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
2 comments:
True - in LA it is awfully difficult to find it done de old fashioned way. But not here in the San Gabriel Valley, with its more traditional values and customs.
Last I ck'd we had this way at Daisy Mint here in Pasadena.
I suspect lanewbie means "LA" as in "the greater LA area" (i.e., LA county). Filter brewed ca phe sua da is pretty hard to find even in the SGV. Most Vietnamese places serve it pre-prepared. Thanks for the tip about Daisy Mint . . . I'll have to try theirs.
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