Recently in Vietnamese Category

So the folks at Santa Anita got the message loud and clear about the madness that was the first Food Truck Festival held in February, (see my previous post.)
A separate admission into the festival, 23 trucks, ridiculously long lines, trucks running out of food - there was reportedly 10,000 folks in the festival alone - not the greatest start.
Now, with Food Truck Festival II being held this Saturday, April 2, they hope to make it up to foodies by not having a separate admission fee - yes, just $5 gets you into the park and the infield where the festival will be held - and featuring more than 80 food trucks.
I have to admit, I'm a little skeptical. No separate admission can mean there may be way more people trying to get at least one taste of these gourmet food offerings and there will be some trucks who will be more popular than others, no matter how many are offered.
For me, the idea of a food truck festival is great because one has the opportunity to try more than one truck in one place versus driving around all over SoCal - it's a one stop shop!
But when there are long wait times and that doesn't happen, it makes me just want to give up and resort to just following a few fav trucks.
I don't think I've been to a festival yet that features over 80 trucks, so guess I'll wait and see until after how it all went.
For more info on the festival and a full list of trucks, visit http://www.santaanita.com/specialevent/2011/food-truck-festival-ii
I will not be able to attend, but if anyone out there knows how it went, or has pictures - let me know. Meanwhile, check out below what's new in the food truck world.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Forget drive-throughs, food trucks and pop-ups are practically bringing gourmet truck and other delicious food to your front door. But for those who still like the sit-down dinner night out, Breadbar presents the Hatchi Truck Stop.
For one night a month for the rest of 2011, a new guest truck will be cooking up a specialty menu of 8 items for $8 a pop at the bakery and pastry shop's kitchen in Century City. Yes, inside. No eating in your car or outside the truck (unless you have leftovers after.)
Kicking off the series tonight, March 31, is Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race" winner, Grill 'Em All.
Reservations are essential for all series dinners, served from 6 to 10 p.m., with a minimum purchase of $32 per guest.
Last check in by the Grill 'Em All team is some spots opened up for tonight's event which will feature heavy-metal inspired cuisines such as Molson Beer and Cheese Soup with Frisée, Lardons, and a Bacon Vinaigrette; "Behemoth Style" Meatballs with BBQ Sauce, Bacon, Smoked Cheddar, and Funyuns Onion Flavored Rings; Duck Confit Poutine with Wisconsin Cheese Curds and Rosemary; and Peanut Butter and Jelly Three Ways-Canapé and more. Microbrews from Humboldt County's Lost Coast Brewery will be offered along with the menu.
Call 310-277-3770 to see if you can snag a table tonight, or for any future series events which includes "The Great Food Truck Race" runner-ups, Nom Nom Truck, Frysmith and more. Visit www.breadbar.net for the full list of trucks and more details.
Breadbar is at 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles.

I've always enjoyed street food and taco trucks, despite the bad rep they had for many years. Now, thanks to the Kogi BBQ truck, it seems it's cool to enjoy lunch or dinner from a food truck.

I've honestly been very interested to go try some of the new food truck varieties that are popping up everywhere, but obviously not enough to follow them all over Los Angeles County. Then came the "festivals" where armies of food trucks get together.

I hadn't had a chance to make it to one of these until Tuesday. I finally made a date with my best friend and we headed to the Street Feast at the Americana at Brand.

It was my first time at the Americana, the indoor/outdoor mall adjacent to the Glendale Galleria. I liked the open space in the middle of this retail/residential community. There's a fountain, grass you can relax on, and plenty of casual and fine dining around.

On this Tuesday night, there was a good crowd that were settled on the grass. I thought they were either taking a retail break or just enjoying some of the food they had picked up at one of the nine food trucks at the feast, and then I spotted a flat screen that drew their full attention - game 6 of the Lakers/Celtics basketball playoffs - Ah! I guess there was no need to decide between the Street Feast and playoffs.

I checked the score early in the game and then went back to business. There was no map, so my feast partner and I walked around the perimeter of the inside of the Americana to scope out what each of the food trucks had to offer and spot the ones we were most interested in - The Grilled Cheese Truck and The Flying Pig.

The other food trucks were Coolhaus, mainly dessert; The Buttermilk Truck, breakfast-time and dessert; Mandoline Grill, curry and noodles; Worldfare; Patty Wagon; Comfort Truck; and Vizzi.

Almost every truck already had a good long line of people eager for service. The Grilled Cheese Truck seemed to be the winner though. It looked like there was about 15 to 20 people in line, relatively short, but when I tried to step into the back of the line, an Americana "ambassador" politely asked if I was looking for the Grilled Cheese truck line, which I was so he patiently pointed to a line that wrapped around one of the stores to the actual end of the line with about 40 more people waiting. I apparently tried to step in at a traffic break and cut the line. Oops.

Knowing we would not be able to wait in line patiently, and our stomachs already grumbling, we decided to find a smaller line to grab something quicker and smaller while we take our chances waiting at the Flying Pig line, which also looked like it would be a good wait.

Some local restaurants were serving up mac and cheese and salad plates and sliders. We each grabbed a quick slider and headed to the Flying Pig line. Again an ambassador approached us and asked if we had ordered yet, we hadn't so he directed us to the front to order.

The Flying Pig menu on a small stand outside had a selection of tacos and drinks, we found out later the menu directly on the truck had more of a selection.

The pork belly taco and spiced pork taco piqued my interest but alas the attendant regrettably informed me they were out of spiced pork, so I went with the tamarind duck taco instead.

There was no line to order but then we had to head back to the end of the 20-something-people-long line, which was not much compared to others.

Fifteen minutes and one slider later, we had barely moved one person up in the line. After almost 30 minutes and only one more move up, we overheard the ambassador was beginning to tell people wishing to get in line or to order, that the Flying Pig had stopped taking orders since they were having problems with one of their "ovens" (maybe he meant grills, I hoped those ordering carne asada tacos were not getting oven-cooked asada - weird.)

Seeing the occasional plate of tacos being served, we remained hopeful we would get the tacos we paid for - eventually.

According to their website, "The Flying Pig truck has hit the streets featuring the perfect blend of Asian & Pacific Rim flavors with French technique." The tamarind duck was a great example of that combination. It featured duck confit with pickled red beets, toasted almonds, radish sprouts, mandarin orange, and tamarind gravy.

The pork belly taco features braised pork belly with red onion escabeche, pickled sesame cucumber, and death sauce.

After learning of the "oven" trouble, I decided to take a chance on the Mandoline Grill which seemed to have many people coming away with food pretty quickly, and some tasty smells were coming from that direction. I went ahead and waited in the grill line to order while my friend stayed in line at the pig truck.

In 15 minutes, I had one 12" grilled pork and one 12" grilled beef banh mi, a Vietnamese baguette sandwich ($6 each). I headed back to the taco line and had a few nibbles of the sandwich as we were quickly approaching the end of the line.

After over an hour wait, we finally got our tacos - priced between $2.75 and $3.25 each - and although I wasn't as hungry as before, these definitely were worth the wait. I was only sorry I hadn't ordered the limit of five items to begin with.

The pork belly was melt-in-your-mouth awesome, soft but not greasy. The sesame cucumber and sauce complemented it well without overwhelming the natural taste of this little piggy. The sauce was a kind of chili sauce with a bit of a kick but I still have no clue why it's called the "death" sauce. It wasn't that hot. There was Sriracha, or rooster, sauce available to add. I passed.

This would be my first time tasting duck, in any way, but my friend was excited about it so I imagined it wasn't as odd as it sounded to me. The beets and small orange slices were a nice start. When I finally bit into the duck, it was moist and tender. Surprisingly, it reminded me of shredded beef and not like its cousin, the chicken, but not as fatty either.

Yes, these tacos were worth the wait but I don't know if I'll do it again. I will be more prepared next time, arriving a lot earlier, getting a large group together and planning out a strategy of who to send out to wait at different trucks, all mission-impossible style.

A mission I could definitely practice at the next L.A. Street Food Fest to be featured at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on July 24. But sadly, I will be out on other adventures that weekend and will have to hold off on that rescue plan. Next time Gadget, next time.

Check out details for the L.A. Street Food Fest at their website or here on our Rose magazine blog.

After hearing about Mr. Baguette for over a year, I finally got to taste one of the sandwich shop's creations.

I thought there was only a Mr. Baguette in Rosemead and I hardly ever go through the city let alone stop somewhere there to eat.

But by chance, I happened to be driving north on Atlantic Blvd. in Monterey Park one Saturday afternoon, spotted this location on the right side and knew I had to take a detour from my original destination.

When I first perused the displayed menu, I was surprised by the variety of cuisines offered at what I thought was a mainly French-inspired sandwich shop. There are Vietnamese inspired sandwiches and new to the shop are the beef and chicken fajitas sandwich.

The new addition looks to combine Mexican cuisine with the signature French baguette bread. The sandwiches come with beef or chicken finely chopped fajitas, in-house salsa sauce, and Monterey Jack cheese.

They even offer Jarritos, a line of fruit-flavored sodas that are a favorite in Mexico.

Though sandwiches do take over the menu, you can start off with pate chaud or pork or chicken meat pies, a ham and cheese roll, or a bowl of clam chowder or chicken curry.

Sandwich selections vary from classic French baguette sandwiches to Vietnamese-French combinations.

There is the classic brioche in a variety of meat or veggie options in a smaller-size French roll bread. There is a variety of croissant sandwiches or just get them plain.

Contemporary sandwiches come with mayonnaise spread, lettuce, tomatoes and American cheese with your choice of meats like grilled beef, roast beef or tuna.

The condiments can be substituted with the house special salad of carrots, daikon and chili peppers.

The Classic sandwiches are served with the house salad and come in varieties such as pork meat loaf, pate pork meat loaf, chicken, meatball, veggie or a combination of meats.

I craved a Vietnamese style sandwich that comes with carrots and chili peppers so I went simply with a grilled pork classic. 

My sister and adventure companion decided to try the Saigon probably more for the name. The Saigon comes with a combination of hot Vietnamese-style bacon and pork meat loaf.

She forewent adding the house salad topping which comes on the side in a small bag when ordered to go. Even though the pork in her sandwich looked different than we're used to seeing, she said it was a tasty combination of meats and devoured it in less than 10 minutes.

I had to add the house salad to my sandwich, especially the chili peppers to give it a nice kick. I have been to some Vietnamese restaurants that serve these types of sandwiches, known there as banh mi, and most of the time the peppers are spicy.

Mr. Baguette was no exception but it was a great balance to the nicely sliced carrots and daikon, which is a type of radish. The grilled pork was nicely seasoned and grilled to a nice tenderness.

The final touch that made the sandwich deliciously scrumptious was the baguette. A nice warm toasty on the outside and soft on the inside.

What I love even more about Mr. Baguette are the prices. You can get a simple sandwich for under $3. Our sandwiches were less than $4 for a good size.

Having such a variety of beverages as sandwiches, my sister and I had to try something from that menu as well.

I went with the boba thai iced tea for $2.50 and my sister gave the mango smoothie a try for $3.85 and 35 cents extra for boba.   

The thai tea had a nice taste and the boba balls were larger than I've had in other boba drinks but I didn't find anything much special in their tastes. They just added some texture.

My sister felt the same way about the boba but enjoyed her fresh-tasting smoothie just the same.

Mr. Baguette is open daily from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and has three locations in the San Gabriel Valley located at:

• 400 S. Atlantic Blvd., #288 in Monterey Park, (626) 282-9966
• 8702 E. Valley Blvd. in Rosemead, (626) 288-9166
• 9661 E. Garvey Ave., #101 in South El Monte, (626) 575-8632

I fell in love with banh mi sandwiches after I first tasted them at Xa Vietnamese Grill restaurant in Irwindale.

But sadly, Xa Vietnamese closed months ago and has left me longing for those tasty French Vietnamese sandwiches.

So I scoured the Internet and surveyed colleagues for nearby Vietnamese restaurants that served the baguette sandwiches.

Mr. Baguette in Rosemead was suggested plenty of times but it is not in the coverage area of our weekly community newspapers (I will give them a try later anyway).

After finding many pho spots on the Web, I hit on Pho 2007 in Rowland Heights. Though not really near the office, I thought I would give it a try since it is within our coverage.

As I drove up Colima Road toward a little side street called Otterbein, I knew I found the place when I was greeted with a large "Pho 2007" sign over what used to be a Taco Bell restaurant.  

I was eagerly greeted as soon as I entered and was handed a menu, which varied from spring roll appetizers to banh mi sandwiches, and pho (rice noodle soup) to rice plate entrees, and more.

I took a chance on three original shrimp spring rolls for $4.50, and a banh mi sandwich with grilled pork for $3.25.

The rolls come with about three medium-sized shrimp (cooked and peeled), small pieces of cooked chicken, cilantro leaves, lettuce and vermicelli rice noodles, all tightly wrapped in rice paper.

The rolls were nicely sized for their price (I only finished one) and the accompanying peanut sauce was a great complement.

The first thing I noticed about the sandwich was the size. It was wider than what I was used to. When I unwrapped the paper covering the sandwich, I found out why.

Pho 2007 used a bolillo (a thick and wide Mexican roll) instead of a baguette (long, thin French bread).

This made the sandwich a little difficult to bite into, but I knew my way around a bolillo so I dug into the thick crusty bread. 

I liked that the sandwich had all the banh mi ingredients I was used to - sliced carrots and cucumber, cilantro sprigs, and sliced jalapeno with a light spread of mayonnaise. The sandwich also had a half-round slice of tomato, it was nice but a little too thick so it kept coming out. 

The pork was nicely seasoned with soy sauce and something a little sweet. The pieces were nicely sliced, not very fatty, which you may find with pork, and slightly grilled. 

For the price, I would say the sandwich definitely satisfied my craving for banh mi.

But I can't say how often I will go out of my way from the northwest side of West Covina to the southeast end of San Gabriel Valley just to get to Rowland Heights. That would take up my whole lunch hour.

Of course, those cravings don't go away forever ...

Pho 2007 is at 19208 Colima Road in Rowland Heights and is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. They are closed on Tuesdays.

Be sure to have cash in hand as they do not accept any cards. $5 dollar dine-in specials are offered on Wednesdays. For information and to-go orders, call (626) 839-8100. 

By Evelyn Barge, Staff Writer

The word's trickled out - twice now - on a relative newcomer to Garvey Avenue's pho-cluttered landscape.

The spotlight first fell on Pho Minh Vietnamese restaurant in December, when famed L.A. Weekly food critic Jonathan Gold heaped piles of praise on the eatery for outshining all its look-alike neighbors.

Then, in a front-page news story on May 1, the L.A. Times trained its eye on Pho Minh, where customers are quick to rave about the classic noodle soup but slow to make their way through the front door.

The consensus among interested parties? More people should be eating here. And now you can add me to that list.

My small-bowl order of pho dac biet (No. 2 on the menu, $4.75) was without doubt the best I've ever noisily slurped in a San Gabriel Valley strip mall, and there have been plenty of those occasions, though last week marked my first at Pho Minh.

I've been a longtime fan of San Gabriel's much-talked- about and always-packed Golden Deli, where I can order a feast for two for under $20, and the drive itself from Pasadena through San Marino's upscale, winding roads is part of the joy.

But at Pho Minh the joy is concentrated - simply and richly - into what's most important: the food.

Sailing down Garvey during the lunch hour, it's easy to get distracted. With the concentration of Vietnamese signs increasing on the drive west, so comes the onslaught of pho stops. Without a destination in mind, each seems indistinguishable from the next.

"Is that one it?" "Wait, maybe this one?" "How about we just stop there; They're all the same, right?"

A word to the wise: Don't stray from the hunt. Buried in the back corner of International Plaza is your target - one that's worth the series of risky U-turn maneuvers required to get there.

Here, the broth is mellow and exquisite; the jumble of meats, hearty and fresh. Pho zen is achieved with a scattering of both the tabletop fish and chili oil.

What's more, this brothy concoction didn't leave me in sodium-induced shock nor with an MSG hangover, both of which I've come to warily expect from hole-in-the-wall joints in the Valley. Leaving Pho Minh, I felt lightly energized with a warm, full feeling in my belly.

And did I mention free iced tea, tinged with jasmine no less? That's no rotating special, either; It's printed on the menu. One day after the L.A. Times article landed on front lawns and newsstands across the city, Pho Minh was packed, every seat in the house filled. The staff and servers were overwhelmed by the traffic, literally running to clear off one table to the next.

For me, that translated into an extra-long lunch hour with lots of waiting involved. It was my only disappointment.

But busy is not the standard fare. Though certainly a long-distance destination for foodies around L.A. and Orange counties, it seems Pho Minh isn't drawing the necessary support from locals, the ones with the power to sustain its day-to-day business.

The dearth of diners probably has less to do with the recession (who would refuse a full meal for $5-$6 in this economic climate?), and more with the location and its dissonant chorus of equally-priced competition.

Save yourself the weeding process, and write this down:

Pho Minh is located at 9646 E. Garvey Ave., Unit 108, in South El Monte. For more information, call (626) 448-8807.

Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.