L.A. freeways may be flooded with rain and car accidents, but even tornado warnings & crappy weather does not equate to crappy food. It does means toning down my usual up to 3 hour awayfood excurisons to something much closer though. Then again I think if it really came down to it, I would still be willing to drive far and long for an awesome mean even if L.A. was about to swooped into a tornado. I live in the San Fernando Valley where there is no good Vietnamese food or Asian food in general, which is why most of my posts are from the San Gabriel Valley over an hour away. Well since today Mother Nature decided to curse us today, the mother and I were forced to decide between the 2 decent Vietnamese restaurants close to us. We ultimately decided to go with BaLe because it was closer than the other place. Although BaLe has really good thai tea boba and Chicken Com Tam (Broken) Rice, I would have much rathered drive an hour and a half away to Orange County for some real Vietnamese food. Viet food is one type of food I can't stand when it's not made right since my parents were born in Vietnam. My taste buds are overly sensitive to unauthentic and just plain bad Vietnamese food. But with the threat of everyone getting sucked into a tornado espcially in the Orange County area, I had to make due with what was close which was at 7233 De Soto Ave. Canoga Park, 91303. They just redid their entire parking lot so it looks a lot better than it did before. And remember before you visit, just like any good Asian place it's cash only-perfect like all those Asian joint owners trying not to pay taxes. Plus, this place is cheap. Awesome.
Here is their awesome Thai Tea Boba I was talking about. Their boba is so yummy, helps to distract from the fact that the world outside looks like it's about to end. 2012 what? And the tea is a really good mix too. The trick is asking them to crush your ice instead of giving you those blocks. They usually are hesitant to say yes to you, but when you got a pout like mine how could they say no right? No, really though get the shaved ice with it or else your boba is gonna stick to those huge chucks of ice they put in.
Here's my other favorite at BaLe. Everyone orders it since it's their speciality. Chicken over Broken Rice. It's like Costco chicken but WAY better especially when it comes out fresh and the skin is super crunchy.
We also ordered Bun. Shrimp and Charbroiled pork bun. It's basically dry noodles with no soup. It's not bad but my fav is still the rice if I each time I come here.
Goi Cuon. You can't really go wrong with spring rolls so it's always a safe bet.
Cha Gio/Vietnamese Egg Rolls. Ah, now here comes the problem. These are not proper Vietnamese egg rolls. The skin is completely wrong. This is Panda Express Chinesey (yes that is a word, deal with it) egg roll skin. Real Cha Gio skin is really thin and melts in your mouth. It's a real bummer though cause Cha Gio is one of those appetizers you always order.
Anyhow, just because your house is on the verge of being blown away in a tornado doesn't mean you have to subject yourself to eating crappy food. Just do yourself a favor and lay off the egg rolls unless they are legit.
Happy Eatings!
