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Bánh Mì Mỹ Tho
304 W Valley Blvd.
Alhambra, CA 91803
Phone: 626-289-4160

Banh Mi My Tho on Urbanspoon

Banh Mi My Tho in Los Angeles

Restaurant Review
16 Mar 2009

V.P. Tofu – Monterey Park

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When it comes to desserts, there’s always room for tofu. I’m not one for drawing broad conclusions, but I’ve tested this truism across several continents and countless meals, and it has never failed me.

After cramming in one too many “bread foods” at Qing Dao Bread Food, The Astronomer and I headed up the street to V.P. Tofu for dessert. Following a porky and greasy Chinese feast, the thought of warm silken tofu was downright soothing and endlessly appealing.

V.P. Tofu is a Vietnamese-run establishment offering all sorts of soy products, including fresh tofu, deep-fried tofu, and soy milk (or “soy juice” if you’re in Tony C.’s camp). There’s also a selection of Vietnamese sweets like sticky rice (xoi) and tapioca cakes (banh da lon) strewn across the counter.

We ordered two small containers of sweet tofu ($1.10 each)—one with ginger syrup and the other with pandan essence. Both were served in Styrofoam cups to protect our hands. There’s no seating for patrons inside V.P., so The Astronomer and I took our sweets to the streets—Asia-style.

The texture of the tofu was perfectly smooth and light, while the flavor was clean and mild. The ginger syrup wasn’t as intensely spicy as the ones made by our favorite street side tofu vendor in Saigon, but definitely flavorful enough to sweeten the gentle curds nicely.

The pandan tofu was delightful as well. I was skeptical at the start due to a previous bad experience with a pandan imposter, but was very pleased after my first bite. The pandan tofu was topped with creamy coconut milk.

This place is a keeper.

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V.P. Tofu
237 S Garfield Avenue
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Phone: 626-572-9930