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Arcadian Pastures

Jul18

Location: 400 S Baldwin Ave #2045, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 538-4136

Date: December 4, 2022

Cuisine: Beijing/Szechuan Chinese

Rating: A bit better than its Century City brother

I’ve been to the Century City Meizhou many times, and I’ve even been to this Arcadia branch (which oddly opened LATER) for lunch, but I was always skeptical of going out here for dinner as there are so many other places in the SGV (and after all, we have one close by).

But off I went anyway.

They do have EPIC private rooms. This one is huge, decorated, and has a nice “sitting area.”

Sichuan Dumplings. Pork dumplings with chili oil. Pretty nice version with soft skins, good filling, and a tangy/spicy sauce.

Spicy cucumber salad. Very solid version. A touch spicy, nice sweet and tangy sauce.

Dongpo sausage. Two types. Actually a touch spicy/sweet. The light colored one was incredibly delicious in a sweet pork sort of way.

Cold mung bean noodles with chili. This was a spectacular version of this Chengdu street dish. Tons of flavor and a hot of heat.

Cold noodles with chicken and spicy sauce (not pictured). You mix it up and douse in the sauce. Quite nice cold noodle dish with good texture and flavor.

Sole Filet with green onions. Very lovely as well with nice thick filets. Super silky texture.

Lobster with Ginger and Scallions. The meat was tender and the sauce flavor was great.

Meizhou Special Fried Rice.

Condiments for the peking duck.

Out comes the peking duck!

For more detail on the whole duck thing in LA, check out my Ultimate Peking Duck Guide.
The do it table side, which is sadly rare here.

MDP skin was very thin and crispy but there was less of it because of the split skin cut = 6

Carving away.

The meat is served with legs in a separate dish. Each duck turns into two of these plates. We had three whole ducks this time around!

Meat was super juicy, even a touch pink, with real jus. Excellent. Some was served with the skin on = 9

Great thin pancakes. Pancake was thin and resilient = 9

The condiments. They include sugar for dipping the skin.

Hoisin was very good, but a touch savory = 7

Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual, but extra point for sugar = 8

The “burrito/bing” together was a 7/10 because the pancake/hoisin is the most important component of that.

Cumin Duck Bones. A bit boney and dry, but great flavor.

Duck Soup. They gave us this for free. Actually very pleasant, with a flavor like a great chicken soup.

Eggplant in chili garlic sauce. Nice but a little sweet. Texture was very good though. Very temperature hot as is typical with this dish.

Wok-Fried String Beans. Nice version of the dish.

Beef Filet with Black Pepper. A bit boring, but nice enough.

Steamed lobster with garlic and vermicelli. As good as the first lobster was (we actually had two of each!) this one was even better. Super moist and tender, just great lobster meat with garlic flavor!

Braised pork hock with special sauce. Super delicious umami/msg/savory sauce. Rocked.

Kung Pao Shrimp. It’s supposed to be a touch spicy — it wasn’t — it was sweet with nice crunchy peanuts. Despite the sweetness, it was delicious and addictive. Maybe a little too addictive. Texture was great.

Chocolate Butterfinger Crunch Gelato – The base is made with Valrhona 62% Satilla Chocolate and then layered with Peanutbutter Cream Cheese Ganache and chopped Butterfingers! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #chocolate #creamcheese #ganache #icing #peanut #butterfinger

A rarity with our Asian dinners, people under 30! (some adult children of some of the other guests).

The wine lineup.

Overall this was actually an excellent Chinese meal. Not only do they have the great private rooms (which really elevate Chinese dinners and make them a lot more fun) but MDP Arcadia is a touch more precise than the Century City version. Service is good at both, and the menus are almost the same, but there seems to be an extra level of consistency here that takes it up a notch.

I just wish they would balance a little bit less “sweet” and a little bit more sour/spicy. That would take it up from an 8 to a 10!

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Arcadia, BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Gelato, Lobster, Meizhou Dongpo, Peking Duck, SGV, Wine

Tong Tak – Epic Cantonese

Mar27

Restaurant: Tong Tak House Seafood Restaurant

Location: 1265 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 638-3388

Date: February 9, 2020

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Really great execution

Our friend Tony Lau organizes the best Cantonese banquets.

He always manages to find new places that surprise. Tong Tak isn’t exactly new, but it’s new to most of us.

Classic “palace” interior. It was pretty empty too. Sure it was Academy Awards night, but hard to say.

After an initial foray into a private room that was way too small they set us up downstairs at this huge table with the awesome blue thrones.

The whole gang.

Salted peanuts.

Spicy cold marinated cucumbers. Pretty good version of this typical Chinese starter. Nice crunch, garlic, and a bit of spice.

I ate a lot of these because oddly, they didn’t serve any real dishes for 45 minutes despite the place being deserted! Then the dishes came on like a storm.

Chinese Mountain Yams with Raspberry Sauce. Crunchy yam, not slimey (sometimes it is). The yam itself doesn’t have a lot of flavor. Raspberry sauce is a bit odd..

Beancurd wrapped mushroom rolls. Interesting texture.

Marinated wood ear mushrooms. I love the rubbery texture.

Beans. Not sure what kind. Very mild and I don’t love the pastey bean thing.

Hot sauce.

XO sauce.

Spicy clam with vegetables. Very interesting spongy/chewy texture on the clam and very nice crunchy vegetables.

Fried oysters typhoon style. Really delicious. Probably the best fried oyster’s I’ve ever had with the crispy fry and lots of garlic.

Cheesy lobster. Nice tender lobster with a cheesy sauce. Very interesting combo.

Condiments for the duck and pig.

Suckling pig with buns. Nice small pig, actually a suckling. Nice crunchy skin and good flavor.

The pig head returns after a discombobulating encounter with the cleaver.

Beef with asparagus. Tony always orders a straight up beef dish like this. It was fatty and pretty tender with nicely cut asparagus.

Crispy roast pigeon. Very nice hot juicy pigeon. Not too dark, not overcooked at all.

Peking Duck (Cantonese style) with buns. Very tasty as always, but is of course much better with pancakes and cut a bit differently.

Duck part 2: Lettuce cup duck. The meat from the duck mixed with water chestnuts and celery.

Lettuce cups to go with the duck.

Packed lettuce cup ready to eat. These were good.

100 Flower Chicken. 2 ways. Pressed chicken with shrimp paste. This version was mostly shrimp paste. Almost no chicken meat under the skin. Still it was delicious.

Wok cooked vegetables and oyster mushrooms. I like the double texture thing.

Yin Yang Fried Rice. Two types of sauce covering fried rice. The lighter one was asparagus stalks and shrimp in a light sauce. Very savory and delicious. The red one was with chicken and a tomato based sweet sauce. A bit too sweet for my taste.

Dessert Buns. The yellow topped ones were filled with pineapple and egg custard.

Crackerjack Gelato – Smooth Peanut Base with homemade Dulce de Leche Ribbon, Toffee Peanuts, and Caramel Popcorn! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — oh my! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #caramel #DulceDeLeche #Popcorn #CaramelCorn

Raspberry Sorbetto — French Raspberries and a touch of lime juice — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Unusual for me to go so “straight” with my flavors but I wanted a complement to a complex flavor — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #raspberry

Overall, another great night. Really, these Tony Lau dinners are always great. Despite the slow start to the food, service was very good and the execution of the dishes was excellent. Very nice plating and on point flavors. The kitchen’s command of vegetables was particularly impressive. They know how to cut them into the proper shapes and to wok them quickly so they are still crunchy and tender.

It just goes to show that just because a Cantonese place has that “dated” palace look, doesn’t mean the kitchen isn’t first rate. Somehow they have 3 stars on Yelp. I wonder if we just got the royal treatment of if it’s just Yelp haters.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Arcadia, BYOG, Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Gelato, hedonists, Peking Duck, Seafood, SGV, suckling pig, Tong Tak, Tony Lau, Wine

Shanghailander Arcadia

Jun14

Restaurant: Shanghailander Palace [1, 2]

Location: 1440 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 348-8866

Date: May 19, 2019 and January 18, 2020

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Excellent – best Shanghai food I’ve had in the US

Hedonist trips to the SGV and its requisite Chinese adventures are among my favorite dinners. Shanghailander specializes in Shanghai style cuisine (obviously). We’ve been out many times to their Hacienda Heights location, and last time the owner invited us to try their newer spot in Arcadia — which is closer so no complaints there.

Chinese frontage built into what may have been some kind of family restaurant in the 50s or 60s.

The dining room.

But the Arcadia one has several awesome private rooms!

Cold appetizer plate (5/19/19 & 1/18/20) to start.

Greens in a mustardy sauce to the left. Sweet meat and tofu to the lower left. Hainan chicken on the bottom.

Mushrooms to the right.

Perhaps an eggplant to the right.

Crunchy marinated sweet turnip in the upper right and pork jelly at the top.

Jellyfish in the upper left.

Cold Shanghai style duck (5/19/19). Excellent and very juicy.

Sautéed shrimp (1/18/20). Simple but tasty. I’ve had this dish dozens of times at many Shanghai restaurants and this was for sure one of the best versions I’ve had in the US.

Sea cucumber with shrimp roe (1/18/20). Sea cucumber, the white stuff was roe, shrimp and fish. Weird soft textures but very pleasant. Not exactly a looker, but quite tasty.

Sea cucumber (1/18/20) — nice texture, odd mild garlic and grain sauce.

Shrimp with pineapple in mustard sauce (5/19/19). Close to walnut shrimp, but with a distinctly different flavor.

Shanghai style crab with rice cakes (5/19/19). Really nice garlic and ginger sauce (delicious with the cakes).

Seasonal special: Crab with sticky rice (1/18/20) — really nice. sticky rice has mild but good flavor with sweet Chinese sausage.

Peking/Shanghai duck (1/18/20). Sometimes peking duck isn’t so hot at non Beijing places, but this one was excellent with a rich thick hoisin sauce and pancakes (way better than buns).

The whole assembly.

Duck soup (1/18/20). This was actually a tasty duck soup! It was rich, not overwhelmingly salty, and tasted of actual duck. There were also big chunks of juicy meat. Usually I hate duck soup, but this was quite enjoyable.

Shanghai style eel in pot (5/19/19 & 1/18/20). This was delicious. Soft and rich in a savory slightly sweet sauce.

Shaking Beef or French Style beef (5/19/19). Excellent juicy beef with lots of beefy flavor.

Fried fish with herbs (5/19/19 & 1/18/20). Lovely fried fish. We always order this.

Shanghai style braised pork in brown sauce (5/19/19). A huge hock of pig that falls off the bone. This is about as good as roast pork gets.

Cut up a bit. It’s a lean meat.

Meatballs stuffed with egg (5/19/19). Very unusual dish (here, typical in Shanghai). A kind of fried meat ball with a gooey duck egg yolk INSIDE!

Soy sauce or 3 cup chicken with chestnuts (5/19/19). Not always my favorite dish but this example was really good.

Jellyfish with cucumbers (5/19/19). We loved this dish so much we ordered another (larger) one. Awesomely tangy with a textural contrast between the crunchy cucumbers and chewy jellyfish.

Braised eggplant with salty fish flavor (1/18/20) — sweet sticky sauce and distinct bonito flake flavor. Almost Japanese in style like miso eggplant.

Grandmother’s special pork (1/18/20) — super tender, fatty, delicous with that thick sticky sauce

Pea tendrils with garlic (5/19/19). At first it was a little short on the garlic and we mentioned it and they remade it with even more garlic — awesome.

Shanghailander pan fried buns (5/19/19 & 1/18/20). A fried version of same. So hot they were hard to eat, but oh so tasty.

Shanghai steamed dumplings (XLB) (5/19/19 & 1/18/20). Always one of my favorites. The dough was great, the meat needed a hair more flavor, but I still ate about 6.

Nocciola Espresso Caramello Gelato (5/19/19) — A classic nocciola base made with Pure PGI Piedmont hazelnut paste and then layered with a house-made Espresso Caramel Ganache then topped with fresh roasted hazelnuts — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #hazelnut #ganache #dulcy #ChocolateTruffle #nocciola #caramel #caramello

Sicilian Tiramisu Gelato (5/19/19) –attempting to reinvent Tiramisu with Sicilian flavors: Pure DOGC “Bronte” pistachio paste gelato base with lady fingers soaked in house-made orange syrup and layered with house-made “cannoli filling” (sweetened fresh ricotta with cinnamon and mini dark chocolate chips) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — this one will be a test of concept: too much? –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #pistachio #sicily #ricotta #chocolate #orange #ladyfingers #tiramisu

Mud Pie Gelato (1/18/20) — Hot brewed espresso gelato with house-made milk chocolate coffee ganache and crushed Oreos — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — the gluttonous classic made even more gluttonus! — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #chocolate #valrhona #espresso #coffee #oreo #MudPie

Peppered Lemongrass Ginger Creme Brûlée Gelato (1/18/20) — A blended milk and Thai coconut cream base steeped with lemongrass and ginger and then juiced up with yuzu and black pepper. For sugar, I used coconut palm sugar and even torched the top! — created by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #lemongrass #ginger #CremeBrûlée #BlackPepper #coconut #yuzu

Our 5/19/19 visit to Arcadia was insanely good. Almost every dish was on point and many were unusual. Food was really really good. Service was great too but this was certainly the best Shanghai style food I’ve had outside of China — and this is just a couple months after my most recent visit to Shanghai and incredible means like Shanghai Tang. The private rooms are better here, but we forgot to preorder some dishes, like roast duck, plus they had lots of other interesting things. So next time we will have to really up the ante for a major banquet. They are super nice and I’m sure will knock it out of the park.

Our 1/18/20 visit was just as good — if not better — with a great menu (picked by Bonnie W and I) and a more focused set of wines. Still the best Shanghai place I know of in the US.

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!