Golden Delight…a new Viet-Chinese unlike any other?

Just opened 3 months ago Golden Delight, is not to be mistaken for the long time Vietnamese stalwart in the SGV, Golden Deli. While it does serve a nice Vietnamese menu, it’s Teo chow leaning Chinese menu also has strong offerings such as the special lobster and shaking beef. It’s like if Golden deli and Newport tang cang had a baby.

Today, we tried some key items from from the viet menu for lunch and it didn’t disappoint.

The highlight is the stone pot pho. It comes bubbling hot like a Korean stew, but with noodles and rare beef on the side.

While some might say it’s a gimmick (some places use the Korean metal bowls), there’s really a good reason why this attention to detail is worth it. Consider your standard ceramic or melamine bowl of pho—as soon as you add the cold beansprouts (and I’m one to add alot) and the cold rare meat, it drops the temp of the broth significantly and you really have to scoff that bowl down at a good clip if you want to enjoy your pho at a decent temperature. This stone pot pho, on the other hand, The beansprouts and raw meats are cooked without sacrificing the broth temperature. it’s a bowl that makes you linger and savor and stop to really taste the pho. It’s right up there with best pho’s in SGV already.

You definitely want to order the fresh thin or thick noodles with this as the standard noodles comes in a big clump. It comes loaded with meats and a bargain at 12.50. They easily could be charging ramen prices and be $15-17.

Now this is where the golden deli comps get interesting. The chả giò with the rice paper is excellent here and goes toe to toe with Golden Deli. Just look at that delicate crispy skin! It shatters like a good banh mi or croissant. Fantastic, another highlight.

The com ga hoi an also caught our eye. We talked about how it’s not common to find this dish in SGV, but lo and behold here it is. Though presented separate rice, chicken, and salad dish—it should really be more a rice salad dish so make sure you scramble it all together and give good douse of fish sauce. The minced liver and giblets give it a nice complex contrast. Only nit pick is that it’s not shredded chicken, but chopped, but otherwise the chicken Is nicely done.

Finally we tried a bun bo Hue. For a restaurant that has such a big menu, we feared some things would have to be watered down. But alas, this wasn’t it. Perhaps not quite as good as 5 stars Hue, but definitely holds its own again the rest of SGV offerings.

So after just these 4 items were pretty excited about golden delight. The effort into that stone pot pho shows attention to detail that is commendable. The eggrolls rockets to #1 contender immediately to challenge golden deli.

Think this restaurant really deserves a OOE from both the viet and Chinese menu from some intrepid FTCers in the near future.

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Nice! Any teochew desserts?

Not that I recall—drinks and desserts pretty limited and with viet slant—penny wort juice and che ba mau

Looks great. Thanks for the report!

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Those Chiu Chow desserts with taro are so damn good.

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Stole this on IG, but you can order a raw egg with the stone pot pho. BYOYoutiao to complete the pho breakfast experience

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Is that a Viet-American thing or is it a new trend from Vietnam?

No, it’s been done in Vietnam for while

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saw it pretty common place in hanoi - small bowl with an egg in it.

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Will definitely try it. The few Northern pho places in SGV don’t seem to offer it.

Northern: Chao quay, egg, black pepper. Maybe a dash of fish sauce. Maybe a small squeeze of lime.

Southern: Sprouts, basil, sawtooth, lime, nuoc beo

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Most of the immigrants to America came from the south and if you think about—even among in the older generation, many have now lived in America longer than they have lived in Vietnam. So they know what pho was in a very specific personal memory experience. A lot of these “newer” takes started out hyper local but have sinced gain popularity, but still relatively regional in Vietnam. Traveling for pleasure and experiencing and exchanging these new ideas has really only been last 20 years or so and with advent of YouTube and IG.

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Ok their house special pho is pretty special. I’ve had pho with raw meat on the side, but noodles on the side and a bubbling broth is a game-changer. I usually skimp on putting bean sprouts in because it cools down the soup, but I didn’t have to worry in this case. (Protip: at other places, you can ask for cooked bean sprouts and they’ll dunk it in hot water or something before putting it on the plate for you).

I was seriously worried about the server spilling the bubbling soup all over the table when she placed the dolsot trivet thing in front of me. I’m glad they make sure they give you lots of soup.

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other than IG influencer Dylan, no one here’s done a stone pot pho and house special lobster and french style beef order. if those later dishes are also great, that’s what will make Golden Delight special.

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I’m gonna have to get the crew together her for that one

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cc: @chrishei @Johnny_Lee

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I enjoyed the bo luc lac and the clams with basil.

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This place continues to impress. Had a great breakfast today trying the banh mi xiu mai. This dish isn’t very common here but in Vietnam banh mi xiu mai is a really popular breakfast banh mi often meant to sit and enjoy with some cafe sua da. You get a bowl of pork meat balls in a broth and banh mi on the side. You can also find it stuffed inside the banh mi, but it’s more commonly served separate.

you get hefty pork meatballs studded with chunks jicama for crunch and sweetness, and stuffed w/ quail eggs. Our family makes this frequently but we don’t usually stuff it with the egg so this is pretty luxurious. The pork broth, depending on the vendor can be thin or thick but usually has some tomatoes added.

I personally like to stuff the meatballs inside the banh mi, add the veggies, and dip into the broth. It’s an amazing hearty and delicious breakfast. So all you breakfast banh mi lovers out there, check it out.

You would want an extra order of banh mi because they source from Saigon’s Bakery (Valley and San Gabriel blvd) which makes an excellent rendition (and IMHO, probaby the best Viet baguette in socal).

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That bread looks crazy legit.

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Just to be sure, did a bang bang with Saigon’s Bakery on 718 e valley and bought some to make sure. although the cashier didn’t know if they supplied golden delight, one look… yup, checks out.

Whoever baked today’s banh mi was on fire.

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We drive from Glendale/Eagle Rock to Sagion Bakery, just because the bread is SO good.
@hppzz - thanks so much for your posts!

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