Forced to stop selling stinky tofu, this Taiwanese restaurant fought back
The owner of Southern California’s Golden Leaf reveals how a neighbour’s vendetta has seen the popular street food dropped from his menu
Stinky tofu is no longer on the menu at Golden Leaf restaurant in San Gabriel, Los Angeles, after the city received complaints about the dish’s aroma. But the family behind the restaurant is fighting to bring back the street food, which is popular in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and prized for its distinct, potent stench.
The dish is “a cherished taste of home and a source of cultural pride,” he says.
Several restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley offer the dish, with most deep-frying squares of the tofu, resulting in a crisp exterior and a porous, spongelike centre. The flavour and smell can range from mild to eye-wateringly stinky, like an extra-funky blue cheese or excellent kimchi.
For three years, it was the signature dish at Golden Leaf, until a neighbour decided they did not like the smell. In the autumn of 2017, the neighbour, who lives in one of the properties north of the restaurant, began calling.
“She said she could smell the stinky tofu, but we and other customers couldn’t smell it,” says Liao, whose parents opened Golden Leaf in 2014.
The neighbour did not live in the home directly behind their business, Liao says. “We know that customer, and he comes in and he’s never brought it to our attention.”