Cali chicken rice: American quality, Vietnamese spirit

I like good restaurants. Hearing rumours about a famous good chicken rice eatery recently, I am still ignoring them. In my opinion, all chicken rice eateries are the same this time. Until one day, I follow my friends to an eatery, and then every of my prejudice has changed…

One thing I have to admit that the taste of chicken rice of Cali is different from that of other eateries that I have ever eaten. The rice is flavoured, glutinous but dry enough, easy to eat, not moist and greasy as usual. The manager explains, “The rice is delicious because we do not follow the traditional method, which is using the chicken boiling water to cook rice. This causes the rice to be clammy and greasy. Here, fresh rice is flavoured with special kinds of spice then we roast the mixture. After finish, we discard the water, put spice one more time and cook the mixture. Absolutely, we do not cook rice with chicken boiling water. It is only used for soup with some vegetables, mushroom, seaweed for a taste that is different, with low fat and appropriate to the modern eating and drinking style.” The eatery owner is a Vietnamese who was in chicken rice and Vietnamese dishes that are made different with California flavour in the United States. Now he “carries his tools” back to his homeland to win Vietnamese’s affection. After traveling around the world, the native spice is made plentiful with foreign colours and spice. Of course, chicken is the main course in the menu of the eatery: chicken rice, chicken phở, chicken mixed with vegetables, chicken curry, torn chicken used with bread… There are still different, distinctive dishes; for example, steam glutinous rice, milk litchi… Those coming to the eatery should taste the dish; otherwise, they will miss “wonderful experience”! With the guidelines such as “quality basing on safety of food”, a perfect meal must guarantee “clean, green and delicious”, all materials must be kept in quarantine and have clean healthy origin. It sounds simple but in reality, the way of choosing materials and cooking here is fairly sophisticated. For chicken rice alone, the eatery chooses “specific kind of chicken for specific dish”. Special Cali chicken rice is cooked from special hens, which… have given birth once (this kind of chicken is extremely scared, there are few ones in a chicken flock. Cali chicken rice is made from local chicken, roasted chicken rice - “walking” three-emperor chicken and chicken curry -… American chicken. Although the dishes are cooked in such a sophisticated way, the prices are not very high. A plate of chicken includes vegetable mixture and soup with a package price “3 in 1”. It is not like many other eateries where eaters are charged for each separate course… Some other good things are a fairly cosy space with air-conditioners. On the upper floor, a corner is saved for a hi-end stereo system and a soft sofa set for customers to enjoy music after meal and while waiting. Moreover, the eatery also has a menu for vegetarian and even a menu for children with their wanted dishes… Chicken rice is usually considered the dish of Chinese Vietnamese. Currently, it is very difficult to define which one is the standard chicken rice. Now, Saigon also has one more famous eating and drinking address with chicken rice. Not only gourmets but also tourists to Vietnam will have one more address for reference and… to visit! Address: Cali Chicken rice: 246- 248, Pasteur, Dist.3, HCMC. Bá Sên Translation: Lê Doanh

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