Restaurant: GV Yummy

Location: 203 W Valley Blvd Alhambra, CA 91801. 626-872-6677

Date: May 26 & July 3, 2021

Cuisine: Qing Dao Chinese

Rating: Really good kitchen, albeit sketchy service

I’ve eaten at this location as at least 4 restaurants. Because of this Yarom and I went out on one of our reconnaissance missions nad tried it ourselves and determined that it was worthy of a real dinner later.

It’s the familiar spot that once housed Sham Tsem (Alahambra), New Bay, and Happy Table.

Then after that it was “New Qing Dao” and the sign still lingers, but now it’s “GV Yummy.” It’s still Qing Dao style though.

The interior looks the same.











Big menu, poorly printed.

For our real dinner we grouped in the private room.

Jellyfish heads with cucumbers and aged vinegar. These were some of the best jellyfish I’ve had. The heads were most definitely heads, not tentacles, and the sauce was sweet and tangy.

Special Qing Dao “tossed clear noodles” made out of some kind of starch. These had a jelly-like texture that was pleasing, but basically no flavor. The sauce was a bit sweet and savory at the same time. Not my favorite. Not bad in any way, just bland.

Pigs feet in brown sauce.

Special scallops with glass noodles. These were superb. Very garlicky too. Unusual with great texture and flavor.

Stir-fried shrimp with Chinese cabbage. Amazing dish. The shells and head juice are cooked down into the sauce and both the shrimp and the cabbage had tons of flavor.

Walnut shrimp. Yeah, a guilty pleasure, but very enjoyable.

Golden lobster. This was the heavy egg yolk fry which isn’t my favorite. I prefer more garlic.

Seafood with tofu. This is a Qing Dao dish and while very interesting, it was fairly bland. Cottage cheese like texture.

Spicy fried chicken. Superb version of this dish.

Eggplant with pork (and potatoes). Another fabulous dish. Succulent pork and a really great flavor. We ordered 2-3 times.

Hot Chili Oil Beef. The classic Sichuan boiled chili beef. Good version with some mala.

Stewed Beef Brisket with Tomato. Another great homestyle dish.

Cumin Lamb. Excellent version.

Grilled chili lamb chop. Very succulent with a strong lamb flavor.

Fruit.

Overall, the food was very good here. Most of the dishes were very on point with a lot of flavor and great texture. I really think the kitchen is quite excellent and the Qing Dao style is relatively new to me and tasty. There are some Sichuan dishes as well.

Service was mixed. At our lunch we had a really nice young English speaking server who was very friendly and helpful. But for our larger dinner we experienced a pretty steep language barrier and very confused and sluggish service. There was definitely some “self serve” with regard to napkins, plates etc (where I go up and loot their supplies from the main room). Still, I only really care about the food.

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