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Archive for Cantonese cuisine – Page 2

Elite Wines at Elite Restaurant

Nov05

Restaurant: Elite Restaurant [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Location: 700 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 282-9998

Date: September 17, 2018

Cuisine: Cantonese Banquet

Rating: Elite!

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Elite is well known as one of great LA’s top dimsum places, but less well known is how great a Cantonese banquet place it is. On this particular night I met Paul R and a bunch of his friends out here for Burgundy night — sure it was a week night and 2 hours in traffic, but great Burgundy and Chinese is worth it!

They actually have a couple private rooms, but this time we had the small one, although it was certainly big enough for the 8 of us. The above photo is the same room, different dinner.

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1996 Deutz Champagne Cuvée William Deutz Rosé. JG 91. This is a very young bottle of Rosé that offers up excellent promise on both the nose and palate, but I would be inclined to give the wine at least a couple more years to really allow it to blossom. The bouquet is deep, young and classy, as it offers up scents of tart cherries, orange peel, sourdough, a touch of new leather and a lovely base of soil. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, crisp and complex, with lovely focus and bounce, bright acids, tiny bubbles and good length and grip on the slightly muddied finish. I suspect that a bit more precision will come on the backend with further bottle age.
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2000 Deutz Champagne Cuvée William Deutz. JG 93. The 2000 Cuvée William Deutz is a deep, young and powerfully-built wine with superb depth and structure for long-term aging. The bouquet is really quite fine, offering up a deep and classy nose of apple, wheat toast, tangerine, some gentle leesy tones, a lovely base of soil, a touch of fresh nutmeg and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and rock solid at the core, with excellent focus and balance, elegant mousse and excellent length and grip on the crisp and complex finish. This is a very classy bottle of bubbly that is already drinking very well and which will continue to age gracefully for a couple of decades.
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Peanuts on the table.
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From my cellar: 1983 Domaine Clair-Daü Bonnes Mares. JK 94. Insanely pretty- aromas of cherry, sweet tea, violet, rose and potpourri. On the palate this shows cherry, tea and lavender. Picks up mineral elements as it sits in the glass. Flavors of cherry liqueur, mineral, rose water and mineral. Balanced, with a long finish. Just awesome.1A0A7552
Cold BBQ Plate with Macau style BBQ pork belly, Char Sui, roast chicken, and jellyfish. Good stuff all around, particularly both porks.
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2001 Domaine Denis Mortet Chambertin. VM 92+. Full, bright red. Brooding, very ripe aromas of black fruits, licorice, graphite and gunflint, all lifted by a subtle oaky perfume. Big, broad, rich and okay, with powerful, dense black fruit flavors and excellent length and thrust. Five or six years in bottle should bring greater refinement as the wine loses some of its baby fat.
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Peking duck. Despite the fact that I’ve been to Elite 20+ times, I’ve never had their peking duck — didn’t even know they offered it. It wasn’t bad at all. Sure they offer only the buns, not the pancakes, but it was still darn good.1A0A7572
2007 Domaine Ponsot Griotte-Chambertin. BH 93. A moderately complex but quite densely fruited nose of earthy red berries, underbrush and warm earth tones leads to silky, rich and round broad-shouldered flavors that possess taut muscle but no hard edges or tannins, in fact the mouth feel here is quite sophisticated, all wrapped in an impressively intense, mouth coating and harmonious finish. The structure is dense but fine and this should benefit from at least a decade of cellar time. A Griotte of class, grace and distinction.
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Duck part deux, which is mixed with water chestnuts etc and served with…
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Lettuce cups.
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Here it is as you eat it.
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2001 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling Auslese. VM 94. Tangerine and sassafras aromas put one in mind of Erden. On the palate, honey and rich marzipan sweetness are leavened by tangerine citricity and the whole suffused with pungently smoky minerality. A hundred grams of residual sugar are brought to heel by 10.5 acidity and heaps of extract. The braid of fresh fruit, botrytized, faintly caramelized fruit and minerals here is uncanny. Juicy and refreshing in the finish even as it is profoundly botrytized and rooted in its classic red soil terroir. Smoke and almonds linger longest of all.
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Santa Barbara prawns with garlic. Very simple prep, but good. Way, way better than the steamed bugs at Newport Seafood.
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1989 Domaine Bruno Clavelier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru La Combe d’Orveau Vieilles Vignes. a rare wine, you don’t see Combe d’Orveau that often.
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Steamed pork with salty fish. Yeah, it looks like the cat barfed up on a plate, but it’s really delicious with a mild porky flavor.
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Sautéed scallops. Simple, to go with the wine, but nice.
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2001 Domaine Armand Rousseau Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. BH 93. Knockout aromas of wonderfully intense black and red cherry fruit loaded with cassis and a touch of new oak introduce medium-bodied, sweet, harmonious, very expressive and long flavors all underpinned by racy minerality and firm structure. The tannins are prominent but ripe and the density of extract is impressive and this both coats and stains the palate. As it always does, this delivers finesse with real mid-palate punch with near perfect grace. For my taste, I would hold this for another 1 to 3 years but it would be no vinous crime to be drinking this now. Note to be sure to serve this cool as the alcohol becomes noticeable if it becomes a bit too warm.
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House special lobster. Super delicious with lots of juicy lobster meat.
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2001 Louis Jadot Chapelle-Chambertin. BH 93. A still very fresh nose is just now beginning to display the initial hints of secondary development that leads to rich, intense and beautifully well-detailed medium-bodied flavors that ooze a fine minerality on the vibrant and impeccably well-balanced finish. There is a touch of austerity present on the finale that serves as a balancing element to the naturally sweet mid-palate. This has reached that point in its evolution where it’s still on the way up but still far enough along where it can be drunk with pleasure. In sum, this is really lovely juice and a classic Chapelle.
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Mushrooms and other vegetables in brown sauce.
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2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese. 95 points. Prum calls this wine “typically somewhat reserved vis-a-vis the Graacher Auslese” but I apprehend a level of sheer flavor intensity that goes beyond the other wines here today, with apple, honey and spice supported by a volatile esterous note of botrytis and even a prickly Eiswein-like whiff of chili pepper. Impressive custardy richness in the mouth, yet ripe, refreshing citricity keeps the wine dynamic and salty minerality helps extend the finish. (In the interest of full disclosure I pass on Prum explanation that this is one of “three or four comparable lots” of Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese which will be bottled separately.
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Seafood chow mein. I always love this dish, particularly when the sauce soaks into them and softens them up. Oh so good.
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2006 Domaine Ponsot Clos de la Roche Vieilles Vignes. VM 93-96. Good full ruby-red. Incredible nose melds wild cherry, mocha, brown spices, iron, orange peel and underbrush. Like liquid silk on entry, then hugely concentrated in the middle, with an extraordinarily fine-grained texture and no easy sweetness. Impeccably balanced, soil-driven wine that finishes with noble tannins and great persistence. This is Clos de la Roche, not pinot. As of November, one of the most promising wines of this stealth vintage.
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I wish I knew what they called this fried rice as it’s super awesome with that chopped pork and whatnot on top!
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2008 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. BH 93. The intense stoniness of this wine is immediately evident as it suffuses every aspect from nose to finish. An ultra elegant aromatic profile features notes of acacia, pear and dried rose petal before sliding gracefully into detailed, driving and explosive medium-bodied flavors that display cuts-like-a-knife precision on the almost aggressively mineral-driven finish that seems to go on and on. A study in purity and a classic Perrières.
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Gotta love the Mango Pudding.

A lot of these dishes were stunning, like the pig and all the crab dishes. The private room was great and we had a stunning lineup of (mostly) Burgundy. A wine or two had serious issues, but that’s par for the course. I feel that Burgundy shows off by far at dinners where it dominates (although it can mix fine with Champy). You can’t easily go back and forth between the big extracted wines and the more subtle Burgundy.

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Elite – King Crab Custard
  2. Elite Dim Sum
  3. Elite New Years
  4. Elite Wine Night
  5. Lincoln Seafood Restaurant
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Elite, Elite Restaurant, Paul Rosenberg, Peking Duck, SGV

NBC Seafood – Best Ever?

Oct22

Restaurant: NBC Seafood

Location: 404 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 282-2323

Date: August 26, 2018

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Really excellent

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Tony Lau’s Cantonese dinners are some of the best Chinese dinners of the year. He always manages to get the best out of these old school Cantonese kitchens.
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And check out this vintage 90s giant dining room at NBC!
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We had the world’s largest single table private room. Quiet, cushy, and tons of space.
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Sauces on the table.
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As well as peanuts and candied walnuts.
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I didn’t grab the photo of our King Crab when he was alive, but he was about 10 minutes before this photo and his return with glass noodles and lots of garlic.
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Steamed king crab with glass noodles. Classic. Perfectly moist and garlicky. One of the best simple crab prep’s I’ve had. Really emphasized the delectable sweet meat. Tony likes to have the restaurants individual plate all the dishes and here is an example. Normally I don’t love this as it negates my ability for portion control. This time, the plates were large enough that it worked out well.
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Scallops. Lightly fried in a brown sauce. This may be a Shandong dish in original. They were really good. Very soft and delicate.
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Shrimp two (heavy) ways. Both mayo walnut shrimp and the heavy salty egg yolk fried shrimp. Both very moist and tasty, particularly the walnut one, but heavy!
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Pepper fish. Delicious juicy fish with a nice medium black pepper bite.
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Suckling pig. Excellent boneless rendition of this classic dish. Really nice with the bones and other stiff bits. Great crispy and piggy flavor.
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Cashew Beef. Kind of a Chinese American dish, but very tasty filet mignon which was elevated by the crunch of the nuts.
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Mushrooms and greens. Good for what it was. I don’t love this kind of mushroom.
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Lotus wrapped sticky rice.
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The contents were a kind of taro/red bean sticky rice. It had that weird sweet/starchy thing that isn’t to my taste. I’m sure it was good for this dish.
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Roast pigeon. Excellent, crispy and meaty.
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Mango pudding. I always love this.
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Sweet cakes. These were kinda nice too.
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A pair of gelati by me:

Peanut Butter Tagalong Gelato – Peanut Butter base with house-made chocolate caramel and Girlscout Tagalong Cookies — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato

Not all my creations turn out as good as I hope — Watermelon Mint Sorbetto – watermelon sorbet with a hint of fresh mint — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato. Texture was too icy though.

Overall, this was a fabulous meal. Several people, the ones that seem to always prefer Cantonese, thought it was the “best ever” (Chinese). I certainly wouldn’t say that, but it was very very good and on the top end for SGV Cantonese banquet. As I said, Tony always gets the best out of every kitchen he takes us to. Many of the dishes were fabulous and the rest were just good. Now, I like a somewhat more varied, spicier, and more “Chinese” Chinese food style personally. You can see a lot of examples from China itself below in my Chinese dining guide.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more Chinese dining reviews click here.

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Wines:1A0A6447
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Related posts:

  1. World Seafood is Elite
  2. Top Island Seafood
  3. Lincoln Seafood Restaurant
  4. SGV Nights – Seafood Palace
  5. New Bay Seafood
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Cantonese cuisine, Gelato, hedonists, NBC Seafood, suckling pig, Tony Lau

Long Lunch at Longo

May16

Restaurant: Longo Seafood Restaurant [1, 2]

Location: 7540 Garvey Ave, Rosemead, CA 91770.  (626) 280-8188

Date: April 10, 2018 and August 13, 2022

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Amazing Lunch

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A couple weeks ago I had dinner at a new Cantonese place in the SGV. Jonathan Gold wrote it up and our dinner was great. So I jumped on the opportunity to meet a few Babykillers and some Instagram wine folks out there again for lunch — really as part of a SGV double header (I had dinner later at Newport Seafood).

Oddly too, the next time I returned serious for dim sum was again with the Babykillers, and again was part of a “2 in one day” SGV face-stuffer (this time with ootoro). These are painful! Even though I got 4 hours of massage in between! Plus the night before was a big Fred dinner at N/Naka.


Longo is on Garvey right next to the Longo Toyota. Lol.

It’s one of these big formal Cantonese places.


But we had the generously sized private room.

A nice side table for getting the wines ready.

This was lunch, and dimsum time, but we ordered some regular banquet food too. Including the incredibly priced $25ish a pound live King Crab! This one was smaller, because we weren’t a huge group.
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Crab in 2022.

They brought out all the sauces. Love the XO!

1993 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. VM 91. Understated, pure aromas of musky stone, orange, smoke and truffle. Full, ripe and harmonious; not a huge or superconcentrated wine but quite subtle and fine, with brisk, juicy flavors of orange and minerals. Lingering, ripe finish.

NV Jérôme Prévost La Closerie Fac-Simile. VM 94. Jérôme Prévost’s NV (2012) Rosé Fac-simile is flat-out delicious. In this vintage, the Fac-simile is decidedly lifted and understated in style, with gorgeous aromatics and lovely overall balance. The Pinot fruit is incredibly expressive, but the 2012 is not a wine of impact, rather it is a Champagne that draws the taster in with its allure. Prévost only makes his 100% Pinot Meunier Rosé Fac-simile in top vintages, which makes it one of Champagne’s rare birds. After the disappointing 2011, the 2012 put things back on track.

agavin: really tremendous, on the dry side, rose.

1996 Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut Millésimé. 90 points. Not a lot of bubbles left in this one – has become quite a mature champagne. It’s good drinking at the moment, but nothing in the glass wowed me. An enjoyable drink nevertheless and still some nice acidity/lemon/sherbert at the end of the palate. I would drink these up now.

1995 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Blanc des Millénaires. VM 95. The 1995 Brut Blanc des Millenaires shows just how compelling this often overlooked vintage can be. Layers of lemon, pastry spices, crushed rocks and savory herbs literally jump from the glass in this exquisite, perfumed, beautifully delineated Champagne. The 1995 shows lovely flavor complexity and nuance from its extended time in bottle, yet it also retains plenty of freshness, verve and acidity. This is a great showing from Charles Heidsieck. The 1995 was made before the tenure of the house’s current team, headed by CEO Cécile Bonnefond. It will be very interesting to see what develops at this historic property over the coming years.

NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne Grand Siècle Grande Cuvée. 93 points. from the latest lot, mostly 2002 and a bit of ’99 and ’98. Took a bit of time to open out completely; honeyed flowers mixed with bits of toffee, caramel and almond shadings. Poached yellow orchard fruits, apple and pear, long line of acidity, shows more width and concentration with air time. This bottle was tighter than others I have had recently. 93-94 points.

NV Emmanuel Brochet Champagne Le Mont Benoit Extra Brut. VM 93. The NV Extra Brut Le Mont Benoit 1er Cru is terrific. Dried flowers, almonds, dried pears and chamomile are some of the many notes that flesh out. Ample, broad and creamy, with plenty of depth from the red grapes that make up most of the blend, the Mont Benoit is terrific today. Specifically, the Mont Benoit is rich and vinous on the palate, yet also remains wonderfully light on its feet. Don’t miss it. Disgorged April 2016. Dosage 4 grams per liter.

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Cucumbers with a spicy bean paste.
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Jellyfish. Kinda bland actually.

Great Macau style roast pork.

Perfect with rose Champagne!
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Geoduck sashimi. Lovely again with a very briney quality.
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Fried geoduck and octopus. The fried clam was amazing. Delicious “fry”.

The crab came back in stages, first stir fried with salty egg yolk. Pipping hot.

And so delicious it warranted a close up.

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Typhoon style crab body meat. Perhaps a bit too much bread crumbs, but very tasty.

Then a bit of dimsum, their specialty lobster har gow. These were great, with a nice strong lobster flavor and light shell.

1999 Dominique Laurent Clos Vougeot. BH 88-91. Austere and regal in its reserve yet the density is breathtaking. A good deal more structured than the Clos de la Roche and not nearly as forward yet there is more finesse here than most young Clos de Vougeots offer. Solid in every respect.

On the house, roast duck. Very succulent, juicy, and delicious. Perfect with Red Burgundy.

2011 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Narvaux. 92 points. Another cracking bottle from Roulot. He just keeps hitting them out of the park it seems.

2014 Domaine de Montille Corton-Charlemagne. VM 94. Bright yellow. Very ripe aromas of lemon oil, grilled nuts, toasted bread and brown spices. Fat, rich and very ripe, with mineral and spice flavors accented by lemon zest, lime and lavender. This initially struck me as weightier and less classic than the 2015, but the wine’s strong spine of stony acidity gives it terrific penetration and really frames and extends the fruit on the long finish. Still, this big, smooth wine is showing beautifully today. Winemaker Sieve notes that the south/southeast exposition of the vines gives this wine a crunchy fruit character along with considerable weight.

2016 Walter Scott Chardonnay Cuvée Anne. 92 points. Nice for a fake chard. The wine paired pretty well thanks to its terrific acidity. Loads of crisp yellow apple. I’m going to try to give this wine at least a year before opening another bottle. Delicious!

Crab round 2: King crab legs with garlic and rice noodles. Amazing!

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Steamed then chilled crab legs. Cool, sweet, and delicious.

And Crab Brûlée, what I call the crab meat egg custard in the crab shell.

From the dim sum menu, chicken feet in sweet soy.

Shrimp chow fun (rice crepe) with the new “twisted” style.

Fried chicken feet in red sauce.

Spare rib nibbles.

2016 The Standish Wine Company The Relic. 93 points. Some monster Syrah, but pretty good after 2+ hours in the decanter.

Chewy meat stuffed fried rice buns. These were nice versions.

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BBQ pork buns. A little soggy.
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Steamed pork buns.

Fried chicken cartilage. Chewy and delicious.

Truffle siu mai. The dumplings were good, but this canned truffle “relish” (more olive probably than truffle) actually diminished them. Might have been better with real truffle. As it was, just get the sui mai.

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Shrimp and chive dumplings. Very nice.
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Crab and tobiko dumplings.
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Har gow. Very nice with real shrimp inside.

Spare rib and pumpkin chow fun. More twisted rice crepes, some made with special red rice!

Roast duck chow fun. Never had this combo. Also good, and I like the interesting “twisted” texture.
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Seafood chow mein (crispy).

Seafood chow mein. The classic crispy egg noodles with seafood in a light sauce.
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Tofu and veggies.

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Garlic greens.

They plated this table-side.
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Fried rice.
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Yolk buns and tea jelly. Interesting.
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Almond Chocolate Cloud Gelato – The base is made with Valrhona 62% Satilla Chocolate and then layered with Toasted Sicilian Almond Cream and chopped Classic Toblerone! — 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 #almond #Toblerone

English Breakfast Garden Gelato — this is a creative new flavor of mine: milk steeped with Orange Peels and Rosemary with just a touch of Orange Marmalade worked in — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — very subtle and lovely flavor — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #orange #rosemary #Marmalade
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The gang in 2022.

The service was absolutely first rate. The manager above really took care of us. The food was great too. The pig and crab were as good as it gets and the crab was a total deal at only $25/lb (in 2018 — in 2022 it was a lot more). The duck was very good too as were a number of the other dishes. I would like to order more dimsum on a return to get a real feel for it, and we just had a few dumplings (all good) and the chow funs.

Reflecting in 2022, just a few months before we tried out a vast host of dim sum places, Longo is one of the top couple dim sum places in the SGV, probably in the top 5. It’s not as “typical” as some, belonging a bit to the new school, and their dim sum menu is smaller than the big Cantonese palaces, but the ingredients and execution are first rate.

But the lunch itself was tremendous fun. The wines, particularly the champagnes were stellar and a great crew of people.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

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Just a few of the champagnes in 2022.

Related posts:

  1. Late Night Longo
  2. Ultimate New Bay Lunch
  3. Go Sushi Goes To Lunch
  4. World Seafood is Elite
  5. Cocoa Island – Languorous Lunch
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Babykillers, BYOG, Cantonese cuisine, Champagne, Gelato, Longo Seafood, SGV

Late Night Longo

Apr09

Restaurant: Longo Seafood Restaurant

Location: 7540 Garvey Ave, Rosemead, CA 91770.  (626) 280-8188

Date: February 11 & June 10, 2018 and June 12 & November 6 & December 11, 2022

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Great Meal, Good Deal

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The first week of February (2018) my SGV radar was buzzing about a new Cantonese place in the SGV. I think because Jonathan Gold wrote it up and then several friends went. Mostly they were talking about the dim sum but most Cantonese places are really 2 in 1 with nighttime banquet service. Since then I’ve been many many times and this is a composite post of at least 5 or 6 dinners.

Longo is on Garvey right next to the Longo Toyota. Lol.

IMG_6093It’s one of these big formal Cantonese places.

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Tanks with live seafood.

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There is a big glitzy menu too, but this one is more compact.

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They have tons of private rooms. Some even have their own “en suite” bathrooms.

Peanuts.

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Cucumbers with a spicy bean paste.

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Chicken Feet. Of course Yarom has to slip in his chicken feet to satisfy his foot fetish. These are the extra un-seasoned buggers. Pretty much no one else touched them.

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Chili oil.

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Cold plate. Jellyfish, Honey BBQ Pork, roast chicken, roasted pork belly. The jellyfish was spicy and first rate with nice texture. The honey BBQ pork was sweet, soft, and delicious. The pork belly had a bit of porky quality and nice crispy skin. I didn’t try the chicken but people loved it.
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Sweet sauce, sugar, and hoisin.

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Geoduck and lobster sashimi. The lobster had a nice texture but almost no flavor. The geoduck, however, was incredible again with chewy clam texture and an almost sublime “of the sea” briny quality.
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Wasabi and soy for the sashimi.
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Fried geoduck neck, salt & pepper style. Some of the best fried clams I’ve had (again). Super light and crunchy with that chewy clam center.

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Peking Duck (2/11/18). The meat was very good. This was a bun place and they serve the classic “Pseudo Peking Duck“. People have their preferences as to buns vs pancakes. I like both, but pancakes allow you to eat more!

NOTE: On my second visit, for my birthday, June 2018, I had called ahead (twice) and reserved Peking Duck — but when I got there they told me “no duck, sold out” — clearly they had sold away my duck to the highest bidder as I saw some on tables! I was fairly irritated.

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Duck Meat. Sometimes they also serve the meat separately. depends. I’m not sure I actually got any of this. Looks pretty juicy, like the Cantonese roast duck that it is.

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Condiments. I didn’t get to try as they were on the other side of our very large and very slow lazy susan. Again it was served with buns which are vastly inferior to pancakes. But still it was overall a very tasty duck — if not the real peking duck experience.

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Duck Lettuce Cups. Totally PF Changs style but actually quite enjoyable. Nice flavor and crunch. The hoisin here is sweet and doesn’t have the punch that a good Beijing place hoisin does.

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Lettuce for the duck.

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Fried Squab. Super delicious with crispy skin and very dark rich meat.

Suckling pig (half, 2/11/18 & 6/10/18). Perfect pig. Really, really crispy with nice pork flavor.

What happened to piggy?

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Macau Style Pork Belly. Piggy with nice crispy skin. Good stuff. This is what you get if you can’t handle a whole pig!

Lamb stew (2/11/18 & 6/10/18). Interesting.

Fish with garlic on bok choy (2/11/18). The garlic made it really delicious actually.

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Clams with green pepper.

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Scallops with snap peas. Lovely.

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Frog with Chili Peppers. It was not spicy at all but the frog had a reaally nice flavor and the bones weren’t too anoying. Fish + Chicken vibe in great sauce.

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Sweet buns to “calm the spice from the frog.” People loved these and they were very fluffy.

Here comes the giant King Crab!

Brian shows off the scale.

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More live seafood on a different night.

El Crab returns wokked with vegetables. Stir fried crab (2/11/18).

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Crab Legs with garlic (2/11/18 & 6/10/18) which was awesome.1A4A8316

King Crab Legs, steamed with garlic, on glass noodles. Super tender, sweet, and garlicky. Fabulous. Others raved about the noodles (which I avoided due to carbs).

Close up of that tender goodness.

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King Crab Egg Custard  (2/11/18 and others). This was actually the best version of this I’ve had. The custard was silky and infused with sweet soy and there were very substantial chunks of crab meat. Totally addictive.1A0A9880
Crab parts fried with salty yolk (6/10/18). As I’ve several times found, this isn’t my favorite prep. A bit too salty and with that grainy yolky texture.

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King Crab Body, Typhoon Style. One of the best crab bodies I’ve had. Tons of meat, very sweet and still moist. The fry was very tasty with lots of garlic flavor, but was as much a bread crumb fest as garlic. This wasn’t the crack-like pure garlic crunch.

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Crab fried rice (6/10/18). Great stuff!

 

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Black Pepper Lobster. This is the head and legs part of the lobster — we ate the tail raw. It was okay, certainly well cooked, but the sauce wasn’t particularly peppery and the parts of the lobster we had (mostly legs) are a little tough to get the meat out of.

Fried tofu with mushrooms and broccoli (2/11/18 & 6/10/18). Very nice actually. Love the delicate sauce.
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Kung pao chicken (6/10/18). A nice tasty version. I got some tame dishes on this day because we had a bunch of SGV noobs in the crowd.
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Walnut shrimp (6/10/18). Fairly light, mayo forward version.
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Sole with black bean sauce (6/10/18). Turned out to be moderately spicy!

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Braised pork belly with preserved vegetables. Rich!

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Filet Mignon with mushrooms. The mushrooms were great but the beef was kind of chewy. Yarom substituted this for the pork belly with preserved veggies which we supposed to have (a great dish). The beef was meh.

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Pepper lamb chops. Not sure I get this dish.

Pea tendrils with garlic (2/11/18).
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Ung choy (6/10/18).

Preserved fish eggs fried rice (2/11/18). Nice and salty.
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Vegetable fried rice (6/10/18).

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Yang Chow Fried Rice.
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Simple lo mein (6/10/18). A lot of the Chinese food amateurs enjoyed this.
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Seafood chow mein (6/10/18). I always love this dish.

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Beef chow mein (crispy). I just ate the beef but it had that tasty MSG soft tenderized beef.

Weird sweet bean soup (2/11/18).

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Another weird bean soup.
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Walnut soup (6/10/18). MUCH much better than the bean soup — actually kind of pleasant.

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Sweet Soup. Interesting textures and a sort of medicinal quality, it was just sweet with almost no flavor. Weird like most Chinese desserts. There were goji berries and some sort of sea plant with a jellyfish-like texture.
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Custard buns (6/10/18) on the house. I enjoy these mild sweet things.

And a bit of cake (someone brought on 2/11/18).
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For my birthday dinner (6/10/18) I brought some Sweet Milk Gelato I made:

On the left, a new flavor: Limoncello Zabaione Gelato, an eggy frozen zabaione made with Sorento Limoncello.

On the right, Gluten Free Triple Chocolate Cloud, Valrhona chocolate base, Valrhona cream cheese fudge, and gluten free oreo substitutes.

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More gelato.

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Triple Chocolate Cloud Gelato – The base is made with Valrhona 62% Satilla Chocolate and then layered with Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Ganache and chopped Oreos! — 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 #oreos #ganache #icing #NestléCrunch

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Bloody Apple Pie Gelato — A Tahitian Vanilla Custard base layered with my house-made cinnamon bourbon apple pie filling, house-made Vanilla Caramel Blood, and house-made Grave Soil Charcoal Graham Crackers (GF) — 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 #applepie #apple #cinnamon #caramel #GrahamCracker #halloween

Got crabs?

 

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The service was absolutely first rate the first time we came (2/11/18). The manager above really took care of us. The food was great too. Not the best Cantonese banquet I’ve ever had but really very nice with a lot of first rate dishes. The pig and crab were as good as it gets and the crab was a total deal at only $19-25/lb. The duck was very good too as were a number of the other dishes.

The second time for dinner (6/10/18, I had been there another time for lunch), the service was a bit different. They were mobbed. I had called ahead (twice) and reserved Peking Duck — but when I got there they told me “no duck, sold out” — clearly they had sold away my duck to the highest bidder as I saw some on tables! I was fairly irritated. They also took a LONG time to come over and take our order. Once it got rolling they were reasonably attentive. Food was still good, but they could have done a way better job with us.

In 2022 (and once so far in 2023) I went to Longo a whole mess of times. The meal follows a certain pattern, but it’s a great place for fresh seafood and lots of good Chinese eats. And the fact that they have big private rooms where they let you be loud, obnoxious, and do your wine thing is awesome!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

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I’ll post but not bother elaborate on the wines:







6/10/18 dinner wines:
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Related posts:

  1. Late Night Medicine
  2. SGV Nights – Seafood Palace
  3. Elite Wine Night
  4. World Seafood is Elite
  5. Top Island Seafood
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Gelato, Longo, Longo Seafood, Peking Duck, SGV, suckling pig, Sweet Milk, Wine

Ambrosia Salad Madness

Apr06

Restaurant: Lunasia [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 500 West Main Street Suite A, Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 308-3222

Date: February 25, 2018

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Fine Cantonese

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Every couple months our friend Tony Lau organizes a Cantonese banquet and he always manages to get really interesting stuff out of the restaurant.

Tonight he took us back to Lunasia, where I’ve been several times, mostly for dim sum — but they do Cantonese banquet too.

We had the private room — actually this wasn’t big enough so they opened it up and gave us an even larger space.

Nice tea pot.

Peanuts of course.

And candied walnuts.

They gave us some random dim sum like these chewy rice buns with pork. Very nice texture actually.

Tofu causeway style. I’ve had a lot of seafood causeway style, but never tofu. It was pretty good though, if salty.

Sauces.

A little dim sum plate. Left to right: har gow, spring roll, and truffle shui mai. All good, especially the truffle one, but the problem was that in their effort to individually plate for 12+ people the dim sum grew cold.

Shrimp salad. A whacky combination of shrimp, apple, strawberries, melon, and mayo! Like Ambrosia Salad — whacky!

The individual plating trend continues, by the way, as each person got one of dish pictured!

More sauces.

Stuffed little game bird. Very nice crispy bird with a gamey flavor.

And stuffed with sticky rice. Delicious.

King crab with rice noodles. Pretty dish and delicious in one of those delicate white sauces.

Lamb chop. Very tasty but a touch over-cooked.

Fried sea bass and fried bean curd. Delicious, but a large portion.

I brought some of my artisanal gelato.

Blueberry Cheesecake Gelato – a cheesecake base with French blueberries layered with graham cracker crumble and topped with house-made blueberry coulis. I should have dressed the top with some graham and some fresh blueberries but I went nuts with the coulis and took up all the space!

Turmeric Latte Gelato – milk base steeped in turmeric with a touch of cinnamon, cardamon, and ginger! And yep, that yellow is all natural.

Pretty colors!

A chewy crispy rice ball filled with egg yolk custard — surprisingly delicious for a Chinese dessert.

Weird almond soup pastry — not very good at all, but it is a Chinese dessert.

Food was quite good but the individual plating was not nearly as good as family style. It looks nice, but the dishes are a little cold and the portions way too large per dish so that even with the relatively small number of dishes above (for me) I was incredibly stuffed.

But still, a super fun evening!

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here,

List of wines below:












Related posts:

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By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Cantonese cuisine, Gelato, Lunasia, Lunasia Chinese Cuisine, Tony Lau, Wine

World Seafood is Elite

Mar16

Restaurant: World Seafood Restaurant [1, 2, 3]

Location: 1412 S Garfield Ave. Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 282-3888

Date: January 27, 2018 and February 7, 2020

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Elite Dimsum

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I last went to World Seafood almost 2 years ago for dim sum but recently one of the Elite managers, Derek, came over to World Seafood and brought with him one of the Elite chefs. Because of the new kitchen and management I’ve decided to write a new from scratch review. Then about 2 years later Yarom, my brother and I hit it up again and it’s still great.

 Typical big Cantonese house outside.
 Inside a touch of new color encircles the giant Chinese-style banquet hall.

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They have a much bigger space than Elite and gave us an elaborate private room.

 

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The menu (1/7/20).
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Sauces, including XO sauce on the right.
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Spicy crunchy cold cucumbers.


Pork Shui-Mai. Great versions of the classic.

Chicken feet in house sauce. Not my thing, but some like it.

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Shrimp and Chinese Chive Dumpling. What’s better than shrimp dumpling? Shrimp with Chive!
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Fun guo, or Chaozhou fun guo sometimes spelled fun quor, fun gor, fen guo, Chiu Chow dumpling, Teochew dumpling, or fun kor is a variety of steamed dumpling from the Chaoshan area of coastal eastern Guangdong, a province in Southern China.

Shanghai Style Steamed Bun. We love XLB, and these particular examples were awesome. Nice and delicate and easy to slurp out of the little tins.

Har Gow (Crystal shrimp). Excellent versions of the standard.

Special dumplings with meat, shrimp, and vegetables.

Scallop and shrimp dumplings.

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Sea Cucumber Roll. Lettuce leaves filled with pork, shrimp, sea cucumber and topped with masago.
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Beef balls. A touch dense.

Tofu wrap. Mostly vegetables and some pork? wrapped in bean curd. Hot and soft and delicious.

Sautéed pea tendrils with garlic. A nice version because lots of garlic.

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Sautéd string beans with minced pork. A touch bland, or under salted.

Special shrimp. A lot of good flavor with peanuts and a bit of spice.

Baked chicken bun. Delicious slightly sweet crunchy exterior top filled with chopped seasoned chicken meat.

BBQ Pork Bun. Like a jelly donut, just filled instead with porky goodness!

Fried Meat Dumpling. This was the chewy fried rice coating with sweet ground meat paste inside. I’ve had better versions of these, the filling here was a bit boring.

Crab cream roll. Some bits of crab and maybe cream-cheese deep fried. Much like a crab rangoon. Mayo sauce. Pretty tasty if very fried.

Flakey baked pork bun. The buttery flakey batter around sweet BBQ pork. Really delicious.

Peking duck! We asked and he had — even at lunch! Very nice duck too.

Pan fried shrimp and scallion cake. I had these in Fuijian province. Really delicious and very greasy (in a good way).

Preserved meat crepe. Chewy and bland.

Green onion rice noodle. Bland.

Fried shrimp rice noodle. Excellent.

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Sticky rice with chicken in lotus leaf. Pretty good.

White boy shrimp (aka walnut shrimp). Nice version.

Macau pork. Pan fried roast pork. Tasty!

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Macau Style Roast Pork Belly (2/7/20). Delicious. Different than it was a few years ago.
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Fried Chicken Cartilage with Garlic. Crunchy and the garlic was great. Chewy insides.
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Roast Duck. Nice and juicy. Served with sweet sauce.

House special fried rice. Nice kitchen sink rice.

Seafood Chow Mein. Those crispy little noodles I love soaked in a seafood sauce. Great noodle dish.

Coconut buns. Delicious!

Milk buns with custard. Also good. They have a lot of interesting Chinese desserts here but we were full.
 Plus I had brought my own homemade dessert: PeaNutella & Jelly Frenzy Gelato – Peanut Butter base layered with everyone’s mob crazy spread and strawberry jelly. Plus bonus peanut butter cookies!

Overall, World Seafood has now leapt into the top SGV dimsum houses. It’s very much like Elite (wonder why) and super yummy. Big menu of with all sorts of Cantonese treats. Their banquet is great too.

As of 2/7/20 I still thought World Seafood was very good, in the “A level” of SGV dimsum. Big menu, interesting stuff, fresh, piping hot, and all that goodness.

Related posts:

  1. Dim Sum – World Seafood
  2. SGV Nights – Seafood Palace
  3. Top Island Seafood
  4. Elite Dim Sum
  5. Lincoln Seafood Restaurant
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Dim sum, dimsum, Gelato, hedonists, Lunch Quest, SGV, World Seafood, World Seafood Restaurant

Best Geoduck Ever

Sep27

Restaurant: World Seafood Restaurant [1, 2]

Location: 1412 S Garfield Ave. Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 282-3888

Date: August 13, 2017

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Great Cantonese banquet

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I last went to World Seafood almost 2 years ago (for dim sum) and being that Cantonese Restaurants are basically two in one (dim sum and dinner) I was psyched to try it with master orderer Tony Lao for dinner.

 Typical big Cantonese house outside.
 Inside a touch of new color encircles the giant Chinese-style banquet hall.

But tonight we had one of the private rooms — all the better.

There was a ton of wine, but I’m not cataloging it because I tragically had a weird camera malfunction and most of the photos are from Yarom’s phone — yes, these are not my photos, and so not as sharp — but they will do.

Boiled peanuts to start.

Fungus with chili oil. Super delicious and great texture.

The white boiled chicken feet. I never try these, too gelatinous.

Sautéed geoduck clam with snap peas and fungus.

And look, they individually plated it (like most of the dishes). Incredible. Tony gets that to happen fairly often but I’ve never had it with anyone else at the ordering helm. This was the best geoduck ever. Super tender, not over cooked, with a lovely chewy flavor.

Giant prawns. In a sort of sweet garlic sauce or something. Delicious too and you pretty much had to eat the shell.

Working the wine.

Fried geoduck. Like the best fried clams you’ve ever had. Seriously like New England clam strips. Fried with garlic.

Suckling pig. Excellent! Very tender and totally deboned.

Some of the extra (less attractive but just as tasty) meat came as a separate dish.

Some more something (more clam?) fried in the heavy egg yolk fry. I don’t love this salty rich type of batter.

Turtle soup. On request, even though it was summer, they served us up this delicious consommé of turtle.

I guess that is turtle meat.

Lettuce cups with chicken. Specially made with chicken on request. Might have had more flavor with pork, but the texture was excellent.

Individually plated again.

Special stuffed duck. Stuffed with rice and chestnuts and I don’t know what other goodies. Tasted very soft and delicious. A little like Budha’s chicken.

Special lamb chops. We almost didn’t get these but they were amazingly flavorful.

Close up, individually plated.

String beans and pork. Nice version of the dish.

Yin Yang fried rice. This is a great dish, although in this version the red porky side was a bit too sweet. The white side is shrimp.

In the bowl.

Walnut and black sesame mochi ball soup. Strange Chinese dessert.

John and I went out for some “coffee” — if you can call this boba cookies and cream ice blended coffee — more like a milk shake.

Overall, World Seafood served up some really excellent Chinese banquet fare, and service was fantastic. Individual plating! We had some different things and they were nearly all perfectly prepared. I love this kind of dinner.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

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  5. Dim Sum – World Seafood
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, geoduck, SGV, World Seafood

Dinner at the Palace

Sep13

Restaurant: The Palace [1, 2]

Location: 11701 Wilshire Blvd, Second Floor, Los Angeles, CA.  310-979-3377.

Date: July 18, 2017

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Best on the westside?

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I’ve eaten dimsum lunch at the Palace dozens of times. It’s the only decent one west of Chinatown — and even Chinatown isn’t worth it, just go to the SGV for the best in the country. But somehow I’ve never had dinner here — until now!
 This was a last minute casual dinner but we still had to bring some wine.

NV Jacquart Champagne Brut Mosaïque. 87 points. Fresh and crispy on the front of the palate but with good depth on the finish.

From my cellar: 2007 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros Cote de Bouguerots. BH 94. A somewhat riper but more reticent nose features the barest hint of wood spice that marries well with the explosive green and yellow fruit aromas and fresh, full, powerful, beautifully delineated flavors underpinned by a driving minerality and stunning length. Given the superb balance and firm acid spine, this should age effortlessly for at least 15 years, perhaps longer. In sum, this is a strikingly elegant, classy and altogether refined effort with flat out marvelous complexity with buckets of classic Chablis character. A stunner of a wine.

From my cellar: 1999 Domaine Michel Noëllat Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. BH 90-91. Extremely pure, fine, spicy and elegant black fruits with medium weight, silky flavors that display an exquisite velvety texture plus real breadth on the mid-palate. Like many 1999s, this is not particularly dense but there is enough material to permit another year or two or improvement. Serious, long and lovely with good persistence and truly excellent transparency of the underlying terroir. In fact, for those who are curious about exploring the characteristics of a classic Vosne, this would be a perfect choice. And for those who don’t want to wait, there is so much exuberant spice and fruit, pinot baby fat and sève that this can be enjoyed now. And perhaps most important, it’s rare to find any Burgundy that delivers this level of quality for $50 (I’ve seen this offered for $40) and thus it offers terrific value as well. Note that I have experienced some bottle variation with this wine with two recent examples seeming to be somewhat flat and disjointed yet another was exactly as described above.

Boiled peanuts.
 The brought us out our lobster to show it off.

And they still had some dimsum available to order so we got a few like:

har gow. shrimp dumplings. Find, good not great har gow.

Another dumpling.
 XLB. always yummy.

Shu Mai. shrimp and pork dumplings. A favorite of mine.

Shrimp and scallop dumpling. Good too.

Lobster causeway style. With the crunchy garlic bits. We had better CW style lobster a few days earlier at Top Island but this was certainly respectable.

Peking Duck. Also quite respectable. Buns instead of pancakes, and the meat had just a touch less flavor than at the best SGV places, but nice.

Extra duck meat.

Pork with garlic. The Szechuan dish. A little sweet but I enjoy this dish.

Sweet and pungent shrimp. One of my favorites of the night. Crispy with a sweet and sour sauce.

Garlic eggplant. Not as tasty as the true Szechuan version, but still good.

Fried rice with yummy goopy sauce. Having discovered this kind of dish last week I’m just so into it now!

Mango/passionfruit pudding. Best of the typical Chinese desserts.

Fortune cookies. Don’t usually get these in the SGV, but we are in Brentwood.
 Even the overwrapped chairs are authentically Chinese. For Brentwood, The Palace is surprisingly legit. It’s not “great” by SGV standards but it absolutely blows the super Americanized broccoli and bell peppers in every dish places away!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, hedonists, The Palace

Eating NY – Joy Luck Palace

Aug18

Restaurant: Joy Luck Palace

Location: 98 Mott St, New York, NY 10013. (212) 219-2828

Date: July 3, 2017

Cuisine: Cantonese Dim Sum

Rating: Not nearly as good as the best in the SGV

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Of course I had to try some Chinese in New York, and since I didn’t have time to go out to Flushing I figured I’d play it safe by looking up a top dimsum place. Eater raved about this one in Chinatown.

It’s in the center of the crowded old school Chinatown streets.

Inside it’s pretty typical of these big one room Cantonese joints. Crazy cove lights. On the “low decor side.” Not nearly as glitzy as something like Grand Harbor. There were no white people — I took this as an encouraging sign.

They still use the cart system. That went out 5+ years ago in the better LA (i.e. SGV) places. I hate the cart system. It’s fast, but the food has been sitting, and it’s hard to get them to come by at the pace you want.

Har gow. These crystal shrimp dumplings were fine. Nothing special. As usual it took some work to get water and sauces.

Sui Mai. Pretty typical as well.

Peanut and more dumpling. Stickier skin, pretty good.

Bean curd with pork and shrimp. Just fine.

Fish balls. Slightly different, but also nothing special.

Pigs inside pigs. Chinese sausage wrapped in bao dough. Cute at least.

Shrimp rice crepe. Not the greatest version of this dish.

Vegetarian fried rice crepe. Slightly different and actually pretty good.

Sticky rice steamed in lotus leaf. Fine but not amazing.

Pig shaped custard buns. Cute again.

Besides the cute pig shaped dimsum this place was fine but utterly mediocre. It was about on par with the Palace in Brentwood, which I consider just passable. The cart system made it hard to get anything interesting and we even ended up repeating. The service was worse than Chinese typical. The atmosphere pretty much unappetizing. If this is Manhattan’s best (and I have no other datapoints to judge by) than it has a LONG LONG way to go to even get in the same league as the 5+ best SGV dimsum houses.

For more New York dining reviews click here.

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By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Dim sum, dimsum, eating_new_york, Joy Luck Palace, New York

Grand times at Grand Harbor

Jun21

Restaurant: Grand Harbor

Location: 5733 Rosemead Blvd, Temple City, CA 91780. (626) 280-2998

Date: May 20, 2017

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Solid B+ dim sum and Cantonese treats

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It has become traditional for the Dirty Dozen (our blind tasting group within a group) to do white wine lunches over dim sum — which is by far my preference given some alternatives because despite the timing problems with wine tasting and Chinese Food, I just always love good Chinese food.

Grand Harbor is a relatively new Hong Kong place in Temple City from Jackie Zhou.

The dining room is huge and opulent in that chintzy Chinese way. I would have thought from all the overzealous cove lighting that the space was built out in the 80s, but apparently it’s only a year or two old!

Real marble blends non-so-seemlessly with faux-alabaster. They have wine too like many of the new high end places. Mostly big young red wine like Bordeaux which totally fails to pair with Cantonese Chinese, but it’s the thought that counts.

XO sauce on the table to start, which is a nice touch.

2007 Delamotte Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Le Mesnil. 91 points. Good, low nose, crisp and good structure, some yeastiness, med+ length. Good, not great.

The theme today was White Burgundy served blind in flights, but this Champagne was a started (not blind).

Cold Appetizers

Seaweed salad.

Chicken feet. How do feetless chicken cross the road?

Wood ear fungus. Pretty nice.

Peanuts.

Starch sticks. Probably taro. Needed salt as they had next to no flavor.

Marinated cucumbers. Very good, nice crunch and a bit of heat.

Macau style pork belly. Great stuff. Nice balance of fat and flavor.

Flight 1:

2014 Kirkland Signature Chablis 1er Cru. 91 points. shiny pale green hints; chalky, rocky, clean, lemony, high acid, good classic chablis character; stainless steel feel to it. Very good and opened up nicely! Killer deal if you can find it.

This was a ringer that Albert sent in with someone else. It did surprisingly well (finishing 2nd or third).

NOTE: tasting notes are mostly by Peter (one of our gang).

2006 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. BH 93. A gentle touch of wood highlights airy yet slightly riper high-toned and admirably pure aromas of white flower, pear and quinine that gives way to supple, sweet, mouth coating and impressively concentrated flavors that exude a marvelous intensity on the long, powerful and driving finish supported by a solid acid spine. Definitely worth a look if you can find it but unlike most ’06s, be prepared to have at least some patience as this is unusually firm for the vintage.

Shu Mai. Shrimp and pork dumplings. Nice version of the classic.

Shanghai style XLB. solid little bags of goodness. These are the classic soup dumplings stuffed with pork and hot broth. The garnish reminded me of gefilte fish.

Scallop dumplings.

Har gow. Crystal shrimp dumplings. Nice.

Pork rice noodle. Known in my household as “pork slime.” I usually love this dish but this particular version was heavy and short on flavor.

Flight 2:

2014 Vincent Dauvissat (René & Vincent) Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. Peter 90. This had bright crisp minerality with good concentration on the palate, but a very soft entry. Decent, but kind of straight forward at this point. I suspect very closed, young, and needs a year or 2 to express itself a little more.

2007 Dauvissat-Camus Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. Peter 94. Golden color; rich, powerful nose, golden apple, bags of rocky minerals, some delightful reduction going on, super long, this has it all. My WOTN and #1 wine overall. Killer.

2006 Dauvissat-Camus Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses. 91 points. Medium yellow. As was the case a few years ago, this had a lot of sulfur to accompany ripe yellow fruit and just a bit of seashell. Lush texture but inadequate acidity and shortened by the sulfur. Hardly recognizable as Chablis at this point, and a totally disjointed wine that is going nowhere. A major disappointment as I had hoped that somehow this would be spared from the flabbiness of the vintage, but there is no escaping it, even if you tried to mitigate that characteristic with excessive manipulation.

Roast pork bun. Nice rendition of the classic baked sugary bun. Very soft breading.

Sticky rice with seafood. I had hoped for more depth of flavor as the white sauce soaked into the rice.

Fried “crab salad” roll. These have a crab and creamcheese? filling and a nice crunchy exterior. They were delicious, I ate about 8.

Tofu in tangy sauce. Nice soft fried tofu with a delicious tangy, hot, sweet sauce.

Flight 3:

2014 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. BH 93-95. This is presently sufficiently reduced that it is impossible to fairly assess. The rich, powerful and beautifully delineated big-bodied flavors exhibit almost painful intensity as there is a plenitude of mouth coating extract that buffers the very firm acid spine that allows all of this size and weight to remain exquisitely well-balanced on the chiseled and moderately austere finish. This is not quite as complex or persistent as the Montrachet but it’s not far off and note well that this too is going to require extended cellaring.

2012 Louis Latour Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. Peter 90. Kind of a disappointment, this was golden color (a bit too much gold for a 4.5 year old), had red apple, a bit loose knit but still quite powerful, medium acid, long, with what seemed like slightly elevated alcohol. Slightly disjointed. Still a good wine, but I expect a lot more from this.

2012 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. Peter 91. This initially had a hint of caramel, apple skin, a little earthy, seemed just a little older than it was; tasted 1 hour later and it really showed nicely, with some of the funk blowing off–more red apple, floral, good concentration and with long finish.

2014 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Chevalier-Montrachet. Peter 93. Precise, with a touch of pineapple, pear, green and yellow apple, a hint of reduction, rocky chalky minerality, tight with plenty of zip, super long tangy finish. Killer. Girardin is making great some wines these days.

One of the managers really pushed these roast pigeons on us. I was skeptical, as I came for dim sum, but these were excellent birds. Juicy, with a lot of flavor and a nice crispy skin.

Fried fish. He pushed this too. It looks awful but it was actually delicious.

Dumplings with dried roe. Good stuff continues. All these regular steamed dumplings were quite good.

Pastry with BBQ pork. Good too. Can’t beat buttery pastry with sweet BBQ pork in it!

Flight 4:

 Marcassin Chardonnay. Fake chard!

From my cellar: 2002 Louis Jadot Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. Peter 92+. gold amber color; this was somewhat earthy with a slight nuttiness, showing the most age of the group (more than the ’02 Marcassin) which gave it complexity; good lift, quite long.

2004 Jean Noel Gagnard Bâtard-Montrachet. Flawed. Our bottle was corked.

Bean curd with vegetables and pork. Yummy.

Seafood with crispy chow mein. I love this Southern Chinese dish. This was an okay version but not nearly as good as some (like Elite).

House special fried rice. With the Chinese sausage. Yum.

“Shark fin” (I hope not) dumpling or similar. Delicious. These were really good.

Floral jelly. Yeah, had to try it based on that name. Had the nice jelly texture. Tasted like… chrysanthemum tea or something!

Mango pudding. Okay, not as intense as I like.

Milk bun. Sweet and milk. Very nice though.

Macau egg custard. Solid if not exceptional.

Walnut bun. Very nice. Nutty. A touch dry.

The line up. Wines weren’t the most impressive, but were enjoyable.

My bad notes.

Yarom and the manager.

Overall, Grand Harbor had very solid dim sum, at the level just below Elite where a lot of good but not perfect places stand. I’d certainly happy chow down on it again. They did seem to use a lot of MSG because I was HAMMERED by it about 45 minutes later. Non dim sum dishes were excellent and they have a VAST menu of them. Worth coming for an evening banquet.

Service here was fabulous. We should have requested a private room as we really needed it, but we didn’t. Still, they really took care of us. They kept trying to bring us more stuff, which is how it should be in good “Chinese” service. We controlled the flights by filling out 4 different dim sum cards and handing them in one at a time. Worked well.

Wines showed decently. Most bottles were in good shape. Amusing that the Kirkland did so well blind. This group has only 1-2 other Burgundy collectors and so people have to buy and there are a lot of bottle short cuts: too young, lame producers like Latour, Chablis (which is nice but cheap). No pile of good vintage Ramonet here. Still, dim sum makes everything great.

Overall, a super fun afternoon!

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Sea Harbor Dim Sum
  2. Elite Champagne Brunch
  3. Lunasia Dim Sum
  4. Grand Grenache
  5. Shiki Times Three
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Dim sum, dimsum, Dirty Dozen, Grand Harbor, hedonists, White Burgundy

Top Island Seafood

Jan06

Restaurant: Top Island Seafood

Location: The Marketplace, 740 Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 300-9898

Date: December 29, 2016 & July 17, 2017 and March 10 & September 15 and December 22, 2019

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Great — and great value — Cantonese

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The San Gabriel Valley is just oozing with new Chinese Restaurants to try.

And no category is more crowded than the Cantonese Banquet House. Top Island fits right in the middle of this pack, offering up all the luxury ingredients in a big format at reasonable prices. Look at that sign on the left, lobster for $8.99!

And check out “party like it’s 1989” cove lighting in the giant banquet hall!
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And a big pano of it.

2002 Gardet Champagne Cuvée Charles Gardet.

Boiled peanuts.

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Sweet and sour goose webs (3/10/19). Goose webs are goose feet. These had the weird texture, but a really nice interesting sour flavor.
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BBQ pork and jellyfish (3/10/19). Awesome sweet BBQ pork and first class jellyfish. Not all jellyfish is that great but this one was.

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The super deluxe BBQ plate (earlier and 12/22/19) with pork, chicken, jellyfish, pork hock/foot and more (9/15/19)!
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Westlake Beef Soup (9/15/19 and 12/22/19). Really addictive soft textured mix of ground beef (or maybe pork), tofu, egg white etc. Very mild but delicious.

NV Jean-Noel Haton Champagne Grande Réserve.

Walnut shrimp. Sure it’s a white guy dish, but this was delicious.

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Salt and Pepper squid (9/15/19). Tasty calamari.
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Salt and pepper shrimp (9/15/19 and 12/22/19). Someone doesn’t know how to mix up the preps. Very salty, but delicious.

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Fish filets with black bean sauce (3/10/19). Really nice light fish.

2006 Paul Hobbs Pinot Noir Hyde Vineyard. VM 89. Dark red. Subdued, brooding aromas of dark cherry and chocolate. Fresher red and dark berry flavors are brightened by zesty minerals and given grip by dusty tannins. Finishes with very good persistence but limited definition. A serious, deeply concentrated style of pinot that needs some cellar time to loosen up.

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Peking Duck (earlier and 3/10/19 and 9/15/19 and 12/22/19). This particular duck came with buns instead of pancakes. These were really nice buns, smaller than some. The meat was great, as good as any LA peking duck.

The skin was in the first picture, most of the meat was here. Needed more hoisin sauce as usual.

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The “meat” section of this duck is actually pretty edible. Some places it’s just a carcass.

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Duck second way (3/10/19 and 12/22/19).

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Zoom on the second way (12/22/19).
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You put this in the lettuce cups and add hoisin. Nice crunch.

2013 Boundary Breaks Vineyard Riesling No. 198 Reserve. VM 90. Quite reduced on the nose, with slightly shy aromas of Asian pear, white pepper, champagne mango and chamomile. The palate is quite honeyed and coats the cheeks and tongue in a soft layer of sweet fruit. A strong acidity keeps the palate in motion and prevents the wine from feeling fat. 58 grams per liter of residual sugar.

2012 Domaine de l’Ecu (Guy Bossard) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Taurus. The top broke off (the glass!) and so few of us dared try it for fear of broken glass.

From my cellar: 2006 Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. VM 93. Ripe peach, orange and hazelnut on the nose; a real essence of Charmes. Then opulent, sweet and rich but with very good inner-mouth tension to the ripe peach flavor. A seamless, highly concentrated wine with a wonderfully silky texture and a very long, fruit-driven finish. This fruit was harvested early, noted Boillot.

Seb brought: 2005 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Silex. 92+. There is no doubting this is Sauvignon blanc – it has that straight out green grass, a bit of lime, definitely very crisp although not tart. When NZ makes SB, this is what they are going for I think. Very well done version of that style.

Lobster noodles. A solid lobster dish. Maybe a touch “fishy” and while the noodles looked gross, they tasted great with the drippings.
 2012 Giesen Pinot Noir The Brothers. VM 90. Bright medium red. Perfumed aromas of strawberry, rose petal and spices. Juicy and intense, offering very good concentration to its brambly red berry and cherry flavors. Finishes with firm but smooth tannins and very good tactile persistence.

Lobster Causeway style. Covered in crunchy garlic bits. Awesome! We ate the salty garlic by itself too afterward.

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Dungeness Crab with garlic sauce (3/10/19). Very light fry. Delicious sauce and shell was soft enough you could crunch through it.
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We didn’t have the King Crab the first couple of times I went but we should have. So we got one on 3/10/19. Only $17 a pound or something!
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King crab causeway style (3/10/19 and 9/15/19 and 12/22/19). Might have been fried but those garlic bits were so good!
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King crab with garlic (3/10/19 and 9/15/19 and 12/22/19). Tender and delicious.

Conch. Chewy and interesting.

Curried Meat. Can’t remember which meat, maybe beef or mutton. Pretty delicious though.

Fried pork chop. I didn’t love the oily taste.
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Sweet and sour pork chops (3/10/19 and 9/15/19). MUCH better than the oily ones.

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Roast pork with crispy skin (12/22/19). Really great meat flavor and nice crispy skin.

Seb brought: 2010 Marcassin Pinot Noir Blue-Slide Ridge Vineyard. 95 points. In a great place. A showy wine highlighting ripe red fragrant fruits with a sweet edgy appeal. Quite pretty for a large scale pinot as slightly faded sour cherry fruits are well integrated with bright acidity and baking spice. Finishes really lasts. Quality stuff.

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Pigeon (earlier and 3/10/19 and 9/15/19 and 12/22/19). Straight from the Promenade — but actually quite nice.

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100 Flower Chicken (12/22/19). This is pressed chicken with crispy skin and shrimp paste. This particular version was excellent, quite awesome.

Chopped pork and string beans. Classic dish. Excellent verison with crunchy beans and lots of pork.

Chinese greens. tasty (surprisingly).
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A different tasty green (3/10/19 and 9/15/19).
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Stalks with Chinese sausage (3/10/19 and 12/22/19). Love that salty/sweet sausage. Offsets the fibrous stalks nicely.

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A different type of stalky vegetable (12/22/19).
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Fried tofu (3/10/19). Similar garlic crunch to the causeway style.

2015 Château Doisy-Daëne Grand Vin Sec. 93 points. Tasted like Durian! Very dry and very interesting.


Fried sweet and sour fish. Not bad. Typical orange sauce.

Fried rice.


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Yin yang fried rice (earlier and 9/15/19 and 12/22/19). Fried rice is underneath and covered with pork and shrimp sauces. Delicious!

2002 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate. VM 93. Good deep ruby-red. Highly aromatic nose combines musky redcurrant and tobacco. Plush, broad and fine-grained; atypically sexy and showy for this wine, in much the same way that Montelena’s basic 2002 Napa cabernet is unusually pliant and rich. Finishes with big, dusty, but rather suave tannins. This offers early accessibility but has the material and structure for extended aging. The alcohol here is 14.3%, the highest since the 1978, which was 14.4%.

Chicken chow mein. I love these crispy noodle dishes. Great and very addictive once the sauce softens the noodles.

Adam brought: 2004 Harlan Estate Proprietary Red Wine. Parker 98. Another rating identical to that which was given in 2007 (when first tasted from bottle), the 2004 Harlan Estate is performing essentially the way I suggested in 2007 as it is one of the more precocious and accessible of the Harlan Estate wines to date. A great showing at this retrospective, this wine, which seems like a hypothetical blend of a Pauillac, St.-Estephe and Graves, represents around 1,500 cases from 40 acres of beautifully manicured hillside vineyards overlooking Oakville. Still dense purple to the rim, with notes of creme de cassis, charcoal, blackberry and sweet toast, the wine is full-bodied and voluptuously textured with the tannins largely resolved. But the density and richness suggest this wine can go a long, long way, even though the window for drinking it seems open and inviting already. A world-class, first-growth wine if there ever was one from Napa, this is simply an exquisite Harlan Estate that has atypically reached mid to late adolescence at the age of ten. That is great given the fact that these are 30- to 40-year wines – possibly even half-century wines. Drink it over the next 30 years.

Black pepper beef (earlier and 9/15/19). Vietnamese style dish, quite good.

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French style beef with mushrooms (3/10/19). Very tender flavorful beef.

Steamed fish with ginger and soy. Too plain for my taste.

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Coconut buns (earlier and 3/10/19).

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Buns with pepper or something (12/22/19). Very plain buns with the dusted seasoning. Hmm.

I brought some pistachio gelato from home (which I made).

Red bean soup for dessert. Looked like the output of a bad case of food poisoning.
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Close up 9/15/19.
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After my advanced gelato class, trying a slightly new pistachio formulation — Pistachio Madeline Gelato — base uses my same awesome Pistachios from Bronte Sicily but also a small amount of egg yolk for extra body. I baked the Madelines from scratch and soaked them in hand made Grand Mariner syrup — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — oh my! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #Pistachio #lemon #orange #Sicily #GrandMariner #Madeline #cookie #baking

Getting whacky — Thai Peanut Coconut Lime Chili Gelato — Salty peanuts, Thai coconut cream, lime zest, and serrano chillies — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — almost too spicy! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #chili #spicy #thai #peanut #coconut #lime #SavorySweet #Serrano
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9/15/19 two more gelati:

Cherry Cioccolato Fondente Gelato — working to squeeze the most chocolate humanly possible into a dairy gelato. This is 70% cocoa Valrhona and 100% Callebaut Chocolate base is my best yet — only 17% milk it has an INTENSE chocolate taste, plus house-made White Chocolate Amareno Cherry Ganache rounds it out — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #chocolate #valrhona #Callebaut #cherry #amareno

Matcha Almond Latte Gelato – Ceremonial Matcha Green Tea and Sicilian Noto Romano Almond gelato base — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #almond #matcha #GreenTea #Sicily

I like how they tagged Yarom’s chair with the bills.

Great wine lineup tonight (for Chinese).
 The big boy with the manager.

Overall, a great time and really solid meal. Orignally, I thought Top Island isn’t in the league with Elite or such for high end Cantonese, but this whole feast was $35 a person with tax and tip! So considering with had Peking Duck, Lobster etc and it was all very tasty this was a steal. All the dishes were enjoyable and they have a huge menu. Plus, as Yarom says, “they treated us like Pharaohs.” I.e. we had great service as they were very warm and brought out all the dishes “slowly” (by Chinese standards). Too bad they don’t have this sort of quality on the Westside!

I also must chime in that in light of our 3/10/19 dinner I have to upgrade Top Island to one of the best SGV Cantonese places. The service is really great. They brought us our dishes in a carefully selected (wine friendly) order, one at a time. The prices on sometimes expensive things like lobster and king crab are really fabulous, and overall dish quality is extremely high. Almost every dish was excellent that night (and on a previous trip a couple weeks before I missed). Great place!

For the 9/15/19 and 12/22/19 dinner I continue my thinking that Top Island has a really top notch Cantonese kitchen. Food is really really good. Service is great too, although the place is a bit of a zoo given how big and popular it is. Our 12/22/19 was a hilarious CF of a dinner though — not in any way the restaurant’s fault. We had a table they said seated 12-14, which really seated about 10-12 (and 12 was pushing it) and then ended up with 15 people (because it’s hard to manage the numbers at these things). We were so packed in at this table, sitting an extra foot away so the chairs made it around. But most problematically, with 15 people the dishes only got around to about 12ish — and so it turned into a “lord of the flies” style frenzy. Total chaos — if a touch amusing.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

And a bunch of wines from the second night:


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12/22/19 wines:
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Related posts:

  1. New Bay Seafood
  2. Newport Special Seafood
  3. Dim Sum – World Seafood
  4. Shanghai #1 Seafood Village
  5. Hedonists go to Beijing
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, crab, Gelato, hedonists, Lobster, Peking Duck, san Gabriel valley, SGV, Top Island, Top Island Seafood

Hong Kong Style – Henry’s Cuisine

May27

Restaurant: Henry’s Cuisine

Location: 301 E Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91801

Date: May 22, 2016 & January 29, 2017 & October 30, 2022 & March 19, 2023

Cuisine: Hong Kong style Chinese

Rating: Really tasty

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Another week, another trip to the San Gabriel Valley for Chinese!

The oddly named Henry’s is a Hong Kong Cafe, an unusual blend of Cantonese and slightly more western influences.

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The interior looks like an IHOP! Maybe it was a few years back.

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The menu.

1996 Cristian Senez Champagne Brut Millésimé. 91 points. Nice, with a touch of age appropriate oxidation.

Corn and chicken soup. One of those very pleasant mild Chinese soups. Taken up a notch by adding some vinegar and/or chili oil.

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Drunken Pig Feet. Freezing cold, nearly frozen texture. Revolting. Yarom and a few Chinese liked this dish, everyone else hated it (or didn’t try it). I’m just not into the cold flaccid pig skin texture.

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Drunken Chicken (aka Hainan Chicken) but without the sauce or rice. I don’t like this dish in general, but this one had a nice flavor. However, all but a few pieces were mostly bone and very difficult to eat.

2014 Sine Qua Non Gallinita. 93 points. 50% Grenache, 25% Mourvedre, 12.5% Syrah, 12.5% Petite Sirah….open in bottle for an hour and a half…..PRETTY brilliant rose color….GORGEOUS nose of smoke, strawberry fields, crushed cherries, dusty exotic wood spice…..exotic nose…reminds me of a young Vosne Romanee! Definitely big for a Rose..but I’ve seen bigger……the flavors from the nose translate to the palate….very bright and crunchy acidity…tart and sour….awakens the richness. Not the perfect of balance though….15.9 alc comes through a little strawberry martini-ish…but not too too much heat. The Rhone varietals add some interesting flavors….smoked underbrush, stem funk, garrigue, spice box, dried roses…..definitely a spice and heat kick on the finish! A Rose to drink and ponder with each sip like a red…..tasty…..and just so dog gone FUN!

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Smoked Pork Leg. An amazing hunk of pig. Really moist and full of pastrami-like flavor. The skin was delectably crispy too.

Bone it!

2001 Prager Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Achleiten. 92 points. Another excellent 2001 Austrian. Loads and loads of acidity and minerality, yet plenty of richness and body to balance it all out.

House special Vietnamese style lobster. Lightly fried with a mild pepper flavor. You could really taste the meat.

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Spicy Garlic Lobster. This was an interesting Chinese lobster prep, halfway between “dry” and “wet.” It was pretty fried and there was garlic, but the garlic wasn’t heavy or crunchy like in a real “Typhoon Style.” The meat was extremely moist and excellent. It wasn’t spicy at all. Only Cantonese Chinese “spicy” (aka a visible pepper or two).

From my cellar: 2005 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. BH 94. This is a mild step up in overall class and elegance with a gorgeously perfumed white flower fruit nose introducing linear, precise, intense and powerful medium full flavors that remain splendidly focused on the stunningly long finish that drenches the palate in dry extract. This is a striking 1er and one to buy as it easily delivers grand cru quality.

Sautéed Shrimp with salted egg. The batter is drinking with egg yolk and is very pasty. These were super well executed for this dish, although I prefer a “lighter” fry myself. I don’t usually like this prep, it’s too salty and grainy. This one wasn’t grainy at least but it was salty. The shrimp was nicely done. Overall just “ok” but good for this type of dish.

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Crispy Walnut Shrimp. A weird version of this dish as the mayo was on the side. It was very fried. I think if it had been tossed in the mayo nicely it would have been great. This way it was just fried shrimp.

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House Special Tiger Prawn with Glass Noodle. The prawns were overcooked and had a shrimp paste funk to them, not super pleasant. People liked the noodles (I didn’t try for carb avoidant reasons). They had a bit of a pepper flavor.

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Salt and pepper shrimp (1/29/17). Tasty!

We’ve sure had a lot of shrimp dishes here!

2012 Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet. BH 89. Here too there is enough reduction to push what appears to be ripe fruit to the background. The pure and well-detailed middle weight flavors possess a highly seductive mouth feel along with lovely balance and excellent persistence for a villages level wine. The class of a fine Puligny is very much in evidence and this is worth your attention.

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Stir Fried Fish Filet with Honey Peas and Golden Chives. This was a great dish. The fish was super delicate and light and the sauce super savory and full of “flavor” (MSG). The snap beans were crunchy. Very enjoyable, if light and sort of “Chinese American” (really just Hong Kong style).

Vietnamese Style Deep Fried Fish with Basil. The ultimate fish sticks. Very moist and light fish with a great batter.

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Roast Pigeon. One of the best roast pigeons in the SGV, crunchy, juicy, and full of deep dark meat flavor.

Szechuan Spicy Deep Fried Free Range Chicken. A bit too much bone and not enough spicy heat. Not bad, but this dish is better at a Szechuan place.

1991 Bodegas Mauro Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León Vendimia Seleccionada. 92 points. Very nice mature Tempranillo.

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Pan Fried Shrimp and Egg. This is a simple dish but Henry’s example was as good as it gets. Very wet, fluffy eggs and succulent shrimp. Great with chili oi.
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Beef with mushrooms (1/29/17).

Lamb with mushrooms and peas. Tender meat.

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Sautéed Sliced Lamb with Garlic Leaves. Slightly weird flavor but kind of enjoyable. Nice texture. The garlic leaves were very nice. In 2023 slightly weird flavor but really enjoyable. Nice texture. The garlic leaves were very nice. I think this was better than in November.

2014 Joseph Drouhin / Drouhin-Vaudon Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu. VM 92. (Drouhin used to purchase fruit from the top part of this property but then bought the entire vineyard; this sunny slope is one of the first parcels Drouhin harvests): Pale, slightly hazy yellow. Ripe aromas of lemon peel, pomelo and apple, lifted by a rose petal topnote. Densely packed and pliant, offering a lovely balance of fruit sweetness and acidity (4.5 grams per liter). Finishes floral and long.

Stir Fried Green Bean with Garlic Sauce. The beans were nice and crunchy.

1995 Maison Roche de Bellene Clos de la Roche Collection Bellenum. 93 points. Very powerful, expressive floral nose that jumps out of the glass upon opening (pop and pour). Still very concentrated and rich, this will likely improve over the next three-five years, as it still has a lot of light red fruit and is just starting to show signs of secondary flavors.

Chestnut and Free Range Chicken in Hot Pot. I hadn’t had this dish before. The chicken was very tender. The sauce was a bit sweet and the chestnuts added a nice nutty crunch. Really good.
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Ginger chicken (1/29/17). Very simple but tasty well cooked chicken with ginger.

Broccoli with garlic. About as good as straight up broccoli gets. Actually very nice for American broccoli, but still just broccoli and very basic. Would have been better with a different green.
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Greens (1/29/17). Typical Chinese colon sweeper.
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Mixed light vegetables (1/29/17). Nice crunch.

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Stir Fried Lotus and Wood Ear. Another excellent dish with the same white “flavor” sauce as the fish, so the peas were the same. Basically this was nice salty/savory crunchy veggies.

2011 Saxum James Berry Vineyard. VM 96. Dark red plums, exotic spices, crushed flowers, menthol and new leather are some of the nuances that blossom as the 2011 James Berry Vineyard opens up in the glass. The use of 33% whole clusters adds texture and aromatic complexity in a wine that impresses for its purity. Some of the Grenache was done in concrete, which allows the true personality of the fruit to shine. Hints of tar, game and licorice meld into the expressive finish.

Honey Pork Chop. Sweet, fried, and delicious.

2004 Ovid Experiment E0.4. 92 points. This is the only Ovid Experiment wine that predates the first release of its proprietary wine, so it must be from relatively young vines. Good cab franc-centric nose of violets, cassis and a little pepper. This is a rich, almost heavy, wine tasting of cassis and spices. The oak and alcohol were evident to me but not too off putting. This is a good wine but for me it lacks the balance, complexity and seamlessness of the Ovid wines that have come after it (of which I am a huge fan). It will last for several more years but I don’t know if it will get any better.

Singapore Curry Beef. In a mild yellow curry with tender beef, weird gelatinous tendon and potatoes. This is one of the best yellow curries I’ve had. The sauce itself, probably coconut milk based, was extremely delicious and a straightforward version of the English/Hong Kong yellow curry. The meat is tender put packed with collagen and/or tendon.

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Lamb stew (1/29/17). Very mild, and lamb was super tender, but good flavor.

2011 Peter Michael Les Pavots. VM 92. Opaque ruby. Smoky, deeply pitched aromas of cassis, blueberry and dark chocolate, with a hint of truffle adding a musky, earthy nuance. In a substantial style for the vintage, offering sweet dark fruit preserve flavors and a touch of candied licorice. Tangy acidity adds lift to the round, gently tannic, persistent finish, with the blue fruit note echoing.

Steamed Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables. We didn’t try this, but I took a picture next door as this seemed a super popular dish. Light, I’m sure.

2000 Mckeon-Phillips Cabernet Sauvignon Ardison A.D. Valley View Vineyard. 91 points. Medium bodied cab. Fruit forward but not overpowering. Goes down easy but not a long finish. Decanted for two hours prior to drinking. Opened up well. Drink now as it has evolved as much as it will.

Crispy Noodles with Pork and Mushrooms. I just love this stuff once the sauce seeps through into the noodles. Excellent version.

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Meat and seafood over crispy noodles (1/29/17). Love this southern dish — always have — and this was a good version.

House Special Fried Rice with Seafood and Minced Garlic. Great stuff.
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Lasagna! (1/29/17). Yeah, being a Hong Kong cafe they have some weird western stuff.
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Spaghetti! (1/29/17). Tasted like spaghetti-o’s!

1983 Château Suduiraut. 91 points. Medium golden yellow in color. Full, forward & attractive nose of complex, developed, lush, ripe fruit aromas of apricots, peaches & dried figs with floral notes of honeysuckle, caramel, honey, spices, minerals and a bit of vanilla. Medium bodied with a good concentration, balanced, smooth textured, mature, develop & lush ripe fruit flavors of apricots, peaches, almonds, honey, caramel, spices minerals and a touch of vanilla. Lingering finish. Drinks quite well at present and although it may be at its peak of development, it has the fruit/structure to hold onto this present plateau for a few more additional years although any further development would be minimal.

Hong Kong Egg Waffle. Fresh baked and light.

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Yar! Ghostly skeletal praline pirates are marauding — Pecan Pirate Praline Gelato — An eggy Texas Pecan base layered with my creepy skull-shaped New Orleans style Vanilla Bourbon Pecan Pralines and Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Pumpkins — 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 #vanilla #bourbon #pecan #praline #candy #halloween #spooky

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Baileys Irish Gream Gelato — Stabilized 13% Bailys Irish Cream recipe, with a touch of seasonal coloring! — I have trouble resisting these once a year flavors — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #expresso #whiskey #baileys #StPatricksDay #cream #green

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

The owner (Henry) at the table

Looking at the photos on Yelp, I wasn’t expecting too much from Henry’s. There were a bunch of breakfast dishes and odd “macaroni and ham” Hong Kong fusion plates. But I have to admit I was dead wrong. The place is great. It’s not the oddest or most extreme Chinese, but Henry’s really delivers on execution and flavor. These were for the most part darn tasty dishes. Lots of great ones, and the rest quite solid. The overall effect was a great meal somewhat in the vein of Newport Seafood or Boston Lobster. I guess in all three cases it’s that hybrid of Southern Chinese and “Vietnamese” (in quotes because this seems to me more of a Vietnamese influence on Chinese food than actual dishes as I experienced them in Vietnam).

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

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Wines from another night and below are the wines from 1/29/17. I’m too lazy to write them up:

Related posts:

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  2. Spice Up Your Life Szechuan Style
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  5. Food as Art: Chanukah in Style
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Cantonese cuisine, Gelato, hedonists, Hong Kong Cuisine, Wine

Elite – King Crab Custard

Nov23

Restaurant: Elite Restaurant [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 700 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 282-9998

Date: November 21, 2015

Cuisine: Cantonese Banquet

Rating: Elite!

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Elite is well known as one of great LA’s top dimsum places, but less well known is how great a Cantonese banquet place it is.

 But Charlie chose it as the site for his legendary birthday feast, not only because of how good the food is (and it is good), but because they have a nice private room, great service, and are very Burgundy friendly.

They actually have a couple private rooms, but this time we had the small one, although it was certainly big enough for the 10 of us.

NV Jacques Selosse Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut V.O. 2006 disgorgment. VM 95. The NV V.O. (Version Originale) presents slightly darker, more burnished tonalities of Chardonnay. Almond, marzipan, dried rose petals, spices and anise blossom in an ample, generous Champagne built on volume, but supported by insistent veins of minerality. Hints of trademark Selosse oxidation make the V.O. a bit more eccentric, especially for readers who might not be familiar with these Champagnes. V.O. emerges from parcels in Avize, Cramant and Oger, all Grand Cru villages. The vintages are 2006, 2005 and 2004. This bottle was disgorged on October 15, 2013 and bottled with no dosage.

agavin: delicious. Super rich and tasted more like a 90s Champ.

Peanuts on the table is a Chinese staple.

2001 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. Burghound 93. This is a big step up in power and weight with a gorgeously complex nose of minerals, white flowers and minerals that leads to pure, muscular, fantastically detailed and precise flavors just oozing with sappy extract. This is quite concentrated and there is a certain regal classiness that separates this from all of the prior wines plus the length and vibrancy are simply incredible. This will require a few years of bottle age to completely integrate as the finish is very firm and quite dry for an ’01 but all of the requisite material is here for this to evolve into a superb Les Clos.

agavin: a little closed and reductive at first, but opened up into a green apple monster.
 Suckling pig. We preordered this little fellow. He’s kinda sad, but he sure tasted great. Really just a fabulous bit of pork and cracklings. The sweet sauce on the side is great too.

After we ate all the easy bits they took away the pig face and limbs and chopped them up for sort of a “piglet: the return” dish. A little too boney and nasty for me.

Charlie brought: 1995 Coche-Dury Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseignères. Burghound 88. Golden color though with no hints of browning. As one would reasonably expect, the nose has now gone completely secondary fruit though there is no sous bois or undue exotic notes in evidence and introduces flavors that are classic Puligny in style with their understated, delineated and pure character and clear minerality that shapes and defines the mid-palate plus a crisp, intense and fine finish for a wine of this level. This has always been a somewhat lean effort for a ’95 and it remains that way and to my taste, should be drunk up over the next few years as the acidity may begin to dominate the finish if held for much longer. To be clear, there is no danger of this falling over the edge, just that the balance may become compromised in time.

agavin: our bottle was a bit oxidized. Old enough not to be premoxed, but heading downslope. Still, it had a lovely complexity and brulee.

We also went all out tonight and got the giant crab! Here he is alive!

From my cellar: 1996 Coche-Dury Meursault Les Chevalières. Burghound 91. Coche always seems to be able to coax another dimension out of his array of villages level vineyards and the Chvalières is no exception with its completely mature nose of hazelnut, orchard fruit and hint of reduction that doesn’t carry over to the precise and mineral-driven middle weight flavors that offer a fine sense of focus and energy on the punchy and lingering finish. This is lovely juice that has arrived at its apogee but should remain here for at least another decade.

agavin: Charlie opened a bottle of this exact wine at his birthday 2 years ago and I immediately bought some. Expensive, but a total stunner then and now. Reductive, with a staggering nose and real depth. Most in the room agreed it was one of the two best whites of the night.

And in his first prep: Garlic fried ginger crab. Leg sucking yummy.

2002 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 94. A supremely elegant nose of white flower and limestone notes are followed by sweet, pungently mineral and ultra precise middle weight flavors that offer simply incredible focus with an almost painfully intense, stunningly long finish. This\nhas just now arrived on the front edge of its peak drinkability though some may prefer a few more years in the cellar first. In sum, this is really lovely juice that should age gracefully for several decades.

agavin: a young monster, but fabulous.

But nothing compared to prep 2: Garlic steamed crab. This was incredible. Just plain 15 minute old crab steamed with garlic. Oh so good.

2008 Domaine Leflaive Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 96. Here the nose is notably tighter and more reserved with aromas of citrus blossom and zest, spice, smoke, fennel and hints of acacia that introduce big, muscular and wonderfully complex broad-scaled flavors that culminate in a long, focused and explosive finish of breathtaking length and intensity. This should reward at least a decade in the cellar and drink well for a similar period thereafter. This too is terrific and very Bâtard and like the Combettes, the ’08 version is one of the very best young examples from Leflaive that I have ever seen.

agavin: The group joked that this was premoxed. But no, it was nice, young and fresh but dominated by reduction and will almost certainly be even better in a few years.

And version 3: King Crab Head Custard. This crab gave great head. The custard was amazing, soft and tofu-like with bits of crab mixed in. About as perfect a white Burgundy pairing as exists.

Fred brought: 1996 Domaine Roulot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. Burghound 94. Ultra pure and refined white flower and hazelnut notes introduce crisp, delineated and wonderfully refined, linear and nuanced middle weight flavors that culminate in a bright, racy and extended finish. This is incredibly youthful at 9 years of age and should age for 25 years. A great, great ’96 of uncommon elegance for Charmes.

agavin: another stunner. Got better and better through the night too.

Then garlic fried lobster. A truly great lobster prep. Crunchy, salty, and oh so garlicky.

Amanda brought: 1996 Domaine Ramonet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. BH? In its youth and up to 2003 or so, this was a brilliant wine and one of the best examples of Bienvenues that I have ever tasted chez Ramonet with an almost painful intensity and superb cut and detail. However, the last 4 bottles that I have tried, and from multiple sources have all displayed unacceptable levels of oxidation and were essentially undrinkable. It’s not clear whether good bottles exist or not but my luck with it has not been good.

agavin: well, our experience jives with Meadows because this was super oxed. 🙁

Another super special. Winter melon soup. Served fresh in the winter melon!

This doesn’t necessarily look like much, but it was an amazing mild soup. I had 2-3 bowls of it. Delicate lovely broth, and all sorts of bits of goodness in there. More like one of those traditional Japanese soups. There was pork, chicken, seafood bits, crab from our crab of course, mushrooms, and this fibrous soft yummy thing that might have been melon. Hard to say.

Amanda brought: 1969 Camille Giroud Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers. 93 points. A late release from the domaine. This was showing quintessential Nuits, with a simply massive dose of rustic earth on the nose and palate. The mushroom note was also quite prominent, though I think it’s more reasonable to chalk that up to its age. This was showing amazingly fresh for its age thanks to some bright acids. I’d never be able to call this as an almost-50-year-old wine blind. The ripe and prominent fruit makes this taste a lot younger than it is.

agavin: very fresh for its age. Browned out in the glass after about an hour.

String beans with sausage. A richer version of the usual prep.

1996 Domaine Robert Arnoux / Arnoux-Lachaux Romanée St. Vivant. VM 94. Deep red-ruby. Knockout nose combines raspberry, violet, coffee, licorice, spice and smoky oak. Superb richness and volume without excessive weight. Thick for a ’96, but kept bright by tangy Oriental spices and a lively floral nuance. Extremely long on the aftertaste, with noble tannins. Classy juice.

agavin: good stuff. Very much in the house style.

Roast squab. Succulent little birds, heads and all.

Erick brought: 1990 Domaine Dujac Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Aux Combottes. Burghound 92. A beautiful and now fully mature, complex and pure red berry fruit nose that has taken on secondary nuances is trimmed in noticeable oak that continues onto the supple, rich and still fresh middle weight flavors that offer excellent detail and plenty of finishing vibrancy. This is carrying a bit more oak than I personally like but there is no question that this is a quality ’90 that delivers a high quality drinking experience and should continue to do so for another decade, perhaps longer.

agavin: very nice, but at a sufficient level of maturity (bricking) that I’d drink up.

French style beef. Good with the reds.

2005 Domaine Marquis d’Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs. Burghound 96. The magnificently pure and airy essence of notably ripe dark pinot fruit, cassis and menthol remains reserved and cool with its exceptionally rich, classy, sweet and vibrant mineral-driven and large-scaled flavors that are shaped by powerful if buried tannins. While magnificently long, this stunning Ducster is completely shut down at present and it would be a vinous crime to open one at this very early point in its development as the ’05 is built for the very long haul, indeed 20 years may be too soon. In my view, the ’05 Ducster is destined to take its place alongside the greatest vintages of the past, and while the words “best ever” are presumptuous in a wine with such a distinguished history, the mere fact that it has the potential to be among the very best ever is praise enough.

agavin: we decanted for a while. Even so, while there was tons of fruit, there was so much tannin that it needs AT LEAST another ten years.

Pea greens. Not the pea tendrils, but the older version of the same. With garlic of course.

1994 Vega Sicilia Unico. Parker 96-98. The 1994 Unico is a blend of 80% Tinto Fino, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot (presumably 2% is unknown varieties) that was picked from September 28. It is very intense with notes of raspberry, wild strawberry and mulberry with sensational minerality and vigor. There is a Margaux-like florality to the 1994 that blossom with aeration. The palate is rounded and supple on the entry with great weight and backbone. There is real substance here, similar to the 1996. It expands in the mouth with ravishing notes of blackberry, strawberry, citrus lemon, orange peel and a touch of cedar. There is enormous weight on the finish, a behemoth of a Unico. This is very potent, but it still requires several years in bottle. 96,280 bottles produced. Drink 2019-2040.

agavin: We decanted, very nice.

Dried scallop fried rice. Salty with a lot of umami.

1983 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande. Parker 90-94. A stunning wine, Pichon-Lalande’s 1983 has been gorgeous to drink for a number of years. It is one of the finest 1983s, especially for a northern Medoc. The color remains a dark ruby/purple, with slight lightening at the edge. The knock-out nose of roasted herbs, sweet, jammy black currants, and pain grille is followed by a full-bodied, gorgeously concentrated and well-proportioned wine with low acidity, plenty of glycerin, and a savory, highly extracted, fleshy mouthfeel. This has always been one of the stars of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: Now-2008.

agavin: in really great shape and lovely

Seafood chow mein. I love these crispy noodles.

The sauce soaks into them and softens them up. Oh so good.

1991 Domaine Bertheau (Pierre et François) Bonnes Mares. Burghound 87. Bricking now though still showing a bit of elegant cherry/berry fruit influence on the nose leading to slightly sweet, somewhat light flavors that offer good complexity but not much density. There is good complexity and overall, this is pretty rather than profound and performs more like a good but not special premier cru rather than a big grand cru like Bonnes Mares. In short, this is perfectly good but frankly a bit disappointing for a wine at this level.

agavin: a third bottle left over from the night before.

Dessert buns. These fluffy buns are shaped like peaches, which have traditional happy symbolism in China. They had a bit of sweet paste inside. Perfectly nice (for Chinese desserts).

Another awesome Chinese feast. A lot of these dishes were stunning, like the pig and all the crab dishes. The private room was great and we had a stunning lineup of (mostly) Burgundy. Only one wine had any serious issues (the 96 Ramonet) and this dinner showed the power of high quality producer Burgundy — particularly in context of a dinner without too many big reds (only really the Unico and older Bordeaux). I feel that Burgundy shows off by far at dinners where it dominates (although it can mix fine with Champy). You can’t easily go back and forth between the big extracted wines and the more subtle Burgundy.

Fu really knows how to celebrate!

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

Related posts:

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By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Babykillers, Burgundy, Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Elite, Elite Restaurant, Wine

Don’t Bow for Bao

Mar09

Restaurant: Bao Dim Sum House

Location: 8256 Beverly Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048. (323) 655-6556

Date: January 12, 2015

Cuisine: Cantonese Dimsum

Rating: Tolerable for not being in the SGV

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Anyone who reads my blog knows I’m a dimsum fiend. I’ve been doing a pretty good job working through the top places in the San Gabriel Valley (although I have a few new ones to try) but I had an hour or so at lunch to kill in Beverly Hills and I figured I try out Bao.


Bao is styled up for the neighborhood.


Inside it actually has a decor from this century, which is more than can be of the likes of Elite (except Elite has much better dimsum!).





The menu, while lacking in any major surprises, has all the right classic dimsum fare. And pictures. Plus Bao is a “to order” place rather than cart style. I vastly prefer to order. Sure, 30+ years ago the whole cart thing was a novelty, but I much prefer the freshness of to order.


Bao is decent in the sauce department too, and far easier to actually get your sauces than an authentic place — as they actually bring them without asking 5 times. Same goes for water. Nor do they charge (here’s looking at you again Elite).

I must mention that they brought nearly by entire order simultaneously. I hate that, but I should have remembered to tell them to stage it. In the SGV it’s entirely random.


Har gow (shrimp dumpling).  Not bad, not great. Fell a part a little easily.


Shu Mai (pork and shrimp dumpling). Again just ok.


Wild crab & shrimp dumpling. Really hard to eat all together. Slightly different taste, but dough wasn’t fabulous.


XLB soup dumplings. This was the best item I had. Pretty good version actually.


Crispy egg tofu. I ordered this because I just had this dish at Sea Harbor and it was fabulous. This one kind sucked. The texture was fine but it just didn’t taste great.


Baked BBQ pork bun. Way way too sweat and doughy.


Sliced BBQ pork with honey. Pretty decent actually, my second favorite dish. The sauce was too sweet, but the meat was tasty.


Overall, Bao was about as I expected, but not particularly good. It’s better than the new Empress Pavillon (which is wretched) but not even as good as the Santa Monica mainstay. Yeah, if you’re a non-Chinese who doesn’t know how dim sum should taste, Bao is fine. And it’s well located with good service and an attractive interior. But it just doesn’t hold a candle to even the second tier “made to order” places out in the San Gabriel Valley — and forget comparing it to Elite, King Hua and the like.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

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By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bao, Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, dimsum

Ultimate New Bay Lunch

Nov17

Restaurant: New Bay Seafood [1, 2]

Location: 203 West Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA. (626) 872-6677

Date: November 24, 2014

Cuisine: Cantonese / Chiu Chow Chinese

Rating: Really on point!

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New Bay Seafood is a fairly elaborate (big with multiple private rooms) Hong Kong and Chiu Chow palace that took over the late Sham Tseng space in 2013. This is my second trip, for a massive Sauvages win luncheon.


The front is classic SGV.


The interior is typical of Inland Empire Chinese restaurants. We had a private room (there are several).


2011 Hatzidakis Winery Aidani Assyrtiko. 90 points. Great wine. Minerals. Big. Balanced. Complex. Overall very interesting.


On the table to start were the traditional peanuts.


From my cellar: 2011 Veyder-Malberg Grüner Veltliner Weitenberg. 91 points. Minerality and a kind of peppery herbal spice. A very good full bodied food white.


Fried squid. Chinese calamari. Light and not too greasy.


2011 Domaine Jacques Carillon Puligny-Montrachet. Burghound 89. I had a chance to retry this a year later and it hasn’t changed much from the first review as an expressive nose of floral, citrus and pear scents leads to vibrant and beautifully well-detailed flavors that display really lovely precision. The mid-palate offers solid volume and fine depth as well as impressive length on the saline-inflected finish. This moderately forward and classy effort is a lovely villages.


Fried oysters. I don’t usually love my oysters fried, but these were lovely. And a fabulous pairing with the gruner.


2001 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. AG 92. Pepe’s awesome 2001 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is a great introduction to this producer’s wines. Richly colored, it offers an aromatic nose and layers of vibrant, sweet dark fruit that open in the glass, revealing a wine of outstanding purity that is full of life and energy. At once delicate and structured, it is one of the highlights of the afternoon. It should also be another long-lived wine from this estate and I imagine that its aging potential is decades.


Squab. Super tasty little gamey birds.


From my cellar: 1999 Mastroberardino Taurasi Radici Riserva. AG 92. The 1999 Taurasi Radici Riserva comes across as surprisingly simple. In 1999 the maceration time was only 15 days and the wine seems to lack the depth and concentration of the best years. Ash, game, spices and dark fruit come together nicely in this accessible, understated Taurasi Radici Riserva. Today, the 1999 looks to be a relatively early drinking vintage.


In case you’re into sucking bird brain.


2008 Château de la Maltroye Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Romanée. Burghound 93. Discreet oak notes don’t compromise the expressiveness of the white peach and subtly exotic fruit aromas that introduce concentrated, naturally sweet and textured medium plus weight flavors that possess excellent complexity and fine intensity. This is certainly very pretty and unusually fine as well as slightly more mineral-driven than the typical example of La Romanée. In a word, terrific.


Garlic Santa Barbara Prawn. These almost lobster like shrimp were cooked so well the entire shell was edible. Mine had row too and it was scrumptious.


2009 Aubert Chardonnay Larry Hyde & Sons. AG 95. The 2009 Chardonnay Hyde Vineyard comes across as rich, round and layered. Dried apricots, peaches, flowers and tangerine are some of the notes that flow from this sumptuous, well-spoken Chardonnay. The wine turns more and more delicate with time in the glass. I loved it. This is a great showing from Mark Aubert.


2005 Aubert Chardonnay Reuling Vineyard. IWC 95. Pale green-tinged color. Aromas and flavors of dried pineapple, grapefruit, nutmeg and minerals. Hugely rich and dense, with a compellingly pliant, silky texture and great fullness and volume. As rich and chewy as this is, there is no sign of phenolic character on the back end. Subtle vanilla and smoke notes from the oak add complexity.


House special lobster. This version of the lobster was amazing. The sauce had quite a bit of black pepper and scallions in it. Lots of flavor and very tender.


1998 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle. Parker 90. This estate’s flagship wine, Hermitage La Chapelle, merits its world-renowned reputation. The outstanding, elegant 1998 Hermitage La Chapelle’s dark plum/purple color is followed by scents of new saddle leather, black currants, blackberries, and underbrush. In the mouth, the wine reveals sweet tannin, medium to full body, excellent depth, and an intriguing smokiness.


Shaking beef. This Vietnamese inspired beef with pepper dish was great with the red wine.


1990 Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Boisrenard. Parker 95. This wine saw a small amount of aging in new oak cask, resulting in a more international style when released. Still youthful, the dense ruby/purple-colored 1990 exhibits a classy nose of black fruits, spice box, vanillin, and kirsch liqueur. Full-bodied and pure, with a subtle touch of oak, this fleshy, stylized, yet authoritatively flavorful, rich Chateauneuf du Pape has reached its plateau of maturity, where it should remain for 7-8 years.


Clams in garlic. Delicious.


1998 Domaine Jean Deydier Les Clefs d’Or Chateauneuf du Pape. Parker 88. The dark ruby-colored 1998 is dense, with mineral, pepper, and garrigue, but seemed muted when I tasted it. It displayed all the characteristics of a wine that had just been bottled, so I suspect there is more to it. The wine offered a garrigue/spicy-scented nose, medium to full body, obvious notes of kirsch liqueur intermixed with crushed stones and a pleasant earthiness, admirable layers of flavor, and moderate tannin. It requires several years of cellaring before consumption.


Fried pork chop. More or less like the Taiwanese version.


2003 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee. Parker 98. Starting with the 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reserve, this wine showed spectacularly on release, closed down for a few years, and has now emerged, at close to full maturity, and is straight-up fabulous. Out of the entire tasting, it remained my favorite. Giving up gorgeous blackberry, currants, garrigue, pepper and beef blood, it hits the palate with a massive, full-bodied texture that carries layers of sweet fruit, awesome concentration and blockbuster length. Tasting like the essence of both this estate and the terroir, it’s an incredible wine that I’m happy to taste/drink anytime. It will continue to evolve gracefully, but I see no reason to delay gratification.


Kung pao chicken. Tasty, but  on the mild side compared to authentic KPC.


2000 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard. Parker 94. The saturated blue/purple-colored 2000 Syrah Reva Vineyard exhibits a slightly reduced nose, but with aeration of 60-90 minutes, glorious notes of blackberries, asphalt, singed leather, and wood emerge. Medium to full-bodied and moderately tannic, this young, unevolved, but promising 2000 will be at its finest between 2004-2015.


Greens and garlic. Colon sweeper!


2002 JC Cellars Syrah Haley’s Reserve Rockpile Vineyard. Parker 94. The blockbuster 2002 Syrah Rockpile Vineyard Haley’s Reserve (from a red soil vineyard planted at 2,000 feet) boasts a gorgeous perfume of boysenberries, blueberries, blackberries, lavender, toast, and licorice. Full-bodied, with a voluptuous texture in addition to dry tannins lurking behind the extravagant fruit and concentration, this terrific Syrah should hit its prime in 1-2 years, and last for a decade.


Special olive pork ribs. These small bits of pork rib were fried and seasoned to perfection. Really tasty. Not sure what was olive about them.


2002 Domaine Huet Vouvray Demi-Sec. 90 points.


Almond soufflé. Not exactly  a true souffle, under the pastry is a kind of warm almond soup with ginko nuts in it.


2002 Raymond-Lafon. Parker 90-92. I suspect most readers will find it hard to get excited about the 2002 vintage for the sweet wines of Barsac and Sauternes after what appears to be a prodigious 2001. However, 2002 is a very fine year for this region, possibly superior to any of the vintages between 2000 and 1991. The wines possess plenty of botrytis, but neither the impressive definition nor supreme elegance of the 2001s. This is a sweet, full-bodied, fat, concentrated, intense effort that was showing well in September, 2003.


Creme brule. Not your usual Chinese dessert, but good all the same.


Tapioca. Fruity.

The co-owner. They were incredibly nice, friendly, and with fabulous service.

Overall, New Bay Seafood was really good. Being Southern Chinese, it’s not the most exotic of the Chinese sub-regions (foodwise, since so much American Chinese is Cantonese derived) but their execution is really very very good. Every dish was tasty and more than half of them fabulous. If you want an approachable entree into the wonderful world of San Gabriel Valley Chinese, you can’t go wrong with New Bay. And, besides, the owner treated us like kings. They served the dishes one by one, hung out, and we’re generally fabulous.


Afterward, we walked next door to the awesome Sabu Dessert and get some light fluffy “snow.” If you haven’t tried Taiwanese style snow, you are really missing out. This one above was pineapple snow, passionfruit sauce, with almond jelly, and boba (on the bottom). Yum!

For more crazy Hedonist meals.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Ultimate Akbar
  2. Ultimate Pizza – The Birthday
  3. Ultimate Pizza New Years 2012
  4. Ultimate Pizza – New Years
  5. Ultimate Pizza – Day 2
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, New Bay Seafood, Sauvages

Empress Pavilion – Age without Grace

Nov14

Restaurant: Empress Pavilion

Location: 988 N Hill St #201, Los Angeles, CA 90012. (213) 617-9898

Date: November 5, 2014

Cuisine: Cantonese Dimsum

Rating: Like 20 years ago

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For decades, Empress Pavilion has been a Grande Dame of LAs Chinatown scene, offering up Cantonese and Cantonese American fare (and dimsum).


Chinatown kitsch.


With the eastward movement of the Chinese population into the SGV (San Gabriel Valley), the whole Chinatown has fallen on hard times. Empress even closed. But now it’s back.


Despite a reboot, the decor, while bright clean and new, looks like… well… 1982. Notice the carts. EP still uses the old cart system for dimsum.


Har Gow. Felt warmed over and pasty.


Shrimp Rice Noodle. Okay, but certainly lackluster.


Shumai. Tasted a bit like packaged  frozen shumai.


Chicken feet. Mushy.


Shrimp and scallop. Not too bad.


Shrimp and onion. Also half decent.


Shrimp and vegetable. One of the best of the dumplings.


Chicken potstickers. Bland and greasy.


Crispy chow mein with shrimp. Not bad, and one of the better dishes, but no where near as good as Elite.


BBQ Pork. Decent, but slightly odd sweet and sour flavor.


XLB. Decent.


Taro. Crispy and filled with that bland taro paste.


Lotus wrapped sticky rice.


One of the better dishes, but not fabulous.


Custard buns. Probably the best dish. Nice flakey texture and filled with eggy sweet stuff. Quite solid.


Passionfruit slush with almond jelly. I went next door and got some sugar.

Overall, Empress Pavilion, well sucked. It was nowhere NEAR as good as even the second tier SGV dimsum houses, and probably slightly worse than the Brentwood place I sometimes go to. This shows up the weakness of the “cart system.” Food tasted warmed over and stale compared to the steamed to order system used at all the good SGV places. It’s worth the extra 5-10 minutes drive!

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!


Check out that decor!


Even the path to the bathroom is bling!

Related posts:

  1. Sea Harbor Dim Sum
  2. Christmas is for Dim Sum
  3. Elite Dim Sum
  4. Lunasia Dim Sum
  5. Dim Sum is Shanghai #1
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, dimsum, Empress Pavilion, hedonists

Cantonese Pig Out!

Oct01

Restaurant: Capital Seafood

Location: 755 W Garvey Ave. Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 282-3318

Date: September 28, 2014

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Great Banquet

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The Cantonese banquet is a long standing tradition, and many of the big San Gabriel Valley Cantonese places do both a dimsum brunch and ornate banquet services.


Capital Seafood is no exception, hailing from the glory days of cheesy 80sMonterey Park build outs. Look at the faux Louis XVI decor!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mitl4ZBjFvI]

Tonight our little private banquet was located just adjacent to a huge wedding in the main room. Play the above video for a sample of the 100 decibel festivities.


Our “room” was actually just a corner of the big space that had been screened off… literally with Chinese folding screens.


From my cellar: 2009 Domaine Bruno Clair Bourgogne Rosé Marsannay. 89 points. The 2009 Marsannay Rose is a serious wine. It shows plenty of intensity and generosity, I only wish the aromatics were a little more focused.


Boiled peanuts.


Candied Walnuts.


From my cellar: 1996 Maison Roche de Bellene Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes. 92 points.


Suckling pig. Special ordered, with pickled cucumber and jellyfish. The pork was some of the best roast pork I’ve had. It was incredibly succulent with crispy skin.


The right hand sauce is a slightly sweet sauce, similar to that used with Peking duck.


2007 Domaine Marc Morey & Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes. Burghound 92. Very mild reduction combines with notes of lemon, straw and orange peel that introduce intense, delicious and well-delineated middle weight flavors where the citrus influence really comes up on the very dry and energetic finish. I quite like this but it is more suited to those who enjoy nervous whites with ample acid support.


Shrimp and tofu. The little white puffs are fried soft tofu. The shrimp are whole giant prawns fried with salt and peppery. They were quite delicious, cooked to a tender level where the shells caramelized and were soft and edible.


1999 Prager Chardonnay Smaragd. 88 points. Botrytized chardonnay from the Wachau. Weird. I love Bodenstein’s wines, but this is strange.


Fried giant clam. Two parks of the geoduck giant clam: body and neck. Basically fried clam strips Chinese style, but plenty tasty.


2005 Moraga Vineyards. 93 points. Sensational sauvignon blanc in the stye of a great Smith – Haut Lafite.


We saw them serving this crazy dish at the wedding and just had to try it.


Lobster salad! (with dry ice)


The fresh lobster meat is mixed with melon, mayo, and flying fish eggs. The overall concoction was pleasant enough but oddly sweet, and the cloying sauce hid the delicate meat.


XO sauce. This fermented, slightly spicy, sauce is rather famous — and expensive.


2003 Emrich-Schönleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spätlese. IWC 90. Aromas and flavors of blueberry, blackberry and honey combine here with woodsmoke, black tea, nut oil and subtly stony nuances. The wine is rich and full, with its slight sense of heat enhancing the effect of distilled fruit concentration and smoky pungency. The finishing effect is long and noticeably sweet.


Fried bullfrog. Chunks of bullfrog are deep fried with garlic. Super tasty, although there were a lot of bones to pick out.


2012 Robert Mondavi Winery Pinot Noir Clone 777. 93 points. Clean and sparse. Sharp but not bitter. Nice oak finish.


Steamed egg. I thought this was tofu, but it’s apparently just egg.


The custard-light-fluffy thing was really quite awesome, with a nice richness and a bit of umami from the soy.


2005 Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir Melville Vineyard. IWC 91. Light red. Spicy strawberry and blood orange aromas are further enlivened by white pepper and a light kiss of fresh rose. Then broader and deeper in the mouth, offering ripe cherry and raspberry preserve flavors, with the orange quality repeating. Nicely balances richness and energy and finishes with impressive clarity and grip. This has serious presence and concentration, but leans more to elegance than to sheer power. Greg Brewer, who believes that “the human aspect is the most important and influential part of the concept of terroir,” told me that the goal of Brewer-Clifton is to “minimize that aspect by staying as neutral as possible: same corks, same yeasts, same wood and so on. By keeping execution homogeneous we emphasize individuality, especially vineyard character.”


Braised duck. The meat was good, but the heavy brown gravy didn’t taste very Chinese and wasn’t my thing.


2004 Roger Sabon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Prestige. IWC 93. Deep ruby. Lush raspberry and cherry preserves on the nose, with hints of candied plum, espresso, flowers and dark chocolate. An impressively rich Chateauneuf, with powerful dark fruit flavors perked up by refreshing mineral lift on the back and nicely supported by supple tannins. Rich and chewy on the finish, with lingering notes of smoke, meat and cherry liqueur. Serious stuff, and in need of cellaring.


Caramelized fish. This fried Chilean Sea Bass with mushrooms, ginger, and garlic was pretty amazing. There was a ton of flavor.


2001 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Centenaire. IWC 96. Dark red. Incredible nose melds plum, spicecake, woodsmoke, mocha, earth, minerals and dried herbs; this covers all the major Chateauneuf du Pape food groups. Like liquid silk in the mouth, but with powerful underlying spine. A saline, superconcentrated wine that coats every millimeter of the palate with explosively rich, insinuating flavor yet does not come across as extreme or over the top. In fact, this is almost understated today, with a wonderfully long, elegant finish. A wine to chew on as much as to drink.


French style beef. A sort of peppered filet mignon. Very yummy and went well with the heavier red wines.


1999 M. Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie La Mordorée. Parker 95. Chapoutier’s La Mordoree cuvee is produced from 75-80-year old Syrah vines planted in both the Cote Blonde and Cote Brune, aged in 100% new oak casks, and bottled with neither fining nor filtration. The 1999 Cote Rotie La Mordoree is the finest he has produced since the 1991 (two bottles drunk over the last six months confirm this fabulous wine’s potential as it is just now beginning to emerge from a cloak of tannin). The 1999 has closed down since its pre-bottling tasting. The color is an inky purple, and the wine is dense and powerful, with notes of smoky blackberries, creosote, and espresso. Concentrated flavors reveal high levels of tannin (surprising in view of last year’s report), and a rich, long, 45-second finish. This impressive 1999 will take longer to reach its plateau of drinkability than I thought last year.


Scallop and egg fried rice.


2003 Cayuse Syrah en Cerise. Parker 90. The dark fruit-scented 2003 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard is medium-bodied, displays outstanding depth of fruit, and possesses appealing mouthfeel. Spicy blackberries make up its expressive, pure, deep, and long flavor profile. It should be enjoyed over the next 4-5 years.


Salty fish fried rice. A little different. Salty, but good.


Pea tendrils. In case your “system” is feeling clogged.


2007 Zilliken (Forstmeister Geltz) Saarburger Rausch Riesling Auslese. IWC 92. Pale golden yellow. Ripe peach, guava and chamomile on the nose, complicated by a hint of brown spice botrytis. Luscious citrus fruits with cool minerality refresh the palate. In spite of the wine’s weight, a spicy elegance dominates the finish.


Mango pudding and coconut jelly. The mango pudding was insanely good. It had a light jiggly quality and a flavorful intensity. The mellow sweetness of the other jelly was also very pleasant.

Overall, Capital did a great job and this was one of those fun and interesting banquet meals filled with different flavors. Not every dish was perfect (duck, I’m looking at you), but it was still a great meal and the pig was outstanding.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Feasting Lunasia
  2. Elite Dim Sum
  3. Spice Up Your Life Szechuan Style
  4. Banqueting at Shanghai #1
  5. Sea Harbor Dim Sum
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, hedonists, Monterey Park, Monterey Park California, san Gabriel valley, Tony Lau, Wine

Sea Harbor Dim Sum

Jun29

Restaurant: Sea Harbor Seafood Restaurant

Location: 3939 Rosemead Blvd. Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 288-3939

Date: June 11, 2014 & January 2, 2015 & May 17, 2021

Cuisine: Cantonese Dim Sum

Rating: In the top 5 SGV Dim Sum

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This is a compilation of both a birthday trip my brother and I made to Sea Harbor Dim Sum, the latest in our crusade to visit all the best Dim Sum joints in the San Gabriel Valley, and a in force 20 person assault on the place later with my hedonist group.


I think Sea Harbor has been around for a long time and is one of the mainstays.


The interior is pretty typical.
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On 5/17/21, not long after the lockdowns, they were also serving outside on the patio.






One of these nice color photo menus. The paper “checklist” you order with is only in Chinese, but we just use the numbers. This is made to order dim sum, which is much fresher than the cart style.


The sauce plate (like everything else, on request).


Paul Bara Champagne Grand Cru Brut Grand Rosé. AG 92. The Brut Rosé Grand Cru is bold, richly textured wine that literally bursts from the glass with impressive concentration. This shows gorgeous inner perfume yet remains a decidedly extroverted, singular wine. The weight of the Pinot comes through in spades. Readers who want to understand why the Grand Cru vineyards of Bouzy are so famous for Pinot and Rosé should start here.


Cucumber with garlic and spicy sauce.


Jellyfish with GongCai. Apparently the green stuff is “tribute vegetable.” I thought it was bits of asparagus or something. Jellyfish was good.


2013 Liquid Farm Chardonnay White Hill. 93 points. No real sign of oak although it is fermented in mostly neutral oak with a bit of stainless steal. Wonderfully balanced, I want oysters with my next bottle! Great alternative to so many oaky Cali chards out there.


Chicken feet with Angelica in Meat Broth.


Spareribs in black bean sauce. Hideous, but they taste great.


From my cellar: 2012 Tenute Sella Coste della Sesia Majoli. 90 points. Deep red in the glass. This is a rosé with some weight, quite different from some of the nimble, mineral driven rosés from France. Dominant cherry tones, with a touch of Luden’s cherry drop. Clean finish. Potentially this could stand up to a more medium bodied dish, outside of the typical realm for other rosés. This is an unusual bottle, not often encountered – I’ve never seen Tenute Sella rosé for sale, anywhere.


Har Gow. A top version of the classic.


Siu Mai. Pork and shrimp dumpling. Also classic. These are the “normal” (non jumbo size) and tasted great.

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Siu Mai with Truffle. I think the truffle is actually a negative.


196x August E. Anheuser Riesling Spätlese Kreuznacher. 78 points. Fallen in cork. A color light like muddy oily rainwater, but surprisingly still sweet and vaguely drinkable.


Bean curd skin roll with seafood. These always look ugly, and they have a funny texture, but I tend to like them.


Ginger chicken & pork bun. These are stuffed with a meat ball that has a very pronounced ginger flavor. Interesting and quite good.


1979 Morandell Grüner Veltliner Trockenbeerenauslese Ruster. 98 points. Not totally sure of the year, certainly from the 70s, but this amber bit of syrup knocked our socks off. Spectacular nectar.


Fish roe with scallop dumpling. A very elegant seafood dumpling.


Steamed shrimp paste with corn and pea dumpling. The two of us were split on this fellow. I liked them, as they had a dense texture and a nice corn/pea taste. My brother wasn’t a fan.


2002 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett. 89 points. Delicate scents of fresh strawberry, lemon, honey and vanilla. Bright and tingling in the mouth, with the sensation of fresh strawberries right down to their tiny whiskers. Quite refreshing yet adamantly slatey in the finish.


Pork, peanut & celery dumpling. Interesting. A little mild, with steamed peanuts.


Juicy pork bun (XLB). A nice version of this most awesome food.


2011 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese. IWC 90. Elegant aromas of cherry, acacia blossom and pine nut. Succulent and creamy on the palate, tinged with nuances of herbs, nuts and vanilla. With fine balance, this spatlese finishes with an underlying sense of slate.


France style baked BBQ pork bun. I have no idea what is “France style” about these, but they had a delightful, light, and crispy outside (slightly sweet) and were filled with a yummy sweet BBQ pork mix flavored with cilantro. Very unusual and very good.


Thai Style Tofu with Chicken Broth. Awesome soft fried tofu with a sweet and tangy sauce.


2009 A.J. Adam Hofberg Riesling Kabinett. IWC 90. Delicate aromas of peach, candied lemon and nut oil. Glossy and quite full-bodied but elegant, this riesling tastes crisp and pure. The clean finish features lime and discreet slate. A textbook kabinett and one of the finest of the vintage.


Beef ball in superior soup. These reconstituted beef balls had a spongey texture that I liked, and a very nice beefy flavor.


Deep fried pork dumpling. Tasty, but as usual for this type, too little filling.


2012 Domaine Bruno Clavelier Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Brulees Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 91-93. A strikingly complex nose features notes of Vosne spice, black cherry, plum and sandalwood. There is first-rate intensity and verve to the beautifully well-detailed medium weight flavors that display plenty of minerality and dry extract on the firm and austere finish that delivers marvelous length. This is also an exercise in harmony allied with finesse.

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Ginger Chicken & Pork Bun.
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Classic steamed pork bun.


Pan grilled spinach pork bun.


Never seen this one before, but it was pleasant.


Chinese Broccoli with Oyster  Sauce.


2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Family Farm Vineyard. Burghound 92. An attractively layered and fresh ripe red berry fruit and overtly floral nose offers excellent complexity that continues onto the rich but elegantly rendered medium-bodied flavors that possess a seductive texture and perfect balance on the lingering finish. This should age extremely well as everything is in perfect proportion.


Sautéed sichuan runner beans with minced pork. A decent version of this classic. The beans were crunchy and the pork tasty, but it was hard to get on the chopsticks!


Steamed rice noodle with BBQ pork (aka “pork slime”). Almost certainly the best pork slime I’ve had — and I’ve had a lot.

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Steamed rice noodle with shrimp.


2006 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Precious Mountain. Burghound 90. The nose possesses very impressive aromatic complexity with a lovely mix of both red and blue berry fruit notes, spice hints and a gentle touch of wood toast that does not continue onto the supple, round and vibrant flavors that display good mid-palate density on the slightly dry and tangy finish that does not really detract significantly from the overall sense of balance. We’ll see how this turns out but it appears to have the dry extract to round out the finish in time.


Crystal noodle with fresh shrimp. The shrimp were tasty. This dish was fine, although not outstanding. The noodles had this worm-like slippery quality.

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Sticky rice wrapped with lotus leaf. An okay (but not spectacular) version of this. The rice additives could have used more flavor.

Sticky rice with preserved meats. Awesome salty and complex flavor.


Fried rice with dry scallop and egg white. A nice salty rice.


2013 Opolo Vineyards Zinfandel Mountain Zinfandel.


Assorted seafood fried crispy noodle. I love this dish, and this version didn’t disappoint. It was probably a 8 to Elite’s 9, but still great.


Deep fried durian puff. Not for everyone, but interesting all the same. Inside, lots of durian with the texture of rotten banana and the flavor of… petrol? Seriously long and complex finish. Weird!


Steamed Preserved Salty Egg Yolk Bun.


A house specialty. Eggy goodness inside. More sweet and sticky than salty. Mostly. Very tasty.

Overall, Sea Harbor was very satisfying, but perhaps a tiny notch below some of the others we have been trying recently like Elite or King Hua. Except for a couple stellar dishes like the pork slime or france style bun are so good, it makes you wonder. Certainly this place is great and you can’t lose.

An update from May of 2021 shows that Sea Harbor, even post pandemic, still has a top notch dim sum kitchen. The interior is in a bit of disarray, and they were out of a few things, but the food quality was still excellent.

They also might have laid on the MSG because I got an outsized dim sum coma that lasted for hours. Granted, dim sum always gives me a head buzz, but this was a little more than usual.

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Dim Sum is Shanghai #1
  2. Lunasia Dim Sum
  3. Elite Dim Sum
  4. More Awesome Dimsum – King Hua
  5. More Modern Dim Sum
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Dim sum, dimsum, hedonists, Hong Kong, Rosemead, Rosemead California, san Gabriel valley, Sea Harbor

Lunasia Dim Sum

Jun23

Restaurant: Lunasia [1, 2, 3]

Location: 500 West Main Street Suite A, Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 308-3222

Date: April 29, 2014

Cuisine: Cantonese Dim Sum

Rating: Excellent

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My brother and I continue our epic quest to sample all the top San Gabriel Valley dim sum restaurants. I’ve actually been to Lunasia before, for a big Cantonese Banquet, but this is my first trip here for dim sum (which is really their specialty).




Pictures are helpful, even for a dim sum veteran.


Jumbo shrimp har gow. As good a version as I’ve had.


Jumbo pork siu mai. Perhaps more succulent and tender than many.


Spinach shrimp dumplings. I’d swear these also had scallops in them. Interesting (and tasty). A different mealier texture to the skin.


Baked chicken bun. Full of meat and flavor, probably a bit better than at King Hua.


BBQ pork buns. Excellent rendition. Shanghai #1 might have the best of these.


Pork dumplings. This is the sticky fried mochi variety. They are slightly sweeter and have a wonderful texture.


Shrimp rice noodles. Great sauce and a nice version of this dish too.


Crispy Shrimp Roll. These have a lovely light crunchy texture. They came with a mayo! But I thought they went better with the sweet duck sauce.


Shanghai pork dumplings (XLB). The inside of these favorites (and we got 3 tins) were filled with really solid little pork balls. They tasted great, but Elite’s were certainly better (with a lighter thinner skin).


Hong Kong Roasted Duck. Tasty, but a little boney.


Duck sauce for the duck.


Sticky rice wrap. The classic lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice.


Here is the inside. I know it’s not the loveliest, but it was good.


Pan-fried vermicelli Singapore Style. My brother and I got this dish as kids — and it’s still just as good.


Egg yolk buns. Like Chinese Cadbury Eggs!


Sweet yolk inside! Kinda different, and very sweet.


Macao Egg Custard. This version was a little eggy.

Overall, another fabulous dim sum place. It’s hard to say which is best among Shanghai #1, Elite, King Hua, and this, as each has certain dishes they do better. Really just an embarrassment of riches.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Feasting Lunasia
  2. Din Tai Fung Dumpling House
  3. Dim Sum is Shanghai #1
  4. More Modern Dim Sum
  5. Christmas is for Dim Sum
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Alhambra California, Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Dim sum, dimsum, Har Gow, Lunasia, san Gabriel valley, Shanghai, Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumplings (Shao Mai)

Elite Dim Sum

Apr29

Restaurant: Elite Restaurant [1, 2, 3]

Location: 700 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 282-9998

Date: April 8, September 22, October 29, 2014, April 18, 2015, August 22, 2015, February 21, 2022, and many other times

Cuisine: Cantonese Dimsum

Rating: 31337

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This post is a composite of several trips to Elite (necessary to get a true handle on its greatness). These include two 2015 Hedonist blowout brunches (with wine) and several with my brother (who is also a dimsum fiend).

Elite is clearly one of the top 2-3 dimsum places in the SGV (and hence all of Southern California). Many of our group think it’s the best one. Everything is made to order.

Elite is at the top of many people’s list.


The interior is upscale, but hardly the most modern. There are tanks hidden in the corner and they serve upscale Cantonese banquet in the evening.


Yay pictures!


A controversial thing about Elite is that they charge for sauce. $0.75 for the mustard on the left and $3 for the XO. The restaurant is so cheap, it hardly matters.

Spicy jellyfish. Not bad at all.

Chicken feet in house sauce. Not my thing, but some like it.

Har Gow (Crystal shrimp). Excellent versions of the standard.


Pork Shui-Mai. Also great versions of the classic.


Dumpling. Not sure which dumpling this was, but it had a blend of shrimp and veggies and other yummies all fried together inside.


Scallop Dumpling. This was one of the best scallop dumplings I’ve had. There are all sorts of trefy goodies in there.


Meat and Mushroom dumpling. Another cool shape. Delicious too.


Shark’s fin and red clam dumpling. Hopefully no actual sharkfin (feel bad for those finless sharks). However, this was a delightfully clammy dumpling.


Dumpling. This one had peanuts and some other seafood bits inside.

Fried shrimp dumpling. There is a mild white sauce behind. This dumpling had an interesting coconut flavor to the interior.


Shanghai Style Steamed Bun. We love XLB, and these particular examples were awesome. My brother and I snarfed a tin each on at least 2 trips.


“Free” Sauces. A sweet one on the left (for duck and the like) and the XLB sauce on the right.

Tofu wrap. Mostly vegetables wrapped in bean curd. Hot and soft and delicious.

Shrimp with chow fun roll. Basically one of the chow fun “slimes” cut into a cut roll.


Spinach pancake?


Golden Corn BBQ Pork Rice Noodle. Historically in our family we called these “slime.” This was some excellent slime.


Shrimp Rice Noodle. One of the most classic of the “slimes.” An excellent one too.

Crispy Shrimp Rice Noodle. I’ve never had a “slime” like this before. There was a big shrimp in here sort of Chinese tempura fried. Delicious.


Shredded Pork Rice Noodle. Not the best of the set.


Elite BBQ Pork Bun. Like a jelly donut, just filled instead with porky goodness!

The bun interiors.


Baked chicken bun. Delicious slightly sweet crunchy exterior top filled with chopped seasoned chicken meat.


Fried Meat Stuff Dumpling. With a title like that, I had to order. This was the chewy fried rice coating with sweet ground meat paste inside. Kinda delicious except it was fairly hollow (not enough filling).


Baked BBQ pork dumpling. Little flakey. pastry triangles stuffed with the usual red BBQ pork.

Fried shrimp ball with almond. This is the usual shrimp cake but coated in almond. It really added a nice texture. Quite fun.


Beef ball.

Macau style pork belly. What it looks like!

Chicken wings.


House Roasted Duck. The duck does not suck. In fact, it was great. There was that usual authentic Chinese bone factor, but the taste was first rate.


Spare Ribs. The fatty creepy-looking spare ribs.


Beef short rib in pepper sauce. Like a bulgolgi pepper-steak.


Pork “leg” with lotus root and peanuts. “leg” turned out to mean feet. Ick.


Soy sauce chicken. The usual mild and tender chicken.


Chinese Broccoli.
1A4A3140
Some other slightly different green.


Buddhas delight.

Spicy mushroom caps. Just mushrooms in brown sauce. Didn’t seem spicy.


Sticky Rice Lotus Leaf Wrap. Also excellent. Full of goodies.

The rice interior.


Salty Fish Fried Rice. Not for everyone, but quite delicious to my taste (very umami).


Elite fried rice. A bit of everything.

Seafood Chow Mein. Those crispy little noodles I love soaked in a seafood sauce. Great noodle dish.

Beef chow mein. Excellent, although I liked the seafood a bit better.


Salt and pepper prawns. Eat them shell and all giant prawns. Yum.

The Lobster Noodle was only $16. Unfortunately, it was the weakest dish. The meat itself was okay, but the sauce was bland and the noodles over cooked. We barely ate the noodles (although we did finish the lobster).

Durian bun. One of the best Durian buns I’ve had. With a really creamy mushy (banana texture) interior with that weird but yummy Durian flavor (rotten bananas with pineapple and petrol?)


Macau Egg Tart. Nice custard pies. Just a smidgen inferior to Shanghai #1’s version, but still fabulous.


Milk Buns. Filled with almond creme filling. Scrumptious.
1A4A3185
A custard filled bun.


Almond milk pastry. Under that pastry shell is a sweet almond soup.


All in all, Elite really lives up to the name, serving some seriously tasty classic Cantonese Dimsum. They also have a great banquet menu for evenings. Some of the set banquets even go up to $2800 (a table?) and involve all sorts of epic dishes like suckling pig with foie gras!

A large percentage of my fiends who go to dimsum think it’s the best in the SGV. I personally think it’s about tied with King Hua. Certainly Elite, King Hua, and Lunasia are at the top, and there is a tier slightly below including Sea Harbor and maybe Shi Hai.

For more Chinese dining reviews click here.

On our April 18, 2015 brunch we had three tables in a private room and a lot of wine. Since it’s pointless to “pair” it, I’ll just list the bottles.


NV Angéline Godel Champagne.


1998 Deutz Champagne Blanc de Blancs. JG 92+. Tart and crisp. Clean and refreshing but not a lot of subtle aged champagne flavors poking out.


NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Réserve. VM 90. Light, bright gold. Fresh red berries, orange zest and white flowers on the perfumed nose. Juicy and precise, offering energetic redcurrant and blood orange flavors that show good concentration and a supple texture. A mineral nuance adds bite to the finish, with the floral note echoing.


NV Taittinger Champagne La Française Brut. Burghound 88. An overtly yeasty nose speaks of apple and a hint of petrol. There is good verve to the delicious if only moderately complex flavors that are underpinned by a medium level of effervescence on the clean and reasonably dry finish. This is one of those wines that has no faults but no major attributes either.


1996 Kistler Chardonnay Dutton Ranch. VM 94. Green-gold. Extraordinarily penetrating, musky, Burgundian aromas are a cross between Chassagne truffle and herbs and Meursault roasted grain and toasted nuts (and the structure is akin to that of a Puligny). Great purity and intensity of fruit in the mouth; sharply focused and restrained today, with near-perfect fruit/acid balance. Finishes with terrific grip and palate-staining persistence.


2013 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Chardonnay Karia. 87 points. Aromatic nose with barrel notes and lemon. Medium weight textured palate emulates the bouquet, fairly pure fruit leads to a medium plus finish. Very toasty but fruit has some elegance.


2012 Bedrock Wine Co. Heritage Compagni Portis. VM 91. Melon, white pears, green pears, mint and jasmine lift out of the glass in the 2012 White Compagni Portis Heritage, which emerges from a site planted in 1954. This crisp, beautifully aromatic white field blend is an excellent choice for drinking over the next few years.


2011 Liquid Farm Chardonnay Golden Slope. VM 92. Light yellow-gold. Heady, complex scents of poached pear, lemon curd, toasty lees and iodine, with a bright floral quality gaining strength with air. Sappy, penetrating orchard fruit and candied ginger flavors stain the palate, with notes of anise, honey and smoky minerals contributing complexity. Powerful yet lithe chardonnay with superb finishing focus and spicy persistence. I’d bet on this wine as a cellar candidate.


2012 Liquid Farm Chardonnay White Hill. VM 92. The 2012 Chardonnay White Hill is bright, focused and tightly wound. Lemon peel, crushed rocks, pear and smoke jump from the glass as the 2012 shows off its energetic personality. The style is focused and taut, especially with the style of the Sta. Rita Hills. Imagine a Chablis like sense of energy with the depth and radiance of California. If that sounds like an appealing combination, well, it is! the 2012 was done mostly in neutral oak, with some of the wine seeing only stainless steel.


2012 Henri Boillot Puligny-Montrachet. Burghound 89. Here too there is enough reduction to push what appears to be ripe fruit to the background. The pure and well-detailed middle weight flavors possess a highly seductive mouth feel along with lovely balance and excellent persistence for a villages level wine. The class of a fine Puligny is very much in evidence and this is worth your attention.


2010 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc. VM 91-4. Pale straw-yellow. Lemon, chamomile, vanilla, ginger and a faint lactic nuance on the restrained, minerally nose. Pliant and sweet in the mouth, offering good concentration and fat to the vinous lemon, guava and grapefruit flavors. Very minerally on the long finish, showing lingering notes of peach, vanilla and coconut. This should age splendidly and will probably be at its best between 2020 and 2035.


From my cellar: 2010 Domaine de Saint-Just Saumur Chateau Brézé – Clos David. 90 points. A geeky dry Chenin I wanted to try with dimsum. Turned out to work well, bright and floral at the same time. Peach and pear.


1999 Bert Simon Serriger Herrenberg Riesling Auslese. 93 points. Medium yellow in color. Lovely aromas of sweet summer orchard pit fruit compote, lemon-grass, flint, hint of petrol and honeysuckle. A thick, viscous palate shows good depth to the quite cooked yellow fruits, creamy vanilla poached pears and minerals on a long and sweet finish.


2009 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese. VM 93. Exotic bouquet of passion fruit and mango, lifted by fine floral nuances. The wine’s luscious peach pit flavor and velvety texture are given shape and verve by a finely chiseled minerality. Dense yet airy, this spatlese boasts great refinement and stunning length. One of the stars of the vintage.


2013 Dönnhoff Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spätlese. VM 91. Brilliant aromas and flavors of apple, cherry blossom and oyster shell enlivened by herbal spices. At once dense and juicy, with finely chiseled acidity refreshing the palate. This delicate, well-balanced Riesling finishes in its own pure and invigorating style. While this is often my favorite Spätlese at this estate, my nod this year goes to the Hermannshöhle.


2006 Louis Guntrum Niersteiner Rehbach Riesling Spätlese. 85 points.


2010 Domaine Joseph Roty Marsannay. Burghound 88. Moderate wood still allows the ripe aromas of black cherry, cassis and a hint of underbrush to show through. There is a lovely vibrancy to the cool and delicious flavors that possess solid depth and length in the context of the appellation. This should drink well early on if desired yet reward mid-term cellaring as well.


1976 Bonneau du Martray Corton. 93 points. Very mature, but with a good bit of fruit and all sorts of secondary and tertiary complexity.


2012 Freestone (Joseph Phelps) Pinot Noir Freestone Vineyards. Burghound 89. There is a trace of menthol to the notably ripe aromas of essence of black cherry and plum scents. The medium-bodied and solidly well-concentrated flavors possess a lush and very round mouth feel before terminating in a dusty and generously proportioned finish. The supporting tannins are well-integrated and while there isn’t great depth at present the underlying material is such that more should develop with a few years of bottle age.


2012 Bedrock Wine Co. Zinfandel Old Vine. VM 90. Vivid ruby. Pungent, high-pitched aromas of cherry skin, raspberry, licorice and lavender, with a bright mineral topnote. Juicy and incisive, with sappy dark berry and bitter cherry flavors. Supple tannins add grip to the spicy, floral finish.

Supervising the remains. The two of us ate EVERYTHING pictured above!

A sign of of the authentic Chinese kitchen

Related posts:

  1. Din Tai Fung Dumpling House
  2. Dim Sum is Shanghai #1
  3. More Modern Dim Sum
  4. Newport Special Seafood
  5. Shanghai #1 Seafood Village
By: agavin
Comments (7)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, China, Chinese cuisine, dimsum, Elite Restaurant, Har Gow, hedonists, Hong Kong, Monterey Park, Monterey Park California, XO sauce
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