Fresh take on the neighborhood deli
A Japanese deli. It’s such a good idea and so perfect for Southern California that it’s a wonder we don’t have one on every corner. Think about it -- a simple storefront with a few tables and a glass case. On the menu: salads, side dishes and pickles from the case along with a list of plates or rice bowls featuring those deli items combined with simple grilled fish and chicken entrees. Three’s a soup or two, and a few dumpling choices (steamed or pan-fried), a couple of pan-fried-noodle dishes. And a selection of teas, sakes, wine and Japanese beers.
Aun Deli Cafe in Pasadena is a neighborhood cafe for the way we eat now. You’re as likely to drop in for a teriyaki yellowtail rice bowl and a beer on your way home from work as you are to grab something from a to-go selection of salads -- maybe boiled spinach with sesame or a fruit salad with avocado or a carrot-burdock root salad (kinpira gobo). Eat here before you catch a movie at the theater around the corner or browse for books at Vroman’s. The deli closes at 8 p.m. on a Saturday night, but the light and satisfying food means you won’t be uncomfortable sitting through a film or a book event.
Proprietor Yuki Komada has put together an appealing list of dishes inspired by home-style Japanese foods but updated with her own touches. The room is small but airy, with a natural-finish wood plank floor, wooden tables and chairs and changing but always pleasing music (‘40s Cole Porter standards are fun on one visit).
The deli items -- mostly salads with some hot stews and casserole dishes -- are fresh and bright, usually seasoned with Asian flavors such as miso, soy, mirin and sesame. Kinpira gobo is deliciously rich and crunchy-chewy, with burdock sliced on a mandoline and shredded carrot; the dressing lends a deep, smoky flavor. Generous portions of that wonderfully crisp-tender boiled spinach and freshly toasted sesame seeds are delightful as a starter or part of a deli plate, which includes your selected deli items along with brown rice and miso soup. Couscous salad is on the sweet side with a hint of curry; ratatouille has a good, robust, Italian-garden flavor. Chikuzenni (chicken stew with vegetables) is substantial, mild but not bland -- a very good choice for takeout when you want something homey.
Main plates are composed of an entree plus two deli sides, rice and miso soup. The tofu burger is fun -- it’s sliders, really -- three petite, herb-flecked croquettes (patties, no buns), soft and tasty, served with a sweet mirin sauce. Other possibilities include grilled fish and chicken.
Rice and noodle dishes here are quick, convenient and well-executed. Spicy stir-fried vegetables and soba is excellent, with mountains of sliced onions, carrots and fresh ginger slivers. A curry rice bowl is good too, more of a pilaf with diced vegetables and seeds. Four-color rice bowl -- organic brown rice topped with bits of chicken, egg, salmon and spinach -- is an example of Komada’s interest in and adherence to the traditional Japanese cooking practices of offering a variety of colors, flavors, textures and cooking techniques with even the humblest meal. It’s a small banquet in a bowl, each bite inspiring mindful attention to the interplay of savory, crisp, nutty and salty details.
At Aun Deli Cafe, ingredients are organic whenever possible. This includes teas (such as a yummy ginger-lime rooibos) and coffees brought to you in individual French presses, as well as wines, beers and sakes. Even desserts such as the carotene pudding (a combination carrot-pumpkin confection) are pleasantly pure and simple, not too sweet.
Komada is on hand every day, serving and packing deli salads and graciously explaining dishes. Her sensibility -- a focus on brightly seasoned, lightly cooked fresh foods carefully calibrated for calories and vitamins -- is one that many hungry city folk share.
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Aun Deli Cafe
Location: 40 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena, (626) 568-4959; www.aundelicafe.com.
Price: Deli salads, $5 per half-pound; main plates, $9 to $12; rice bowls and noodle plates, $7.25 to $8.50.
Best dishes: Kinpira gobo, tofu sliders, spicy vegetable fried soba, four-color rice bowl.
Details: Open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday. Street parking. Major credit cards. Beer, wine, sake.