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Cantonese Pig Out!

Oct01

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

Date: September 28, 2014

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Great Banquet

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

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

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

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

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

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

Boiled peanuts.

Candied Walnuts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lobster salad! (with dry ice)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scallop and egg fried rice.

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

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

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

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

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

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

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, hedonists, Monterey Park, Monterey Park California, san Gabriel valley, Tony Lau, Wine

Elite Wine Night

Sep15

Restaurant: Elite Restaurant [1, 2]

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

Date: September 11, 2014

Cuisine: Cantonese Banquet

Rating: Elite!

Elite is well known as one of great LA’s top dimsum places, but I’d never been for dinner. Tonight I gathered with a group of Burgundy loving friends for some awesome Cantonese grub.

We had the private room, complete with authentic Chinese decorative screen.

For whatever reason, tonight’s wine lineup is a crazy blitz of great champagne (+ a bunch of Burgs and Rhones). But because it’s so chaotic in format, and didn’t really match the food, I’m going to detail all the wine together after the food.

Peanuts on the table start off many a real Chinese meal.

Suckling pig. We preordered this little fellow. He’s kinda sad, but he sure tasted great. Really just a fabulous bit of pork and cracklings.

XO sauce. For that savory fermented seafood zing.

Fish maw soup. This is the same mild and fluffy textured soup I had the other week at Newport Seafood.

Roast squab. Succulent little birds, heads and all.

Lettuce chicken. Chicken with water chestnuts in lettuce cups.

Straight off the PF Changs menu, but delicious.

Flounder. Some special “meaty” flounder in mild sauce with vegetables. Very succulent actually.

Garlic fish bits. The fins and tails and the like off the flounder fried with garlic. Boney, but surprisingly delicious.

Lobster! Some awesome tender lobster in garlic sauce.

Sea cucumber. Not my favorite protein, but tasty enough.

Greens. A typical Chinese green vegetable. More or less a colon sweeper.

Noodles. I LOVE these noodles. I’ve had them before at several Cantonese places and they are always great. This particular version was just awesome. The mild savory sauce soaks into the crispy noodles. Yum!

Shrimp fried rice. Classic goodness.

Fried tofu. A kind of soft fermented tofu, deep friend. Tasty and hot (temperature).

Steamed pork. Yeah, it looks like barf, but it was delicious. More or less, this was pork meat minced up with ginger steamed. Seriously it was great.

Coconut and coffee gel. Really great actually. Mild coco/coffee flavor. Delicious.

Goji berry gel. These were actually spicy! I like the jello-like texture, so I enjoyed it. The spice was a bit of a surprise.

Overall, while Cantonese isn’t my favorite Chinese sub-cuisine, this was a fabulous and tasty meal.

This isn’t wine (it’s a beer), fresh brewed just the day or so before. It tasted like grapefruit peels.

1988 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. Galloni 94. An unexpected treat, the 1988 Dom Pérignon is a fabulous surprise. Here the flavors are bright, focused and tense, with attractive floral and citrus notes that cut through the richness of the chilled lobster appetizer.

agavin: our bottle was a little oxidized.

1995 Guy Larmandier Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Grand Cru Cramant. IWC 92. Pale color. Precise, vibrant aromas of lime, lemon, tangerine and stone. Creamy and rich yet light and lively, thanks to its steely mineral spine. Very firm and concentrated. Lovely purity of flavor and finesse. Finishes graceful and very long, with spice and mineral traces and some youthful austerity. Impeccable blanc de blancs.

1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Oenothèque. IWC 96. Yellow-gold. Explosive aromas of ripe pear, honey, gingerbread and iodine, with intense smokiness and notes of chalky minerals and magnolia. Sappy, palate-staining orchard and pit fruit flavors are braced by exotic spice and mineral qualities, picking up notes of buttery brioche and toasted grain with air. Strikingly dense but energetic too, finishing with superb thrust and mineral-driven persistence. This ridiculously complex Champagne is only beginning to enter its window of maturity.

1997 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut. IWC 90. Light gold, with a hint of copper. Expansive and powerful on the nose, displaying scents of honey, light toffee, fresh fig and baked apples. Dense and thick, with serious heft; emphatically not an aperitif style of Champagne. The flavors of ripe apple and pear, singed butter and baking spices are concentrated and deep. Boasts a velvety, weighty texture that carries through the finish.

1997 Salon Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs. Burgound 95. An elegant and very fresh but distinctly yeasty nose of stupendous breadth leads to incredibly intense, pure, detailed and vibrant flavors that possess superb depth and simply knockout length. This is a powerful Salon and even though it doesn’t have the solid acid spine of the very best vintages, this compensates by its approachability and terrific mouth feel. This could be drunk now or aged, depending on one’s preference. If you can find it, I would lay in a case and drink it selectively over the next 20 years.

2000 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. IWC 95. Bright gold. Pungent aromas of candied orange, buttered toast, pear skin and vanilla, with a smoky nuance that gains power in the glass. Stains the palate with intense pear liqueur, citrus pith and brioche flavors, picking up notes of licorice and candied ginger with air. A bright mineral note adds lift and energy to the finish, which clings with superb tenacity and lingering smokiness. This complex, concentrated Champagne is showing very well right now but has the legs to age for years to come.

2002 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. IWC 95. Light, bright gold. A heady, intensely perfumed bouquet evokes lemon curd, pear skin, iodine, honeysuckle and toasty lees, with notes of ginger and honey emerging with air. Strikes an impressive balance of power and restraint, opening slowly to offer vibrant citrus and orchard fruit flavors, along with intense floral and spice nuances. Clings with superb tenacity on the gently smoky finish, which features zesty orange pith and mineral qualities. By the way, the 2004 Comtes de Champagne Rose has become even more intense over the last 12 months, gaining in both mineral and floral intensity. I know the old saw about aging rose Champagne but this is a wine that is built for the long haul.

From my cellar: 2004 Henri Boillot Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 95. Perhaps the most backward and reserved wine to this point as the nose reveals only hints of white flower and green fruit aromas that are framed in a subtle touch of pain grillé but the flavors explode on the palate as there is a chewy texture to them yet there is ample minerality present, particularly for Bâtard. This too is blessed with abundant dry extract and a finish that won’t quit but for all of the size and weight, this is impeccably balanced. This has that “wow” factor and in terms of style, it’s almost like a muscular Chevalier.

2008 Domaine Michel Niellon Chevalier-Montrachet. Burghound 95. This hasn’t changed much since my 2010 review as it remains strikingly complex with an ripe, pure and airy nose that speaks elegantly of white flower, spice and subtle pear aromas\nthat complement perfectly the rich and mouth coating flavors that are built on a base of fine minerality, all wrapped in a sappy and explosive finish that oozes dry extract. This is really a stunning effort that is perhaps a bit more forward than I originally envisioned and thus I have shorted my estimated initial drinking window slightly. Seriously beautiful juice.

2010 Paul Pernot et ses Fils Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 95. This is not quite as refined as the Bienvenues but it’s more complex still with an unusually expressive nose at this early stage of notably ripe white peach, pear, yellow peach and apricot fruit scents that combine with very pretty floral nuances. The rich, powerful and muscular full-bodied flavors ooze with dry extract that imparts an opulent mouth feel to the attractively precise and borderline painfully intense finish. This is exceptionally backwards and just like the nose, the palate impression is not as fine but this is both bigger and longer. Impressive.

2007 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Brézé. JG 94+. The 2007 Brézé Blanc bottling from Clos Rougeard is a terrific wine in the making. This is a one hundred percent chenin blanc cuvée that is aged in a judicious bit of new wood and shows every sign (if premature oxidation does not rear its ugly head with this wine) of aging for several decades with great style and class. The deep, pure and complex nose jumps from the glass in a blaze of apple, orange zest, bee pollen, complex, chalky soil tones, dried flowers and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very tight out of the blocks, with a rock solid core of fruit, bright acids, excellent focus and balance and a very long, tight and racy finish. This will be a long distance runner, but it deserves at least four or five years in the cellar to uncoil. A beautiful wine.

agavin: The Chinese food was really throwing my palette with regard to the whites. This dry Chenin is one of those wines that pairs with unusual stuff — I just couldn’t tell what last night.

From my cellar: 1996 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonnes Mares. IWC 93+. Good fresh dark red. Flamboyant nose combines blueberry, blackberry, licorice and Cuban tobacco; distinctly blacker aromas than the ’97. Great sweetness and penetration on the palate; flavors are given thrust and grip by a strong spine of acids and tannins. Quintessential grand cru intensity without excess weight. Extremely long, noble finish. Fascinating Bonnes-Mares, and likely to be very long-lived.

1996 Georges Lignier et Fils Clos de la Roche. agavin 92. A bit of funk, but quite enjoyable. This particularly bottle didn’t feel like it would be improving.

2009 Domaine Dujac Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. Burghound 93. A ripe yet still cool and elegant nose of classic Vosne-style spice notes adds breadth to the black fruit and stone aromas. The naturally sweet and succulent flavors brim with a fine minerality and plenty of mouth coating dry extract that conclude with a dusty, firm and impressively persistent finish. This is terrific and should age effortlessly.

agavin: a perfect example of why I think of this group affectionately as the “babykillers”

1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Parker 97. The 1989 is inkier/purple in color than the 1990, with an extraordinarily sweet, rich personality offering up notes of smoke, melted licorice, black cherries, Asian spices, and cassis. Full-bodied and concentrated, it is one of the most powerful as well as highly extracted Beaucastels I have ever tasted. It requires another 3-4 years to reach its plateau of maturity, where it should remain for at least two decades. (Many purchasers have reported bottle leakage (due to a cork problem) with this vintage. I purchased two cases of this wine, but none of my bottles reveal any sign of leakage.

agavin: by this age there is considerable bottle variation and ours was in the middle of the pack. Not bad, but not fabulous either. A tad sour, although certainly enjoyable.

1998 Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale. IWC 89. Medium red-ruby. Sweet aromas of crystallized red berries and minerals. Strong fruits and spices in the mouth: raspberry, cassis, blueberry. Really expands on the palate; lush impression suggests a high pH. But youthfully firm and quite solid thanks to its solid spine of tannins. Finishing note of licorice. In contrast to the ’99, no new barrels were used for this ’98. This will require a few years of bottle aging.

2004 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard. IWC 95. Dark purple. Ripe, potent cassis and blueberry scents, with a striking floral quality. Lush and creamy, showing impressively pure dark fruit flavors, juicy acidity and fine-grained, silky tannins. Finishes sweet, supple and with superb length, the sweet berry notes clear and persistent. No sulfur was used for this cuvee.

2005 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon CCS. Parker 95. The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon CCS, which is clone 4 from block C1, displays a bit more depth and tannic structure. Its inky/ruby/purple color is accompanied by sensational aromas of creme de cassis, scorched earth, acacia flowers, licorice, cedar, and grilled meats. Pure, full-bodied, and powerful, it should hit its prime in 4-5 years, and last for 25.

We had no idea what vintage this BV was. Probably 80s.

2007 Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz Gewürztraminer Spätlese. Parker 90. Litchi, pear, muskmelon, and lily perfume mark the nose of Rebholz’s 2007 Gewurztraminer Spatlese, which then comes to the palate with corresponding and predictable opulence and inner-mouth perfume. Creamy in texture; delicate at 9.5% alcohol – especially for this grape variety – and managing to balance out its residual sugar, if barely, this finishes with honey and brown spices adding to the wine’s succulently ripe pear and melon. I imagine it might stay fresh for a decade or more, but I have no experience with its track record.

This amount of wine needed: foot massage!

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Babykillers, Burgundy, Chinese cuisine, Elite Restaurant, Monterey Park California, suckling pig, Wine, XO sauce

Elite Dim Sum

Apr29

Restaurant: Elite Restaurant [1, 2, 3]

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

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

Cuisine: Cantonese Dimsum

Rating: 31337

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

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

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

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

Yay pictures!

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

Spicy jellyfish. Not bad at all.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spinach pancake?

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

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

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

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

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

The bun interiors.

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

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

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

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

Beef ball.

Macau style pork belly. What it looks like!

Chicken wings.

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

Spare Ribs. The fatty creepy-looking spare ribs.

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

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

Soy sauce chicken. The usual mild and tender chicken.

Chinese Broccoli.

Some other slightly different green.

Buddhas delight.

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

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

The rice interior.

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

Elite fried rice. A bit of everything.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Milk Buns. Filled with almond creme filling. Scrumptious.

A custard filled bun.

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

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

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

For more Chinese dining reviews click here.

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

NV Angéline Godel Champagne.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2006 Louis Guntrum Niersteiner Rehbach Riesling Spätlese. 85 points.

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

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

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

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

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

A sign of of the authentic Chinese kitchen

By: agavin
Comments (7)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, China, Chinese cuisine, dimsum, Elite Restaurant, Har Gow, hedonists, Hong Kong, Monterey Park, Monterey Park California, XO sauce

Newport Special Seafood

Dec23

Restaurant: Newport Seafood

Location: 518 W Las Tunas Dr, San Gabriel, CA 91776-1073. (626) 289-5998

Date: December 19, 2013 and January 24 & September 11, 2016 and May 22, 2022 (and many other times between)

Cuisine: Cambodian Chinese

Rating: I used to like it, but now I’m jaded and think it’s perhaps the most overrated place in the SGV

Many people consider Newport Seafood one of the best Chinese restaurants in SoCal. Essentially, it’s Southern Chinese, with some Cambodian and Vietnamese influences (the owners are Cambodian). I’ve been a couple of times, but this post is a composite of a December ’13 and a January ’16 meal (click those links for the specific by night pictures and wines) and another September ’16 meal. The wines below are all from the ’13 meal as the latter time there wasn’t anything particularly exciting except for a pile of leftovers I brought from an epic dinner the night before. People somehow think that giant New World Syrah goes with Chinese food — not! Except for a dish or two, total wine pairing fail. This cuisine would be best served by Burgs (both colors), dry Riesling, Gruner, and the like.

This is a big place, and moderately “fancy” as San Gabriel Chinese joints go. Even on a Thursday night, it was mobbed, and people were waiting for a good long while. The weekend is crazy busy.

No Newport visit is complete without shots of the ladies with the giant crustaceans.

The menu 5/22/22.

Boiled peanuts. Helpful in avoiding peanut allergies.

Cold spicy cucumbers. A nice version of this Szechuan classic.

Chinese savory cruller. I’ve always liked these puffy donut-like (without the sugar) breads.

Sea Cucumber Salad. Actually pretty good if you don’t mind the gummy texture.

Vietnamese shrimp salad. Those strong vinegar/sugar flavors and the peanuts are very Vietnamese. The standard lettuce, a little less so. Really, a lousy salad — pretty much ruined by the generic lettuce.

Cold duck. I thought we ordered “crispy duck” — this wasn’t — but it wasn’t bad either.

Green chicken. This was pretty good for straight up boiled/steamed whole chicken. Unusual chili paste too, which I now recognize as fairly typical Cambodian.

Basically a pork larb with some curry and heat and Thai basil. Pretty good. A touch of funk too (fish sauce or shrimp paste).

Many of the waiting guests amused themselves with the “wildlife,” like this toddler (conveniently in the picture for scale). We’ll get back to this big ugly crustacean, as he was part of our dinner.

As were these red fish (red cod? rock fish?).

Tricia got the honor of grabbing the crab!

2006 Sine Qua Non Autrement Dit. 90 points. Very nice blueberry/strawberry nose. not hot on the nose. really nice full palate and mouthfeel with a nice mix of red and blue fruits, and integrated earthiness. did not noticably detect any heat or wood on this. certainly a bigger and different type of rose, but this bottle was nicely restrained and seemed in good balance tonight.

Newport Special Crab. Our entire giant crab was steamed in a mild and pleasant sauce the emphasized the sweet and delicate flavor of the VERY fresh crab. In fact, he was alive and kicking in Tricia’s hands about 15 minutes prior. This was perfectly cooked and moist.

2005 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc. Parker 96. The 2005 Hermitage blanc is an amazing effort that defines the classic style of white Hermitage. It offers hints of marzipan, roasted hazelnuts, quince, licorice, honeysuckle, citrus oil, and wet stones. It is a superbly concentrated and powerful wine. It should drink well for 30+ years.

Westlake Soup. It was mild and pleasant with a lot of various stuff in it. A splash of vinegar jazzed it up.

Crab and asparagus soup. Very mild and pleasant. Not that much crab but a lot of white asparagus.

2000 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard. Parker 91. The 2000 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard is a rich, full-bodied, textured, powerful, smoky effort that tastes like a Meursault premier cru on steroids. It possesses ample layers, excellent underlying acidity for balance, and plenty of leesy, hazelnut, and tropical fruit notes.

Newport Special Lobster. In a delicious green onion, garlic, and slightly spicy sauce. The sauce was amazing. The lobster was perhaps a tiny bit overcooked, but was great. It’s mostly about the sauce.

Giant steamed prawns. These were too much plain crustacean for my taste. Lots of work to pry out the meat, and it was just steamed shrimp. I think of them as giant steamed sea bugs.

Salt and pepper crab. Interesting. Like a fossilized salty crab. The meat itself was tasty, but I preferred the sauced version below.

Curry crab. Crab drowned in a super yummy Singapore curry sauce. Awesome!

2011 Wagner-Stempel Riesling Trocken. Parker 89. Fresh apple and lime garlanded with narcissus, apple blossom and basil characterize the aromatic and palate performance of Wagner-Stempel’s 2011 Riesling trocken, whose combination of caressingly silken texture with bright, infectiously juicy citricity displays the family resemblance to its Scheurebe counterpart. At 12.5% alcohol, this manages to convey a sense of buoyancy through its delightful, apple pip- and herb-tinged finish. Look for it to prove deliciously versatile over the next 2-3 years. There is now, incidentally, just a single large bottling of generic Riesling at this address and it is 100% estate-bottled.

Shrimp with walnut. This was one of the best versions of this classic slightly fried and slightly sweet dish I’ve had in a while.

2007 Hermann Donnhoff Riesling Spatlese Niederhauser Hermannshohle. Parker 96. Gardenia, peony, and resinous herbs in the nose of Donnhoff’s 2007 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese give way to a palpably extract-rich palate of vibratory intensity, suffused with stony, saline, and tactile suggestions of mineral matter, yet at the same time rich orchard fruits. If the Krotenpfuhl was painted with water colors, the medium here is definitely oil, exhibiting both dynamic and intricate brush work as well as dense layering. This masterpiece – picked simultaneously with the corresponding Grosses Gewachs – was only beginning to show its depth in the spring and needed almost six months in bottle to really shine forth. Take as long as fate permits you to savor this; I can’t imagine it disappointing a quarter century or more from now.

Steamed Whole Fish. With soy, ginger, etc. Delicate and lovely, although not a ton of meat. Too “clean” for my taste.

1984 Gros Frère et Sœur Clos Vougeot Musigni. 95 points. This is a great wine (good location in the vineyard and top winemakers) from a very off year — and it’s 29 year-old pinot noir. But somehow (and I’ve had 3 bottles) it’s still in great shape. Really quite lovely with a complex tar and cherry thing going on. I happen to find it fabulous.

Sole Fish with Salt and Pepper? In any case, some VERY fried fish nuggets. It tasted a tad oily.

Sweet and sour fish filets. I liked these better than the dry salt and pepper version. Soft, fried, and vaguely sweet.

Fish Filet with Basil. These were super tender and succulent and a bit fried. Incredible savory (MSG) flavor. LOTS of msg. Definitely one of their best fried fish dishes.

2008 DuMOL Pinot Noir Aidan. Parker 93. The 2008 Pinot Noirs are led by The 2008 Pinot Noir Aidan, which is made from the modern Dijon clones of 115 and 777. Yields in 2008 were a minuscule 1.75 tons of fruit per acre, hence production is down considerably. Aromas of forest floor, plum sauce, black currants, blueberries and a complex rose petal-like character emerge from this dark ruby-colored 2008. With medium to full body and good acidity, this beauty can be drunk over the next 10-12 years.

Sizzling Beef. Had lots of flavor. But these days I find this kind of dish boring.

Vietnamese Beef Stew. Yummy stuff. Very soft fatty meat, tons of flavor, and odd asian textures. Great over rice. Very interesting slightly curry and fish sauce flavor. Meat had a lot of tendon. I liked it a lot as it was intresting.

2001 St. Francis Anthem. 90 points. Nice blend with some earthy tones.

Beef Loc Lac (French Style). Kind of like Chinese Salsbury steak. Lots of flavor, but mostly one tasted the sauce.

Our private room.

Sauteed Peasprout. A nice garlicky vegetable. Kind of like a broom for the intestines.

Another mysterious green, or maybe just different looking peasprouts.

Green beans with pork. Classic dish. These were slippery fellows and hard to scoop up. Delicious with nice crunchy beans but oh so salty (lots of MSG).

1997 Turley Wine Cellars Petite Syrah Hayne Vineyard. Parker 96-98. I do not believe I have ever tasted a more concentrated, essence-like wine than Turley’s 1997 Petite Syrah Hayne Vineyard. Made from 55-year old vines that yielded only 9.8 tons of fruit for five acres, this opaque black-colored wine is the biggest, richest, most concentrated, tannic wine I have ever tasted. It will need at least a decade to shed some of its ferocious tannin, and will undoubtedly last for 40-50 years. Even more remarkable is its purity and overall equilibrium. Despite its Godzilla-like size, this is an astonishingly concentrated, gorgeously made wine. I have never, ever, seen a wine like this!

Kung Pao Pork Chop. It wasn’t very spicy, and it was seriously double fried, but it was darn tasty.

Sweet and sour pork chop. Tasty, but certainly not tender!

Fried Pork Chop with Salt and Pepper. Very salty and fried, but delicious.

Crispy duck. Sixth months later, we get the duck. This was a fairly contentious dish, some thought it dry. I kinda liked it once you soaked a meaty piece in the sauce.

2002 Sean Thackrey Orion Syrah. Parker 96-100. A riveting example of Syrah is the 2002 Orion. It boasts a black/purple color with more mint and blackberry notes intermixed with exotic floral characteristics. With great intensity, full body, multiple dimensions, and superb purity as well as length, this blockbuster is incredibly well-balanced/harmonious. It should drink reasonably well young, yet keep for 12-15 years.

Parker sure (over) loves these new world syrahs.

Fried Noodle with Chicken. I happen to love these thin fried noodles drenched in the white Chinese sauce.

Fried noodle with seafood. More or less the same great taste.

Vegetable fried rice. Not as exciting as the meat version, but certainly good.

Pork fried rice. A nice tasty rice.

A rare photo of me.

Shrimp with Garlic Sauce? This was mildly spicy with a lot of flavor.

Lana and Tricia duel.

Oranges for dessert.

We brought in these cakes for a birthday.

Mascarpone with Strawberry and Oat Milk Matcha Almond.

Overall, honestly it’s tough to review Newport Seafood. When I first came here in 2013, I was only a year or so into my frequent SGV journeys and I loved it — more or less in the way that I have always loved all Chinese food. Hell, I even used to like PF Changs and Panda Express. But now, several hundred real Chinese meals later, I feel that Newport is just oddly overrated. It’s like the expensive gateway drug to the SGV. Sure it’s enjoyable. They have good dishes. Even some great dishes (nothing wrong with the lobster at all other than the price). But little is interesting, it’s way overpriced, and they lean very heavily on the “flavor” (MSG). I’m not a monster fan of this Chinese Cambodian hybrid style either. It’s 90% Chinese, but fairly close to Chaozhou style. Still, I like either Tai Sui (Cambodian) or Seafood Palace (Chaozhou) MUCH better. And I also like straight Cantonese a lot more (of which there are many better examples) and particularly Sichuan or any kind of regional Chinese.

So no, I’m just not really impressed with Newport at this point.

Or check out Newport’s Beverly Hills location.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!