Golden Deli San Gabriel — Restaurant in San Gabriel

It is safe to say that Golden Deli is the most authentic and delicious Vietnamese food I have ever had the pleasure of trying.

Came here with a few buddies on a Saturday around 3pm and was able to be seated after 10-15 minutes. If you wait until later, expect to wait in long lines.

Once you sit down, they tend to you immediately and they’ll keep checking on you at least 5-10 times throughout your meal which I appreciate in a busy place like this where you constantly want to add more and more to your order and refill your drinks!

We went all out and started with a few appetizers of egg rolls, multiple bowls of pho, and dinner plate entrees.

The egg rolls are different than any I’ve had prior. They are giant rolls that are blistered on the outside to keep it super crispy on the outside, but soft and flavorful on the inside. They are so addicting we had 3 orders of them. It is highly recommended that you wrap with mint leaves and the lettuce they give you and dip it in your small bowl of broth with carrots. You will NOT be disappointed if you do so!

The shrimp paste had me hesitant because of the word “paste” but it is nothing like that. The best way I can describe is is ground shrimp cooked in oil and formed to perfection.

The #89B dinner plate was just as fantastic. It comes with egg rolls, shrimp paste, and grilled beef. Lots of good flavor, highly recommend adding some of the side sauces they provide at the table to fit your liking.

The Pho we had was the icing on the cake. I enjoy having a nice broth or a soup at the end of a meal to “fill the cracks” lol. The broth was extremely flavorful and not too salty and the meat was tender and delicious. Add chili oil to it as you please if you like a little more kick.

I have absolutely no complaints when it comes to this spot. I highly recommend to anyone who loves or wants to try authentic...

Golden Deli sits anonymously in a strip mall amidst several other eateries, from the outside completely unassuming. Open the door to Golden Deli and BAM, hustle and bustle, noise and an extremely active dining room. Now, mind you, if you enter any decent eating establishment in the middle of a dinner or lunch rush, this is to be expected. HOWEVER, I stepped into Golden Deli at around 2:30, a fair amount of time after the lunch rush. I love a dining room alive with the din of servers and customers enjoying a meal, it's as intoxicating as any part of the dining experience.

As soon as I entered the dining room, I was IMMEDIATELY greeted (possibly a bit too aggressively for some), informing the server that I was ordering something to go and she handed me a menu. I had already perused through the menu prior to my arrival, so I already had an idea what I was ordering. It was a scorcher of a day in Southern California, approaching triple digits, so seemingly one of Golden Deli's specialties, a soup or stew, just wasn't an option. I also needed something quick and easy so decided to go with a banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich. I ordered my sandwich with shredded pork (meat and skin), the banh mi bi. The banh mi came as expected with cilantro, pickled carrots & daikon, cucumber, jalapenos, and a spicy chili sauce. The sandwich was....okay. The shredded pork had a grainy texture to it and the sauce had very little heat. Everything else was adequate and the baguette was properly crusty.

On another day and maybe a large bowl of pho, my overall experience might have been different, but on this occasion, I loved the hectic vibe, but the food left me...

Food is excellent, however, service is disappointing.

I had an early working morning so since 6 in the morning i was drinking my starbucks and i brought my almost empty cup so i could throw it away. Upon sitting down for lunch at 12, this young server came up and keep repeating "no outside food or drink", and then he asked "are you going to throw it away?" I handed him the cup just because i was going to throw away anyways. I understand the restaurant policy but that was so RUDE to ask if i am throwing out my drink. He could have explained their policy and ask me if I can put my drink aside during the meal. I would have understand and remember not to bring my drinks to this place again. There are million other polite ways to explain this but he chose a really bad way. If this is the restaurant's way of trying to make sure customer order drinks, that's too bad.

Anyways, apart from that, food is really good. The egg rolls are really fresh, the vegetables that came with the egg rolls are fresh and clean too. The pho is very tasty, noodles was cooked perfectly. One thing they could improve is loosen the noodle a little before serving. The noodle i had is cluttered together so when you pick up the noodles, they break. But food still tastes really good.

Overall, i love the food, it well deserve 5 stars. 1 star was for service, thus the 3 stars. I wish yelp has a ranking system which allows you to rate on food, services, atmosphere etc., Too bad i will miss the good food, because I would not return because of the...