It's called cafe sua da. Most happily served as iced coffee, it's a fantastic concoction of coffee, condensed milk and ice. At its best, the coffee is made at your table, using a Vietnamese coffee filter (pictured above). But in LA, it's awfully hard to find a place that does it this way. Usually, the coffee will be premade and served to you like any other iced coffee. Which means, it's hard to find a great cafe sua da (although Banh Mi Che Cali's premade cafe sua da is pretty darn good). But finally, we found a place that does cafe sua da the old-fashioned way, complete with the agonizingly slow flowing Vietnamese coffee filter! In San Gabriel, the place is Vietnam Restaurant and their cafe sua da is really, really good. Oh — and so is their food.
Update
Had traditional cafe sua da at Golden Deli — not bad (much faster filter than the cafe sua da at Vietnam Restaurant).
Vietnam Restaurant
340 W Las Tunas Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 281-5577
Golden Deli
815 West Las Tunas Drive
San Gabriel, CA 91776
www.goldendelirestaurant.com
