Restaurant: Mama Lu’s Dumpling House
Location: 153 Garvey Ave, Monterey Park, CA 91755. (626) 307-5700
Date: June 27, 2017
Cuisine: Chinese
Rating: Tasty and cheap
Two days in a row I head to the SGV for Chinese yummies.
This time it’s Mama Lu’s, one of a small mini-chain of casual inexpensive dumpling places.
This is classic SGV. Look at this sexy corridor — right out of late 90s China — the restaurant bathroom can be found here too.
And the interior, vintage early 21st century SGV interior. Booths, drop ceiling, fish tank, dangling wires, all that.
On the table are sugared peanuts and cucumbers.
XLB. The classic pork soup dumplings. Skin is a touch thick and there wasn’t much juice, but the meat was tasty. I’ve certainly had better of these but like pizza and some other things, XLB are always at least good.
Pork, shrimp, and chive dumpling. Soft classic boiled dumplings. Not bad.
Spicy wontons. Disappointing. Not really spicy at all either and kinda bland.
Zha jiang mian. Not the really traditional version, but pretty tasty. Mild, despite the peppers, and no super strong bean flavor. Just kinda nice.
Crispy shrimp. Fried shrimp with mayo. I like this Chinese-American dish.
Shredded pork and bean curd. Really a Szechuan dish. This was fine.
Pea tendrils and mushrooms. What can you say.
Mama Lu’s certainly wasn’t mind blowing. It was cheap and tasty. If it were close to me I would go all the time. They have a big menu and are very crowded. Atmosphere is either hideous or quaint if you are an SGV aficionado like me. While everyone inside was Chinese, it feels slightly Chinese American. Maybe it’s just catering toward people who have been here 15-20 years rather than young folk just off the boat. Certainly there is no trendiness.