Date of Visit: April 30, 2006

Phong Dinh’s plain exterior doesn’t reveal its exotic nature. The restaurant might be known for giant baked catfish, but there are also whole menu sections devoted to squab, quail, ostrich, rabbit, venison, Australian kangaroo, goat, boar, Florida gator, frog, ark shell, water snake, snail, and more. Amazingly, since my last visit, only one animal was declared illegal and stricken from the menu: fox. I had it, and while it was interesting, taste buds won’t exactly suffer from its absence. Strangely, most of the animals come from Illinois.

Phong Dinh features lacquered Vietnamese art on the walls, fish tanks with the only animals that are off limits, and large tables with lazy susans.

We started traditional, with Cha Gio, Vietnamese egg rolls filled with pork, shrimp and crab. I’ve certainly tasted Cha Gio with higher-grade ingredients, but the crisp skins and tender interiors went a long way toward overcoming the deficiency.

For course number two, we went wild with a plate of thin-sliced, grill-it-yourself Australian kangaroo, marinated in a flavorful house made paste. Yes, we used all three cubes of butter to grease the griddle, and I’d do it again.

Here’s the ‘roo on the sizzling grill. The butter and sauce pooled at the base of the dome. The slightly bitter char-grilled red meat was even better when dipped in the bubbling ooze.

Charbroiled goat spare-ribs were chewy, but flavorful, served au jus so the meat stayed moist. They were paired with a decidedly un-Vietnamese plate of oily macaroni. While not traditional, the noodles were still amazing. The broccoli was tender and tasty too, especially after sopping it in goat juice.

Nai Sauce Tieu Tuoi Dot Ruou featured chunks of venison sauteed in whole black pepper over a wine flame. The dish featured a dramatic preparation, with our waiter literally igniting the platter of deer meat. Sadly, by the time I reached my camera, the flame was a memory. Still, the meat was fairly tasty, cooked with sliced onions.

Here is the sautéed venison, post-inferno. The wine sauce may have undergone too much heat, as it blackened into an unappetizing sludge that stuck to the metal platter. Amazingly, the meat was still supple.

A traditional Vietnamese condiment plate features a blend of salt and pepper, plus lime slices. Phong Dinh used lemon wedges. Sprinkling the lemon juice over the venison chunks, followed by a couple dips of the meat in the salt and pepper heightened the flavor.

Tho Ro-Ti Com Nep featured on-the-bone chunks of somewhat gamy rabbit meat. As with many Phong Dinh dishes, the rabbit featured an interesting accompaniment. In this case, pan-fried glutinous rice cakes topped with crumbled peanut and diced scallions. The scallion and peanut combo is a traditional Vietnamese topping, and it graced the rabbit as well. The tan soy bean sauce was a little too pungent for my taste; the dish worked better without it.

We traveled to Phong Dinh to celebrate Charles Heit’s birthday, and the restaurant staff was very accommodating. They “treated” our table to a plate of Jell-o chunks layered with condensed milk, topped with a single birthday candle. The dessert will never rival chocolate cake in the U.S. (and it shouldn’t), but it was nice of the Phong Dinh staff to celebrate Charles’ big day. They even sang “Happy Birthday.”

Open daily 11:30 AM – 10:30 PM

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This entry is filed under California, Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley, Southern California, Vietnamese.