Pho Le Loi, San Gabriel - Hot Fish on the Platter (Dill & Turmeric Fish Noodles)

Pho restaurants in San Gabriel Valley have proliferated over the last two decades – many of the restaurateurs moving out to the area because of heavy competition in the primordial roots of Little Saigon in Westminster. We all have our favorites in SGV and Little Saigon, and find it difficult to digress from the familiar places like Golden Deli, Vietnam House, Saigon Flavor, Pho 54 and Pho 79. Driving by a place like the one pictured above makes it hard to park and try it out. It's easy to overlook this as another pho restaurant because of its name. But it wasn't until I noticed the smaller words under 'Pho Le Loi' and a mentioning from a Chicago/LA foodie by the name of ErikM that I decided to try it. And I couldn't be more glad that I stopped by.

What is cha ca thang long? It's a delicious fish dish cooked with dill and turmeric, originating from Hanoi, Vietnam. It's served on a sizzling platter with a haystack of white onions and dill with fixings including rice noodles, herbs, vegetables and dipping sauce. At Hanoi's famous restaurant, Cha Ca La Vong, the fish is parcooked inside the kitchen and finished off at the table to really whet the appetite of the patrons. The sound of the sizzling fish, intense heaps of aromatic dill and smell of white onions really sets the stage for a good meal. I first had a variation of this dish at Viet Soy Cafe in Silver Lake and enjoyed it enough to make it at home.

I walked in with Jeni and her brother and were greeted by a happy young man and his mother wearing an apron. One quick look at the menu, and we knew what we already wanted to try. Their eyes lit up when I told them that they offered cha ca thang long, a dish they had eaten in Vietnam last year. Besides the sizzling platter version of the dill & turmeric fish dish, you can also order it in a fish paste form, which I also love.

Bun Ca Thi La - Dill & Turmeric Fish Soup Noodles
Expecting something similar that I ate at Viet Soy Cafe, I actually got happy because it resembled, or actually is, bun rieu. Bun rieu is a tomato-based soup with crab and vermicelli noodles that comes with your choice of either the dill & turmeric fish paste or periwinkle sea snails (oc) – these two being the most popular. I ate this at Vien Dong in Little Saigon and it was simply awesome. Anyway, great aroma to this dish due to the perfect amount of tomatoes and dill used. The crab was moist and carried the tomato-flavor like a sponge. I saved the best part (fish paste) for last. Pho Le Loi's version, as you can see, is heavily specked with black pepper and tastes different than Vien Dong's – nonetheless very good. Maggi, the chef/owner, said they use rockfish to make their fish paste. I love this dish because it really entices the palate, like bun bo hue, which is another favorite of mine.

Bac Ha - A Tuber Native to Southeast Asia
This is the first time I've eaten this type of tuber. Wikipedia states that is somewhat like a taro root, but this is more or less the stem of the plant. This is used a lot in Vietnamese and Cambodian cooking because it is porous and really retains the flavor of soup like a sponge. It looked somewhat like a celery but reminded me of a type of Chinese bamboo shoot used in Mongolian-style hot pot. Expecting it to be soggy, I was surprised by how crisp and textured it was. One bite into this and the faucets of soup were turned on. Loved it. Reminded me a lot of Chinese soupy dumplings (xiao long bao).

Cha Ca Thang Long - Dill & Turmeric Fish on Sizzling Platter
You can be in a loud HK-style cafe in SGV yapping away with your drunk friends, eating beef chow mein or wonton soup noodles and suddenly hear a sound like ttttttttttttttttthiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. It can only mean the beautiful sound of something delicious sizzling in a black iron platter. I was busy getting a facial in my bowl of soup noodles and heard that wonderful sound. All 3 of us looked back and saw the happy young man walking towards us with the prized dish in his hand – the dish sizzling with so many onions that the steam nearly blocked out his face. Awesome. He set the platter down and we admired this haystack of goodness. As you can see, the fish is almost nowhere to be seen, like a Navy Seal in the jungles of Laos. Look at all those onions and dill. The onions, as with Korean BBQ restaurants, act as padding for the fish as well as last minute flavor boosters. The parade didn't stop as the server came back another two times to bring us noodles, vegetables, two types of sauce (one made with finely ground shrimp sauce and the ubiquitous nuc mam), peanuts and black sesame rice crackers. All of this for $13.99 – enough to feed two needy people. Vien Dong in Little Saigon also serves this dish – again, a very friendly and solid restaurant in OC.

DIY Vietnamese Food
What I love about Vietnamese food is that you aren't limited to eating styles. If you like to 'interact' with your food and be your own chef, this will make you happy. With the fish sizzling on the platter, you can decide between lettuce for a wrap or you can do it like this. Grab some bun rice noodles, fish, onions, dill and your choice of sauce and stir it up. The fish had nice texture but tasted slightly overcooked – but that's our fault. We didn't eat it right away because we were still finishing the aforementioned dish. My tip for you: eat this RIGHT AWAY so that you get the fish at its best. Nonetheless, this was really tasty and fun to eat. I ate all the onions on the platter!

I have never felt this full in a Vietnamese restaurant. I usually get full really quickly, but that's because I'm guzzling all the soup. This is filling meal that I'll continue to have. The service is good and the people here wear smiles. Besides these two dishes, they offer the standard Vietnamese fare like egg rolls, pork chop and noodles. They however, do not offer beef pho – only chicken pho (pho ga). However, these are just extras walking around in the back of a movie – the real stars are anything made with dill & turmeric. And to top off everything, for the first time in a long time, I was not thirsty after eating Vietnamese food – especially after pho. Cheers to Pho Le Loi for not dumping MSG all over the place.

If you have any more suggestions for cha ca thang long, would love to hear about it. I've heard about Hanoi Restaurant in Little Saigon and have added that to my long list of Little Saigon places to eat at. Thanks for reading.

Pho Le Loi
107 E. Valley Blvd. (Just east of Del Mar Avenue)
San Gabriel, CA 91776

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Fraîche, Culver City - Good Lunch Option for Under $15

If you're tired of Tender Greens, Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken, Sushi Zo, Sushi Karen and the numerous Thai/Chinese restaurants in Culver City, Fraîche might be a great option – with a lunch menu that fits snugly under $15. Frank Bruni of New York Times rated Fraîche as his #6 favorite 'coast-to-coast' restaurant, and stated that he could eat their salads everyday. I've been passing by this place for months and it wasn't until Jeni told me how much she liked the food, that I decided to give, Fraîche, a little attention. This is the kind of place that would make Rachael Ray flash her vibrant, $40-a-day, Joker-like smile. That smile.

I met up my friend TN, aka TyTown, on a Friday afternoon here at Fraîche, who's been a fan ever since having dinner here. And joining us, was our new Canon 40D only a few days old. Jeni & I had our Nikon D70 stolen during a trip to the Quintana Roo-side of Mexico. Under-$15 meal, long lunch break with beer, perfect daylight, and a new Canon – conditions were perfect. Oh yeah, and lunch with a good friend.

I usually don't pay this much attention to such commonplace objects like plates, forks and knives. But they served as perfect subjects for practice shots.

And have you ever heard of this thing known as bread. Apparently it's made of flour, yeast, oil and salt. Mixed together and baked at a certain temperature, it takes shape into this! Apparently, Jesus was a big fan of this. Seriously, more practice-shot fodder.

Any lunch break that is bound to last more than a hour and a half is usually preceded by a nice, crisp beer. Forgot the name of this, but maybe my beer connoisseur friend can guess it's name simply by looking at it.

Burrata Cheese with Roasted Red Peppers & Balsamic
We started out with this per Jeni's recommendation. I can never say no to such a soft, roll-your-eyes-back cheese like burrata. The burrata cheese is dolloped generously over vibrant, red peppers, still shiny from lounging in a pool of high quality EVOO. Garnished with thinly-sliced red onions and parsley, and drizzled with the Italian equivalent of soy sauce. Thought this was very good, but definitely not the best burrata I've eaten. This was a bit more 'cottage-cheese' like in texture but still retained creaminess.

Royale with Cheese
Any fan of Pulp Fiction will do a double take upon seeing this written in the menu. The sound of it immediately causes you to salivate. The prime beef patty is served with gruyere cheese in a sage/cheese bread which resembles a scone. Condiments are served on the side. I loved this, especially the bread. It was the perfect balance of sage and cheese and exhibited a nice toastiness to it. As an LA burger, I put this in line right after Father's Office' burger. Not sure how it compares to The Counter or Apple Pan, so if there are any burger connoisseurs, would love to hear what you think. I myself only eat 3-4 burgers a year.

Fraîche Fries
These are fries done nicely... 36-24-36 fries. Fried beautifully with skin still on. And the perfect amount – about 25-30 pieces. I hate when a restaurant dumps a crap load of Sysco french fries next to a burger or two pieces of battered fish. Proportions are good!

Seared Albacore Tuna, Black Olive, Anchovy & Egg Sandwich (Pan Bagnet)
Fish. Olives. Anchovies. Eggs. I'm sold. You can separate these individually in a tray and I'd still be happy. This was one wholesome looking sandwich. Thick cut of nicely-seared albacore, salty anchovies, olives and my favorite, eggs. This was good but probably my last time ordering this. The tuna was cut a little too thick and didn't have enough salt. Where is my Maggi sauce when I need it?

Overall, this is one solid lunch spot. With food that looks like this, you'd expect a lot of tilted heads and raised nostrils – not one bit. I felt like I was on vacation here... enjoying my food and crisp beer. And the best thing about it is that the lunch menu is pretty much under $15. Now I have a place to celebrate paycheck-day!

Fraîche
9411 Culver Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310-839-6800
http://www.fraicherestaurantla.com/

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Father's Office II, Culver City - The Sang Yoon Bleu Cheese Burger Legacy Continues

Sequels. Usually a thing that's hit or miss. Karate Kid. Police Academy. Die Hard. Van Dumb & Steven Segal movies... you either love them or you hate them. And a big can of worms is opened with various opinions. With all the talk over the last year about Father's Office opening a second location, the question isn't whether or not it'll be better than the Santa Monica location... the question is "when the f*ck is it actually opening?" And finally, after god knows how long, Chef Sang Yoon has opened up chapter 2 in his restaurant career with Father's Office II this week, located in the Helms Bakery Building in Culver City, or to foodies, as CuCi. I myself, call it Construction City, because things never seem to get done here thanks to Cal Trans.

At exactly 5:07 pm, my coworker RM, Jeni and I quickly turned on to Helms Avenue. It was only the 2nd day of the grand opening and we eagerly stuck our heads out the window to see if there were herds of people outside. And.... NO! No ridiculous Best Buy line-around-the-building crap.

We walked up and were given a warm welcome by the door man. Yes, a door man. "Welcome to Father's Office." Once we walked in, it was immediately understood why this establishment had taken so long to open. It's with Chef Yoon's careful planning, immaculate design and pure passion and craft that make Father's Office an experience of its own. In front of us stood the bar, made out of beautifully, lacquered wood. Behind, we saw about 35+ taps on both the left and right side of the back wall, making it a total of 70+ taps ready to imbibe us with goodness. All the bartenders and servers wore black t-shirts with a simple "F.O..." graphic. Why there are thought dots... I don't know. Maybe a breath of relief that it's finally opened?

35+ Delicious Choices of Beer
Chef Yoon is definitely a beer connoisseur, or in proper form, a cerevisaphile. I felt like a kid in a candy store as I slowly studied the various taps from left to right. Most I have heard of, yet it's still amazing to see all this godsend in one place.

Non-Beer Items
In addition to beer, Chef Yoon has a liking for tequilas, whiskies and gin – further proof that Koreans love to drink. If you look carefully between the shelves, you'll see what looks like a digital indicator. He's got humidifying fans installed above the bottles so that each spirit rests in an optimum level for your enjoyment.

Delirium Tremens, one solid Belgian beer.

Inversion IPA. Never heard of it, but tasted great.

Hitachino Classic Ale. A solid Japanese beer made in Hitachi, Japan, the same city as the major electronics brand.

Smoked Eel with Poached Egg
Yes, all everyone talks about is the Bleu Cheese burger at FO, but what about the lonely, neglected stepchildren on the menu... like the Smoked Eel with Poached Egg. Man, I love this dish. First off it's smoked and it has my most favorite ingredient in the world, eggs. I poked the poached egg with the tine of my fork and watched the yolk slowly ooze out like a premature volcano. I mixed the thinly sliced red onions, poached egg with the horseradish/creme fraîche and cut a piece of the eel. The eel actually required me to use a knife to cut through it, a sign that the fish had great texture. I love this dish. It's a perfect balance of smokiness, temperature and texture. *high-5* Sang Yoon.

Lamb Skewers with Roasted Eggplant and Radicchio
My vegan coworker RM ordered this. Which doesn't make any sense, but he in general, doesn't make a lot of sense at all. Anyway, loved this dish as well. I could taste cayenne, paprika, cumin and oregano... very Mediterranean. The lamb was so fresh that it didn't have any gameyness to it. If you told me it was beef after about 6 beers, I'd believe you.

Yam Fries "A La Cart"
Yet another food pun. But what a great dish it is. These taste better than a lot of the yam fries I've eaten in Koreatown cafes. Nicely seasoned with a side of Cabreles Bleu Cheese aioli. *High-5 Sang Yoon*

Father's Office Bleu Cheese Burger
One time at the Santa Monica FO, my friend and I argued over how many burgers FO sells in one day. In about one hour starting at 12 pm, we saw nearly 30 orders go out. And it wasn't even busy at all. Any idea how many they sell in a day at the new location? My guess is 400 on an average day. 400 x $12 = $4,800. *High-5 Sang Yoon*

And how does the FO sequel pan out? I think it's going to be one of the biggest profiters in Culver City. FO2 is larger, offers more beer and is located at the right place at the right time, when Culver City is booming as a culinary pit-stop in Los Angeles. Next question for Chef Sang Yoon, will there be a 3rd sequel in the near future? And also Sang Yoon, can you add wireless to FO2 so that I could tell Jeni that I'm not actually drinking beer and working at The Office? She'll believe me.

If you find yourself waiting in a long line at FO2 on the weekend, try and stop by Sue Moore's tasty lamb-casing, beef and pork sausages. Check out Jeni's posting on FO2, on why her father thinks that good girls shouldn't drink beer.

Father's Office II
3229 Helms Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 815-9820

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Let's Be Frank, Culver City - A Sweet Lady & Her Little Hot Dog Stand in Culver City

The many restaurants sprouting in the nouveau Culver City area, or as Delicious Life refers to as 'CuCi', give you the license to empty the wallet and fatten the waistline from low-priced food at Honey Kettle to higher-end food at the wonderful Fraîche. That's great, but I find myself at the lower end of the spectrum, scrapping away at quality places like Del Taco. I was driving around one time on my lunch break, spying out Sang Yoon's long-awaited project known as Father's Office, a much larger sister to the favorite Santa Monica spot. In the corner of my eye, I spotted out a hot dog stand in full operation, with a few people littered around on it. And then I remembered my friend telling me about her new culinary fad... a place called Let's Be Frank. Ah – this must be it. But what's so special about this hot dog?

How about a hot dog that is actually made from grass-fed beef, uses lamb casing, contains healthy stuff like 600 mg. of Omega-3 fatty acids which can lower the risk of coronary heart disease and are nitrate-free? When's the last time you thought about that while chomping on your $4 danger dog in a drunken state on the corner of Western and Pico Blvd? I certainly don't remember.

So I was sold – parked my horse and carriage in the lot and ran up to the modest red and yellow stand. One look at the 2-item menu, and I knew I had a slight crush. I love places with small menus, like Best Fish Tacos in Ensenada. I ordered one of each and stood back to watch Sue Moore, the owner, grill my $5 sausage.

Sue Moore brings her sausage-making skills down to Culver City from NorCal, where she worked as a meat forager for the renowned Chez Panisse in Berkeley... one of the first places in California to focus on seasonal ingredients and offers a different menu every single day. And Sue is one sweet lady. She made sure I got onions the way I liked them, super caramelized!

Let's Be Frank offers the simple yet substantial condiments for maximizing the sausage experience. In addition to the usual suspects, she offers her own homemade mustard, sweeeeeeet relish and sauerkraut. On this day, she had already run out of her pimiento de padron peppers. Boo.

The Brat Dog $5
I tried the bratwurst first and immediately tasted the essence of lamb on the sausage. Very nice. I never knew that lamb could be used for encasing the sausage and it really took the standard pork sausage to another level. While she was grilling the bratwurst, I asked Sue to grill it a little bit longer but told me that the lamb casing is more sensitive to heat and could possibly explode. Wouldn't be too fun. This was good.

The Frank Dog $5
But my favorite was the grass-fed beef. The beef definitely had a different taste due to being grass-fed, and again the lamb casing took this to another level: a slight aroma of lamb and some of the best 'snap' I've ever had. Every time I bit into this, the pieces came off like log bits. Excellent.

If Sue can set up her little cart till 7 or 8 pm, she'll definitely get a lot of customers waiting in line at Father's Office. You can't resist the smell of lamb and grilled onions. The prices are steeper than your usual Costco, Pink's or Danger Dog cart... but quality never goes unnoticed. You get what you pay for at Let's Be Frank. Next time I come, I'll be bringing my own Valentina hot sauce, mayonnaise and maybe some Maggi sauce.

No jokes about the 'happiness' level of the dogs please.

Let's Be Frank Dogs (Dogs Gone Good)
Washington/Helms Avenue @ Helms Bakery Complex
Culver City, CA 90232
Tuesday - Sunday 11 am - 3 pm??? Read more!

101 Noodle Express, San Gabriel - Freshly-Made Beef Scallion Pancakes

Driving around on San Gabriel Valley's, Valley Blvd. can be a dangerous thing. It's basically an obstacle course for Traffic School students... 24/7. Almost every time I drive on this street, my blood begins to boil because I am always behind a 30-mph herd of people that are doing anything but focusing on the road. Some people are busy yapping away on their cell phone, some are just blinded by their own facial sun visors that remind me of a welding mask (are you going to drive or are you going to solder me a new metal table in your car? make up your mind!) and most of the time, people are just too freaking old to be on the road. Like Koreatown, SGV's streets are surrounded by strip malls and shopping centers. If you don't know you're way around here and are trying to find your address, you can easily get into a car accident by not paying attention to the road. I've been close to rear-ending people in Koreatown because it is strip-mall overload – laden with signs that bear virtually no English. In SGV, there's one strip mall that I drive by all the time, always with a line of people strung along the parking lot. And if it wasn't for Jonathan Gold's review, I would simply drive by as usual... not knowing that this Shan Dong-style restaurant called 101 Noodle Express makes a truly delicious beef scallion pancake.

With a name like 101 Noodle Express, I am immediately discouraged. When I pass places like Pizza Pit, Burger Barn and Taco Town... I can't help but yawn. Even Panda Express is more interesting than 101 Noodle Express because pandas are just more interesting than pits, barns and taco-laden towns. Once I walked in to this aromatic and crowded restaurant, I had a feeling that the name did no justice for this place. While standing around for the next available seating, I looked around to see what people were ordering. Okay, I see beef scallion pancake... over here, there, there, there, back there, a few crumbs on that old lady's mouth, right here, one piece dropped on the floor, there... I think the jury has reached a unanimous decision.

Beef Scallion Pancake ( 牛 肉 捲 餅 )
I have no idea why I have the habit of rubbing my hands together whenever I see the waitress come out with my dish. It's automatic. The waitress laid the pancakes down and I did a double-take on the size of these mothers. My god, they were super-sized. Thinly-rolled and wrapped around beef that I could tell was super moist, and a generous serving of chopped scallions and cilantro. Awesome. Before I even drilled my teeth down to the center of the pancake, I felt the thin crackling of the toasted pancake. The beef was super tender and seasoned well with a sweet, home-made bean sauce. The balance was perfect in every bite. I recommend adding some of the chili sauce on top for a nice kick in the ass. 2 big 'fajitas' for $6.75. I like these much better than Mandarin Noodle Deli's version. The beef is not as tender there.

Stir-Fried Scallion Pancakes ( 家 常 炒 餅 )
Don't be frightened, it's not Applebee's strange new appetizer. This is the wilder cousin of the aforementioned dish. The ladies next to me were kind of enough to let me take a photo of their dish. The scallion pancakes are chopped into triangles and stir fried with bean sprouts, scallions and probably a little bit of salt and sesame oil. Jonathan Gold says it best... they're kinda like a wild version of Chinese nachos.

Shrimp Pork Dumplings ( 蝦 豬 肉 水 餃 )
A lot of people ordered these as well. 101 offers a nice variety of dumplings, more than Dumpling 10053 in El Monte does – 19 kinds! The most interesting ones are lamb dumplings, pumpkin shrimp pork and scallop leek dumplings. I'll have to try next time. The ones pictured above are shrimp pork and filled with a nice amount of stuffing. They don't skimp on the shrimp. The dumplings were juicy but compared to Dumpling 10053, I have to give the gold medal for taste to D10053. The shrimp/leek and 3 flavor (sea cucumber, pork, imi. crab) are done nicely.

Chinese Chili Relish
Seems like there's a bit of Latino influence here at 101 Noodle Express. You've got the beef 'fajita's, the scallion pancake 'nachos' and then there's this 'salsa verde'-like relish you can use on almost any dish. It's made of cilantro, chinese celery, green chilis and boiled onions – it's awesome. I put this in my beef noodle soup, scallion pancake and stuffed it into my dumplings. Sometimes even the smallest, unexpected things at a restaurant are reason enough to bring you back. In this case, I'm all for that chili relish.

Thanks for reading.

101 Noodle Express
1408 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 300-8654

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