March 25, 2010: Golden Bowl - Long Beach, CA

Golden Bowl Charbroiled Teriyaki #6
3768 Atlantic Ave
Long Beach, CA 90807
(562) 595-9095

Ah, the sweet smell of my neck of the woods conjured up memories of coffee shop open mics, midgets towns and Hollywood would-bes shooting teen sex comedies in private abodes. Long Beach's Bixby area houses some of the finest cultural sensations - kitschy and exotic. It's also home to the 6th iteration of Golden Bowl Charbroiled Teriyaki.

Upon entering this small but fairly clean fast food eatery, one might notice the arched brick windows. If you guessed correctly (and by the Baja Blast stains on your shirt, I can tell you did), you'll hear the faint whisper of the ghosts of chalupas past embrace this ex-Taco Bell, so expect the typical swivel chair-to-bolted-table fare and plastic red trays.

I ventured to Golden Bowl with the aid of my close relatives, excited to help critique my first 'yaki for the blog. I ordered the large chicken teriyaki bowl, which went for just under 6 bones. I felt prepared with a fine arsenal of condiments gracing various tables: Non-watered down Sriracha (cock sauce), soy sauce, and a hot sauce-looking concoction poured into a generic plastic bottle. I was ready to eat.

The large chicken teriyaki bowl comes in a half-sized styrofoam rectangle (cover n' all). The bottom 3/4ths contained a hearty serving of the steamed white rice while the top was almost completely covered in the chicken. At first taste, the chicken itself was somewhat cooked to my liking: sautéed breast and possibly thigh meat with enough crispy excess skin to complement the white meat. The sauce, a light glaze that managed to touch most corners of the half-inch sections of chicken, displayed little hints of ginger, but just enough to not bring out the brown sugar taste "The Yo" seems to pride itself on. The "greens" portion was limited to crunchy little slices of green onions as a light garnish; the large dish seems to do fine without the typical broccoli/carrot/cabbage medley.

Now, as someone raised on my parents' 1:1 ratio of water-to-rice recipe, sticky-icky rice is just my thing. Golden Bowl's rice isn't dry, but I prefer a slight moist compaction on my mini white logs of starch. This provides a duality in my rice/sauce palette. I love when tightly-packed, sticky rice forms a seal under the sauce, giving it a cake-like consistency. On the other hand, I also love it when the sauce drizzles into the depths of the grain like a tangy mistress willing to usurp all unity in the bowl.

Overall, for its price and size, my meal was one of the more hearty chicken bowls I've taken on; I can imagine coming here after a hard day to shovel down the bowl with roughly one to zero thoughts-per-second. It takes well to condiments - a great benefit for lovers of ol' red. The fork provided was fairly sturdy, unlike the paper-thin lip-pokers found at some $1 Chinese joints. To say the least, the flavors involved weren't too big of a shock...as if my mouth made itself at home. And my mouth did make itself at home.

Stay glued for Timothy's review on his large chicken AND BEEF from Golden Bowl.

UPDATE: I made a second trip to Golden Bowl this past week. Turns out that "soy sauce" bottle to the left of the Sriracha bottle is actually teriyaki sauce. This sort of leaves me confused considering, according to a sign posted near the menu, they charge 25 cents extra for teriyaki sauce. I'm guessing they charge extra to put extra sauce on your order themselves when they cook your meal.