The McDonald's dining room is where my grandmother had a pseudo-daycare in the early '90s. She and her friends drank coffee and nibbled on hash browns while chatting in Cantonese. My sister and I ran between the tables.
When we were hungry, the only thing we were allowed to order was the fish fillet sandwich. My grandmother thought it was healthier than beef burgers and less processed than nuggets. Who cares if it was fried? It was fish. Fish is good for you.
When McDonald's franchisee Lou Groen began testing a breaded fish sandwich at his Cincinnati restaurant in 1962, he hoped to catch the attention of his Catholic diners observing Lent. But he wasn't the only one thinking of a meat-free option to boost sales during Lent. McDonald's founder Ray Kroc created something called the Hula Burger. It was a piece of grilled pineapple with cheese on a bun. The two agreed to sell both sandwiches on a Friday to determine which was the most popular menu item. The Filet-O-Fish beat out the Hula Burger by more than 300 sandwiches. In 1965, McDonald's made it the first addition to the original menu. It costs $0.29. And to think we could have had a pineapple sandwich instead.
The Filet-O-Fish is the fast food sandwich I enjoy most when prepared by a real chef, the breaded fish filet, cheese, sauce and bun are full of potential. In Los Angeles, there is no shortage of restaurants offering elevated versions of the Filet-O-Fish sandwich. But at San Gabriel's Café Bopomofo, the sandwich may have reached the apotheosis of its existence.
The original steamed bun is replaced by a buttery, lightly toasted brioche. The restaurant uses cod fillets instead of Alaska pollock, for a meatier, more tender bite. It is dipped in a mixture of potato starch and nori and then fried. There's a whole slice of cheddar cheese, a creamy tartar sauce, and chunks and slices of raw red onion. The sandwich is almost three times the size of the original.
The nori fish sandwich with mapo tots from Bopomofo Café in San Gabriel.
(Philip Wang)
Although toasted, the bun seems softer, butterier and much more substantial. There's enough tartar sauce dripping in big blobs from the sandwich, with the flavor of the pickles pronounced in every bite. The coating of the fish is light and almost spongy, with a crunch that permeates each layer of the sandwich. Cheddar cheese melts into the bottom bun, with the same melted waxy texture as American cheese, but with a very unprocessed, clear cheddar flavor. And while it's not traditional, the red onion adds another layer of crunch and shine to the impeccable construction.
It's not so transformed as to erase the nostalgia of the original, staying true to those core flavors and textures, just improving them.
“Did you know you can add lettuce and tomato to a McDonald's fish fillet sandwich?”
Philip Wang, co-owner of the cafe, spent years cultivating a love for the sandwich. McDonald's is where his parents took him for a quick meal after school, before piano practice. Like my grandmother, her parents believed that fish was the healthiest option.
“I think the reason so many Asian immigrant parents took their kids to fast food was one: Yes, it was affordable and fast, but I realize it was also the easiest way to eat American food,” Wang says. “Asian kids didn't really grow up with burger or taco nights at home, we had to go out for that. At home, our parents cooked Chinese food, and that's really where the Bopomofo identity as a whole comes from. Our appreciation for the American classics we had in the school cafeteria and at McDonald's, and our cultural dishes that we ate at home or in Chinese restaurants.
A matcha latte from Café Bopomofo in San Gabriel.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
Wang has built his career sharing his lived experience as what he calls “an ABC,” or American-born Chinese. His production company, Wong Fu Productions, produces media that explores and celebrates diverse Asian cultures and identities. A video titled “Asian Actually” advocates for more romantic comedies starring Asians. A Netflix talk show called “Spill the Boba Tea” invites visitors to Bopomofo Café for an interview and a career-inspired boba drink.
After working at a boba tea shop in college, Wang decided that at some point in his life he would like to open his own shop. He and his partner Eric Wang launched Bopomofo Café in San Gabriel in 2019. It is named after Bopomofo, a phonetic system of Mandarin Chinese.
The concept, which features about two dozen tea drinks and a food menu, has expanded to locations in Artesia, Irvine, San Diego and Hollywood, with more coming soon.
“We wanted to create a café that was inspired by our dual cultural upbringing as ABC,” says Philip. “We really appreciate our Asian upbringing, but we also love being American and the idea of fusing the two with the menu.”
For the past five years, the two have been the driving force behind some of the most sought-after Chinese-American fast food combinations. Their Pecan Shrimp Burger transforms honey pecan shrimp into a burger with a sweet, crumbly pecan topping. Hainanese chicken is placed in tortillas to create tacos. Their fried chicken sandwich is a gigantic Taiwanese-style fried chicken thigh on a pineapple bun.
The Mapo Tots of Café Bopomofo.
(Lucas Kwan Peterson / Los Angeles Times)
I'm partial to mapo tots, with a scoop of rich, spicy mapo tofu atop crispy tater tots under a layer of melted cheese. Chili Cheese Fries, only much more satisfying.
“The word 'fusion' gets a bad rap, and rightly so, but all of our items are a mix of Western and Eastern influence,” says Philip. “We felt like we could be very intentional about inspirations and ingredients, especially given our Taiwanese and Chinese upbringing.”
The Bopomofo nori fish sandwich, also known as “Bopo Filet-Mo-Fish,” arose from a desire to recreate a version of Dediao You Pian, or Shanghai seaweed fish fillet that incorporates strands of seaweed into a crispy batter.
The taste memory it triggers is powerful and immediate. I'm back in that McDonald's as a child, listening to my grandmother and her friends laugh. Only the sandwich that gets my hands dirty is much better.
“If you think about it, we started ordering Filet-O-Fish when we ran out of Happy Meals,” Philip says. “And now, our Bopomofo version is just the adult version for us as adults.”
Although the sandwich was intended as a limited seasonal item, its popularity has forced Philip and Eric to contemplate a permanent spot on the menu at Bopomofo Café. For now, it is available at the San Gabriel, Artesia and San Diego locations.
