I spent a few days in the Los Angeles area last week, and my best food adventure was lunch in the Little Saigon district, in the city of Westminster.

My parents, our friend Laura, and I crossed the bridge over the koi pond to enter Quan Hy Restaurant, which sits amid the jumbles of strip malls along Bolsa Avenue, housing herbalists, bakeries, groceries, and more restaurants than you could sample in a year.

Specializing in the cuisine of central Vietnam, Quan Hy serves up plenty of dishes that you don’t see in every pho joint.

Our appetizer (and featured mystery dish) was a good example. Banh beo were eight toothsome disks of steamed rice—almost like a chewy rice custard—topped with shrimp, scallions, and bits of crispy fried shallots. Chili-studded fish sauce added a bit of tang and heat.

The refreshing jackfruit salad balanced sweet and savory, mixing the pale yellow fruit with shrimp, cilantro, onions, and pork.

It’s hard to tell from this photo, but the colorful mi quang started with a bowl of lemon-yellow noodles (colored, I think, with turmeric), and topped with pork, lettuce, bean sprouts, herbs, peanuts, and shrimp chips. My mom chose a vegetarian version of this mild noodle dish, which substituted tofu for the pork.

My dad, who is not the world’s most adventurous eater, opted for the xoi ga, because the menu described it as a rather plain-sounding “chicken with sticky rice.”

The chicken was tasty if mild, but the highlight, even for Dad, were the fried rice sticks—crispy outside, smooth and creamy within—which looked like bar-snack spears of deep-fried mozzarella. We could easily have eaten a whole plate of these comforting little treats.

Who needs pho when you have so many other intriguing flavors?

If you go…
Quan Hy Restaurant is at 9727 Bolsa Avenue, Westminster, CA, 714-775-7179. It’s in the same complex as the massive T & K Food Market.

Sunset Magazine published a useful Guide to Little Saigon, with tips on grocery stores, bakeries, and snack shops.

Tasty Travels!

Carolyn

The Vancouver Chinese Restaurant Awards can help. These annual prizes recognize not just particular restaurants but the best dishes that those restaurants serve. And they’re not the typical General Gao’s Chicken or Ginger Beef that you find in many North American Chinese eateries either.

Judged by a panel of local food writers and bloggers, the 2012 Chinese Restaurant Awards gave kudos to 28 top-flight dishes, from tea-smoked duck, pan-fried prawns with soy, and curried crab to less-commonly found creations, including bitter melon omelette, wok-fried geoduck clam, and pork stomach & gingko soup. Most are Cantonese or Hong Kong-style, but a few dishes represent China’s other regional cuisines.

Check out this handy map to Vancouver’s best Chinese dishes:

View Vancouver Chinese Restaurant Awards 2012 – Critics’ Choice Signature Dish Winners in a larger map

Interestingly, while none of the award-winning restaurants are downtown, most are just a short ride away on the Canada Line SkyTrain. Here’s a station-by-station list of the Critics’ Choice eateries and their prize-winning dishes:

Broadway/City Hall:
Dynasty Seafood, #108-777 West Broadway, Vancouver, 604-876-8388, Sautéed Buddha’s Feast

King Edward:
Landmark Hotpot House, 4023 Cambie Street, Vancouver, 604-872-2868, Flash Wok Fried BC Geoduck, Tea Smoked Duck, Stir-fried Glutinous Rice, Steamed Ginger Milk

Aberdeen:
Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant, 3711 No. 3 Road, Richmond, 604-232-0816: Fried Squab, Pan-fried Prawns with Soy, Pan-fried Spike Sea Cucumber with Green Scallion, Braised Chayote with Minced Pork & Preserved Vegetable, Double Boiled Pig’s Shank with Honey Melon Soup
Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle, Aberdeen Centre, #2800-4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond, 604-295-9357: Championship Beef Shank with Noodle in Spicy Soup Noodle
Shiang Garden Restaurant, #2200-4540 No. 3 Road, Richmond, 604-273-8858,: Dongpo Style Braised Alberta Pork with Amoy Sauce, Fried Lobster with Green Onions and Amoy Premium Soy Sauce

Aberdeen or Lansdowne (roughly equidistant between these stations):
The Jade Seafood Restaurant, 8511 Alexandra Road, Richmond, 604-249-0082: Sautéed B.C. Dungeness Crabs & Mixed Mushrooms with Amoy Premium Soy Sauce
Big Chef Restaurant, #1060-8580 Alexandra Road, Richmond, 604-207-0386: Pan-fried Dungeness Crab with Salted Egg Yolk, Hot Pot Soya Sauce Chicken

Richmond Brighouse:
Hoi Tong Chinese Seafood Restaurant, #160-8191 Westminister Highway, Richmond, 604-276-9229: Bitter Melon Omelette, Pork Belly with Pickled Vegetable and Soy Beans, Daliang Fried Milk
Golden Paramount Seafood, 8071 Park Road, Richmond, 604-278-0873: Braised Duck with Plums and Taro Root Cakes, Pan-fried Fresh Oyster with Soya Sauce, Sweet and Sour Pork with Fresh Fruit Restaurant
Bamboo Grove Restaurant, 6920 No. 3 Road, Richmond, 604-278-9585: Pork Stomach & Gingko Long-boiled Soup, Stir-fried Tiger Prawns with Minced Pork and Eggplant

The other award-winners are all on Vancouver’s East Side or in the suburb of Burnaby:
Golden Swan Restaurant, 5380 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, 604-321-6621: Stewed Alberta Oxtail with Red Wine
Kalvin’s Szechuan, 5225 Victoria Drive, Vancouver, 604-321-2888: Deep Fried Pork in Red Fermented Sauce
James on Hastings Chinese Restaurant, 2683 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, 604-255-3188: Dry Fried Curry Dungeness Crab
Alvin Garden, 4850 Imperial Street, Burnaby, 604-437-0828: Stir Fried Garlic Bolt with Hunan Smoked Pork

The Chinese Restaurant Awards also has a “Diner’s Choice” category, which recognized 19 popular restaurants and dishes, from the best xiao long bao (Shanghai-style soup dumplings) to the top Taiwanese bubble tea cafe. Just in case you thought you might run out of Vancouver Chinese restaurants to try…

Tasty Travels!

Carolyn

My hometown – Vancouver – has an awesome winter Dine Out Festival that I blogged about earlier this week.

But cities all across North America are hosting restaurant weeks, dining festivals, even an entire Restaurant Month (in California) during these dark winter nights. Most follow a similar format – good-value, fixed-price menus that introduce you to the restaurant’s food – although some, like Dine Out Vancouver, also include food tours, cooking classes, or other special events.

Why do so many destinations host these restaurant events? They bring in customers during the slowest seasons, while offering diners reasonably-priced meals.

Whether you’re traveling or sticking close to home this month, check out these 2012 winter restaurant festivals:

New York City: January 16-February 10
Baltimore: January 20-29
Charleston: January 12-22
San Diego:  January 15-20
Los Angeles: January 22-27 and January 29-February 3
San Francisco: January 15-31
Toronto: January 29-February 9
Ottawa: January 12-28
Vancouver: January 20-February 5

For even more restaurant festivals, see this Open Table Restaurant Week list. And please leave a comment to recommend your own favorite restaurant events.

Tasty Travels!

Carolyn