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Archive for Lunch Quest

Lunch Quest – Bang Bang

Jun08

Restaurant: Bang Bang Noodles

Location: 9355 Culver Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232.

Date: July 21, 2023

Cuisine: Western Chinese Noodles

Rating: Prefer the SGV

_

One of my last AFFs before I got too busy with work.
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Bang Bang has an outpost in this Culver City food court.
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I’ve wanted to try Bang Bang for a while — being the spicy Chinese noodle lover that I am — and it was decent. Certainly the cucumbers, dumplings and dry garlic noodles were solid. But I wasn’t blown away. Sigh.
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Knife cut noodles. They are fairly heavy and a bit more awkward than one would want them to be. Nice chew though.
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The menu. Lamb was out :-(.
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Cold chili cucumbers. This shareable side dish is the perfect complement to any of our noodle entrees as it provides a nice textural contrast with it’s subtle sweet chili crunch. We make limited quantities of this daily, so don’t miss out. This was probably my second favorite dish. Nice crunch and a bit of sweetness.
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Mama’s Dumplings. Their mom’s recipe for Pork & Chive dumplings topped with our signature sauce & chili oil. This was my favorite dish. Tangy sweet.
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Tingling Cumin Noodle Soup. A Chef favorite that holds Northern Chinese Flavors. This is the perfect bowl of our famous handmade Biang Biang Noodles in a tingling cumin soup. This made to order dish is topped with house chili oil, fresh cabbage, green onions and cilantro.
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A wonton soup. Couldn’t find it on the menu.
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Szechuan Garlic Noodles Soup with Braised Beef. This is their new fan favorite and specially crafted for all those garlic lovers out there that appreciate the aromatics that makes this dish really come to life! And to take it up a notch, they’ve incorporated a signature Szechuan chili that really takes this dish to the next level! Much less flavorful than the dry noodle.
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Szechuan Garlic Noodles Dry. This is their new fan favorite and specially crafted for all those garlic lovers out there that appreciate the aromatics that makes this dish really come to life! And to take it up a notch, they’ve incorporated a signature Szechuan chili that really takes this dish to the next level! This was my favorite noodle and certainly had tons of flavor — but it could have had more heat and more garlic :-).
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Tingling Cumin Noodle Dry with Braised Beef. This Dish Is Influenced by Northern Chinese Spices. Fresh handmade Biang Biang noodles are made to order in our signature tingling cumin sauce, a dash of homemade chili oil, aged black vinegar, topped with fresh cabbage, green onion, and cilantro. Lots of cumin, but the noodles are heavy and awkward.
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Xi’an Tomato Dry Noodle with Mushroom. An authentic Biang Biang Noodle that brings Fresh Flavors from Xi’an. They’ve utilized fresh stewed tomatoes, crisp bok choy, seasoned ground soy, chives, house chili oil and (in this case) mushrooms. My least favorite of the noodles, a bit bland.

Overall, I didn’t love Bang Bang — despite being a Chinese noodle fiend. Part of it was the take out container and food-court format, part was that it just wasn’t intense enough.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Lunch Quest – Spicy Impression
  2. Lunch Quest – Dai Ho
  3. Lunch Quest — Xiang La Hui
  4. Lunch Quest – Kinnara
  5. Lunch Quest – Simpang Asia
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: AFF, Bang Bang Noodles, Chinese Food, Lunch Quest, noodles

Lunch Quest – Yigah

Jan14

Restaurant: Yigah Restaurant

Location: 8562 Garden Grove Blvd Garden Grove, CA 92844. (657) 233-5502

Date: April 26, 2023

Cuisine: Korean

Rating: Tasty, but there is similar far closer

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After at least 6 months, maybe of year of pestering, I finally agreed to drive down to Garden Grove with Yarom for some Korean spicy beef ribs.
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I’m not quite sure why he was so obsessed about going to this particular Korean joint about an hour away (with no traffic). But eventually I relented.
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Decent enough build out.
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The menu. Korean menus aren’t that long and there are usually a lot of variants of the same thing.
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Banchan. This is probably a mustard green fermented with chili sauce.
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Shredded Daikon.
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Turnip or Daikon Kimchee.
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Cabbage Kimchee (the classic).
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Spicy bean paste and a slightly sweet sauce.
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Bossam. Boiled Pork Belly w/ napa cabbage, spicy radish etc. Boy was this some delicious “boiled pork belly.” Really soft, succulent, and porky. Awesome wrapped up with some spicy bean paste.

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Spicy Braised Beef Ribs with Cheese. Giant dinosaur ribs in sweet and spciy korean stew sauce topped with Mozzarella and blow torched. Lots of beefy goodness!

So these ribs were good. The bossam was good. But, that being said, it’s hard to imagine there aren’t a whole bunch of places serving nearly the same thing in Korea Town. So not sure why we had to drive to Orange County.

For more dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Lunch Quest – Happy Valley Village
  2. Lunch Quest – Kinnara
  3. Lunch Quest – Spicy Impression
  4. Lunch Quest – Dai Ho
  5. Lunch Quest – Simpang Asia
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: beef, Korean, Lunch Quest, Yigah

Lunch Quest – Medan Kitchen

Jan05

Restaurant: Medan Kitchen

Location: 8518 Valley Blvd STE 102, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 693-6231

Date: April 21, 2023

Cuisine: Indonesian Market

Rating: Tasty

_

Another haul out east to try this interesting Indonesian market.
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Medan replaces New Century Lobster, that mediocre South Chinese Place.
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Some menu on the board outside.
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But inside the format is more supermarket than restaurant. Basically all the food has been prepared and placed in take out containers. It’s cold or “cooling” and you just pick what you want and check out.
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Our haul.
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There are a number of tables outside and some very flimsy plastic utensils.
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Peanuts with Dried Anchovies. Salty and just a little sweet with a delightful mix of crunch and chew.
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Mackerel in Chili Sauce. Rich fish with a delicious (and pretty hot) chili sambal.
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Beef Rendang. Very nice sweet, nutty, and rich version of the classic. The beef was a touch chewy, and give we had to cut it with plastic forks…
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Tendon Curry. Very gelatinous and quite delicious. Not for everyone.
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Eggplant. Nice slightly spicy and umami eggplant.
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Shrimp with Saytan or Tofu. Solid
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Fried Cassava. Didn’t try, too carby.
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Shredded Chicken. Like Indonesian taco meat.
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Sambal. In case you need more heat.
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Rice Packet.
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Mixed in with the rice was more Beef Rendang, various veggies, a hard boiled egg, and curried chicken. Curry was delicious on the rice.
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Super sweet Pandan Coconut Milk Drink. Delicious, but boy was this sweet.
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I don’t love the format, or the cold food, or the plastic plates and forks. But the food itself was delicious. Really quite good. It isn’t really cheap either. Certainly not expensive, but only a little bit cheaper than a similar (likely larger) dish at a full sit down restaurant like Simpang Asia. However, this is very authentic, and very tasty. Lots of crabs though, which we did our best to mostly avoid.

For more dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Lunch Quest – Simpang Asia
  2. Lunch Quest – Kinnara
  3. Lunch Quest – Spicy Impression
  4. Lunch Quest — Xiang La Hui
  5. Lunch Quest – Happy Valley Village
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Indonesian Cuisine, Lunch Quest, Medan, SGV

DimSumQuest – Happy Harbor

Sep21

Restaurant: Happy Harbor [1, 2]

Location: 1015 Nogales St, West Covina, CA 91792. 626-965-2020

Date: February 14, 2021

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Great cantonese

_

I went here for dinner in 2021 and had a great meal — so I had high hopes for our dim sum visit.
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Happy Harbor is a medium sized Cantonese located right next to Mandarin plaza, a “far east” (Hacienda Heights ish) area we have eaten at again and again.
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The interior is classic Cantonese.

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The infinite corridor.
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Grungy tanks.
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Le menu.

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Decent set of basic sauces.
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On request, they brought us peanuts form the dinner menu.
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And smashed cucumbers which were very pleasant.
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The lot.
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Chicken Feet in Abalone Sauce. People said they were okay.
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Jumbo Shrimp Har Gow. The insides were generous and pretty good but the shells were thick and sticky and broke apart on trying to pickup the dumplings. So just middling.
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Truffle Shrimp har Gow with Squid Ink. These were better as the wrapper retained its integrity. The inside was shrimp with a hint of truffle oil. Not bad.
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Fish Roe Siu Mai. The classic Siu Mai were huge and porky with a bit of whole shrimp. They were solid — both literally and figuratively — but not awesome.
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Chiu Chow Style Steamed Dumplings. With the peanuts inside. These were pretty tasty but the wrapper was fairly heavy.
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Mushroom Shrimp Dumpling. Pretty nice and certainly plump.
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XLB. Typical for dim sum XLB — aka not particularly great.
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Bean Curd Balls with Vegetables. The wrapper was a bit chewy but these were enjoyable.
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Steamed BBQ Pork Bao. The bun was over-steamed and the inside sickly sweet and not very pleasant.
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Inside.
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Baked Abalone Sauce BBQ Pork Buns. Very sticky and sweet on the outside with a sickly sweet red pork interior. Better than the steamed but not great at all.
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Inside.
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Deep Fried Spring Rolls. Stuff with shrimp. Very nice flakey/crunchy outside and some solid shrimp. Pretty good.
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Fried Chives Shrimp Pork Patty. I always try to order these when I see them. These were good, although not the best. They did have that nice texture and the pleasant greasy quality.
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Tofu with Spicy Chicken Sauce. Not sure what’s chicken about this sauce. The Tofu was the classic fried Egg Tofu and was good, even if the overall presentation was sloppy and ugly. The sweet and slightly spicy sauce was probably jarred. But I did enjoy them as I always do.
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Spiced Fried Shisamo Fish. Little dark baitfish DEEP fried. They were very strong and the fry was out of control thick. No one went for a second fish.
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Stuffed Morel Mushroom. Stuff with shrimp paste and topped wiht a bit of crab. While the mushroom was a bit rubbery this was one of the better dishes and is fairly rare.
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Steamed Shrimp Ball with Corn. Fluffy shrimp ball, a touch underseasoned but not bad, laced with corn kernels. The corn leant it an interesting and pleasant texture.
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Steamed Rice Noodle with Spare Ribs in Black Bean Sauce. We ordered these ribs on top of the chow fun in order to get a “2 for 1”. The ribs were the usual steamed ribs, a bit porky, but soft and reasonably decent. Not sure having a bunch of rice noodle underneath was much of a plus.
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Sticky Rice Wrapper with Lotus Leaf. The rice itself was under-seasoned, almost sticky white rice, although the filling was very pleasant.
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Inside.
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Live shrimp steamed with garlic. The garlic flavor of the sauce was potent but nice. The shrimp themselves felt a bit overcooked and small and shell dominated by the time we got to eating them. Could have been much better. AND they were like $80/lb!
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Crispy Durian Cake. The lard based “buttery” pastry was solid and the durian custard very durian-flavored and reasonably nice.
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Overall, Happy Harbor was very “B”. None of the dishes stood out as great. Most of the normal dim sum was okay, but not only below the top A tier, but also below the better (but not top) A-/B+ places in the SGV proper. Still, Happy Harbor was better than the meh places, they have a huge menu with many good options, so it would be enjoyable if the location was convenient.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Happy at Happy Harbor
  2. DimSumQuest – Lunasia
  3. DimSumQuest – Chef Tony
  4. DimSumQuest – ixlb Dimsum Eats
  5. DimSumQuest – Blooming VIP
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Dim sum, DimSumQuest, dumplings, Happy Harbor, Lunch Quest, SGV, valentines day

DimSumQuest – Lunasia

Sep08

Restaurant: Lunasia [1, 2, 3, 4]

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

Date: February 23, 2023

Cuisine: Cantonese Dim Sum

Rating: Excellent

_

The DimSumQuest group continues to scour San Gabriel Valley dim sum restaurants. I’ve actually been to Lunasia many times before, but this is my first trip here for dim sum in a long time, so I figured that instead of updating the old post (it’s almost a decade old) I’d do an entirely new report.
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Pretty menu.
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House Special Stir Cucumber. The cucumbers themselves were fine, but they dumped packaged sweet and spicy dipping sauce on them. Kind of meh.
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Seaweed Salad. This “seaweed” salad seemed like Jellyfish Salad. It was chewy, which was okay, but with a grainy mustardy dressing that lacked acidity — so not very pleasant.
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Hangry brought some Beijing Lamb Buns from next door.
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Steamed Chicken Feet. Bland.
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Spare Ribs w/ Black Bean Sauce. Pretty good actually with lots of meat. Not much “black bean” but one of the better versions of this we have had — not the best but pretty good.
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Jumbo Shrimp & Pork Siu-Mai. Huge but delicious with tons of pork meat and whole shrimp suspended inside.
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Truffle Siu-Mai. The truffle version was identical but with canned truffle on top. Actually quite good but perhaps not legions better than the basic version.
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Jumbo Shrimp Har-Gow. Great version, with fabulous shrimp inside and a good shell. Not the thinest shell ever but with first rate texture. After a few minutes the shell got a little sticky but that always happens.
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Scallop Dumpling w/ Squid Ink. Sometimes the scallop dumpling falls a little short but not this one. The squid ink wrapper was nice and there was a lot of scallop inside, almost like a cooked “battleship” scallop sushi.
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Spinach Shrimp Dumpling. Unusual, usually this is chive. It had both a green “spinach” wrapper and spinach inside with the shrimp — which surprisingly worked well.
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XLB. Solid dim sum version. Not amazing or anything but better than many.
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Pork Bean Curd Wrap w/ Broth. Really quite nice. This is the broth version, as opposed to the “flavor corn starch sauce” version, but the broth was pleasant and the rolls excellent.
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Steamed BBQ Pork Char Siu Bao. There was plenty of filling but it was overly sweet and the bun itself was soggy and over-steamed. Not terrible but fairly meh.
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Contents.
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Baked BBQ Pork Char Siu Bao. The baked version had the same overly sweet pork. The bun was oddly small and just okay.
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Inside.
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Pan-Fried Pork Bun w/ Crab Meat. The buns seemed a bit soggy but the “crab” filling was interesting.
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Inside again.
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Stick Rice Wrap. This classic was great, probably second only to the 1968 version. Lots of stuff inside the rice and a great rice flavor. Excellent.
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The guts.
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Supreme Beef Ball. I’m the only one who liked these chewy beef balls.
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Shrimp Egg Roll. Nice and crispy with a lot of shrimp inside. Quite good.

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Deep Fried Taro Cake? Not sure exactly what this was but the texture was fabulously crispy. Quite lovely.
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Mixed Puff with Pork. Just okay version. Not crispy enough and not enough flavor in the filling.
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Live Lobster Chow-Fun. I’ve never had lobster chow fun, but now I have and this was awesome. One of the best regular chow fun I’ve had. The sauce cold have been a little strong/sweeter but the texture was very nice and there were lots of nice lobster chunks.
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Crispy Seafood Noodle. Just fair version of this generally excellent dish. Seafood itself was pretty good but the MSG factor was very high.
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Pan-Fried String-Beans. Woah — MSG string beans. Nicely crispy but they were also stir-fried with the same sweet chili sauce that were used on the cucumbers. Weird.
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Assorted BBQ Combination Quartet with Hong Kong Roasted Duck, Lunasia Boiled Chicken, Macao Style Roasted Pork Belly, and BBQ Pork (char siu). Kinda excellent, particularly the char siu. But the duck and Macao pork were also great. Some great sauces for them too.
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BBQ meat sauces.
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Pineapple Bun and Macao Style Egg Custard. The Pineapple Bun was small but very good with a nice flavored custard and good texture. The egg tart was quite good, although still not in the same league as the Montery Palace one. Macao (caramelized) egg tarts are almost always better than the regular ones.
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Pure and Concentrated Evil — Kentucky Mud Pie Gelato — Expresso Knob Creek Bourbon Custard Gelato base with layers of house-made Crushed Oreo Valrhona Fudge Ganache, and house-made Vanilla Coconut Cream Cheese Icing — The Plaid Mode of Gelati and includes a hefty Caffeine kick — 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 #coconut #valrhona #chocolate #ganache #expresso #bourbon #custard #oreos #icing
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Overall Lunasia was much better than I expected. It’s always been quite good for dim sum, and there is some uneveness to the kitchen, but the steamed items were in general excellent, in the A tier. Fried items were good too. But baked savory items a bit meh, and some duds like the cucumbers and jellyfish. Desserts were excellent. The non dim sum dishes here generally aren’t great, but the BBQ was very solid. So overall maybe A-, slightly under 1968 and Tonys, but very close.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Lunasia Dim Sum
  2. DimSumQuest – Chef Tony
  3. DimSumQuest – Blooming VIP
  4. DimSumQuest – ixlb Dimsum Eats
  5. DimSumQuest – Bistro 1968
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Dim sum, DimSumQuest, Lunch Quest, SGV

DimSumQuest – Chef Tony

Aug31

Restaurant: Chef Tony Dim Sum

Location: 1108 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 623-6668

Date: February 2, 2023

Cuisine: Chinese Dim Sum

Rating: Most dishes quite good

_

Continuing our group survey of LA’s best dim sum is Chef Tony, the original Arcadia location. I once went to the Pasadena branch, now shuttered, but I haven’t been here.

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Frontage is strip mall.
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A much smaller, pleasant, but less upscale dining room than the Pasadena location.
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You can see into the kitchen and the steaming chamber.
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Where the magic happens.
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Epic menu!
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The dim sum menu.
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Cucumber Salad with Garlic and Vinegar. A very solid version of this classic. Cucumbers were nice and crisp and “fresh” tasting. It wasn’t smashed cucumbers, more cut, and there wasn’t much garlic. It did have a decent sauce though and was taken up a notch by the addition of our high end “Jing” chili oil.
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Wood Ear Salad with Mature Vinegar. This might have been the best marinated wood ear I’ve had. Perfect chewy texture and a great sweet/sour sauce.
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They had very solid sauces here at Chef Tony’s including strong mustard, black vinegar with ginger, and a very nice chili paste with a strong vinegar tang.
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Preserved Chicken Feet with Chili. Yuck. And I don’t see any chili.
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Steamed Chicken Feet with Brown Sauce. Not much better. Everyone thought these were bland.
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Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce. Very soft and juicy with lots of meat. This might have been the best pork niblets we’ve had!
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Har Gow. Very good thin skinned with nice whole shrimp inside. Great texture and not over-steamed. I think I liked these better than the “fancy” black version.
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Squid Ink Shrimp Dumpling with Gold Leaf. Basically har gow. The Squid Ink shell didn’t taste like much. Not bad at all since these are great har gow, but nothing too special.
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Shrimp and Pork Dimpling with Black Truffle. Siu Mai. Really nice ones at that with a more al dente wrapper. I’m not sure the truffle adds here, but it wasn’t offensive like it sometimes is.
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XLB. Probably the best dim sum place XLB I’ve had. Nice and juicy and served with good black vinegar and ginger.
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Scallop and Shrimp Dumpling with Fish Roe. Somehow not that exciting and not quite as balanced as the har gow — although certainly tasty.
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Shrimp Wonton with House Spicy Sauce. These were great. Very delicate with lots of great shrimp plus the sauce, which was more sweet than actually spicy, was fantastic.
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Rice Noodle Roll (Chow Fun) with Minced Beef & Chinese Parsley. I haven’t had a beef Chow Fun in a while. This had great texture as it was steamed perfectly. The meat was very soft, pleasant tasting, and extremely mild. Overall nice, but it would be useful to try some of the other flavors. It also wasn’t sauced with the usual seasoned sweet soy, which I do like with Chow Fun.
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Sticky Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf. This is a classic and we liked how they were actually smaller. It was perfectly stick and steamed and had a realative lot of filling. While it wasn’t quite as awesome as the 1968 version it was a very good example of this dish, possibly the second best I’ve had recently.
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It’s not all rice which is great.
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Whole thing.

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Deep Fried Shrimp Spring Roll. The exterior was solid, but not awesomely flakey. The interior was more real shrimp and was excellent.
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I think these were crispy fried shrimps.
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Deep Fried Pork Dumpling. This was a very solid example of the Glutinous version of the pork dumpling. It had a nice chew and a decent amount of filling. It fell just slightly short of perfection as it wasn’t really crispy on the outside.
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The interior.
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Savory Deep Fried Chinese Donut stuffed with Mixed Shrimp, Squid, and Fish Paste. This was a polarizing dish. Jeffrey didn’t like the mayo (which was probably Kewpie) but I LOVED it. In fact I ate almost all of them even though I shouldn’t have. It had a great exterior crunch, a really nice umami shrimp cake interior, and that nice bit of acidic fatty zing from the “flavored” mayo.
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Eggplant Stuffed with Shrimp Paste. Just okay, although the sauce was great (possibly the same as was on the spicy wontons).
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Steamed BBQ Pork Bun (Char Siu Bao). Certainly a very solid version. Smaller than usual, which wasn’t bad, with a good ratio of sweet juicy BBQ pork filling. The bun was nicely steamed. This isn’t my favorite classic, but this was well executed.
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Interior.
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French Baked BBQ Pork Bun. Same filling as the steamed, and also a bit smaller than some, but with a nice crispy sweet exterior. Not the absolute best but a solid 8/10 version and better than the steamed (not realtively, but just because I like the baked better).
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Interior.
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Ginger, Chicken, Shrimp and Pork Bun. Interesting shape and the inside had a very pronounced shredded ginger chicken thing going on which was quite lovely and unique. Maybe it was the hit of ginger pungency. Very good.
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Interior.
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Pan Fried Shrimp and Pork Pandan Bun. The pandan leaf lends this bao its distinct pretty green color. It was nicely pan fried too and the dough was quite pleasant. The interior was fine too but overall I didn’t love it as much as I remembered from the last time I had it (at the Pasadena location).
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Interior.
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This chicken was displayed this way first.
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Roast Crispy Chicken with Black Truffle. I’m not sure about the black truffle part, but we ordered this because of the irresistable “Vlad the impaler’s chicken” vibe the menu gave at — and the impaled chicken didn’t dissapoint. The dish too was actually great. Really nice juicy chicken with a crispy skin. Just a very nice roast chicken.
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Poached Sliced Beef in Hot Chili Oil. This is a classic Sichuan dish and a fairly solid version at that. Quite a bit of numbing Sichuan peppercorns and tender beef — plus way too many bean sprouts but that’s a thing with this dish. I’ve had versions with more depth to the broth but this was quite solid and had the proper more water/oil texture rather than the goopy corn sauce vibe.
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Sateed String Bean with Minced Pork. Very solid version with crispy beans and lots of umami almost XO-like pork.
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Deep Fried Durian Pastry. After so many great dishes it was surprising to bite into this one — it was awful. The outside was a bit greasy and the durian inside overcooked and heavy with a bannana-like texture. Ick. Nothing like the incredible crispy puff with light durian cream at Monterey Palace.
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Interior.
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Egg Custard Tart w/ Milk. I’m not sure what the “milk” deal is but these pale soft tarts had almost no flavor and certainly not much egg flavor. Barely seemed like a custard at all. Big fail and maybe the worst egg tart I’ve had. Again the divine one at Monterey Park comes to mind.
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Coconut Bunny Pudding. So cute and served very very cold. These had that agar agar jelly texture, much like a chilled hard-boiled egg white. The taste was mildly sweet and mildly coconuty. It was actually pleasant but not much to it.
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Cute!
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Overall, Chef Tony’s was one of the best dim sum place we’ve been to. Hard to remember exactly how it compared to Pasadena (3-4 years ago) but while the menu was almost the same I think this is quite a bit better. Almost all the savory dim sum was great, particualy the steamed dishes. The desserts were weirdly awful. The wood ear, spareribs, har gow, XLB, shrimp wonton, and sticky rice were first or second in class. Given how good the chicken, beef, and stringbeans were I suspect the rest of the menu would be pretty good too.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Too Tony at Chef Tony
  2. DimSumQuest – ixlb Dimsum Eats
  3. DimSumQuest – Blooming VIP
  4. DimSumQuest – Monterey Palace
  5. DimSumQuest – Bistro 1968
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chef Tony, Chinese cuisine, Dim sum, DimSumQuest, Lunch Quest, SGV

DimSumQuest – ixlb Dimsum Eats

Aug29

Restaurant: ixlb Dimsum Eats

Location: 5900 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028. (323) 848-4766

Date: January 30, 2023

Cuisine: Chinese Dim Sum

Rating: Meh. Horrible takeout focused format

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ixlb is a mom and pop takeout oriented dim sum spot in Hollywood. The owner is incredibly nice and dedicated to his craft. The kitchen is great and the older dim sum chefs make everything in house right there. You order at the counter and they bring everything in takeout containers. Drinks, plasticware, napkins etc are all of the disposable variety. There are only a couple tables.
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The tiny interior is even smaller than this wide angle photo makes it look.
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The menu covers most of the dim sum basics but they lean toward the fried and are missing a lot of the dim sum classics like chow fun, lotus sticky rice, etc.
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The menu.
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We had to keep ordering in batches.
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Iced Coconut Tapioca.
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Spicy Cucumbers. Okay cucumbers.
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Sauces is one of the biggest problems with ixlb. They are in these little containers. Mustard and chili paste are in packets. There doesn’t appear to be vinegar or XO sauce. They are hard to use like this and of vastly inferior quality. The mustard was bitter and awful. To me, along with the crappy plastic wares and takeout containers this lowers the whole “form factor” and “enjoyment factor” of the eating by a fairly massive margin — even though the kitchen is quite good.
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Char Siu. Very solid “hefty” version. Nothing amazing, but good.
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XLB are good for dim sum XLB but no great shakes by real XLB standards. The lack of vineyard is a big problem too.
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Har gow. These had thin wrappers and an excellent shrimp interior. The wrappers did tend to stick and fall apart — perhaps because of the transfer to the tackout containers.
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Shrimp and Chive Dumpling. Okay with that “metallic” chive taste.
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Shrimp Wonton with Chili Oil. Not really much chili oil but this was a very nice light wrappered shrimp dumpling.
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Pan Fried Dumplings. Pretty tasty.
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Not sure what these fried shrimp wontons were called but they were very crunchy and delicious. Interior was basically shrimp ball.
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Spring Rolls. Crispy with a pretty good interior. Not as good as Rays, but solid.
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Scallion Pancake. Just fine.
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Fried Crab Sticks. Just about what it says: fried crab sticks. Ok.
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Steamed Char Siu Bao. Very nice sweet pork filling and well made bao.
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Baked Char Siu Bao. Very nice sweet pork filling and nice fluffy bun.
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The interior.
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Snowcap Char Siu Bao. Very nice sweet pork filling and well made bao, quite sweet, with really nice crispy top. This was slightly better than the regular baked one mostly because of the awesome texture.
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Smiling Bun Fish. Basicaly fried fish, slaw, and sauce. Pretty darn tasty, but a lot like a fried fish sandwhich.

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Inside.
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Fried Shrimp Balls. Very fried but nice solid shrimp paste.
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Sticky Rice Ball with pork. Basically a wrapped ball of sticky rice. Way too carby and bland for my taste.
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Inside — all rice.
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Seafood Pearl (steamed rice ball). Filled with shrimp paste and a few veggies this was an decent “ricey” version of the normal shrimp ball.
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More rice (and shrimp paste).
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Tea Eggs. Hard boiled eggs marinated in tea. Not my thing. In China these are usually quail eggs.
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Curry chicken puff. This was stuffed with a yellow chicken and pea curry. They were awesome actually, really delicious with a nice crunchy outside and great filling.
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The delicious inside.
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Baked Sausage Bun. Basically a hot dog in some baked bread. Total meh. The owner said they were “for Americans.”
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Ick.
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Char Siu. Overcooked, but somewhat tasty. Pretty middling.
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Spicy Pork Noodles. Very dry, salty, and lacking in interesting flavors. Not particularly spicy. Not so great.
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Mixed up.
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Pineapple Bun. This was probably the best pineapple bun I have ever had. Really first rate. The outside had a wonderful crunch and the bun was sweet and pleasant but the custard was awesome, like coconut custard with just a bit of fresh pineapple mixed in.
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Awesome.
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Sesame Balls.
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Macau Egg Tart. Fair version. Pleasant enough but nothing special.

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The gang and the owner.

Overall, I didn’t actually enjoy ixlb even though the dim sum itself is homemade and actually quite good. Basically the format utterly ruins it for me. I hate plastic ware. I hate disposable containers. Dumplings stick to them. I hate high top seating. I hate counter ordering. I hate ordering and paying in batches. The sauces totally sucked. So all this conspired to make some quite excellent dim sum actually not taste very good. Dim sum needs the sauce. It needs the steamer with the little sheet of wax paper that prevents sticking. It needs to come out piping hot. It needs to come out in waves (and going up, waiting in line, and paying for each wave isn’t very fun).

Some might say it’s great for take out. Probably is. I don’t do takeout. Don’t like it. Dumplings don’t travel well.

Oh and then add to this that it’s far Hollywood location is actually harder to reach (for me) than the SGV. Well, I’ll probably never be back. Oddly, a couple of the guys really liked it. Not for me. I’ll sit down at a real table.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. DimSumQuest – Monterey Palace
  2. DimSumQuest – Blooming VIP
  3. DimSumQuest – Bistro 1968
  4. More Awesome Dimsum – King Hua
  5. Quick Eats – Bafang
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Dim sum, DimSumQuest, dumplings, Lunch Quest, take out, takeout

Ray’s Duck House

Aug22

Restaurant: Ray’s Duck House晶瑞轩海鲜酒楼

Location: 4721 Chino Hills Pkwy, Chino Hills, CA 91709. (909) 606-9046

Date: January 26, 2023

Cuisine: Cantonese (and more) Chinese

Rating: Quite excellent, but really really far

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So strong is my commitment to Chinese food that I was willing to drive a small group of us ALL the way to Chino Hills (roughly 1.5 hours each way) just for the chance to try this newish recommended Peking Duck and dim sum restaurant.
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The aforementioned hills.
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It’s unusual for a Cantonese place to have real Peking duck.
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Check out the mysteriously featured “plastered over wall”!
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Nice new “classic” decor.
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Sauce station.
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The menu sheet.
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Specials. There was also a large glossy dinner menu I forgot to photo.
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Jeffrey waiting for Chevy (who was 45 minutes late). Grr.
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Chili sauce and very intense Chinese mustard.
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Soy Sauce and Red Vinegar.
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Smashed Cucumbers made special to order. Not marinated but very fresh and pretty decent.
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Spicy Vermicelli. This wasn’t quite what I expected as I was looking for the Sichuan tangy spicy numbing version. This was basically the same but not very tangy or spicy. It was good though and a little vinegar and chili oil half solved the problem.
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Spicy Wontons. Sort of drowned in lightly spicy broth. Wontons themselves were fine.
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Ray’s Peking duck spread. Style was modern Beijing cut in the back room.
Skin was thick, crunchy, airy, and quite spectacular, both the separate parts and the bits on the meat — it was all crunchy! = 9
Meat was served mostly moon cut with the skin, some dark meat by itself. The wings and legs were missing. And while the meat wasn’t as juicy as MDP it was very very tasty with great duck flavor. Probably the third best meat = 7.
Pancake was thin and translucent and there were plenty of them = 10
Hoisin was great. It wasn’t goopy thick, nor too sweet, and had fabulous on-point flavor = 9
Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual. This was the weakest element as they had been cut the previous day (most likely) and were dry = 3
Bones were on the menu, but they didn’t think we needed them = N/A
Duck Soup was bland although at least not unpleasant = 4
The burrito/bing together was excellent = 8.5/10.

More details on our giant survey of LA peking duck can be found here in the Ultimate LA Peking Duck Guide.

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Skin was thick, crunchy, airy, and quite spectacular, both the separate parts and the bits on the meat — it was all crunchy! = 9
Meat was served mostly moon cut with the skin, some dark meat by itself. The wings and legs were missing. And while the meat wasn’t as juicy as MDP it was very very tasty with great duck flavor. Probably the third best meat = 7.
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Hoisin was great. It wasn’t goopy thick, nor too sweet, and had fabulous on-point flavor = 9
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Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual. This was the weakest element as they had been cut the previous day (most likely) and were dry = 3
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Pancake was thin and translucent and there were plenty of them = 10
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Duck Soup was bland although at least not unpleasant = 4
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Spareribs in Blackbean Sauce. These were a bit bony — fine — but not as (realatively) good as most of the rest of the dimsum here.
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Steamed Chicken Feet in Brown Sauce.
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Shrimp Har Gow. An excellent version of this classic. Pretty nice medium shell with a nice chunky shrimp interior.
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Pork and Shrimp Siu Mai. Excellent version. Very chunky with lots of good pork flavor.
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Shrimp and Chives Dumpling. Quite solid.
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XLB. Not the typical over heavy buns in the tin foil, so a step up. Shells were decent, if still a little thick. The meat was good but there wasn’t that much “soup.”
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Rice Noodle Roll with BBQ Pork. The sauce was more savory than usual, but very nice. The texture on the chow fun itself was really stretchy and excellent and the pork was juicy and great.
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End on view.
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Sticky Rice Wrapped with Lotus Leaves. The rice itself was very good and the filling bits tasty, but minimal. Needed a bunch more and some eggs.
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Inside the wrap.
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Pan-Fried chives & shrimp cake. I always love this dish and this was no exception. Greasy and delicious with awesome texture.
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Bean Curd Skin Rolls in Brown Sauce. This was one of the best versions of this dish I’ve had. Maybe not THE BEST but very good. The quality came down to the extremely “flavored” (MSGed) brown sauce and the nice texture of the wrap and veggies inside.
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BBQ Pork Bun. The fluffy bun might have been a hair dry but the pork interior was sweet, classic, and delicious.
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Inside view.
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Baked BBQ Pork Bun. The sticky sweet bun was spot on and the interior contained the same yummy sweet pork. Excellent.
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Inside view again.
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Tianjin Pork Bun. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. What we got was a classic bao bun, the kind that’s also common in Japan, with a dumpling like pork ball interior. The meat was good. This felt quite old school.
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Beef Ball with Dried Tangerine Peel. These were a bit fluffier than usual, although still stretchy. The flavor was nice so quite excellent, although subtly different.
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Fried Shrimp Ball with Egg Yolk. Not sure where the yolk was, as these were served with what seemed like a sweet mayo. They were good though, being classic shrimp balls with a crunchy shell.
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Deep Fried Vegetarian Spring Roll. This was like the ideal veggie spring roll, perfect. It was super hot, crispy, and then the cabbage and white pepper interior was absolutely lovely.
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Deep Fried Pork Dumplings. The glutinous shell was a bit sweet and quite good and there was a different (if understuffed) pork filling inside. Quite excellent.
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Baked Egg Tart. Shell was a touch heavy but the eggy custard filling was excellent. Not as amazing as the Monterey Palace ones, but still good.

Overall, Ray’s was reasonably impressive. The Peking Duck was quite solid, definitely real Peking Duck and right int he middle of the pack. It would have been even better if Chevy wasn’t 45 min late (during which time the duck sat and waited for him, growing soggier). The dim sum was also very good. It’s not the BEST and the dishes were pretty standard, but execution was overall quite good, allowing for a totally solid classic dim sum experience.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Duck House without Yarom!
  2. Earl Grey – Nanjing Duck House
  3. Mark’s Duck House
  4. Duck House – Crawl part 4
  5. NC Peking Duck – Double Duck part 2
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chinese Food, Chino Hills, Dim sum, DimSumQuest, Lunch Quest, Peking Duck, Ray's Duck House, SGV

Lunch Quest – Spicy Impression

Jul22

Restaurant: Spicy Impression

Location: 17110 Colima Rd B, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745. (626) 363-4948

Date: December 20, 2022

Cuisine: Sichuan Chinese

Rating: Mostly for takeout

_

For today’s Lunch Quest Yarom, Chevy, and I hiked out to one of our favorite “corners” in the Far SGV, close to Shanghailander, Spicy Home, and others — all to try out this casual new Sichuan place.

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Typical box store.
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Casual interior. There was only one other table, although lots of takeout in progress.
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The menu.
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“Stir-fried” cucumber. I don’t think that word means what they think it means, as this was smashed cucumbers (with garlic and peanuts). It was actually an absolutely first rate version with a nice crunch and GREAT garlic flavor. The peanuts were a nice addition as well.
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Stir-fried clams with Chinese pepper. Now this is actually stir fried. The flavor on this dish was awesome. The crispy green pepper corns were delicious and the flavor from the chopped chilis intense. Eating them was eye watering and they were the only genuinely spicy element at this lunch.
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Spicy Soup with Sneakhead Fish Filet and Pork Intestine. Very nice flavors in this dish. The fish was oily and almost eel-like and very tasty. There was also “douchi” (fermented salted black beans) and a very flavorful broth, although it had a strong undertaste of “pig poo.” Yeah, and that was a deliberate (pig) intestinal funk. Oh yeah baby!
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Stir-fried lamb belly with Chinese spices. Not sure how the belly was different from the lamb in the next dish, but the stir fry mix was a bit different. It had celery and the hot peppers again (as opposed to dried) and no cumin.
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Cumin Lamb. Classic cumin lamb. Fairly “intense” lamb flavor with quite a bit of cumin. I would have liked slightly more “Wok Hei” as I’m not sure they charred the lamb on the hyper hot wok first.
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Spicy Pork Feet. Pig’s feet that were braised in an interesting star anise and black cardamom broth, then stir fried with chili oil, onions, garlic etc. I don’t like flabby pig skin but the gelatinous and fatty meat below the skin was good.
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Mapo Eggplant. I’ve never had this dish, basically Mapo Tofu with eggplant instead. It was delicious with a very strong flavor of Sichuan Peppercorn. It wasn’t actually that numbing as perhaps that was cooked out, but it was strongly flavored with the complex herbal-citrus notes of the peppercorn.
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Chinese Spicy & Sour Cabbage. The cabbage had a nice crunch and was very enjoyable. It didn’t have that totally addictive “pork fat” flavor but I still ate at least half of this dish.
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Overall, this place was tasty, but is really just a Sichuan takeout shack. Clearly people aren’t eating in here as there were stacks and stacks of takeout containers at the ready. As such, they don’t have much variety of prep. Nearly everything on the menu is wokked and most dishes are just different proteins stir-fried in a set number of preps. There are no different cooking styles like “Tea Smoked Duck” or even many cold dishes.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Lunch Quest — Xiang La Hui
  2. Lunch Quest – Da Long Yi
  3. Lunch Quest – Simpang Asia
  4. Lunch Quest – Lotus
  5. Lunch Quest – Dai Ho
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, lunch, Lunch Quest, SGV, Sichuan Cuisine, spicy, Spicy Impression, Szechuan cuisine

Lunch Quest – Kinnara

Jun19

Restaurant: Kinnara Thai Restaurant

Location: 15355 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, CA 91406. (818) 988-7788

Date: November 18, 2022

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Slightly modernist Thai

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The Foodie Club lunch crew and I went out for Lunch Quest to Go’s Mart, but he was oddly closed, so we ended up here:
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At this “slightly trendy” Thai place.
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Interior is pleasant.
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Good sized menu (as usual for Thai).
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TOPAZ SHRIMP. Cooked shrimp with yellow curry and crabmeat. Interesting modern one bite format. Ultimately a yellow (turmeric) curry shrimp dish. The shrimp was very tender though and the curry nice and bright with a tiny bit of heat.
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FILET MIGNON SKEWER. Grilled filet Mignon with white curry sauce. Hmm, maybe a green curry sauce? Pretty tender filet skewer doused in a very tasty spicy/sweet green curry — shot it afterward.
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Pork Rib Lemongrass Soup. Pork rib soup with mushroom, mint, cilantro with spicy and sour soup. Lovely sour broth with medium tender pork chunks and button mushrooms.
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Condiments.
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CHAING MAI PORK BELLY. Crispy marinated pork belly with spicy chili sauce. Super addictive crunchy pork belly with a really nice green chili sauce. Delicious.
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Spicy Chai-Yo. Chicken and shrimp sauteed in spicy topaz curry and finely cut green bean. The spiciest of our dishes, but not super spicy. Sort of a chichen larb in yellow curry with more tender shrimp.
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Panang Soft Shell Crab. Crispy soft shell crab with panang curry sauce. Awesome crunchy soft shell with a great mild red curry. The crispy basil really took it up too. Delicious dish and not that different than the Chinois lobster.
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911 Catfish. Crispy filet catfish with green peppercorn and chili garlic sauce. A bit fried but very tender with a nice (only mildly spicy) chili garlic sauce. Too much bell pepper but it was nice to see the green peppercorns.

Pretty tasty Thai with a bit of a modernist spin. Flavors are very classically Thai, however, which is a good thing. The chef apparently has gone to Vegas. Haha.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Lunch Quest – Simpang Asia
  2. Lunch Quest – Lotus
  3. Lunch Quest — Xiang La Hui
  4. Lunch Quest – Happy Valley Village
  5. Lunch Quest – Da Long Yi
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Lunch Quest, Thai cuisine, Thai food

Wagyu House by The X Pot

Jun04

Restaurant: Wagyu House by The X Pot

Location: 18558 Gale Ave Suite 122-128, Rowland Heights, CA 91748. (866) 610-0609

Date: October 20, 2022

Cuisine: Chinese Hot Pot

Rating: A bit of style over substance, but solid

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This was actually just a “Lunch Quest” where we set out to the far SGV to check out this “fancy hot pot” I’d seen online. Turned out it was mobbed! Chinese food in the SGV is never crowded for weekday lunch!

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We had to wait about 50 minutes. The wait was weird because the place is huge and was only about 25% full, although tons of people were waiting.
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Build out is pretty extensive. Sure, the build quality is “sloppy” and it won’t hold up, but it looks pretty cool right now.
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Private rooms.
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Sauce Bar. The sauce bar is excellent. Not quite as good as Shancheng Lameizi but very good. There weren’t very many snacks though (like cucumbers etc).
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My usual pair of sauces. I tried not to make them very spicy today.
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The menu.
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And the special “expensive” package menu.
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House Special Wagyu Pot (right) and Coconut Chicken Pot (left). Neither of these imparted to obvious a flavor onto the stuff — or at least not enough to survive dipping int he sauces.

Instead of the coconut chicken I really wanted the golden one, which is a specialty of theirs — but alas it was “out.”
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House Crispy Pork. Quite yummy, like pork clam strips.
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Wagyu Tartare. You mix it up and eat. Pretty good, but the sauce flavor was a little odd.
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Braised Lotus Root. I really enjoyed these as I like the texture of lotus roots.
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Grilled Wagyu Bone Marrow. Most of the group thought this was the best dish. Just seemed like greasy beef nibblets to me.
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Fish Tofu. The usual slight fishiness which I kind of like.
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Assorted “meat” balls (beef, pork, and shrimp). The meatballs were good here.
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House Special Pork Balls.
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House Signature Ham (spam). I love “luncheon meat” at hot pots. This one tasted good, but it became a bit soft in the pot.
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Kurabuta Pork Jowl. These were quite good.
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Mini Pork Sausage. Not the usual “brand” of sausage and not quite as flavorful.

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Each A5 has it’s own presentation. The rib cap (we didn’t order it because Yarom was fighting the A5) comes in a bull!
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Japanese Miyazaki A5 Wagyu Silver Side. This was very good but it’s hard to know that one can tell it’s A5 after it’s been boiled and soaked in sauce. I’m a little skeptical if it’s really A5. It might be some more domestic wagyu. Hard to know for sure.

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Wagyu Short Rib. Meat was good.
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Wagyu Top Blade.
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Squid Rolls. Interesting texture.
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Imitation Crab Sticks. These almost disolved in the broth, which gave them a slightly offputting mushy texture.
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Assorted Vegetables. The cabbage rocked.
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Bamboo Shoot. Fiber!
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Robo waiters.
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This is so SGV.

Overall, Wagyu X was interesting. It was pretty good hot pot, and the decor is great, but we had the annoying wait and a problem with the broth choices/availability. If we got that sorted and were there at dinner and ordered crazy stuff I think it might be a lot of fun.

Fundamentally, if like me, you make your sauce pretty zesty/spicy, then there isn’t that much taste difference between this and any of the other higher end “regular” hot pot chains. Wagyu X is prettier, however, and they do have more wagyu. They also have a lot of expensive live seafood, which I do think would be good with milder broths like the mysteriously unavailable golden broth. After this meal, but before the long delayed write up, I’ve had a couple of delicate seafood hot pots with fabulous non-spicy broths and they were really good. As much as I love a good Chengdu style spicy ox fat broth, it pretty much nukes out seafood subtlety.

This place apparently has the same owners as Niku X — which we shall come to in time on All Things.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

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After we went over to a friend’s restaurant to say high.

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Got some free Chinese buttered buns which had carbs I didn’t want. They tasted good however.

Related posts:

  1. Din Tai Fung Dumpling House
  2. Earl Grey – Nanjing Duck House
  3. Lunch Quest – Da Long Yi
  4. Beijing Pie House
  5. Far East – Beijing Tasty House
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: beef, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, hot pot, Lunch Quest, Niku X, Rowland Heights, SGV, spicy, Wagyū, Wagyu House by The X Pot

Lunch Quest – Pizzeria Sei

May28

Restaurant: Pizzeria Sei

Location: 8781 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035. (424) 279-9800

Date: October 10, 2022

Cuisine: Pizza

Rating: Very good, but very specific Neo-Neapolitan pizza

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There has been a lot of buzz about Pizzeria Sei. I’ll just quote from Michelin who wrong it up:

Thick or thin. Sauced or left bare. Traditional or irreverent. Pizza is the shape-shifter of the culinary world, with seemingly endless variations and an insatiable appetite for the newest iteration. Enter Pizzeria Sei, where individual pies are made with a Japan-meets-Italy flair. A handful of diners perch at the counter to watch the chefs hard at work prepping these savory treats. Wondering where the Japanese comes into play? It’s the cornicione—with its trademark puffy pinch with a mochi-like chew. White pies are more offbeat, as in the Bismarck topped with a poached egg, while red pies lean more Italian. The Margherita is a go-to, topped with simple tomato, basil, fior di latte and olive oil, then cooked in an gas- and wood-fired oven.

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Anyway, it’s hidden in a little (I mean little) storefront at the corner of Pico and Robertson (by definition pretty much the kosher zone).
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This is about it: The oven.
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And the toppings counter.
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Today’s minimal menu.
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Giardiniera. Pickled farmer’s market vegetables, castelvetrano olive, italian herbs, extra virgin olive oil, toasted bread (vegan). I like me some pickles.
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Toast. Didn’t need this.
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Bismarck Pizza. Fior di latte, prosciutto cotto, egg, pecorino, basil, truffle oil, sea salt.
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Diavola Pizza. Tomato, fior di latte, basil, soppressata, olive, parmigiano reggiano, chili flakes, extra virgin olive oil.
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Tiramisu. Soft and creamy. By far on the better side for restaurant tiramisu. Not quite mine, but still.

This was some good pizza, as the crust is very chewy and addictive. Toppings seem of very high quality, but there aren’t that many options. It’s certainly one of the best pizzas I’ve had in LA, but I do not think quite as good (to my taste) as Bar Monette but that’ll be for a later post.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  2. 2Amys Neapolitan Pizzeria
  3. Milo and Olive Pizzeria
  4. Lunch Quest – Dai Ho
  5. Lunch Quest – Lotus
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Lunch Quest, Pizza, Pizzeria Sei, Quick Eats, Sei

DimSumQuest – Blooming VIP

May20

Restaurant: Blooming VIP Restaurant

Location: 8118 Garvey Ave A, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 280-2288

Date: October 7, 2022

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese Dim Sum

Rating: Solid

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This was sort of the first of a new series we called DimSumQuest, in which a bunch of us actively hit some of Southern California’s vast array of Dim Sum places in short order (1-2 a week over several months) in order to suss out their relative merits.  Technically speaking, at the time of this visit we hadn’t yet conceived the nefarious plan, but it was the same crew and in the same timeframe so this was pretty much visit (ground) zero.

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Blooming VIP, horrible name aside, is a recent opening of a typical Cantonese palace. It’s even helmed by our friend Ben who used to be at Grand Harbor.
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I’m not sure if it’s brand new or took over a previous Cantonese Palace but it has some serious (overwrought) build-out.
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Who doesn’t love a dragon medallion.
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And the main room has to be seen to be believed.
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The highlight are these video screen Chinese columns! Animated seafood scenes roll around them continuously!
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The manager, Ben and Yarom.
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Le menu.
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Honey BBQ Pork.
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Five Spices Beef Shank.
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Imperial Cold Chicken.
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Roasted Duck Hong Kong Style.
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Seafood Pan Fried Noodle.
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Chicken Feet with XO Sauce.
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Short Rib with Black Pepper Sauce.
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Bean Curd Skin Wrap.
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Steamed Beef Balls.
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Shrimp and Mushroom Sui Mai.
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Beef Rice Noodle with Green Onion.
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XLB.
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Shrimp Chives Dumpling.
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Har Gow.
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Pan Fried Chives Pastry. I love these when I see them.
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Tofu with Thai Sauce. I love these too, kind of a guilty pleasure.
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Shrimp Egg Roll.
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Deep Fried Shrimp Ball.
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BBQ Pork Bun.
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Salty Meat Sticky Rice Wrap. A bit of an unusual look to it, with lots of filling.

Overall, I remember that this was solid but not amazing Dim Sum. Now don’t get me wrong, if you aren’t jaded like I am with SGV Dim Sum, it might be the best you ever had, but in that rarified world, it’s just “doing a good job.” They have a great classic “Palace” setting, they have a full menu of all the usuals and a few less usuals, they have the BBQ meats, they allow you to order off the bigger “dinner” Cantonese menu if you like (not so recommended during the day), and they have awesome service. So, yeah, it checks all the boxes. Specific Dim Sum execution was just good, not amazing. Unfortunately, not only was this the zero’th DimSumQuest visit but I didn’t take the ultra-detailed notes that I did on later visits, so not much (almost no) commentary on which dishes were specifically great.

When the rest of the DimSumQuest crew returned (without me) in Jan 2023 (due to their incessant zeal) they thought “Blooming VIP in Rosemead was solid. Everything was good… but nothing stood out as excellent EXCEPT… the fresh live steamed Norwegian Langoustine/Scampi….so sweet & delicious! But off course, fresh Norwegian Scampi is not really considered DimSum!” — for me the biggest standout was the giant column TV screens, never seen that before.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Derek moved to China Red
  2. World Seafood is Elite
  3. China Red by Day
  4. Too Tony at Chef Tony
  5. Not all Dim Sum are Created Equal
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Blooming VIP, Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese Palace, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Dim sum, DimSumQuest, Lunch Quest, SGV

Lunch Quest – Tsujita Annex

May01

Restaurant: Tsujita LA Artisan Noodle Annex

Location: 2050 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 231-0222

Date: September 19, 2022

Cuisine: Japanese Ramen

Rating: Oh so good

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The morning after our Haige Star bonanza Jeffrey and I (with Hangry Rider joining us as a bonus) set out on a new Lunch Quest.
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We were supposed to try this — supposedly — awesome fried chicken place tucked into the weird Colony in Santa Monica. It was closed for some reason (this happens a lot with Lunch Quest) and so we moved on after a bit of discussion.
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The concept for this Colony place is that it’s a commercial kitchen that shares various facilities including a common sales counter. Basically the places here are takeout food. You can pick it up at the counter and eat in the adjacent alley. This isn’t my kind of thing as I hate disposable plates and utensils and really casual dining in general. I don’t mind an utter lake of decor, but I don’t like takeout.

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The dining area doesn’t look half bad if you can stomach take out.
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So after much debate we moved on to Tsujita Annex for some really excellent Ramen. I’ve been here before of course.
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Jeffrey wanted to test out (and video about) this ghost pepper powder his friend Mark Wiens is promoting.
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Dry ramen (no soup).
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Two variants of their classic ramen.
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Another different dry ramen.
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The noodles and meat for their Tsukemen, which is when the noodles are served cold and on the side, and you dip them.
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The broth for the Tsukemen — so thick!
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Condiments.

I always forget how delicious Tsujita is. The annex version is a bit different than the main branch. It’s thicker and maybe more chunky, with a slightly more acidic balance to the broth (post tare). Both are awesome bowls of ramen. I think I still like the Tsukemen at regular Tsujita across the street a touch better but the classic ramen may be better here. And of course Killer Noodle is really my favorite of the trio.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Tsujita LA – Artisan Noodles
  2. Lunch Quest – Dai Ho
  3. Lunch Quest – Lotus
  4. Lunch Quest — Xiang La Hui
  5. Lunch Quest – Happy Valley Village
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Japanese cuisine, Lunch Quest, ramen, Sawtelle, Tsujita Annex

Momo Wednesday

Apr27

Restaurant: Carnitas el Momo

Location: 2411 Fairmount St, Los Angeles, CA 90033. (323) 627-8540 / 1470 Monterey Pass Rd. (323) 627-8540

Date: September 14, 2022

Cuisine: Mexican Taco

Rating: Tasty!

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Jeffrey, wo insisted that prior to this day I had “never had a good taco” dragged us out to this famous Carnitas place.
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Problem was that they were mysteriously closed today.
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Really mysteriously closed as the sign said they should be open — AND — the staff were milling in front of the locked doors unsure as to why it wasn’t open.1A4A4782
So we headed to their original street location for the same food, without tables.
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This is classic LA street tacos, grilled to order right in front o fyou.
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The condiments are glamorously stacked in milk crates.
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There seem to be two types of tortillas, “regular” and crisped up with cheese.
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Migajas (crumbs). The “burnt” carnita scrapings. Very salty and intense. Great flavor. You pour pepper juice on it, onions, salsa etc. All that was medium spicy. It was delicious, if overly salty.
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Mixtos Carnitas. Fried with cheese the interior contained a mix of Pork Shoulder, Pork Belly, and Pork Skin. Texture was very interesting. Extremely rich, almost like a carnitas quesidilla. Tasty pig overload. Don’t look to closely at the meat — just eat it!
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Fancy business cards.

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Whacky Wednesday – Argana Tree
By: agavin
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Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Carnitas, Lunch Quest, Mexican cuisine, Momo, Street Food, Tacos

Lunch Quest – Lotus

Apr14

Restaurant: Lotus Dim Sum Dumpling House

Location: 326 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (424) 380-5500

Date: September 9, 2022

Cuisine: Bad Dim Sum

Rating: Blech. Sad. Almost a disaster.

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I was actually excited to see that the PF Changs in Santa Monica had “rebooted” as a theoretically real Chinese restaurant, a dim sum house even.
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And why the hell is there sushi on the menu?
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As is typical for independent Chinese operators they didn’t spend much at all on remodeling, it still looks like a PF Changs. The menu is a mix of typical dim sum and random other Chinese dishes.

Oh yes, let’s not forget the SUSHI! Why is there sushi? This is an immediate sign of a terrible restaurant as no self respecting Chinese establishment can make good sushi, they make good Chinese food.
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Smashed cucumbers. Decent, but under marinated and under sauced.
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Crispy Bun with Minced Pork. Actually not a bad version of this chewy/sweet thing (often called Fried Glutinous Meat Dumplings).
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Shrimp Chow Fun. Decent version. The sauce wasn’t quite sweet enough and the shrimp had a slightly “fishy” taste but was still a 7/10.
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Har Gow. Wrapper ok and the shrimp a little “fishy.”
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Chicken Chow Fun. The soft kind of noodles. They don’t have the crispy ones. But it was pretty tasty in a cheapy Chinese sort of way.
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XLB. The filling was ok but there was no juice and the wrapper was pathetic and soggy and solid. Had to eat the meat out of the middle.
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Shu Mai. Smelled a bit odd. Pork tasted okay, wrapper a bit soggy. 3/10.
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Black Pepper and Black Bean Beef. Basically “French Style” beef. Really tender and smoothered in “flavor” (aka MSG). Pretty tasty actually.
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Szechuan Fish Filets boiled in Chili Sauce. It’s not by any means the best version of this generally awesome dish, but it was actually pretty tasty. Probably a 5/10 but with some numbing. Fish was tender. The biggest problem was that they put corn starch in the sauce so it was too thick (for this dish).

Overall, dim sum was TERRIBLE, some of the worst I have ever had. They are sort of trying, but it’s just bad. The non dim sum dishes were tolerable. Not good. Certainly not great. But okay in that way that Panda Express is sort of okay. And this is much better than Panda, if that’s a 1/10 this is like a 3/10. But it’s certainly not going to compete with the best dim sum west of the 405, the Palace, which isn’t itself even that good (maybe 5/10). But as bad as Lotus is, it’s still better than PF Changs (2/10).

It should be noted that Jeffrey actually half likes the non dim sum dishes here. He’s been a number of times. I think it’s just because it was a block or two from his house and work and that the non dim sum dishes aren’t TERRIBLE, only very very meh.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Lunch Quest – Da Long Yi
  2. Lunch Quest — Xiang La Hui
  3. Lunch Quest – Dai Ho
  4. Lunch Quest – Simpang Asia
  5. Lunch Quest – Happy Valley Village
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Dim sum, dumplings, Lunch Quest, Santa Monica

Lunch Quest – Simpang Asia

Apr11

Restaurant: Simpang Asia

Location: 10433 National Blvd #2, Los Angeles, CA 90034. (310) 815-9075

Date: September 2, 2022

Cuisine: Indonesian

Rating: Super tasty!

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A quick lunch with Oliver at a flavorful favorite of his.
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I’ve actually driven past this a million times. Plus the original Yamakase was across the street.
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The interior is cute, minimal, and contemporary.
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A good sized list of Indonesian staples.
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Risoles. Indonesian crepes fried pocket with chicken, carrots in cream sauce with peanut sauce on the side. Delicious, like an Indonesian Mozz stick, but better.
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Grilled Fish (Ikan Bakar). Flash fried prior grilling whole tilapia with special soy garlic sauce. Very sweet, tangy and crispy.
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Turmeric Chicken (Ayam Goreng Kuning). Turmeric fried chicken, tasty w/ hint of garlic. Light and delicious.
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Laksa. Seafood curry noodle soup; Yellow noodles, shrimp, squid, fish ball, tofu, green mussel, bean sprout, cucumber, & cilantro. The weakest dish, but we ordered it mild. In general I love Laksa, and this certainly wasn’t bad, but it also didn’t have the depth of curry punch I was looking for.
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Cah Kangkung. Stir fry water spinach with garlic belacan. Available in spicy level (not spicy, lite heat, medium, spicy.) Very tasty and savory (salty).
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The #8 Nasi Bungkus. Experience tradition in one wrap. Chicken curry, coconut beef steak (rendang), sambal egg, vegetable curry (contains shrimp paste) and rice wrapped in banana leaves. Spicy level: regular, medium, spicy. This was really awesome, like a rice already drenched in yellow curry.
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Very spicy sambal and curry sauce.

Overall, I really enjoyed Simpang. I fact, I’ve ordered Postmates from here (usually the Venice Blvd branch) several times since. Indonesian isn’t as common in LA as Thai or other more “mainstreamed” Asian cuisines, and it is carb forward, but it’s also totally delicious.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Lunch Quest — Xiang La Hui
  2. Lunch Quest – Da Long Yi
  3. Lunch Quest – Dai Ho
  4. Lunch Quest – Happy Valley Village
  5. Cocoa Island – Languorous Lunch
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Indonesian Cuisine, Lunch Quest, Simpang Asia, spicy

Ultimate LA Peking Duck Guide

Jan03

Peking Duck (also more correctly known as Beijing Duck) is one of those sublime foods that’s full of contrasts. It’s always good, but rarely perfect. Seemingly common, proper versions are hard to find. And it’s poorly understood and equally poorly distinguished from it’s ducky cousins. I’ve loved it for nearly half a century, enjoyed it in America and China, and recently made an exhaustive study of the offerings in the greater Los Angeles area. Myself and my good friend and infamous fellow-glutton Jeffrey (a.k.a. @xtremefoodies_) co-organized DuQuest, the search for the best in LA. But before we get to the rankings (click here to skip to them) we need to discuss the basics.

What is Peking Duck?

Fundamentally, Peking Duck is a kind of Chinese roast duck. But as far as I can tell there are at least 4 broad categories of roast duck COMMONLY available in LA’s vast bounty of Chinese restaurants (and a few fusion places). They are:

“Real” Peking Duck

For the purposes of this article, I’m focusing on this: A dish from Beijing (Peking) that has been prepared since the Imperial era. The meat is characterized by its thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and breast/thigh meat, sliced in front of the diners by the cook. Ducks bred especially for the dish are slaughtered after 65 days and seasoned before being roasted in a closed or hung oven. The meat is often eaten with spring onion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce with pancakes rolled around the fillings.

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(Messy) Peking Duck spread at Tasty Duck

There are two major sub-variants (cutting styles) we will discuss later but for the purpose of distinguishing “real” Peking duck from other types of duck the main marker is spring pancakes. When served with pancakes it’s “real” and without them it’s usually one of the following:

“Pseudo” Peking Duck

Because Peking Duck is a popular premium dish most restaurants in LA’s amazing Cantonese scene offer it on the menu. However, the vast majority of these, nay, perhaps all, offer what I am calling “Pseudo” Peking Duck. This dish, somewhat beyond the already bloated scope of this article, is a variant of Cantonese Roast Duck, typically cooked in the Cantonese BBQ manner and served with steamed buns, hoisin, cucumbers, and spring onions. It’s a close cousin, and often delicious, but the duck itself is prepared differently, cut differently, and served differently. The buns do not offer the sublime minimalist carbohydrate balance of the pancake. The hoisin is usually sweeter, the duck is generally plated with shrimp chips, and most importantly the skin is never quite so crispy. Pseudo Duck can be delicious, but it’s just not the same thing.

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Pseudo Peking Duck with buns at Longo Seafood

Cantonese Roast Duck

This delicious dish is offered at nearly every Cantonese, dim sum, and Chinese BBQ joint in the city. It’s great, but it’s not Peking Duck. This duck is usually rough chopped with a cleaver (Chinese knife) and soaking in jus. It’s very moist and at it’s best has a very satisfying fatty skin. If it has any condiment it’s just some sweet (orange) plum-based sauce.

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Cantonese Roast Duck at Bistro 1968

Sichuan (or other) Tea Smoked Duck or Nanjing Cured Duck

I’m not sure if smoking counts as roasting, but many central Chinese restaurants, particularly from Sichuan, Hunan or Yunnan will offer a tea-smoked duck. As you can tell, I like duck, so I also find this a fabulous dish. The skin is not as crispy and the whole thing is dry with a smoked pastrami-like quality.

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Tea-Smoked Duck at Haige-Star

Nanjing Duck is salt cured and also dry, often cold, and has a lovely flavor. It’s not crispy at all.

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Nanjing Salted Duck at Nanjing Duck

Peking Duck in Beijing

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Aged ducks waiting to be roasted at Country Kitchen in Beijing

I’ve been to Beijing several times but on my most recent visit in 2018 I enjoyed several high end Peking Ducks, most notably at Dadong and Country Kitchen. On previous trips I also ate at a different Dadong, Made in China, and some old school spots. I’ve had high end duck at various places in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and other various other Chinese cities.

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Ducks roasting in the wood-fire oven at Country Kitchen in Beijing

Proper Beijing duck in Beijing is never quite replicated here in the states, although we have a few that come close. Over there, the duck is always dry-aged, seasoned, inflated with some kind of compressed or pumped air, often filled with a special broth, then slow roasted for 1-1.5 hours in a wood-fire oven. Here in LA they always use gas ovens. Wood-fire is just too complicated or expensive, probably because of annoying regulations. In China, a duck pit master tends the ducks, moving them around to cook them evenly. After roasting, some special bits of the belly skin are served by themselves with sugar. This is enjoyed as a crunchy snack with a sweet/salty/fatty contrast. The legs and wings are removed, and the breast meat is sliced into little ovals that contain both juicy meat and crispy/fatty skin. The meat skin pieces are combined with hoisin, cucumber, and spring onion inside a spring pancake and enjoyed rolled up. Remaining meat is often (optionally) stir-fried and the carcass is made into duck soup. Realistically, they don’t make YOUR particular duck into duck soup. Previous carcasses, probably from previous days are cooked into big batches of the soup and served on demand.

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Table-side carving at Country Kitchen

The Components

Peking Duck consists of several different components, each of which is worthy of separate evaluation:

Skin

The skin should ideally be super crispy/crunchy with just a bit of (mostly rendered) fat. It’s traditionally served by itself and often on parts of the meat. The solo skin can be eaten plain, with a bit of sugar, or dipped lightly in hoisin. It can also be placed inside the pancake roll (which I’ll call a “bing” as explained below).

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Crispy skin served atop some meat at Dadong Beijing

Meat

The “meat” of a peking duck consists of three main sub-parts. The most important is the breast, which is served typically in one of two styles in LA (see below) with or without skin. Then there is thigh meat, and at many places the legs and occasionally the wings. The legs (and wings) are eaten mostly by themselves but the breast and thigh bits are generally designed to go inside the rolled pancake (“bing”). Ideally the meat should be juicy and delicious with a distinct duck taste but not an overwhelming gamey or barnyard quality.

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The breast meat with attached skin at Country Kitchen

Pancake

A proper Peking Duck comes with ultra-thin delicate warm spring pancakes. In Chinese these are known as Chun Bing 春饼. They should be almost translucent, durable enough to wrap, and add just that touch of carbohydrate goodness to their task of binding together the contents. A “Pseudo” Peking Duck will often be served with steamed buns instead of pancakes. It’s not a Peking Duck. Even worse, some Chinese American places will attempt to serve “Pseudo” Peking Duck (it’s not roasted like a real Peking Duck either) with (store bought) Mexican Tortillas. Not only does this taste terrible, but it’s sacrilegious and offends the food gods.

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Spring pancakes at Country Kitchen

Hoisin

Peking duck sauce isn’t a true hoisin, but we will call it that nonetheless. Peking duck sauce is a thick, fragrant sauce commonly used in as a glaze for meat, an addition to stir fry, or as dipping sauce. It is dark-coloured in appearance and sweet and salty in taste. Although regional variants exist, peking duck hoisin sauce is not exactly the same as the Cantonese hoisin, but instead is usually made from Tian Mian Jian (甜面酱), a chef specific blend of fermented yellow soybean paste, fermented wheat, sometimes fruit (like plums), and the oil from roasted ducks in additional to aromatic ingredients. Tian Mian Jian translates to sweet flour sauce and despite it often having the work “bean” in the description is not primary made from beans. It should be salty, savory, a bit sweet, medium thick, and have a hint of medicinal/herbal quality. It should not be too jammy, watery, or too sweet. Interestingly, it’s actually one of the most important elements of the pancake roll (“bing”) even though it should be used sparingly. One of the reasons “Pseudo” Peking Duck is often inferior is the use of Cantonese hoisin, which while good, is not the same. Peking duck sauce (hoisin) is used — sparingly — to flavor the rolled up pancake (bing) and and to flavor meat eaten on its own.

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Hoisin (really duck sauce) in the SGV

Accoutrements

Accoutrements are anything else potentially added to the pancake roll (“bing”). Minimally it’s julienned cucumber and spring onion but pickles, melon, and other ingredients are frequently found in China. They make interesting and important combinations of flavor.

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Accoutrement dish at Dadong Beijing

Bing (Pancake Roll)

Since the rolled up pancake containing duck meat etc is such an important part of Peking Duck I’m going to give it a name, “bing.” Really, bing just flat cake in Chinese, and chun bing is a spring pancake, but I had to call it something. But regardless, the “bing” is the main event of any Peking Duck. It consists of the spring pancake, lightly coated in hoisin, meat, skin, and accoutrements then rolled up into a thin cigar-like shape, possibly folded over a bit at the ends. All of the above elements are required for a proper “bing” and it is very sensitive to flaws in any of them, particularly the pancake itself or hoisin. The score for this category is about the overall experience of the “bing,” not the individual components themselves. Hoisin should be used sparingly as it can overwhelm other flavors.

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Bing prior to rolling at Country Kitchen

Bones

It’s long been possible to get a plate of the “bones” of your duck. This is the hacked up remains of the carcass. Depending on the technique and skill of the carver these can be merely a pile of roasted bones or contain quite a lot of tasty meat. More recently, LA Peking Duck restaurants will stir-fry these bones either with “spicy salt” or cumin. This last seems to be new and non traditional but it is delicious. These stir-fried versions are almost always better than the plate of hacked roasted bones, which is often inedible. One place even stir-fries the duck tails, which are fatty and delicious.

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Cumin duck bones at Duck House

Stir-fry

For decades it’s been an option to get parts of the meat that aren’t served on the main plates for the “bing” stir-fried or prepped in some manner. The most common are stir-fried with bean sprouts or lettuce cups. I’ve never liked the bean sprout version. The lettuce cups can be fine. Both have very minimal meat and I rarely order them. This is sometimes called “2 ways.”

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Stir-fry with bean sprouts and microscopic duck at Tasty Duck

Soup

Duck soup is often sold in a “3 ways” package with the main event duck, a stir-fry, and the soup. At best it’s a mild chicken-like (but duck) soup with tofu and cabbage. At best it can be pleasant and soothing. At worst the soup is very gamey and kinda nasty.

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Duck Soup at Meizhou Dongpo Arcadia

Overall

An overall score takes all the relevant above elements into account, presenting a score of Peking Duck quality at a particular restaurant.

The LA Presentations

In LA, there are three basic methods of presentation, which end up in two “on the table” styles:

Table-side Carving, Beijing Style

In this presentation, only really performed at Chang’An in Tustin and Meizhou Dongpo, the whole duck is brought out and carved up table-side to the amusement of the guests. The breast skin is pulled off and the breast is sliced into ovals with some skin attached. It’s generally served on little white duck plates. The table-side presentation is not just for show — although it certainly is fun — but has material impact on the overall Peking Duck experience. Sliced duck meat, and particularly skin, has a lot of surface area and it cools rapidly. Ducks sliced in the kitchen often linger there for a few minutes and come to the table luke warm.

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Table-side carving at Meizhou Dongpo

In the Kitchen, Beijing Style

This is pretty much the same as the table-side style, but the carving is all done in the kitchen and the meat and skin are brought out on plates. It should be noted that one appears to get a lot more meat via the Beijing style carve, regardless of it being table-side or not. Generally there are two full plates of skin and meat as opposed to the bowl cut which seems to be closer to half a duck. Kitchen sliced duck will generally be cooler in temperature than table-side duck, and therefore will be drier and seem fattier (hot fat is always better).

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Plated breast meat with skin at Chang’An

The Bowl Cut

Many “classic” LA Peking Duck restaurants bring the duck meat and skin out from the kitchen together on a single large plate. The skinless meat is packed into a soup bowl and then inverted in the center forming a dry packed meat dome. The best skin is cut into rectangular “petals” and arrayed around this dome to form a floral pattern. This system has an efficiency for the kitchen, and does seem to provide some of the crispiest skin in the city (as it’s separate) but the plate is sometimes cool by the time it arrives and the meat is usually lean and dry. Overall, I find it an inferior technique but it does have it’s advocates — namely those who prize the crispy skin above all. There is certainly less meat available via the bowl cut method as it seems to be reserved for the other dishes (that you also have to pay extra for). An additional problem with the bowl method is that there is frequently some delay between carving the duck, arranging the platter, and serving it. The net result is that bowl cut duck is usually not very warm, sometimes room temperature. Hot duck means hot duck fat and is much superior.

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The Bowl Cut at JiRong

The Rankings

Overall ranking is just an order but all of the other categories are rated 1-10. Currently included are only Peking Duck specialty restaurants serving “Real” Peking Duck that I have visited recently and reviewed in detail.

Restaurant Overall (of 7) Bing Skin Meat Pancake Hoisin Accoutrements
Chang’an 1 7 6 10 10 8 9
Bistro Na 2 7 8 9 10 7 9
Array36 3 7 5 9 9 7 8
Meizhou Dongpo Arcadia 4 7 6 9 8 7 8
Ray’s Duck House 5 8.5 9 7 10 9 3
Duck House 6 8 9 6 8 8 9
JiRong 7 8 7.5 5 9 8 7
NC Peking Duck 8 6 9 8 9 5 7
Happy Duck 9 4 8.5 5 5 6 4
Tasty Duck 10 6 4 5 9 9 8
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Restaurant: Chang’An Tustin

Location: 13051 Newport Ave, Tustin, CA 92780. (949) 324-5558

Last visited: December 10, 2022

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Chang’An has a dedicated duck oven and aging cabinet that can be seen by the guests just like top places in China. Besides being a fantastic high end Chinese restaurant, they have superlative duck, arguably the best I have tried in Southern California. It’s brought table-side, covered in Chinese rice liquor and lit on fire to crisp. Then it’s carved up traditionally. Half of it is smoked too. Decor and service here are amazing. Ducks must be preordered and only one is allowed per table for some mysterious reason.


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The Skin was thin and mildly crispy, aged ducky flavor, served with traditional brown sugar. But still this way of doing the duck, better for the meat, compromises the skin ever-so-slightly = 6.

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Meat was served 2 ways, both with some skin on the white meat, straight up = 10 where it was really juicy and full of flavor.


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A second half of the meat was served smoked which was very different, a bit more like ham, and quite lovely = 9.

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Pancake was thin and translucent and there were plenty of them = 10.
Hoisin was good to great. Slightly thin maybe, sweet and savory, quite pungent = 8.

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Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual plus pear = 9.
The bing together was a 7/10 or perhaps 8/10 as I didn’t pack it right. I should have made a second but I didn’t want the extra carbs.
Extra bonus for table side, duck stand, flaming duck, and smoking!
_
A full review of Chang’An can be found here.
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Restaurant: Bistro Na

Location: 9055 E Las Tunas Dr #105, Temple City, CA 91780. (626) 286-1999

Last visited: March 24, 2024

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Bistro Na briefly (first half of 2024) was offering some of the best duck around, almost certainly the best in the SGV. For some mysterious reason in the second half of 2024 the duck is on “pause” — they claim due to sourcing — but I don’t get it.


They carve table-side. We ordered 2!

Extensive condiments for the duck.

Really nice thin spring pancakes.


The breast and skin, served by itself with sugar. Really crispy and nice.

Sugar for the skin. And great hoisin.

The main meat. The duck was great. 2nd best duck I’ve had in Southern California. All the elements were really good.

The bones return salt and pepper. Heads split in half. A bit too much of the bone and head thing but tasty.

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Restaurant: Array36 – 36宴

Location: 5449 Rosemead Blvd, Temple City, CA 91776. (626) 866-0623

Last visited: July 21, 2024

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Finally, about an hour late, our Peking duck arrived. They do it like Chang’an, lighting it on fire with Baiju.

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Just the skin. It was good, but not quite as crispy as it should have been.

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Meat itself was delicious and juicy.

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Some of the meat was smoked, which is very enjoyable.

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This added more (smoky) flavor, of course.


We brought oodles of caviar for the duck.
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The condiments were solid.

A full review can be found here, but Array36 is a very solid place.

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Restaurant: Meizhou Dongpo Arcadia

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

Last visited: December 4, 2022

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MDP is right up there for best Peking duck in Southern California and for LA residents, with both Arcadia and Century City locations is far more convenient than Chang’An. They also carve the duck table-side, albeit without any flaming show or smoked second half. The also employ the Beijing style cut. This is a very modern Chinese chain with (particularly in Arcadia) a very elegant and fancy modern Chinese build out. Unfortunately both branches are located in Westfield malls which makes for annoying parking and crowds. They have very nice private rooms and service can be top notch.
Century city is very similar to Arcadia. The duck is essentially the same but the decor isn’t quite as nice and they don’t have the same great private rooms. They do however have a fabulous patio.

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

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

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Pancake was thin and resilient, but -1 ding for being folded (may cause sticking) = 8.
Hoisin was very good, but a touch savory = 7.

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Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual, but extra point for sugar (for the skin) = 8.
The bing together was a 7/10 because the pancake/hoisin is the most important component of that.

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The bones are solid and available in cumin stir-fry.

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Duck soup was very pleasant and mild = 8
Extra bonus for table side carving!
_
A full review of MDP (Century City) can be found here.
_

Restaurant: Ray’s Duck House晶瑞轩海鲜酒楼

Location: 4721 Chino Hills Pkwy, Chino Hills, CA 91709. (909) 606-9046

Last visited: January 26, 2022

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The overall spread at Ray’s. They used the modern Beijing cut (in the kitchen) and brought it out on the usual two white duck plates. Ray’s serves a really first rate Peking Duck (even if the leg’s and wings were missing). All of the top three places (Ray’s included) are very good and slightly different. Here the skin is the best of any of the modern cut places being delightfully thick and crispy.

In addition, at lunch they have a really excellent dim sum service. Really excellent. The only problem is that the restaurant is located very far east, about 50 miles from Santa Monica! It’s a shame that 2 of the top 3 places are extremely far from LA proper. I have to come back and try the Cantonese banquet dishes and seafood.

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Skin was thick, crunchy, airy, and quite spectacular, both the separate parts and the bits on the meat — it was all crunchy! = 9. I actually think this skin was even slightly better than the Happy Duck skin. The fact that the skin on the meat bits was also crunchy was incredible.
Meat was served mostly moon cut with the skin, some dark meat by itself. The wings and legs were missing. And while the meat wasn’t as juicy as MDP it was very very tasty with great duck flavor. Probably the third best meat = 7.

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Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual. This was the weakest element as they had been cut the previous day (most likely) and were dry = 3. However, in the bing it was hard to tell.

Hoisin was great. It wasn’t goopy thick, nor too sweet, and had fabulous on-point flavor = 9.

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Pancake was thin and translucent and there were plenty of them = 10.

The bing pancake together was excellent largely due to all the ingredients other than the scallions being first rate = 8.5/10.
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Duck Soup was bland although at least not unpleasant = 4.

Bones were on the menu, but they didn’t think we needed them = N/A.

A full review of Ray’s is in the works.

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Restaurant: Duck House Restaurant 鹿鼎記

Location: 501 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 284-3227

Last visited: September 30, 2024

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Duck House is one of the SGV’s classic… well you guessed it… duck houses. Hostess and owner Catherine used to operate Tasty Duck but moved years ago to this location and she’s one of the best hostesses in town. Not only do they serve great Peking Duck but they have a wonderful all around menu. The decor is excellent in the height of 2000ish Monterey Park style and they have nice private rooms. They prepare the duck in the kitchen with a gas oven and then serve it using the SGV “bowl cut” style. Bones and even duck tails are available a number of ways as I’m sure are stir-fries and duck soup.
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Skin was very thick and crispy, really delicious = 9.
Meat was dry without the skin, but fairly pleasant flavor = 6.
Pancake was thin and translucent, but a bit sticky = 8.
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Hoisin was very good. Not too thick, sweet and savory, with a hint of medicinal tone but not off-putting = 8.
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Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual plus a spread of pickles, mustard sauce, corn flakes, and raw garlic = 9. These extra four condiments were specially prepared for us by the owner, they aren’t always available, but is totally worth asking about!
The bing together was a 8/10 because the pancake/hoisin is the most important component.
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Bones are very good both salty and cumin style.
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The duck tails are to die for. Little bits of super crispy fat!
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Duck wings are another option.
Extra bonus incredible service!

_

A full review of Duck House is available here.

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_

Restaurant: Ji Rong Peking Duck

Location: 8450 Valley Blvd Suite 115, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 280-8600

Last visited: July, 2022

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In recent years, Ji Rong has risen to be one of Alhambra’s “go to” places for Peking Duck. You must order ahead here and they serve using the “bowl cut” method, but it’s very dependable and they offer a vast array of modern Beijing food that is quite excellent. This includes a variety of western and Sichuan influenced dishes. It’s very popular and feels very 2010s SGV. The “private rooms” are merely separated areas to the side of the main dining room and it can be quite loud. Service is very efficient but young employees sometimes seem at the mercy of the kitchen staff. They have three ways and all that.
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Ji Rong skin was very crispy and some of the pieces that were thick were about as good as Happy Duck, however there was a slight funk to it so -1. point for that = 7. Thick pieces maybe an 8.
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Meat was packed in a bowl, no skin. White meat was medium dry, also with a slight funk = 4, but the dark meat was better = 7. They do offer the legs with the main dish.
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Pancake was thin and resilient = 9.
Hoisin was very good with really nice balance, not perfect, but extremely good = 8.
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Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual = 7.
The bing together was a 8/10 because the pancake/hoisin is the most important component of that.

A full review of Ji Rong can be found here.

_
_

Restaurant: NC Peking Duck 老北方烤鸭店

Location: 17515 Colima Rd Unit A, City of Industry, CA 91748. (626) 839-0000

Last visited: October 27, 2022

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In just the last few years there have been more and more great Chinese restaurant openings in the “far SGV” (Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights, City of Industry). NC Peking Duck isn’t the fanciest, but it is a Peking Duck specialty place with a broad menu of Northern Chinese Cuisine and very modern Beijing Style duck. They have a couple of minimalist private rooms and excellent service as well as many great dishes. The duck itself is served in the Beijing Style, but carved in the kitchen. Ducks should be pre-ordered.
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NC skin was ultra-thin and crispy, and gets an extra point for some of the pieces having some meat/fat on them = 9 for fatty pieces and 7 for regular ones.
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Meat was juicy and flavorful with skin on = 8. On some occasions they plate in the really “classic” double duck dish style.
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Pancake was thin and resilient = 9.
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Hoisin was tasty but “goopy”, extra thick, and with a bit too much medicinal tone = 5.
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Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual = 7. Before the pandemic they offered this incredible 9 way deluxe accoutrement spread, which would have earned a 10! Hopefully they bring it back.
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The bing together was a 6/10, dinged mostly by the hoisin.
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They offer cumin bones.
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Or very meaty “chopped” bones.

_

A full review of NC Peking Duck is available here.

_
_

Restaurant: Happy Duck House

Location: 18210 Gale Ave, City of Industry, CA 91748. (626) 581-4747

Last visited: October 27, 2022

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Happy Duck is also located out in the far SGV. As a restaurant I’m not that much of a fan. It’s just a little mom and pop place with no atmosphere and a fairly boring mixed “duck house” and Cantonese menu. Others like it better. It’s not bad at all, just not exciting to me (no spicy dishes). However they do offer “Real” Peking Duck and it’s pretty decent. Service is very friendly. Ducks should be preordered.
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Happy Duck skin is unusually crispy and delicious, almost spongy = 8.5 (some people in our group think a 9). This skin has its devotees and some people thing it’s the best skin in the city — certainly it’s very good skin. They have a special “torching” technique here that crisps up the skin.
Meat was dry and served packed into a rice bowl and served as a dome (no skin) = 5.
Pancake was house-made but chewy and uneven, really disappointing = 5.
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Hoisin was very sweet but tasty, with a strong medicinal taste = 6.
Accoutrements featured fresh spring onions but flabby cucumbers = 4.
Bing with everything rolled up was a 4/10, dinged hugely for the pancake and hoisin.
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Like most duck places they have duck soup.
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And duck and bean-sprout stir-fry, which is pretty bland and dry.
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A lot of duck houses also have eel sticky rice and this is actually the best version of this dish I’ve ever had. Eel was perfectly cooked and the rice was great too.

_

A full review of Happy Duck is available here.

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_

Restaurant: Tasty Duck

Location: 1039 E Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 572-3885

Last visited: November 16, 2022

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Tasty Duck was one of our “go to” duck places for around a decade and it’s located in a small, crowded, not-particularly-attractive space in the center of Alhambra. Ducks should be preordered and they traditionally served in the “bowl cut” style. The last time we went they had new owners and tried to cut table-side in the Beijing Style and made a real hack job of the duck. They offer 3 ways and we did “up the ante” by bringing half a pound of fresh caviar.
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Skin was very thin, oily, and not very crispy. And there wasn’t that much of it = 4.
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Meat was juicy, but was gamey, luke warm, and not particularly appealing. Attached skin was soggy = 5.
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Pancake was thin and translucent = 9.
Hoisin was absolutely first rate. Not too thick, sweet and savory, with a hint of medicinal tone but not off-putting = 9.
Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual, but extra point for sugar and melon = 8.
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The bing together was a 6/10 because the pancake/hoisin is the most important component of that. Caviar was BYOC so not normally available.
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Duck soup was terrible with a barn-like flavor = 2.
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Duck stir-fry. Bleh. I don’t get this dish.
Extra bonus for table side carving — although it was a duck massacre!

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A full review of Tasty Duck is available here.

_

As the Southern California duck situation evolves I will continue to update this page. In addition I may list places with “Pseudo” Peking Duck and revisit fusion restaurants with Peking Duck like Merois, Mr. Chow, and Chinois. There are also a couple places I haven’t been in a long time, like Shin Beijing, which serve a Peking Duck somewhere between “real” and “pseudo” or just some places like Moon House that serve passable (real) Peking Duck but are of a lesser status so I haven’t rolled into the grid.

Last Updated: January 3, 2023.

Related posts:

  1. NC Peking Duck – Double Duck part 2
  2. NC Peking Duck again
  3. Happy Duck – Double Duck part 1
  4. Peking Duck at A-1 Chinese BBQ
  5. Duck House without Yarom!
By: agavin
Comments (10)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Beijing Duck, Chang'An, Chinese Food, duck, Duck House, Duquest, Happy Duck, Ji Rong, Lunch Quest, Meizhou Dongpo, NC Peking Duck, Peking Duck, Roast Duck, SGV, Tasty Duck

Lunch Quest – Dai Ho

Dec07

Restaurant: Dai Ho Restaurant

Location: 9148 Las Tunas Dr, Temple City, CA 91780. (626) 291-2295

Date: May 27, 2022

Cuisine: Taiwanese Chinese

Rating: Notoriously reasonably priced

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Dai Ho has been on my “to try” list forever (maybe close to 10 years). It’s a very small menu Taiwanese lunch place known for noodles and being incredibly cheap (and tasty).
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Typical old school SGV frontage.
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The extremely casual interior space.
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Tubs for sale.
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Bean curd and anchovies. Nice texture and a bit savory.
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Mustard greens with Bean Curd.
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Mixed “spicy”. Peanuts, peppers, bean curd, garlic.
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Tripe and Bean Curd. Pretty good for tripe.
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Ground Pork Dry Noodles.
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Ground Beef Dry Noodles.
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Sesame Dry Noodles. Like a dan dan with less spice. Probably my favorite of the noodles — although not as strong as a good dan dan.
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Beef Noodle Soup.

We pretty much ordered everything. There are some variants of above, but we covered our bases. Everything we had was very tasty and the bill was ridiculously low, but I do like a restaurant more more variety!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Lunch Quest – Happy Valley Village
  2. Lunch Quest – Da Long Yi
  3. Lunch Quest — Xiang La Hui
  4. Eating Xi’an – Warrior Lunch
  5. Cocoa Island – Languorous Lunch
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: AFF, Hai ho, lunch, Lunch Quest, noodles, Taiwanese Cuisine

Lunch Quest – Happy Valley Village

Dec05

Restaurant: Happy Valley Village / Shanlitun

Location: 1655 S Azusa Ave E, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745. (626) 669-8406

Date: May 26, 2022

Cuisine: North East Chinese

Rating: One of a kind

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This unusual “hot pot” restaurant in Hacienda Heights specializes in lamb spine and goose hot pot from the region just west of Korea.
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It’s located in the usual kind of mini-mall and is as far as we can tell one of a kind in California — in that no one else offers this cuisine.
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It has a pretty nice build out.
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And a colorful decor. Notice the hoods over each table.
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And each table has this built in super hot pot.
menu
The menu.
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Five Vegetable Noodles. Mustard and tangy sauce with mung bean noodles.
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Cold beef with garlic sauce. Sauce was great. Beef is dense and pastrami-like.
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Sweet and Sour Crispy Pork. Very breaded. Not actually sweet enough. A bit mild in flavor.
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Lamb spine hot pot with mushrooms and eggplant.1A4A7110
Add in pork belly and pork ribs.1A4A7114
Add in crystal noodles (wide).
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And corn cakes cooked on the side.

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Steaming up.
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Spine had a ton of flavor. Very boney, but worth it. Ribs were the best and pork belly also great. Sauce/broth had huge depth of flavor.
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Inside of the corn bread.
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This is a pretty focused restaurant where the stew is more or less the thing, excepting the fairly simple set of “appetizers.” But the stew is pretty darn tasty. There are the 5 variants: fish, goose, cabbage & pork, chicken, and lamb spine. You can’t really try more than one per visit so we’ll have to come back sometime and try at least the goose.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

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Related posts:

  1. Lunch Quest – Da Long Yi
  2. Lunch Quest — Xiang La Hui
  3. Happy at Happy Harbor
  4. Happy Table 2X
  5. Shanghai #1 Seafood Village
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Happy Valley Village, hot pot, lamb spine, Lunch Quest, SGV
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