Editor’s note: Merrill Shindler reflects on his culinary journey through 2020 in Long Beach, highlighting both dine-in and takeout experiences. Previously, he dished about Fried Green Tomatoes at Georgia’s. For more of his adventures, watch this space: www.presstelegram.com/author/merrill-shindler
Chicken Pot Pie at Jongewaard’s Bake ‘n Broil
3697 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach; 562-595-0396, thebakenbroil.com
I’ve been to Jongewaard’s Bake ‘n Broil so many times over the years for breakfast that it comes as something of a surprise to notice that Jongewaard’s is not just a pancake and egg dish joint. Though based on the morning crowds, which used to spill out onto the patio in the Before Times, it’s easy to perceive Jongewaard’s as one of those many Long Beach eateries that closes in early afternoon, after the egg supply finally runs out.
Rather, Jongewaard’s finally closes at 8 p.m. most nights. And there’s much to eat there that’s not breakfast. Though I must admit, those banana nut pancakes call out for me to choose them instead.
The sine qua non of lunch or dinner at Jongewaard’s has to be the chicken pot pie — a dish so good, it deserves a descriptive. Perhaps it should be called the iconic chicken pot pie, or the legendary chicken pot pie, or even the fabled chicken pot pie. It fits perfectly into the Bake ‘n Broil pledge of “Simply Good Food.”
For so many of us, it’s a quintessential taste of our childhoods — only better than the Swanson frozen pies we ate back in the day. So much better. Rather than shards of what hopefully was chicken, in a soggy pastry, the Jongewaard’s version is flaky and fresh, with sizable chunks of chicken, along with recognizable carrots and peas. The sauce isn’t a somewhat scary glop; it’s a gravy, as gravy was intended to be.
And yes, the pies travel very well, though they’re so good, I prefer not to freeze them; I don’t want to do anything that undermines the essential goodness of this quintessentially American dish. (And yes, I know it’s British. But it’s also Pennsylvania Dutch. So we have a fair claim on the pie.)
The food at Jongewaard’s both warms the body, and the soul — and fills the stomach very nicely too, at prices that seem to be out of an earlier time.
There’s a pot roast on the menu — pot roast, cooked long and slow, tender and sweet, just like mom made on Sunday nights, only better. There’s a chicken fried steak, worthy of a middle-American diner, which is a compliment, and a big one at that.
And though they’ve upgraded the name from Salisbury steak, the ground burger steak is a glorious throwback to a dish I used to get at the old Horn & Hardart chain in New York City, where it always seemed so exotic. Here, it comes with grilled onions, and with the options of add-ons like Swiss, cheddar, jack, chili and sautéed mushrooms.
Be sure to check out the menu card of pies and cakes, freshly baked every day — 10 pies, four cream pies, six cakes, and two more listed under the heading, “Lush & Cream Cheese.” The cinnamon rolls and coffee cake are both pretty great as well. Which means, at Jongewaard’s, even if you can’t have your cake and eat it too, you can have your chicken pot pie and eat your cake.
Or your pie. The lemon meringue is a particular favorite. It makes me a kid again, wondering how the heck meringue could taste so good, no matter how many times I ordered it.
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.
The Link LonkDecember 23, 2020 at 02:31AM
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Best dishes of 2020: Chicken Pot Pie at Jongewaard’s Bake ‘n Broil - Long Beach Press Telegram
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