Golden Deli Vietnamese Restaurant, San Gabriel

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Golden Deli Vietnamese Restaurant

815 W. Las Tunas Drive

San Gabriel, CA 91776

626-308-0803

626-308-1291

(Closed Wednesdays)

We have been going to this family run Vietnamese restaurant for over 16 years. It has been around since the late 80's. It is quite small, and often has a long wait during rush hours. It is one of the best Vietnameses restaurants that we have known in Southern California in terms of taste and value.

In a recent trip, we dropped by again.

A shot of the store-front logo.

The interior had been remodeled once as far as we remembered. This interior decoration has been the same over many years. The Christmas tree, of course, is seasonal.

A shot of the menu: In Vietnamese, Chinese and English. There are close to 100 items on the menu. But... relax... like the Chinese menus, many are simply combinations of this and that. The main categories are Pho (beef noodle soup), Hu Tieu (seafood noodle soup), Mi (seafood egg noodle and wonton soup), Bun (rice vermicelli with or without soup), Bahn Mi (sandwiches) and Banh Hoi (steamed thin rice vermicelli). Then you order them with charbroiled beef or pork or beef/pork meatballs or sugarcane shrimp, or fried egg rolls, etc..

There were only two of us, and we were on the road... so, we ordered only 2 items. This is Banh Hoi Thit Nuong Chao Tom - Thin steamed rice vermicelli with charbroiled pork and sugar cane shrimp.

A close-up shot of the Chao Tom (Sugar Cane Shrimp). The ground shrimp patty is already taken out from the sugar cane (not served, though some other places do serve them too). On the left are Thit Nuong (Charbroiled Pork Slices). Both on top of a bed of Banh Hoi (steamed thin rice vermicelli, but into small square patties). Sprinkled on top are cooked green onion (with oil) and ground roasted peanuts. We roll the shrimp or pork slices with some sliced cucumbers and fresh herbs (e.g. peppermint) and rice vermicelli, then immerse into the dip (diluted fish sauce, vinegar and sugar) before eating.

I hope that this is the right ettiquette for eating Vietnamese food. If not, well, more for your entertainment.

The second dish is Care Ga (Vietnamese curry chicken) with Bahn Mi (french bread). The curry made in this restaurant is particularly good. They servce this with a wedge of fresh lime and some flavored salt (which I don't care for much).

There are potatoes, onions and carrots in the curry, which is heavy with coconut milk with a trace of lemon grass and lime juice. They sprinkled fried shallots (yum!) and chopped green onions on top. Tear off the french bread and dip into the curry sauce/broth. This was excellent!

My favorite drink: three color shaved ice. Green color is the pandan jelly, red color is the red bean, yellow color is the mung bean. They make it really well here.

And the typical condiment counter in a Vietnamese restaurant: a minimum of 3 kinds of chili sauces (look - red rooster!), salt and pepper, light soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and all-you-can-use paper napkins. Some restaurants offer fresh jalapeno slices, but not in Golden Deli.

Dinner for two, came out to US$14 + tip.