San Diego Spotlight : Heading East for More Tastes From the Orient

It is hard to find flavors more direct and, usually, more refreshing than those of Asian cuisine. While the constantly expanding Convoy Street restaurant row may have cornered the market for several culinary sub-groups in this category, particularly Cantonese and Korean, East San Diego remains a prime location for diners hungry to taste other styles of Asian cooking.

The A Dong Vietnamese restaurant, not really aged by most standards but a grandfather among local Vietnamese eateries, continues to turn out superior and quite enjoyable fare on Fairmount Avenue. Farther east, at the former College Drive-In (now occupied by an antiseptic, suburban-style shopping center), Sala Thai stirs up curries and other dishes flavored as they might be in Bangkok--and throws in a few surprises for those of us who think we already know all there is to know about Thai-American cooking.

The A Dong menu seems to run on forever, and though there are actually less than 200 listings, each is so well described that reading through the many pages becomes not only a time-consuming chore, but daunting. The flip side is that those who don’t feel the need to take a thoroughly meticulous approach can simply read the first three pages, which list the appetizers and specialties, and order an entirely delightful dinner. Because the Vietnamese names are long and heavily accented, dishes mentioned here will be identified by the numbers given on the menu; this makes for easy ordering.

Anyone with much experience in Vietnamese cuisine will recognize a number of preparations immediately, notably the chao tom (No. 14, a succulent shrimp paste spread on sugar cane and barbecued) and the catfish hot pot (No. 25), which is filled out with noodles and is a good, lushly seasoned way to enjoy this oily fish. But Vietnamese cooking pays high regard to beef, and many of the specialties revolve around this meat. Every dish sampled in this category was excellent.

You won’t find a steak in the lot, of course, because Asian cuisines frown upon slabs of meat and prefer more delicate, if sometimes highly seasoned, preparations. The ground beef fingers wrapped in pig’s caul (No. 2) is strikingly unusual, and certainly exotic and delicious; the spiced meat, shaped into rolls and grilled over charcoal, is basted by the fatty wrappings, which on their own impart a rich flavor.

Similar but less fatty (and made from pork rather than beef), the barbecued meatballs (No. 13) also are delicious, especially when you trouble to go through the full Vietnamese ritual, which means garnishing the morsels with fresh mint leaves and pickled garlic, turnips and carrots, then wrapping them in both rice paper pancakes and crisp lettuce leaves.

These garnishes and wrappings are integral parts of many foods and provide interest on several levels, since you simultaneously combine raw and cooked foods, pungent and savory flavors and hot and cold temperatures. Because of the mint and lettuce leaves, many dishes seem to offer a salad in every bite, so that the meal seems refreshing rather than heavy.

Among other excellent items that require garnishing and wrapping are the beef marinated with lemon grass (No. 7), which guests cook to taste at table in a small chafing dish, and the Vietnamese-style spring rolls (No. 26), which offer a very delicate filling and a crisp, crunchy texture that fills the mouth when dipped in the pungent nuoc mam sauce of traditional Vietnamese cuisine.

Other pleasures include the salad of shrimp, pork and jellyfish (No. 34), which goes a little too light on the latter ingredient but is nonetheless wonderful, and the unusual Vietnamese “muffins” (No. 37), crisp cups filled with a semi-cooked batter and topped with shrimp. The muffins are strange, but they offer both good flavor and a novel texture and are certainly worth a try.

For whatever reason, Thai restaurants in this country tend to be quite attractive, and Sala Thai follows the tradition quite nicely. Comfortable but unpretentious, it occupies a corner space in a large neighborhood mall occupied by major stores and small eateries.

One pleasant feature of the ambitious menu is the selection of daily specials that quickly whisks you--should you wish to venture the journey--well beyond the tried and true. A prime example would be a recent special that seemed perhaps a hair too novel, a dish of snails (or escargot , as they were designated by the restaurant) prepared in a hot chu chee curry finished with snow peas, fresh basil and coconut milk.

This menu also seems reasonably inclusive, and offers everything from mild, unchallenging dishes to three-starred items that are hot enough to launch you from your chair. Most of the appetizers seem good, although the spring rolls filled with bean curd (and other items) may seem alarmingly creamy to those who expect crisp textures of Asian snacks. The satay skewers of pork or chicken are quite well done and have a light curry flavor; the fried tofu, served with a sweet-sour sauce, is simply fun. The vegetable dumplings seem mild, inoffensive and demure--not as interesting as some of the other choices.

Thai cooking is not above going for big effects, and it frequently achieves them by combining mild ingredients with hot chilies and leaves of sweet basil, spicy opal basil, lemon grass or other herbs. Many of the salads include some or all of these elements and should certainly be sampled; the yum nua , fleshed out with thin sheets of freshly charbroiled beef, is a fine option. Anyone who wants truly hot food can order the dish named “Hot No. 1,” a choice of meats or seafood stir-fried with both chilies and green curry paste; it sounds good if potentially hair-raising.

The fried, entire red snapper with hot green chili sauce rates two stars on the menu, and perhaps four stars for flavor; the fish is given a really fine finish, and the sauce, if hot, is not so spicy that it obscures the mild and racy tastes. The sauce instead throws these flavors into sharp relief, exactly as such sauces should when applied properly. Similar qualities apply to the tender chicken in massaman curry sauce and the pad kra prao , a delightfully savory dish of ground beef (or other meats) stirred with chili peppers and basil leaves. The “eggplant delight,” light but not vegetarian, is a good complement to the spicier entrees.

A DONG 3874 Fairmount Ave., San Diego 298-4420 Lunch and dinner daily Most dishes $5 to $7. Dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $25 to $35.

Credit cards accepted

SALA THAI 6161 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego 229-9050 Lunch and dinner daily Entrees $5.50 to $7.95. Dinner for two, including a glass of wine each, tax and tip, about $25 to $40

Credit cards accepted