Monterey County Weekly
Raymond Napolitano
PEOPLE ARE WONDERFUL… After getting turned away just 10 minutes after
the 9pm closing time at one of the area’s more popular restaurants a couple of
weeks ago, my man Todd “Iacocca” Sharp, car baron of the Cuqui’s Cars, 101
Motorsports and Market Motors empire, and I headed over to An Choi, way down
at the far end of Lighthouse Avenue. Despite their 9pm close time, gracious
owners Thanh and Christine Truong, along with their daughter Emmeline,
welcomed us into the sharp-looking Southeast Asian contemporary restaurant. I
asked if they did Vietnamese style and they readily brought us delicious dishes
that the hip spots throughout Southeast Asia are serving. Iacocca and I were
thrilled with the imaginative combinations, delicious flavors and overall
experience. This spot is out of the way, in a location that has proved difficult to
sustain, but go check it out. I will be back again and again for lunch and dinner,
372-8818.
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Reviews
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Food chain 4/17/08
Chop Chop… If you haven’t yet eaten
the food of Thanh Truong, you are
missing a real treat. An Choi, his lovely
Asian contemporary cuisine restaurant
way down Lighthouse in P.G., almost
as far as the golf course, is a haven
for superb Asian cooking crafted by a
true artist. Local longtime wine and
lifestyle impresario Doug
“Snowcapped” McCall, of the ultra-hip
McCall’s party at the Jet Center during
car week, can attest to Thanh’s
brilliance, just ask him. If you log onto
anchoirestaurant.com, you’ll begin to
get a feel for the man and his family,
and their delicious food, lovingly
prepared.
It gets me a little whanckly knowing that
a corporate factory like P.F. Chang’s
draws so many people who think they’
re eating good food when there is a
place like An Choi available to taste
inventive Asian Cuisine. Call 372-
8818, get online, or better yet, get to
the restaurant and try food the way
your cool Vietnamese uncle would
make it, if he were as talented as
Thanh Truong.
By Raymond Napolitano
STAFF FAVORITES: With a Twist: An
Choi’s menu runs from the standard,
like the Pad Thai, to the surprising, like
the Squid Onion Tempura and the
World Wonton.— Jane Morba
Staff Favorites
How to navigate An Choi’s massive
contemporary Asian menu.
By Mark C. Anderson
“Everything is my favorite,” says Thanh
Truong, enthusiastic owner of An Choi
in Pacific Grove. “We started with
everything I liked and had 100 items
on the menu.
“We had to shorten it. Now there’s 60.”
It’s still an impressive menu—with
unique sweet potato shrimp tarts and
classic sashimi, phos and fried rice,
duck confit salad, shiitake fish and
caramelized prawns. But two recent
visits revealed that while so many
things look really good, it’s best to
follow the cheerful staff’s
recommendations.
On a recent midweek evening, local
hospitality pro Lina and I selected the
Crispy Sweet Potato Shrimp Tarts from
an inviting roster of appetizers. I also
asked for a Thai One On from a hip-
looking special drink menu that
includes Bobas (the trendy drinks with
flavored tapioca bubbles, and
pomegranate martinis.
The tart was an interesting little piece
of work: three triangular lattices of thin
french fries with a solitary shrimp fried
onto the center of each. The drink that
sounded so promising—coconut milk
with sweet Thai Iced Tea and vodka-
like Han Soju—was somehow bitter.
(As we tried to pass the drink off on
one another, we realized we should’ve
gone for something from the short but
respectable wine list.)
The remodeled room, meanwhile, in
the space previously occupied by Le
Chantilly, looks almost as good as the
menu. Baby-blue vaulted ceilings soar
high above 20-plus tables, a small bar,
and pretty golden-framed wall-
hangings of Chinese characters and
decorative dragons. Sleek tall-backed
chairs look modern and stylish without
sacrificing comfort. The napkins and
placemats, though, are paper.
The Ha Noi Crisp Crab Rolls arrived
next. Alas, the fresh crab wasn’t
actually in the rolls, but stacked on the
open ends of two diagonally sliced egg
rolls like an afterthought.
Redemption, from young server Pam,
came not a moment too soon, and
sounded like this: “Clay Pot Ginger
Fish”. The four filets came steaming,
saucy and flavorful, with garlic, green
onion, white onion and soy, in a pretty
decorative pot; the supremely light
bites of sole simply melted through the
delicious layers of flavor. It made for a
nice climax before a squat-bellied pot
of roasted rice tea closed the evening
nicely.
A second visit to An Choi was similar to
the first: The service was great again—
from the opening bottles of Singha and
Tiger beer to the delivery of the
check—and the menu once more had
us asputter with anticipation. But
server Christine’s leadership gave us
the best taste of the day.
Local road-biker Joy and I started with
one of the three soups, bypassing the
Thai Seafood and the Crab and
Asparagus for a large pot of Enoki
Mushroom-Tofu which yielded five
small cups of warmth. The tiny enokis,
which lent miniature silky texture and
subtle flavor to the starchy soup,
inspired a three-cup slurp-salute from
me.
Christine guaranteed we’d like the
Walnut Prawns, and she was right.
Five big prawns perfectly fried in a thin
and light batter formed a pretty
pyramid accented by curled carrot
shavings and walnuts on a long white
rectangular plate. A sweet and creamy
white sauce completed the standout
dish.
We decided we wanted to try a
signature plate before adjourning to
adjacent Asilomar for sunset, so we
also ordered the An Choi Seafood
Fried Rice. (The other signature
dishes include the Canard d’ Orange,
Saint Jack Scallop Prawn, and the
Shrimp Papaya Salad)
The pot of rice (a good portion for two)
had small slices of scallops, a few rolls
of squid, and a smattering of shrimp
and good smoky character. In short:
solid, but unspectacular.
Colleagues have since told me that the
Imperial Spring Rolls, PadThai,
Vietnamese Chicken Salad and
Shrimp Papaya Salad are all excellent.
I’m happy to hear it, but should I get
back to An Choi I’ll defer to the happy
staff.
>An Choi Asian Contemporary Cuisine
1120 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove
Gayot.com
Off the beaten path, past the
pretty town of Pacific Grove and
through the forest, you'll find An
Choi, owned by Vietnamese chef
Thanh Truong and his wife
Christine. Truong's contemporary
Asian cuisine features flavors
from his native country as well as
Japan, China and Thailand. The
dining room may not be a
designer showcase, but homey
touches such as lucky bamboo
resting on window ledges and the
greeting from the owners offer a
charm of their own and show a
sense of pride. An interesting
start: The smell of hot popcorn
wafts from tea, the fluffy stuff
infused in the yellow brew. Have it
with the ahi salad. Cubed pieces
of tuna and wisps of seaweed
garnish a crispy brown rice cake,
earthy in its flavor and unusual in
its presentation; forgo the
chopsticks, just pick up and eat.
Crab and white asparagus soup
lacks zip and the ratio of egg
white to crab meat favors the
former. Skewers stab huge
scallops and prawns, the two
intertwined in one tender package
that rests on a bed of julienned
mango and refreshing jícama.
Perhaps the best dish is the
caramelized basa. The fleshy
white fish cooks in a clay pot with
onions and ginger until
caramelized and fall-apart flaky.
One thing to watch for: dishes
tend to have a sweet side to them,
so be sure to ask Thanh how to
balance your meal. He or
Christine will be more than happy
to help.