Road Trip: Little Saigon & Meeting the OC Food Bloggers.....

Last Saturday, I had an appointment with a group of very important people. The meeting place had been predetermined...the location of this chowdown?

Yes, the destination; Little Saigon, Westminster, California. Luckily, I arrived an hour and a half early. I enjoy arriving a bit early as it gives me time to check out the locale, get myself oriented, and breathe in the atmosphere. More importantly, I was able to find a parking spot in Asian Village Center with relative ease.

In Little Saigon you never know what you'll run into....like a Lion Dance!

Maybe not the most artistic Lion Dance I've ever seen; but what was lacking in technique was made up in enthusiasm.

And of course you need a little noise to go with the Lion Dance:

Whoa, that's my car nearby..........

Having some spare time I was able to take a stroll across the street to the Asian Garden Mall across the street. Well, not exactly a stroll, man does that traffic light change fast.....

I didn't expect much since it was 9am on a Saturday morning. But of course Asian Garden Mall is no regular mall! The Food Court was alive and buzzing.

From this view, this could almost be any food court in any mall.

You won't find your local Sbarro's Pizza here...but if you're in the mood for a Banh Mi(Vietnamese Sandwich), you'll find Lee's Sandwiches.

And instead of the usual stands selling the same chicken with a different sauce, you'll find dishes such as Bun Mam, Bo Kho(Vietnamese Beef Stew), and Banh Canh.

I was tempted, but stayed the course, and did not give in to temptation......

An entire wing of Asian Garden Mall consists of jewelry stores! I walked to the end of the wing and took this photo:

At the very end is a security kiosk. One of the security guards noticed I was taking photos, and started following me around....thinking perhaps that I was "casing the joint????" At that point I decided to leave. After all I didn't want to irritate security personnel, and I especially didn't want to anger these fellows.

Asian Garden Mall
9200 Bolsa Avenue
Westminster, California 92683

I crossed back over to Asian Village Center which was now becoming a never ending circling stream of automobiles. There was an almost constant cacophony of horns blaring....I figured it was just a matter of time until I saw the latest installment of Battle of the SUV's...... In spite of the mass of metal and humanity in this mall, I knew there was a little oasis of peace in this mall. Having read Wandering Chopsticks fantastic Virtual Tour of Little Saigon, I knew that there existed a Cultural Court in the back of Asian Village Center with statues of Confucius and His Disciples.

Which gave me a nice break. Soon enough it was time to meet the OC Food Bloggers so I walked over, past Duong Son BBQ:

Where I made a mental note to pick up a little something for Da' Boyz...which I then immediately forgot.

Maybe next time!

I made my way to Dragon Phoenix Palace Chinese Seafood Restaurant, sheesh talk about a mouthful. When the Missus heard the name of this restaurant, She cracked up and said, "all you need is to add, New Golden, to the front, and include Panda after Phoenix, and you'd have the ultimate Chinese restaurant name!"

There's always a bit of nervousness when meeting a "new" group of people, but all apprehension melted away after meeting everyone; the one and only Chubby Panda, the Epicurious Wanderer, Christian Z of Orange County Mexican Restaurants, Wandering Chopsticks, Deb from Dinner at Six, Elmo of Monster Munching, and Elonweiss who posts on OC Food Blogs, and Her Brother. Joy also made an appearance, but unfortunately Her SO, was caught in one of the inner circles of Dante's parking hell, endlessly circling the parking lot, and had to leave.

The restaurant itself was the usual bustling Dim Sum restaurant.

I only took two photos of the food. Wandering Chopsticks did a more comprehensive post, which you can read here.

Much of my attention was diverted to the conversation, which ranged from food(what else do you think we'd talk about), to Chubby Panda's "cheek technique" for taking photos(it's not what you think). In what was a somewhat novel event, we had most of our language bases covered, from Cantonese(Elonweiss), to Mandarin(CP), to Vietnamese(WC)...I don't think my Pidgin would have been of much use here.

And two hours went by in a flash. As I got into my car, and somehow made it back to Bolsa Avenue, I couldn't help but think what a nice group of people these OC Food Bloggers are.....

Thanks again for including me, I am both touched and so appreciative.

And don't forget to read OC Food Blogs!

Comments

[Wandering Chopsticks]

Nice write-up Kirk. It was great meeting you too!

Had dinner at my youngest aunt's house tonight and the conversation centered around different techniques for cooking various foods. I swear that's not all that Asians talk about, but it is very central. :)

[clayfu]

man i haven't been to that shopping center in years! i used to play one of those games where you insert a quarter and you hit a gumball with a pinball bumper and try to hit a homerun.

and i used to play streetfighter 2 back when it first came out there (that's a longgggggggggggggg time ago)

[Kathy]

you pictures bring back so many memories! i used to go to that same shopping center with my grandma and aunt alllll the time. man, now i feel really old, hehe :)

[Beach]

Kirk,
You may have to pay me some residual royal fee for taking my picture at the Asian Garden mall and post them. I am that smaller middle guy among three bigger Amigos. They used my likeness all over Little Saigon very freely. I will have to ask for some royal fee. LOL

[Captain Jack]

Hey Kirk,

Wow, that sounds like it was a blast. I am glad you had such a good time.

Cheers

[kare_raisu]

Kirk!

How can I get you to do some reviews of places in between OC and SD proper? N. SD County is ripe country for food blogging!

Great post as always.

BTW I noticed in a comment you left that you have eaten at Super Cocina...will you ever do a posting?

What would you say is the ratio of places you try to those that become actual posts on the site?

Best Regards!

[Kirk]

Hi WC - Yes, so much centers around food....

Hi Clayfu - Glad I could bring back some memories....

Hi Kathy - Now, now you young pup!

Hi Beach - Actually you need to pay me for the free advertising! ;o)

Hi CJ - Yes, a great group of people. CP kept asking about meeting you!

Hi Kare Raisu - You know it's a funny thing....once we're on the 5 North we usually just keep going. We need to eat in the North Couty more. Yes, I've eaten at Super Cocina a few times, but it's been a while...like before I even started blogging, which has been less than two years, you have to remember, I'd been participating in CH since 2001. Think of this as my food diary...though I don't post on most of the revisits, and of course if I forget my camera, or the situation dictated no photo-ops, or if I'm just not interested in doing a post, or if I get food poisoning, or..... Oh, and one more thing...you could always start a food blog.

[elmomonster]

Great meeting you Kirk! Finally. Whenever we met before, us OC bloggers would talk about you as the Uber-food-blogger, and always wondered when we would be able to meet you. I'm glad that day finally came. Hope we can do it again soon.

[Captain Jack]

CP,

I am flattered.

Cheers

[Andy 美國土子]

oh yeah.. the "3 statues" of the Asian Gardens Mall!

[Kirk]

Hi Elmo - The pleasur was mine, I had a blast.

Hi Andy - You recognize them in a second....

[Chubbypanda]

It was really great meeting you, Kirk. We need to do it again soon.

Tell your wife that adding "panda" to any name makes it "ultimate". =)

[Kirk]

Hi CP - Hope you're feeling better - it was a blast! Anything with Panda, huh? Like Panda Express? LOL!