Gold Train Express II on W. Broadway

It has been a long time since my last posting here, and I apologize for that. Thankfully for me it is not because I have no new BC Food and Wine experiences to write about, just no time to write them up. The baby is keeping us very busy indeed! I will, however, try to get some of our recent restaurant visits and wine tastings written up as I can. As a start on that effort, a short review of Gold Train Express on W. Broadway Ave.

Gold Train Express II is a Vietnamese Restaurant that opened up at 3236 W. Broadway in January. We were eagerly awaiting its opening: we really like Vietnamese food, and it is a great quick, inexpensive meal option that works with children too. We had visited their other location on West 10th in the past, but have always found it dirty, to the point where we were not comfortable eating there. The new location is much cleaner, and with a fairly open kitchen making it easy to keep tabs on food preparation, it feels much less sketchy. The decor is exactly what one would expect in an inexpensive Vietnamese restaurant - fake plants, rocky tables, etc. In fact, I found it difficult to believe that the renovations had taken as long as they did. But it's kind of comforting in its own way, and very up front about the kind and quality of food one can expect.

We've now been several times and found our food to be equally fast and tasty each time. Chris likes the Pho, and I tend to order rice noodle bowls (which are served on plates there and without any extra dipping sauce for the spring rolls which is customary at many similar restaurants - they were quick to bring me some when I asked, however). Unlike the location on W. 10th, this one serves bahn mi, (Vietnamese sub sandwiches), which is what we went for yesterday. We love bahn mi, and we were quite excited to see that we were finally going to be able to get some in the neighborhood. A good bahn mi comes on a French roll, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, often with a bit of pate spread on one side (I usually skip this), some butter or mayo, pickled vegetables, and some form of protein, usually grilled chicken, pork, or beef, although tofu can also be tasty. They are or should be inexpensive ($3.50 here), and substantial enough for a meal for a person with a small to medium sized appetite. These ones are a little smaller (a very little) than most I’ve had elsewhere, and I suspect that they use margarine, but they are still quite delicious. The rolls are perfect, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. (Be warned, we recently learned the hard way they don’t serve them on days they can’t get fresh rolls, like Sundays.) And the fillings are quite generous. They don’t put hot peppers in them as has been typical most other places I’ve eaten bahn mi, but that’s OK since my toddler insists on eating whatever I do and he is not a big fan of chilis as yet. All in all, they were a hit in our house, and we will go back for more.