Author: James Gordon

From almost any standpoint—historical, moral, cultural—the French occupation of Vietnam was a really bad thing. But as someone who really enjoys food, I am totally okay with reaping the benefits of French influence on Vietnamese cuisine. Pho Ha, a Vietnamese spot about five minutes from campus, presents the benefits pretty

There are two things that can always make me lose any pretense I have about trying to save money. The first thing is, as you would expect, really good food. The second thing is concerts. So when I have an opportunity to see a band live and also eat really

Last year, I wrote an article on Penang, a Malaysian restaurant chain—I’m using the word “chain” liberally—that has a few restaurants on the East Coast and one 10 minutes from campus. In retrospect, the article didn’t really need to be written. The first thing that people say when Malaysian food

The first time I ate at Tasty Noodle House was entirely by accident. I was trying to eat at Golden Deli, which has what is supposedly the best Vietnamese spring roll “in the universe.” The first thing I learned that night was that a restaurant that has the best spring

First-years, there are two things you should be aware of by now: one, food is awesome; and two, you have a lot to learn.  The former is obvious, so let’s discuss your oblivion. For whatever reason, the Pomona College Office of Campus Life (OCL) is mortally afraid of the idea

I have good news and bad news. Bad news first: this is my last column of the year. This is bad news because I am assuming all of you rely completely and utterly on my recommendations for places to add to your restaurants-I-want-to-eat-at-but-never-find-the-time-to list, so I am also assuming you

I used to think that Claremont had no good Chinese food. For me, that was a simple fact of life at Pomona. I would have a good cry about it every once in a while, but I survived. Surviving generally involved driving to San Gabriel or Rowland Heights, which both

Images of paradise usually involve palm trees, beaches and the use of “aloha” as a general greeting. For me, paradise is Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia. I’m only going to Pomona to earn enough money to retire comfortably in Artesia. I’ll buy a house, have a lot of cats and get

For this column, I’ll stick to what’s convenient to Claremont readers. I stumbled upon a surprisingly good strip mall in West Covina, which is an easy ten-minute drive from campus. It features a Korean place, an Asian supermarket, an Indonesian food court, a dim sum spot, a Chinese noodle vendor,

Last semester, I wrote about The Back Abbey with the promise that I would soon review Eureka!Burger. Someone had told me that The Back Abbey was the best, so I went there first. That person was wrong. Eureka!Burger is better. I forgive that person, though, because The Back Abbey provided