Picky Pagan #3: Pho Tay Bac in Brea, CA

In the past couple years, Pho has exploded as a popular food among carnivores. It used to be that you would have to go to an ethnic Vietnamese part of a major city to find a pho restaurant. Now there is there is practically one pho restaurant in every city, and sometimes a lot more. Being a fan myself, since I was young, I have always looked for a good pho restaurant in every new place I live in. Being picky in your selection pays off because, often, these restaurants will attempt to use cheap ingredients, powdered stock and poor cuts of meat. For a while, I lived in the Fullerton/Anaheim area of Orange County, which is right next to Westminister. Westminister is contains probably the largest population of Vietnamese in the Southern California area. Along with this comes great pho restaurants. However, sometimes I would not want to drive the 50 minute round trip down the 22. Eventually I started looking in to possible locations to satiate my pho lust in town. I quickly discovered that the majority of the spots in Fullerton were of pretty poor quality. To the north of Fullerton lies the city of Brea (not to be confused with La Brea in Los Angeles). On the border of the two towns there is a small shop situated in a tiny strip mall off of Imperial and Arrow Drive called Pho Tay Bac. They make their pho broth nightly from scratch, using real bones and fresh ingredients. All pho places put MSG in their pho, so the trick is to find the ones that rely more on quality ingredients than the flavor enhancer. Pho Tay Bac has been able to minimalize their use of this product. Their cuts of meat are always decent and their vegetables are always fresh. The staff is also very friendly and helpful. Their other food items are also very tasty. I suggest trying everything that catches your eye, their banh mi is pretty decent. It is not my favorite place (I'm partial to Pho Hoa in San Diego), but as far as Fullerton/Anaheim/Brea goes, its my choice. It is Korean owned though and some of the food could be considered to not be made in the authentic Vietnamese style. Nevertheless, you can always depend on a fresh, clean and tasty meal.

Rating: 4.4 broomsticks out of 5

The Picky Pagan #1: Log Cabin in Big Bear

     After camping in the San Bernadino mountains this last weekend, I decided to go in to the city of Big Bear and check out some artisan shops and some antique stores (my time-wasting guilty pleasure). I had been out alone all weekend and had not really talked to anyone for the past couple days, seeing as how I was out in the wilderness, so I was in a pseudo-zen state when I arrived in the mountain town. I had been eating granola and dried fruit while camping, so I was definitely ready for a quality warm meal. It was ten in the morning on a Saturday, so I assumed that the breakfast joints would be at their best. I am not too familiar with the establishments in Big Bear, so in the best interest of making a good choice, I decided to drive around and check out my options. On the approach to downtown, I passed by a place called "Log Cabin" with a sign out front that read "Best Breakfast in Big Bear". I considered it slightly and drove on. As I passed other establishments and considered them, that claim that the sign made just started to work its way back in to my mind. I cruised around town, some more until I said out loud to myself, " Best in town, we'll see about that!" and I headed over without even really thinking about it.

     As I walked in through the front door I saw a sign that indicated for guests to wait for their waitress to seat them, so I consequently stood for about 5 minutes until I could get the attention of a waitress. I let her know that I was the only person in my party, and she directed me to sit at a small table were the sun would have been in my eyes, so I decided to sit at the larger booth next to it. Looking around, I noticed that the restaurant was about half full, which I thought was a little odd for mid Saturday morning if you have the "Best Breakfast in Town". My waitress brought me a well used menu and asked if I would like anything to drink. I ordered unsweetened iced tea. As I perused the menu, I noticed that they had a regular section and a German section. Intrigued, I order three different types of sausage, kartoffelpuffer (German potato pancakes) and sour kraut. The waitress took my order with no real interest, just kind of like I was another chore in her day to take care of. I did not take my cell phone in with me as it had been in my trunk the whole weekend, so I do not really know how long it took for my order to arrive, but seeing as how there was a family with a bunch of screaming toddlers sitting in the middle of the dining area, I started to get restless. I started noticing that most of the tablecloths had crumbs on them and the floor looked like it had not been vacuumed for a week. I spied a door to the back that had a patio that I had not recognized until then, so I jumped at the chance to move outside. When the food came I could tell that the German sausages had been store-bought but at least they were well cooked. The sour kraut was good, but inconsequential. The kartoffelpuffer tasted great (although I am no expert in German cuisine). It was all served with a small cup of sour cream and a small cup of what seemed to be Mott's applesauce. I do not like sour cream so that was left behind. The meal was, overall, satisfying but a little greasy. The meal was priced at about 12 dollars and my iced tea was about 2 so I feel it was a bit overpriced for store-bought sausage and applesauce. The waitress suddenly got nicer towards the end of my meal, obviously fishing for a tip. She was pretty attentive and refilled my ice tea a lot so I tipped her 15%. I left full, but on my way out I scowled at that sign.

The rundown: decor was old and dusty, cleanliness was barely tolerable, food was edible, service was acceptable, the prices sucked.

Rating: 2 broomsticks out of 5