Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Which is the better egg roll at Á Châu?
Two types of wrappers, separated by a dime, both craveable
Smooth egg rolls wrapped in wonton wrapper, and bumpy egg rolls wrapped in rice paper
I'm not sure which happened first. Did we drive into City Heights because we had a craving for egg rolls? Or did the urge arise because we realized how close we already were to Á Châo?
Regardless, it wasn't long before we'd pulled into the little counter shop's cramped shared parking lot in the Little Saigon stretch of El Cajon Boulevard. It's easy to miss if you're not looking for it. A lot of these little shopping strips here have similar look, with faded stucco facades and restaurant names spelled with the diacritic characters distinct to the Vietnamese alphabet.
Á Châu is among several affordable stops for authentic bánh mì in the neighborhoods, but the modest, cash only restaurant was first introduced to me as a must try source of egg rolls. I had enough cash on hand to pick up a couple of ham, meat loaf, and pate sandwiches — they're only about five bucks apiece. But most of it was earmarked for the 95- and 85-cent egg rolls. Twenty of them.
Another storefront in a faded stucco shopping strip in Little Saigon
The difference in price has to do with the difference in wrappers: one is fried within a wonton wrapper, the other with rice paper. Both are stuffed with thick portions of minced pork and light veggies, but the wonton wrapper is slightly bigger, meaning room for more filler, and hence the extra dime.
We always get both, because int heir very slight differences, they each have their own merits. However, if pressed to choose I would have to call the smaller, rice paper wrapped egg rolls better. The rice paper crisps up nicer when fried, cracking and flaking with air bubbles. It gives them a bumpier, almost crumbly look — they almost seem oder, like they've been sitting around for a while.
An authentic, five dollar banh mi, with carrots, daikon, cucumber, cilantro, ham, Vietnamese meat loaf, and pork pate
But that's unlikely. Even as I wait in line to order, people are ordering Á Châu egg rolls by the dozen. Most, like me, seem to order examples of both, but whether due to the difference in price or texture, I don't seem to be the only one who prefers the rice paper version.
At least, I prefer them when Im in the store, filled with what I think at the time must be an insatiable craving. I bring the 20 rolls home — they must weigh several pounds — thinking everyone will spend the afternoon fighting over who eats the last disappearing egg rolls on the plate. But I've overestimated everyone's appetite, and I find it too easy to keep eating them myself. How many was it? Eight? Ten? One or two more than that?
A socially distanced line inside cash-only City Heights restaurant Á Châo
Again, I can't be sure of the exact count. But my overstuffed belly, groaning at the weight of my indulgence, tells me in no uncertain terms it should be less next time. For about an hour there, I'm cursing the name Á Châu, and swearing off its egg rolls forever.
Then, the moment passes, and the countdown begins til the next craving returns. If anyone's heading into Little Saigon, pick me up a few.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Which is the better egg roll at Á Châu?
Two types of wrappers, separated by a dime, both craveable
Which is the better egg roll at Á Châu?
Two types of wrappers, separated by a dime, both craveable
Smooth egg rolls wrapped in wonton wrapper, and bumpy egg rolls wrapped in rice paper
I'm not sure which happened first. Did we drive into City Heights because we had a craving for egg rolls? Or did the urge arise because we realized how close we already were to Á Châo?
Regardless, it wasn't long before we'd pulled into the little counter shop's cramped shared parking lot in the Little Saigon stretch of El Cajon Boulevard. It's easy to miss if you're not looking for it. A lot of these little shopping strips here have similar look, with faded stucco facades and restaurant names spelled with the diacritic characters distinct to the Vietnamese alphabet.
Á Châu is among several affordable stops for authentic bánh mì in the neighborhoods, but the modest, cash only restaurant was first introduced to me as a must try source of egg rolls. I had enough cash on hand to pick up a couple of ham, meat loaf, and pate sandwiches — they're only about five bucks apiece. But most of it was earmarked for the 95- and 85-cent egg rolls. Twenty of them.
Another storefront in a faded stucco shopping strip in Little Saigon
The difference in price has to do with the difference in wrappers: one is fried within a wonton wrapper, the other with rice paper. Both are stuffed with thick portions of minced pork and light veggies, but the wonton wrapper is slightly bigger, meaning room for more filler, and hence the extra dime.
We always get both, because int heir very slight differences, they each have their own merits. However, if pressed to choose I would have to call the smaller, rice paper wrapped egg rolls better. The rice paper crisps up nicer when fried, cracking and flaking with air bubbles. It gives them a bumpier, almost crumbly look — they almost seem oder, like they've been sitting around for a while.
An authentic, five dollar banh mi, with carrots, daikon, cucumber, cilantro, ham, Vietnamese meat loaf, and pork pate
But that's unlikely. Even as I wait in line to order, people are ordering Á Châu egg rolls by the dozen. Most, like me, seem to order examples of both, but whether due to the difference in price or texture, I don't seem to be the only one who prefers the rice paper version.
At least, I prefer them when Im in the store, filled with what I think at the time must be an insatiable craving. I bring the 20 rolls home — they must weigh several pounds — thinking everyone will spend the afternoon fighting over who eats the last disappearing egg rolls on the plate. But I've overestimated everyone's appetite, and I find it too easy to keep eating them myself. How many was it? Eight? Ten? One or two more than that?
A socially distanced line inside cash-only City Heights restaurant Á Châo
Again, I can't be sure of the exact count. But my overstuffed belly, groaning at the weight of my indulgence, tells me in no uncertain terms it should be less next time. For about an hour there, I'm cursing the name Á Châu, and swearing off its egg rolls forever.
Then, the moment passes, and the countdown begins til the next craving returns. If anyone's heading into Little Saigon, pick me up a few.
Commentsangela angie
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
Feb. 16, 2021