In the Mood: Spring Rolls

Spring is already in the air--and in the roll. With as many interpretations as there are chefs, Vietnamese-style spring rolls can be among the most refreshing and delicious of appetizers.

* Golden Deli: This perennially packed San Gabriel Vietnamese restaurant has an excellent fresh spring roll, or goi cuon: rice vermicelli, lettuce, shrimp and pork wrapped in cool, supple rice paper skins and served with plum sauce ($2.75 for two). Similar are the bi cuon, filled with shredded pork ($2.75). Don’t miss the phan cha gio, crisp fried rolls filled with mushrooms, vermicelli and pork, which you bundle up in lettuce with fresh mint, basil and cilantro and dip into fish sauce. At once hot and cold, crunchy and refreshing, these may be the most gratifying rolls in the city ($3.95 for five). Golden Deli, 815 W. Las Tunas Drive, San Gabriel, (818) 308-0803.

* Indochine: At this New York import with seductive neocolonial design and nouveau Vietnamese cooking, the rouleau de printemps is goi cuon made with chicken in place of pork and served with peanut sauce ($7.75). Refined, diminutive cha-gio (the fried rolls you wrap in lettuce and herbs) also have chicken and bean sprouts ($7.25). Bo bia is a vegetarian “summer” roll of julienned vegetables in rice paper, served with a black bean sauce ($7.25). Indochine, 8225 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 655-4777.

* Obachine: At Wolfgang Puck’s new Pan-Asian restaurant, East meets East in a tandoori-spiced fried shrimp spring roll served with a mango-mustard sauce ($7.50). A chilled, Vietnamese-style version is made with barbecued eel and served with traditional fish sauce ($7.95). Obachine, 242 Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, (310) 274-4440.

* Le Colonial: This upscale Vietnamese hot spot makes authentic and refined spring rolls, all $6.50, including a minty goi cuon and cha gao, a deep-fried shrimp, pork and mushroom roll. (The vegetarian version is cha gao cha.) Le Colonial, 8783 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 289-0660.

* Pho 79: This small chain offers superb, plump goi cuon filled with tasty charbroiled beef, shrimp, vermicelli and lettuce; the peanut-enriched plum sauce is the best around. Here, too, are fabulous crisp fried cha gio, filled with vermicelli, pork and wood ear mushrooms. Pho 79, 727 N. Broadway, #120, Los Angeles, (213) 625-7026; 881 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach, (310) 559-5305; 11 E. Main St., Alhambra, (818) 289-0239; 535 W. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel, (818) 289-0657.

* Thanh-Vi Restaurant: Thanh-Vi makes smaller, more aromatic rice paper-wrapped goi cuon and bi cuon and serves them with a particularly bracing carrot-fish sauce ($1.35 per roll). Thanh-Vi Restaurant, 422 W. Ord St., Los Angeles, (212) 687-3522.