Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet
WESTMINSTER, Calif. — With its bright yellow awning in a corner building just off of Bolsa Avenue, Song Long Restaurant is one of Little Saigon’s longest running restaurants – more than 30 years — and is considered an institution in this tight-knit, ethnic community.
The owner, Khai Lan Vo, also affectionately known as Co Bay, or “Auntie 7,” opened up the bakery in 1981 with her younger sister, Co Tam, more than three decades ago, just as Westminster and Garden Grove became the home of the largest Vietnamese American community in the U.S.
“When we first came here as refugees, we never dreamed about opening a restaurant,” Vo, 70, said. “But as we started to crave certain dishes that we couldn’t find, we thought, let’s go ahead and do it ourselves.”
The familiar yellow awning is a landmark in Little Saigon. Song Long is located at 9361 Bolsa Ave., #108, in Westminster, Calif. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
They started out with a bakery by the same name, and it was a hit. French-inspired delicacies such as croissants and pate chaud (pastries made with a minced pork filling wrapped with puff pastry) and cafe sua da, or Vietnamese iced coffee, made their bakery a hit with the locals. With Co Tam’s credentialed training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, they made a name for themselves.
Owner” Co Bay ” (real name Khai Lan Vo) and waitress Suong Ngoc Truong have been working together for 28 years.(Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
“We found that the bakery was doing really well, and it was time to expand,” Vo said. “Back then, we noticed there weren’t any restaurants that tailored to French and Vietnamese fusion cuisine so from there, we went from bakery to restaurant in 1985.”
In the beginning, they sold items such as eggs, omelets, dim sum and other light fare you might find for breakfast. But they soon realized that their customer base couldn’t be sustained solely on French cuisine and the reason, according to Vo, is simple.
“Vietnamese people always miss the rice,” Vo said.
The ribeye steak with garlic butter sauce gives a non-Vietnamese option. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
That led them to rework their menu and fuse Vietnamese fare with the richer French flavors. With their customers in mind, they dedicated an entire section to Vietnamese rice dishes that satisfied the nostalgia of home. Rice with options of chicken, beef, pork chops, shrimp, stir-fry– you name it, they offered it.
While the bakery eventually closed – they came to face too many competitors and lacked the manpower to handle both — the restaurant continued to steadily grow its customer base, and the patrons were loyal. Most are second- and third-generation customers who have been coming for years.
Tuyet Dao, 72, who has 17 grandchildren, said she has been dining at Song Long, located at 9361 Bolsa Ave., #108, in Westminster, for over 20 years.
Escargot appetizers showcase the French lean of Song Long. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
“I started coming here from when my children were just starting college,” Dao said. “These days I don’t cook as much so it’s much easier for me to just come here and enjoy a meal. I’ve been known to come three times in one day! I take my grandkids here now. Three generations.”
While familiar Vietnamese dishes such as hu tieu (soup with noodles), bo kho (beef stew) and banh canh (Vietnamese udon noodle soup) were added, French menu items still got top billing, and Song Long continued to serve its most popular French dishes, including Filet Mignon Au Poivre Vert, Filet de Sole au Gratin, Tuna Nicosoise Salad and Bouillabiase. This allowed not only Vietnamese Americans a familiar taste of home, but also offered a European option with Co Tam’s French entrees.
The restaurant’s signature dish, Cha Ca Thanh Long, includes filets of catfish seasoned with tumeric and served on a sizzling hot plate with heaps of dill.(Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
But perhaps the one dish the restaurant is best known for is the Cha Ca Thanh Long, a nod to the Northern dish that features filets of catfish marinated in tumeric, sauteed with onions and scallions, and topped with generous heaps of dill, roasted peanuts and caramelized shallots.
It is one of the restaurant’s signature dishes, and at $17.95, is expensive for Little Saigon standards.
However, the portion is large enough to comfortably serve two; the allure of a sizzling dish full of fish and fragrant dill make it one of the most-ordered items on the menu.
Song Long Restaurant is best known for this dish, waiting to be served. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
“I always come for the Cha Ca Thanh Long,” Dao said. “I feel like the price is fair and it is very fresh and delicious. It’s enough for me to eat and have leftovers too. I don’t eat this dish anywhere else.”
Along with the Cha Ca Thanh Long, the steak is also a very popular item. It is served with the restaurant’s signature com do, or red rice, which is infused with ketchup to complement the meat.
Goi Va Tom Ca is also a unique dish that very few restaurants serve in the community, and is nothing like what its name suggests. Goi in Vietnamese means salad, but this is anything but that. Instead it is a clear broth soup that is flavored with tamarind and served with rice vermicelli and topped with fish, shrimp and peanuts.
This noodle dish, Goi Va Tom Ca, is slightly tangy since it is flavored with tamarind and is rarely found at restaurants in the community.(Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
And because Song Long has been around for so long, it is also a regular meeting place for well-known Vietnamese novelists, actors and musicians in the community. You might be dining next to a renowned scholar or songwriter and not even know it.
“Poet Mai Thao comes in everyday,” Vo said. “He doesn’t eat very much and orders simple dishes like onion soup or eggs. But whenever he has guests in town, he always brings them to our restaurant. Musician Pham Duy is also a regular. He always orders the ham omelet. And actress Kieu Chinh brings many visitors here as well.”
Fresh, warm bread is served with butter immediately after customers are seated, following the European tradition. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
Unlike many other Vietnamese restaurants, fresh bread and butter are served as soon as customers are seated. Co Bay takes most of the orders herself and has been working day in and day out at Song Long since the first day it opened.
“For the past 30 years, I’ve come to work and I’m really happy to be here because the customers are very nice,” Vo said. “When I see the customers are happy, it makes me happy too. I have to come out every day. When I don’t, I truly miss it.”
Song Long started out as a bakery and serves an iced coffee and ice cream dessert. (Photo: Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet)
Waitress Suong Ngoc Truong, 59, who has been there for 28 years, agrees.
“I’ve been working here for so long and I love my customers like they are part of my family,” Truong said. “I know all three generations, from the grandmothers and grandfathers, to their children and now their grandchildren. It has never crossed my mind to go anywhere else.”
———
To contact the writer: [email protected]
