SGV :: All Things Andy Gavin

Archive for SGV

DimSumQuest – Happy Harbor

Sep21

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.

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.

The interior is classic Cantonese.

The infinite corridor.

Grungy tanks.

Le menu.

Decent set of basic sauces.

On request, they brought us peanuts form the dinner menu.

And smashed cucumbers which were very pleasant.

The lot.

Chicken Feet in Abalone Sauce. People said they were okay.

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.

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.

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.

Chiu Chow Style Steamed Dumplings. With the peanuts inside. These were pretty tasty but the wrapper was fairly heavy.

Mushroom Shrimp Dumpling. Pretty nice and certainly plump.

XLB. Typical for dim sum XLB — aka not particularly great.

Bean Curd Balls with Vegetables. The wrapper was a bit chewy but these were enjoyable.

Steamed BBQ Pork Bao. The bun was over-steamed and the inside sickly sweet and not very pleasant.

Inside.

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.

Inside.

Deep Fried Spring Rolls. Stuff with shrimp. Very nice flakey/crunchy outside and some solid shrimp. Pretty good.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sticky Rice Wrapper with Lotus Leaf. The rice itself was under-seasoned, almost sticky white rice, although the filling was very pleasant.

Inside.

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!

Crispy Durian Cake. The lard based “buttery” pastry was solid and the durian custard very durian-flavored and reasonably nice.

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.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Dim sum, DimSumQuest, dumplings, Happy Harbor, Lunch Quest, SGV, valentines day

All Day at 888

Sep11

Restaurant: 海珍大酒樓 888 seafood restaurant [1, 2, 3]

Location: 8450 Valley Blvd, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 573-1888

Date: February 12, 2023

Cuisine: Cantonese Dimsum & Banquet

Rating: good not great, but awesome room and a lot of fun

As has become a bit of a tradition, Superbowl Sunday hedonist style is an all day affair at 888 Seafood. Not one but two meals!

The frontage.

Nothing like hanging out in the hall with the hanging meat!

Jeffrey’s sauce bar.

We have been in this giant private room both with a single monster table and with the current two large table configurations.

Overall, dim sum here was very “meh.” It was certainly the worst I’ve had recently in the SGV (as I’ve been going to good places), but solid enough to be enjoyable. In general, skins were too thick and things were a bit overcooked. They do have a lot of variety but the “banquet” side of 888 is way better than the dim sum side.

Jellyfish. Pretty meh jellyfish with a decent texture but no flavor. Jellyfish needs an acidic sauce/marinate.

Cold meat plate. The pork was excellent, the duck solid, the chicken fine, and the pink pork “wurst” stuff incredible. Great “cured meat” quality.

Steamed Chicken Feet in Brown Sauce. People said they were gross.

Sparerib in Black Bean Sauce. Very piggy and unpleasant version of this typical dish. Texture was okay but the flavor was terrible.

Premium Har Gow. These weren’t so premium. The skins were a little thick and over-steamed and the interior, while fine and full of solid shrimp, was bland and under seasoned. Still not bad or anything, but bland.

Pork & Shrimp Siu Mai. A touch oversteamed but savory enough, so reasonably tasty.

Chiu Chow Style Pork & Peanut Dumpling. These had a heavy wrapper but the filling was delicious with a mix of peanuts, meats, and various veggies.

Shrimp & Chives Dumpling. Again the wrapper was a little thick and the inside okay but a touch underseasoned.

XLB. Pretty decent actually for dim sum XLB. The pork itself was very tasty but there wasn’t really any juice.

Bean Curd Skin Rolls in Brown Sauce. Actually one of the better dim sum here with a nice texture and decent flavor. Not as nicely white peppered as the best versions, but certainly enjoyable.

Steamed Rice Noodle Roll with Shrimp. Solid Chow Fun with good texture and lots of shrimp. Sauce wasn’t sweet but did work.

Steamed Rice Noodle Roll with BBQ Pork. Again, a pretty good Chow Fun as the BBQ pork here is good.

Pan Fried Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll. I think I actually tried to order the Red Rice Noodle Roll and got this instead. It was pretty good though, being basically a dried shrimp and chive Chow Fun that was pan fried. Tasty in a greasy way.

Steamed BBQ Pork Bun. THe pork inside was very sweet but there was a good amount of it. The dough was over steamed and soggy.

Baked BBQ Pork Bun. Decent but sweet filling, so-so bun.

Contents.

Pan Fried Dace Fishcake. Dense and very fried with an interesting flavor. Not to everyone’s taste but I kind of liked it.

Deep Fried Shrimp Spring Roll. Solid enough version of this with a heavy but crispy shell and lots of shrimp.

Pan Fried Water Chestnut Cake. We didn’t know what to expect from this, and certainly not what we got, but it did turn out delicious. It was gelatinous and vaguely sweet — quite yummy.

Eggplant with Shrimp Paste. The fried fish ball was good, but this kind of straight up baked or steamed eggplant not my favorite texture.

Egg Tofu with Fish Paste in Brown Sauce. I like the soft egg tofu texture and the fish paste (which might have been shrimp paste?) was good, so this was a pleasant dish. Could it have been better with a stronger peppery brown sauce and a more seasoned fish cake? Sure, but it was pretty good anyway.

Steamed Beef Ball. Solid and chewy version of this classic. Very stuck together.

Mushrooms and vegetables.

Sticky Rice Wrapped with Lotus Leaves. I didn’t get a chance to try.

Custard Egg Tart. Very meh version. Eggy, and certainly not offensive, but not great.

Wines.

The coma.

BBQ Suckling Pig. Absolutely awesome and probably one of the best Chinese pig’s I’ve had. It was porky in the best way with a crispy skin and that “sizzling pork fat” thing going on. Really delicious.

100 Flower Chicken. Nice version of this relatively rare dish with the crispy skin and the luscious shrimp paste. Could have been a touch more seasoned but still delicious.

Hot and Sour Soup. Just okay with a decent texture but wasn’t really hot or sour.

Beef Brisket in Chili Oil. Tasty but not amazing.

Crab in Salty Egg Yolk. I don’t love the salty egg yolk prep as it’s kind of heavy and has a grainy quality, but this was one of the best crab’s I’ve had with it. The shell’s were very tender and there was a lot of meat so one could crunch through and really enjoy the sweet meat.

Lamb, onion, cilantro, and mushroom stir fry. I guess this was a variant on cumin lamb (without much cumin). It was soft but quite enjoyable.

Typhoon Style Garlic Lobster. Really nice lobster with lots of meat and crispy garlic.

Eggplant and String Beans. Okay but not my favorite.

Cauliflower with Southern Chinese Sausage. Yum, that sweet porky sausage makes any vegetable good.

Yang Chow Fried Rice.

Kung Pao Fried Rice. Interesting.

Piggy!

New Flavor — Cherry Bakewell Tart Gelato — While watching every episode of the Great British Baking Show I was introduced to the Bakewell Tart, which I liked it enough to make a gelato — Sicilian Noto Romano Almond Custard Base is layered with house-made Honey Almond Graham Crackers and Cherry Preserves. For extra fun I made an Almond Icing and glazed the Grahams with it in the traditional pattern (first time trying it) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Sicily #Almond #Cherry #GrahamCracker #BakewellTart #tart #bakewell #jam #icing

One of my earliest Signature Flavors —Tiramisu Gelato — The base is a highly technical Zabaione of Egg Yolk, Fresh Mascarpone Cheese, and Sweet Marsala with Fresh Brewed Espresso. It’s dusted with Valrhona Cocoa powder and layered with house-made Vanilla Rum Espresso syrup-soaked Lady Fingers — the final result is totally Tiramisu — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Tiramisu #Espresso #coffee #chocolate #Marsala #Zabaione #Eggyolk #Rum #Mascarpone

Wines.

Out in the main hall!

Dimsum at 888 was solid, but not particularly interesting or super fresh. Definitely a notch or two down from the made to order places. Shells were a bit “sticky” which indicates they have been sitting in the steamers for a bit. Also, because we were starting at 2pm the dim sum kitchen was closing and so they brought EVERYTHING out all at once.

The banquet food was better, pretty good actually. It’s not the best Cantonese restaurant in the SGV for dinner, but it’s certainly way way better than anything further west and really quite good. Service is very nice and good for the SGV. And that mega banquet room rocks. They have a couple of them too but ours is the best. Really great private party space even if a little garish.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: 888 Seafood, BYOG, Cantonese Chinese, Chinese Food, Dim sum, Gelato, hedonists, SGV

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.

Pretty menu.

House Special Stir Cucumber. The cucumbers themselves were fine, but they dumped packaged sweet and spicy dipping sauce on them. Kind of meh.

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.

Hangry brought some Beijing Lamb Buns from next door.

Steamed Chicken Feet. Bland.

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.

Jumbo Shrimp & Pork Siu-Mai. Huge but delicious with tons of pork meat and whole shrimp suspended inside.

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.

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.

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.

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.

XLB. Solid dim sum version. Not amazing or anything but better than many.

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.

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.

Contents.

Baked BBQ Pork Char Siu Bao. The baked version had the same overly sweet pork. The bun was oddly small and just okay.

Inside.

Pan-Fried Pork Bun w/ Crab Meat. The buns seemed a bit soggy but the “crab” filling was interesting.

Inside again.

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.

The guts.

Supreme Beef Ball. I’m the only one who liked these chewy beef balls.

Shrimp Egg Roll. Nice and crispy with a lot of shrimp inside. Quite good.

Deep Fried Taro Cake? Not sure exactly what this was but the texture was fabulously crispy. Quite lovely.

Mixed Puff with Pork. Just okay version. Not crispy enough and not enough flavor in the filling.

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.

Crispy Seafood Noodle. Just fair version of this generally excellent dish. Seafood itself was pretty good but the MSG factor was very high.

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.

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.

BBQ meat sauces.

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.

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

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.

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.

Frontage is strip mall.

A much smaller, pleasant, but less upscale dining room than the Pasadena location.

You can see into the kitchen and the steaming chamber.

Where the magic happens.

Epic menu!

The dim sum menu.

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.

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.

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.

Preserved Chicken Feet with Chili. Yuck. And I don’t see any chili.

Steamed Chicken Feet with Brown Sauce. Not much better. Everyone thought these were bland.

Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce. Very soft and juicy with lots of meat. This might have been the best pork niblets we’ve had!

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.

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.

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.

XLB. Probably the best dim sum place XLB I’ve had. Nice and juicy and served with good black vinegar and ginger.

Scallop and Shrimp Dumpling with Fish Roe. Somehow not that exciting and not quite as balanced as the har gow — although certainly tasty.

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.

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.

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.

It’s not all rice which is great.

Whole thing.

Deep Fried Shrimp Spring Roll. The exterior was solid, but not awesomely flakey. The interior was more real shrimp and was excellent.

I think these were crispy fried shrimps.

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.

The interior.

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.

Eggplant Stuffed with Shrimp Paste. Just okay, although the sauce was great (possibly the same as was on the spicy wontons).

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.

Interior.

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).

Interior.

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.

Interior.

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).

Interior.

This chicken was displayed this way first.

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.

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.

Sateed String Bean with Minced Pork. Very solid version with crispy beans and lots of umami almost XO-like pork.

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.

Interior.

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.

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.

Cute!

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.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chef Tony, Chinese cuisine, Dim sum, DimSumQuest, Lunch Quest, SGV

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

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.

The aforementioned hills.

It’s unusual for a Cantonese place to have real Peking duck.

Check out the mysteriously featured “plastered over wall”!

Nice new “classic” decor.

Sauce station.

The menu sheet.

Specials. There was also a large glossy dinner menu I forgot to photo.

Jeffrey waiting for Chevy (who was 45 minutes late). Grr.

Chili sauce and very intense Chinese mustard.

Soy Sauce and Red Vinegar.

Smashed Cucumbers made special to order. Not marinated but very fresh and pretty decent.

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.

Spicy Wontons. Sort of drowned in lightly spicy broth. Wontons themselves were fine.

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.

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.

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

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

Duck Soup was bland although at least not unpleasant = 4

Spareribs in Blackbean Sauce. These were a bit bony — fine — but not as (realatively) good as most of the rest of the dimsum here.

Steamed Chicken Feet in Brown Sauce.

Shrimp Har Gow. An excellent version of this classic. Pretty nice medium shell with a nice chunky shrimp interior.

Pork and Shrimp Siu Mai. Excellent version. Very chunky with lots of good pork flavor.

Shrimp and Chives Dumpling. Quite solid.

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.”

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.

End on view.

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.

Inside the wrap.

Pan-Fried chives & shrimp cake. I always love this dish and this was no exception. Greasy and delicious with awesome texture.

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.

BBQ Pork Bun. The fluffy bun might have been a hair dry but the pork interior was sweet, classic, and delicious.

Inside view.

Baked BBQ Pork Bun. The sticky sweet bun was spot on and the interior contained the same yummy sweet pork. Excellent.

Inside view again.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese Food, Chino Hills, Dim sum, DimSumQuest, Lunch Quest, Peking Duck, Ray's Duck House, SGV

On Fire – Wasn’t

Aug12

Restaurant: On Fire Hot Pot

Location: 500 N Atlantic Blvd Ste 201 Monterey Park, CA 91754. (717) 966-6666

Date: January 15, 2023

Cuisine: High End Hot Pot

Rating: Evidently golden toilets don’t bring luck

This high end hot pot joint in located in a hard to find spot upstairs near Atlantic Seafood.

Lots of cheap marble.

The main dining room.

Golden urinal.

Golden toilet!

Cheesy bling by the sink.

Our 8-10 person private room with two pots. Very undecorated.

Snacks and the “sauce bar.”

Green onion, cilantro, lime, garlic/ginger paste, chilies, chili oil.

Peanuts and jicama. Not sure what the jicama was for.

Sesame paste was available on request. This is just straight sesame paste.

The menu.

Some starter wines.

On the left, Pepper with Hog Maw and Chicken Soup. On the right, Tom yum soup. The Tom Yum was nice and included a couple of shrimp, but the “hog maw” had lots of pig stomach in it and that lent it that stinky smell (which permeated the room) and funky taste. Okay, but a bit stinky.

On the left, Golden Soup Fish Maw Chicken Pot. On the right, Taiwanese Spice Abalone Duck Blood Pot. The maw was added later to the maw pot and was very tender and delicious. This pot was mild but good. The Spicy pot was medium spicy and had great tofu in it to start as well as a tiny number of duck blood slabs, which were good. But I only saw 1-2 small abalone. Very different from the picture where it was loaded with abalone.

The fish maw for the golden broth. At least there was plenty of this and it was fabulous.

The big seafood platter with two lobsters, shrimp, scallops, oysters, clams, a few abalone, and salmon.

Get in close.

Angus Sirloin Steak.

Snowlake Short Ribs.

Premium Ribeye. This was one of the best cuts. We also had a wagyu in here somewhere but not sure which one it was or if I missed the photo. It was definiately softer.

Premium Lamb Shoulder.

Beef Tongue. Always like some tongue.

Pork Neck. This was porky, soft, and super delicious.

Assorted balls and fish tofu. Some of these were beef and some were fish and there were two were roe “dumplings.”

Beef Balls.

Luncheon Meat (aka spam). Always one of my favorites.

Pork Sausages. Very tasty.

Assorted tofu plate. The fried tofu balls were particularly delicious.

Assorted green vegetables.

Spinach and glass noodles. I’ve never had wide glass noodles like this.

Yin yang.

Vickye at work as hot pot mom.

Truffle Rice. This got dumped in the spicy broth and simmered down to form a gumbo-like bowl of yum.

The rice and broth.

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

Overall, a very fun night. This is an interesting hot pot format. It’s more seafood focused and there is more emphasis on the different pot flavors. Some were good, like the abalone one, and some not so good, like the pig ass flavor. The place clearly has a lot of competition. There are tons of much cheaper and easier to find hot pot places. It was deserted and that obviously took its toll — as they seem to be out of business. It’s a shame though because it was on the different side and I like variety.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese Food, Gelato, hot pot, On Fire, SGV

DimSumQuest – Bistro 1968

Aug01

Restaurant: Bistro 1968

Location: 402 S San Gabriel Blvd Ste A, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 766-1968

Date: December 30, 2022 & January 4, 2023

Cuisine: Chinese Dim Sum

Rating: One of the current best

Bistro 1968 opened with considerable fanfare (for the SGV) at the tail end of 2022. It serves up a large but focused menu of Cantonese dim sum and unusually is not two restaurants in one like most of the Cantonese places. Instead they have the same (dim sum focused) menu for both lunch and dinner.

The underground parking lot here sucks. Upper level was full and the lower level had this mechanical gated “resident only tow zone” that was poorly labeled and easy to get trapped in.

Escaping the parking lot involved this endless corridor.

Brand new!

Double-sided order sheet

The long form menu.

The main dining room. Several private rooms spawn off the sides.

At first we were in this claustraphobic interior room, but then we moved.

Into this much nicer (and larger) room. It had a window!

Holds a good sized group.

Jasmine Tea.

Basic sauces. They put several on the table, plus some chili oil.

Black and Red Vinegar.

XO Sauce was an extra $4, but totally worth it.

Chili oil is always better than paste.

Bean Curd Skin Roll in Soup. Great texture but very mild in flavor.

Shrimp Har-Gow. Fairly perfect textbook har-gow. Shrimp was delicious and skin was light.

Golden Har-Gow. I think these had a little bit of truffle inside plus the dark (squid ink?) skin. Normally I don’t like these “amplified” classics but these were excellent.

Pork Siu-Mai. Awesome version. Light, meaty, tasty. We had 5-6 orders.

Abalone Tart. A “lard short crust” pastry with shredded pork and abalone. Gorgeous. The tart was very crumbly. The pork itself was sweet and very nice, the abalone was great, not at all chewy — well it was abalone but it wasn’t too chewy.

Pumkpin Dumplings. Seasonal. Very mild and pleasant.

Leeks and Shrimp Dumpling. I really liked these. I’m not sure the wrapper tasted different, but the interior had a nice leek and shrimp (big surprise) vibe.

Shanghai XLB. Usually at dimsum houses the XLB are heavy and just “kinda nice.” These were delicate with fabulous pork soup flavor inside, arguably better than at specialty places like DTF. Really great.

Spicy Minced Pork Dumpling. Chewy and a bit sweet with that sweet porky filling. I’m not sure what was spicy about it but it was good. Sometimes this dumpling type, which is normally light brown, is underfilled. These were generous.

Stuffed Morchella Elata Fungus. They spelled it Fungas. Lol. This was one of the best dishes. It was a nice shrimp paste ball with a “fungas” wrapper” and a sweet soy sauce. Delicious.

Shrimp Noodle. The shrimp were large and succulent and the chow fun texture was excellent. The sauce could have used slightly more punch.

Wagyu Beef Noodle. I’ve never had chow fun with wagyu. It was silky soft, a touch sweet, and did pack quite a bit of flavor.

BBQ Pork & Mixed Fungus Noodle. Again they spelled it “Fungas.” Lol again. These were actually some great Chow Fun with nice Sweet BBQ Porky filling and a hint of mushroom.

House Special Seafood Congee. I didn’t try because of the carb factor — hey it’s all carbs — but some of my friends complained that it wasn’t jammed with enough goodies.

Close up.

Sticky Rice Wrap. This is the usual lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice. It was fabulous though with all sorts of flavor goodness and perfectly sticky rice.

Sticky Rice. These were mild, a bit sweet, and filled with Chinese sausage, ginkos, egg yolks, etc. Not nearly as good as the lotus leaf sticky rice.

Pan-fried Turnip Cake. I didn’t try because of the carbs.

Crabmeat Egg-Roll. I didn’t try but everyone else toasted them in two seconds.

Seaweed and Shrimp paste cake. Nice firm shrimp cake with an interesting spongy texture and a bit of crispiness from the seaweed. The mayo complemented.

House Special Crispy Lobster Roll. Very fluffy and crunchy texture stuffed with noodles and tiny bits of lobster. Interesting.

Steamed BBQ Pork Bao. The bun was a bit soggy and the filling overly sweet.

Snow Capped BBQ Pork Bun. This version was leagues better than the steamed version. Great slightly cirspy donut style bun with nice pork filling.

Deep Fried Taro Puff. Pretty but carb on carb — plus I hate taro. Anyway there were some little bits of pork in there too.

Supreme Beef Balls. Great spongy texture. I ate a ton of these.

Ground Minced Pork. Not a very descriptive label but these were delicious pan-fried pork patties. Nice and greasy.

Wonton w/ Chili Oil Sauce. This was one of the weakest dishes. The wrapper was soft and pillowy, but the chili sauce was weak, and the filling was shrimp (would have been better as pork). Mostly it just didn’t have the chili oil punch this dish deserves.

Lobster with Ginger and Scallions. Pretty nice lobster in the “wet” style.

Soy Sauce Chicken. A bit sweet, but very aromatic and juicy so a lovely chicken.

Hongkong Style Roast Duck. This was probably the best Hongkong style roast duck I’ve had. It was extremely juicy with fabulous skin and lots of great flavor.

Smaller sized portion of the same dish.

Slightly Sweet Sauce for the duck.

Sichuan Sauce Hen Chicken. Cold chopped Hainan Chicken style chicken with nice numbing sauce. Really good.

Sauce for that.

Barbecued Iberian Pork w/ Honey. Classic sweet red Chinese BBQ pork. Very sweet sauce but pretty damn tasty!

Deep Fried Quail with Spicy Salt. Yummy, but extremly salty and mostly bones with little bits of meat on them.

Roasted Squab. Leave it to Yarom to order every bird on the menu. These were solid, but not in the top tier.

Crispy German Pork Knuckle. Very piggy, nice crispy skin, succulent meat. I enjoyed these.

Oxtail Stew with Wine Sauce Clay Pot. There was the oxtail bone factor, but this did taste great. Moderate amounts of tasty meat clung to the tail bones and the whole thing was drowned in some sort of gravy.

Poached Watercress w/ Fish Ball. Basically a nice light broth with lots of greens and fish/shrimp balls. I actually really liked this dish, particularly given the nasty rainy weather. It was very soothing and provided needed carbs.

Creamy Egg-Yolk Bao. Tasty and the yolk inside almost exploded out. I just nibbled for dietary reasons.

Macau Egg Tart. A classic. Nice and eggy.

I love this flavor — Peppermint Bark Gelato — Base is pure peppermint milk (subbed the sugar with crushed peppermint candies) and it’s laced with house-made double-sided peppermint bark, Valrhona Dark Chocolate and Ivoire White! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — The Peppermint Bark recipe was developed by a famous pastry chef and author, the mum of a Naughty Dog Alum @nancy_baggett — this year I added the two layer thing which is awesome — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #dessertgasm #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peppermint #bark #Valrhona #chocolate

The wines.

Yarom and the owner and the manager.

The whole gang.

They collect all the steamer trays in rolling huskee’s!

Overall, I thought Bistro 1968 is currently one of the best dim sum places in the SGV — and therefore in SoCal. Not every dish is perfect but they have a big menu, many interesting dishes, and an overall standard of execution that is just higher than most of the older places. Sure, there are a lot of good (and even great) options in the SGV but you totally can’t go wrong with this one!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bistro 1968, BYOG, Cantonese, Cantonese Chinese, Chinese cuisine, dimsum, DimSumQuest, dumplings, Gelato, 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.

Typical box store.

Casual interior. There was only one other table, although lots of takeout in progress.

The menu.

“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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, lunch, Lunch Quest, SGV, Sichuan Cuisine, spicy, Spicy Impression, Szechuan cuisine

Arcadian Pastures

Jul18

Restaurant: Meizhou Dongpo

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

Date: December 4, 2022

Cuisine: Beijing/Szechuan Chinese

Rating: A bit better than its Century City brother

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

But off I went anyway.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meizhou Special Fried Rice.

Condiments for the peking duck.

Out comes the peking duck!

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

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

Carving away.

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

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

Great thin pancakes. Pancake was thin and resilient = 9

The condiments. They include sugar for dipping the skin.

Hoisin was very good, but a touch savory = 7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The wine lineup.

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

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

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

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

Back to Babita

Jul16

Restaurant: Babita Mexicuisine [1, 2]

Location: 1823 S San Gabriel Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 288-7265

Date: December 3, 2022

Cuisine: Modern Mexican

Rating: A rare find

Chef Roberto and his wife Elba run this unique gem in the San Gabriel Valley. It’s family owned, upscale, tiny, chef driven and elaborate. And it’s Mexican food! Los Angeles has no shortage of Mexican restaurants, both of the classic and modernized formats, but we don’t have a lot (if any others?) that strive for an upscale ingredient focused style.

I was last here back in 2014 — for what turned out to be a VERY LONG, but excellent, dinner. Finally we have returned!

The tiny room is wood paneled (70s style) and lined with tequila bottles.

Our huge table.

Spanish whites.

The chef announces the food.

Chips with a nice medium spicy salsa.

Tequila cured salmon with salmon caviar a la newton style on a toast with amazing guacamole.

Las sopas. A “two tone” soup with the green being a very spicy Cilantro-spicy jalapeño and the yellow a sweet guava flavor. Very interesting sweet and spicy contrast.

Chiles en Nogada. Meat stuffed poblano chiles bathed in nogada, a walnut cream sauce and garnished with pomegranate seeds and parsley. This dish was a revelation. It was medium spicy and quite sweet, the chili being stuffed with pork and various fruits like apples and candied cactus. The sauce was creamy, lightly spiced, and full of flavor. Really interesting and delicious.

House-made tortillas.

Seared colossal scallop with squidink risotto (made from Mexican rice). The squid ink added a lovely salty/sweet flavor to the dish. Excellent.

Rib eye covered in mole negro sauce and topped with a lovely tamale and garnished with potatoes. The steak was perfectly cooked (medium rare) and was fully of flavor even if it was a farely tough cut. The mole sauce was sweet but full of intense depth. Really delicious. Loved the tamale too.

Yarom and Chef Roberto (from 2014)

This was just an amazing evening and quite different. I’m not sure what I expected (of a “fancy” Mexican in the SGV) but I was certainly blown away. Babita is just a unique gem of a place. And the chiles en Nogada — one of the best Mexican dishes I’ve ever had. wow!

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Babita, Chef Roberto, Chiles en Nogada, Mexican cuisine, SGV

Sham Tseng Double Cluster

Jun26

An update after returning to the 1940s hooker motel for more awesome Chinese BBQ.

Click here to find out what it’s all about.

Jeff ordered a Pig Head for the fun of it.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: bbq, Chinese BBQ, SGV, Sham Tseng

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

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!

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.

Build out is pretty extensive. Sure, the build quality is “sloppy” and it won’t hold up, but it looks pretty cool right now.

Private rooms.

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).

My usual pair of sauces. I tried not to make them very spicy today.

The menu.

And the special “expensive” package menu.

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.”

House Crispy Pork. Quite yummy, like pork clam strips.

Wagyu Tartare. You mix it up and eat. Pretty good, but the sauce flavor was a little odd.

Braised Lotus Root. I really enjoyed these as I like the texture of lotus roots.

Grilled Wagyu Bone Marrow. Most of the group thought this was the best dish. Just seemed like greasy beef nibblets to me.

Fish Tofu. The usual slight fishiness which I kind of like.

Assorted “meat” balls (beef, pork, and shrimp). The meatballs were good here.

House Special Pork Balls.

House Signature Ham (spam). I love “luncheon meat” at hot pots. This one tasted good, but it became a bit soft in the pot.

Kurabuta Pork Jowl. These were quite good.

Mini Pork Sausage. Not the usual “brand” of sausage and not quite as flavorful.

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!

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.

Wagyu Short Rib. Meat was good.

Wagyu Top Blade.

Squid Rolls. Interesting texture.

Imitation Crab Sticks. These almost disolved in the broth, which gave them a slightly offputting mushy texture.

Assorted Vegetables. The cabbage rocked.

Bamboo Shoot. Fiber!

Robo waiters.

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.

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

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

By: agavin
Comments (0)

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

Big at Bistro Na

May26

Restaurant: Bistro Na’s [1, 2, 3]

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

Date: October 9, 2022 and January 7, 2023

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Upscale Chinese, solid kitchen

Chinese Restaurants in the SGV are slowly going more upscale in a way that’s different than the Cantonese palaces of Monterey Park of yesterday. I’ve been here several times before, even celebrating a birthday, but Jeffrey wanted to go, and we figured we’d check it out post pandemic (10/9/22) and then not long after Arnie wanted to try it too, so we went back (1/7/23).

And one of the latest is Bistro Na’s located on Las Tunas near this cool:

Teapot fountain!

The interior is very elegant Chinese, almost traditional but in a new way typical in China today. Ornate wood carvings, lanterns and antique music instruments abound. Technically it bills itself as “Imperial Cuisine”. Maybe there is some of that, but it’s also a bit of Chinese greatest hits. Still, it’s a different cuisine than nearly every other place in the SGV with more ornate plating.

The menu is a hardcover thick paged photo tome!

We reserved the private room again. You basically HAVE to do this at Na if you want a great experience. The regular area is just too cramped and restrictive. Food somehow seems better in here too. But they have annoying policies with the regular room. It has a minimum, which isn’t THAT high, so it’s okay, EXCEPT for the fact that you can only reserve at either 5 or 7:30pm and you only get 2 hours. So if you want a different time, say 6:30pm, you need to PAY for both blocks!

In contrast on 1/7/23 about 10 of us were smushed into this booth out in the main dining room as that was the largest table they had. Yarom hovered as usual.
The menu. A lot of dishes at Na are bland so Jeffrey and I spent hours in advance plotting the best things to order.

Chili Tofu Skin Salad (10/9/22). Very nice texture and a little bit of heat.

Na’s Spicy Chicken (10/9/22 and 1/7/23). The classic Sichuan cold dish. Super tasty with a nice balance of salt, tang, and heat. Some numbing as well. Very tender chicken.

Celtuce Jellyfish Salad (10/9/22). A combo dish of smashed cucumbers and jellyfish. Now while it’s expensive ($42!) it was a fabulous jellyfish (and cucumber) dish with a great tangy/sweet soy.

Jellyfish Salad (1/7/23). Not bad, although not much jellyfish — and it replaces the now discountined Jellyfish with Cucumbers (above) that was amazing. Poor direction to go in.

Chef Su’s Pork Feet Jelly (1/7/23). Kind of bland, although the pork meat part was okay.

Smoked Pork Ribs (1/7/23). Bleh. Kind of like lame ribs at a lamb American BBQ joint.

Beijing Zhajian Noodles (10/9/22). They are served all mixed up. It’s very mild but plesant. The meat and mushrooms add some heartiness. The bean sauce is subdued.

Mixed up.

Alaskan King Crab Typhoon Style (10/9/22). Spectacular version using the crab body. Shell was cooked down to be very tender and the crispy garlic was awesome.

Alaskan King Crab Legs, Steamed. Simple but delicious.

Alaskan King Crab Egg Custard. Pleasant texture and mild flavor.

Crispy Shrimp (10/9/22 and 1/7/23). This is Na’s signature dish and for a reason. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the shells completely candied and edible. Delicious, if a touch sweet. They remind me somehow of cicadas escaping their shells.

3-4 lb Lobster “Typhoon Style” (1/7/23). Lobster itself was a little over cooked and the Typhoon was oddly soggy without the crisp and stong garlic flavor. A bit meh.

2.5lb Turbo steamed with Ginger and Soy (1/7/23). Okay but a bit bland. Nowhere near as good as the Chang’An version.

Braised Abalone and Sea Cucumber (10/9/21). Pleasant brown sauce. This dish is all about the texture. The Sea Cucumber had a nice mouth feel.

Black Pepper Lamb Chops (1/7/23). We asked for rare and got medium plus. Okay, but a bit too overcooked. These also replace the crispy lamb which was great.

Na’s Braised Pork Belly (10/9/22 and 1/7/23). Great version of this classic Shanghai dish. The pork was super succulent and the sweet brown sauce had a nice depth of star anise.

Crispy Pigeon (10/9/22). Fine, but actually one of the weaker dishes tonight as these were slightly dry.

Stir Fried Angus Beef with Garlic (10/9/22 and 1/7/23). Really interesting. The beef itself was tender and good, even if the piece size felt a little bit thick, but the real killer was the crispy candied chilies. These were incredible! Actually fairly spicy.

Braised Brisket with Quail Egg (1/7/23). Kind of sweet and savory, more or less a beef stew. Not bad though.

Stir Fried Pea Sprouts with Mushrooms (1/7/23). Excellently cooked. Could have used a touch more salt (or “flavor”) but otherwise nice.

Chili Pork with Cauliflower (10/9/22). Very tasty vegetable with nice crunch and a good porky flavor.

Stir Fried Cabbage with Dried Shrimp (10/9/22). The dried shrimp give this version of the dish a quite significant pungency. Weirdly they removed it from the menu by our return in January!

Fried Mixed Mushrooms with Rice Cracker Bites (10/9/22 and 1/7/23). OMG these were like potato-stick crack. They felt “hollow”, crispy, and coated in an almost candied shell. So good!

Shrimp Fried Rice with Bonito (10/9/22). Nice complex fried rice with a distinct bonito flake flavor.

Pan Fried Beef Buns (10/9/22). Very nicely flavored beef and chive filling. Pretty temperature hot at the start and could have used a little vinegar/dumpling sauce to balance the hot fat.

Fruit (10/9/22). I guess you only get this in the private room!

Key Lime Pie Gelato — base is a key lime egg custard, layered with house-made Graham Cracker and covered with house-made Torched Meringue — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #KeyLime #lime #custard #meringue #GrahamCracker #cookie

The emotional damage!

Overall, a complicated place (for the SGV) to review.

Service on 10/9/22 was good, better than before. They brought us wine glasses (not great ones, but they have them). We handled the wine service. There was a good amount of plate changing. Took a while to get going even though we had the pre-ordered menu. They seat all the private rooms in two seatings at 5pm and 7:30pm so all 5 of them were sitting at once (not to mention the limited time thing and the minimums). That doesn’t make it easy on the server. All in all it’s excellent service for SGV Chinese.

On 1/7/23 service was fine, but a bit different as we were smushed in outside. I was also annoyed with them because they had removed several of their best dishes from the menu and replaced them with even blander alternatives.

Food is interesting. Beautiful plating. Not the most flavor forward of the Chinese cuisines. Pretty good if you order very very carefully, but also expensive in a relative fashion. Ended up over $200 a person all in with a good tip because of the King Crab. If you go to a Top Island or the like you can get that much cheaper too. Still a novel and fun experience. Gorgeous room.

While a bit pricey for the SGV, the atmosphere is lovely and the plating much more elegant. Some dishes were excellent, some just pretty good, and some outright bland. I’m not really sure what regionality of Chinese it is. Sort of Beijing/Shanghai maybe? They say “Imperial.” It does feel very contemporary Chinese and is certainly not aimed at white folk. I have a general problem here with their “under-seasoning.” A lot of dishes just seem too sweet or too bland. On Oct 9, 2022 meal we ordered really carefully and leaned toward their more spicy (not actually spicy) dishes. This helped a great deal. On 1/7/23 the meal was considerably inferior. We weren’t in the private room and the “crowd” I was with wanted to order some of their meatier dishes that just fall a bit flat.

Hangry Rider made this excellent video summary of our 10/9/22 meal.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bistro Na, BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Foodie Club, Gelato, hedonists, Private Room, SGV, Wine

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

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.

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.

I’m not sure if it’s brand new or took over a previous Cantonese Palace but it has some serious (overwrought) build-out.

Who doesn’t love a dragon medallion.

And the main room has to be seen to be believed.

The highlight are these video screen Chinese columns! Animated seafood scenes roll around them continuously!

The manager, Ben and Yarom.

Le menu.

Honey BBQ Pork.

Five Spices Beef Shank.

Imperial Cold Chicken.

Roasted Duck Hong Kong Style.

Seafood Pan Fried Noodle.

Chicken Feet with XO Sauce.

Short Rib with Black Pepper Sauce.

Bean Curd Skin Wrap.

Steamed Beef Balls.

Shrimp and Mushroom Sui Mai.

Beef Rice Noodle with Green Onion.

XLB.

Shrimp Chives Dumpling.

Har Gow.

Pan Fried Chives Pastry. I love these when I see them.

Tofu with Thai Sauce. I love these too, kind of a guilty pleasure.

Shrimp Egg Roll.

Deep Fried Shrimp Ball.

BBQ Pork Bun.

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.

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

This Location Again?

May16

Restaurant: Lady Yan’s

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

Date: October 2, 2022

Cuisine: (Mostly) Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Medium level Szechuan

I’ve eaten at this location as at least 5 restaurants.

It’s the familiar spot that once housed Sham Tsem (Alahambra), New Bay, and Happy Table, and GV Yummy. That’s a lot of restaurant churn — probably the most different restaurants I’ve eaten at in a single location in the SGV. The current name seems to be Lady Yan’s, but the old signs are still up there. New Qing Dao seemed to have been the same as GV Yummy. Not totally sure. It was very confusing.

The menu. This time around I think it’s Szechuan, more or less.

Cucumber Salad. The typical smashed cucumber dish, but an excellent version being smashed, very garlic forward, and well sauced.

Jelly in spicy savory sauce. The Chengdu street mung bean jelly. Not a bad version at all. I would have preferred a slight extra bit of tanginess in the sauce, but it was good.

Sliced beef and ox tongue in chili sauce. Nice version of this dish with the appropriate cilatro and peanut vibe. Regular meat and what is probably tripe or lung. Not as good as at GuYi, but very good.

Spicy wonton “soup.” Nice, although as usual for this dish the wonton’s seemed a bit under-seasoned (maybe just overwhelmed by the chili) and the “soup” is slightly watery.

Our one claw 4lb live lobster.

Lobster with ginger scallion. This was by accident as it was supposed to by Tyhoon style. I think the chef just didn’t want to. The lobster meat itself was fine but the prep was meh. Heavy. One of the worst Chinese lobsters I’ve had in a while.

Live fish kung fu style. Very nice fish with plenty of meat, chilis, veggies, tofu, potato etc. Overall lovely.

Tea Smoked Duck. Excellent pastrami duck. Very juice and delicious.

Sichuan spicy chicken nuggets. Very nice salty/numbing version of this iconic dish. Quite enjoyable.

Double cooked pork belly. Twice cooked pork. Awesome version with a really nice smoke and black bean flavor.

Sichuan signature mixed meats in chili sauce. Pretty much the same chili “broth” as the fish etc. Included all sorts of weird parts. The spam and liver/blood type stuff was good. There was also the chewy tripe.

BBQ Lamb Ribs. Served piping hot. Very fatty and full of sizzling flavor. Nice. The sauces didn’t totally work.

Eggplant with spicy garlic sauce. A 7/10 version of this dish. Pretty nice.

Green beans with garlic. Fine but nothing special.

Shredded cabbage. This had the obligatory pork belly and was generally fairly delicious.

Dan dan mein. Pretty typical Chengdu version. No peanut or sesame but a fairly addictive flavor all the same.

Seasoned peanuts. Nice, although not like the crack peanuts at Haige Star.

MaPo Tofu. Surprisingly delicious. Solid 8/10 version of this dish.

Chengdu style fried rice. Not exactly sure what was in here (other than the obvious peas) but it was very tasty.

Free totally weird Chinese dessert. Pretty terrible.

Citron au Courant Sorbetto – Fresh squeezed Lemons blended with French Currants (Cassis) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #lemon #cassis #currents #lemonade #citron

Overall, this place was solid, but slightly “uninspired” SGV Chinese. Now for outside the SGV it would be excellent, as it’s way better than somewhere like Szechuan Place. Lady Yan’s has a wide range of dishes and they do “pretty well” with most of them, very good with a few. The service was nice and MUCH better than at Happy Table or GV Yummy. The build out was identical. It’s fairly low rent and not super crowded. The space must be cursed. There are better Szechuan places, several, but I’d go back to Lady Yans happily enough. And they do have some lingering dishes from other regions (like the BBQ lamb ribs).

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, fish, Gelato, offal, SGV, spicy, Szechuan, Szechuan Chinese

Fallen (Haige) Star

Apr29

Restaurant: Haige Star / Tianfu Cuisine [ CLOSED ]

Location: 18438 Colima Rd Unit 105, Rowland Heights, CA 91748. (626) 820-9638

Date: September 18, 2022

Cuisine: Sichuan Chinese

Rating: Awesome

This amazing (and now sadly closed) Sichuan joint in Rowland Heights has an amusing tale.

So, sometime in the spring of 2022, Jeffrey and Yarom went here went I was out of town. Of course this annoyed me to no end because so many times I’m dragged to repeat Cantonese or Hong Kong places and certain parties complain about the difficulty of recruiting for spicy Chinese (my favorite obviously) — and then they go on one of the rare weekends when I have a conflict. Anyway, it was “clearly” labeled “Haige Star Boulevard” at this time, and while the hardcore crew loved it, many of the newbies that Yarom unwisely dragged here wouldn’t touch anything. With this description in mind I was eager to go again, and so was Jeffrey.

Now this time, 9/18/22 when I returned it had a different name. On Yelp it seemed like it had a skewer hot pot phase at some point, which wasn’t the case tonight. Jeffrey’s memory is so bad he couldn’t remember if it was exactly the same either. It was certainly Sichuan and certainly great. Unfortunately when we tried to return on 1/22/23 for a third visit they were totally boarded up and closed. We heard through the rumor mill that the owner had passed away, which is very sad for his family and a great loss for us lovers of Sichuan cuisine.

The interior is basic.

We had the place mostly to ourselves and this great table in the back.

Oh boy. I hope you read Chinese because none of us did. The staff didn’t speak any English either. None. Basically zero. Fortunately between google translate and my knowledge of Sichuan dishes I was able to order successfully.

Smashed Cucumbers. Very good version. Nicely smashed, lots of garlic, and a tasty “flavor” sauce.

Been Jelly Noodles. Nice version too. Not super spicy, but some good mala and an interesting smokey quality. Very good “noodle” texture.

Century Egg with Chilies. I haven’t had this exact century egg variation (aka without tofu) but these were really good with a great savory flavor without being mega-salty.

Cured Sausage. Very fatty, dry, and with a great slightly funky flavor.

Cold Dry Spicy Beef. Beef jerky like texture with a fabulous deep layered spicy sauce. The sauce was incredible with the sausage as well.

Couples sliced Beef/Offal. Dry pastrami like poached beef with chili sauce, Chinese celery, and peanuts. Lovely, although not quite as good as Gu Yi’s.

Tea Smoked Duck. Moist and juicy with a ton of smokey flavor. Fabulous duck.

Boiled “Meats” in Chili Oil. Includes liver (very mild and succulent), spam (delicious), tripe, and pig intenstine (funky). Good spicy/mala sauce.

Spicy Bamboo Shoots with Peanuts and Cilantro. Spectactular texture and flavor.

Twice Cooked Pork. Nice version of this dish. Not obscenely salty.

Dan Dan Mein.

Mixed up. This was enjoyable, but wasn’t very hot or nutty. It was more a broth with a bit of chili and some meat. It was helped by adding a bit of the crack peanuts.

Crack Peanuts. A bit sweet and salty with some kind of “spice” flavorant. Totally addictive.

Double Mint Oreo — Base made with Fresh Spring Mint infused milk and then laced with Crushed Mint Oreo Thins and Chopped Valrhona 70% Chocolate! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — lovely strong mint flavor and color is all natural — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #dessertgasm #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #mint #valrhona #chocolate #oreo

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

Overall, the experience here was super fun. Our ordering was helped about 2/3 through by a nice couple where the guy spoke both English and the Chengdu dialect of Chinese. He recommended a few dishes — but I’m proud that I picked 75% of these out with my “skillz.”

It was incredibly delicious, some of the best Sichuan I’ve had in America and actually on par with places I visited in Chengdu. This place is/was fairly rustic, but the balance of the dishes was spectacular. Just the right combinations of textures and different flavors (aka spice, sour, salty etc). This type of food is actually all about balance. Jeffrey and I went into mourning when we found out they closed because we had been plotting a return here for months. Sigh.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, Haige Star, Rowland Heights, SGV, Sichuan Cuisine, spicy, Tianfu Cuisine, Wine

Indian, The Tavern – Confusion

Apr22

Restaurant: Indian, The Tavern

Location: 633 S San Gabriel Blvd #105, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 287-0688

Date: September 11, 2022

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Solid, if odd

It’s hard to describe this particular SGV restaurant.

From the outside it looks like most of them.

But then inside it has this weird western saloon theme. Presumably it was some kind of “Indian bar” back in the 50s. The decor has partially stuck, but the menu is almost all Chinese.

We had this rustic table in the “party room.”

Not so PC!

Shrimp Egg Roll. Very hot and crispy, moist interior. The sweet sauce was also a bit spicy which was kinda nice.

Grilled Taiwanese Sausage. Sweet and salty sausage, always great.

Scallop in “lobster sauce” (egg white). Surprisingly good.

Sliced pork belly w/ minced Garlic. Dark garlic sauce on the side. Not bad but not the best dish of the night.

Salty dark garlic sauce.

French Steak medium rare on rare side. Best “Chinese” steak I’ve had. Pretty much a regular steak, medium rare with black pepper.

Tea Smoked Duck. Very nice. Smokey and pretty moist.

Preserved pork belly w/ garlic sprouts. Great dish. Smokey pork with leaks and garlic coated in all that smokey pork fat.

Lobster with XO sauce. Weakest dish of the night perhaps? Slightly over-cooked but still enjoyable.

Smashed Cucumbers. Out of order but a great version of this dish. Lots of garlic flavor.

Fish filet in green vine pepper soup. A bit of numbing flavor but not that hot or numbing. I’ve had better versions of this dish but it was still decent.

Stir Fried Double Fried Eggs W. Napa Cabbage. Excellent cabbage with that awesome greasy/salty flavor.

Tofu with house sauce. Very nice tofu with a lovely deep ginger flavored brown sauce.

Shrimp and Taiwanese Sausage Fried Rice. Excellent fried rice.

Vanilla White Gelato — a very simple and elegant Tahitian Vanilla Bean White Base (no egg) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #vanilla

Cinnamon Caramel Sauce.

Overall, the place was surprisingly excellent. There were long gaps between dishes (particularly at the beginning) and the order was kind of Chinese random, but the dish quality was very good. There were some slightly weird dishes too, but they tasted good, so nothing to complain about. I’m not exactly sure what region of China the kitchen represents. And then there is the unique and peculiar “decor.” Certainly interesting.

Jennifer had a bit of an accident during her recent trip to tour the Chernobyl basement.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Gelato, Indian Tavern, SGV, Wine

Robo Eats – Szechuan Place

Mar25

Restaurant: Szechuan Place

Location: 9250 Reseda Blvd, Northridge, CA 91324. (818) 280-5355

Date: August 17, 2022

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Just okay

I was excited to find a “real” Szechuan restaurant not too far from my son’s robotics.

Typical mini-mall location.

They made some effort to decorate.

Chongqing Cold Flat Noodle. Unfortunately fairly bland.

Spicy Wonton Soup. Dumplings were good but the broth needed more flavor.

Special Chinese Lettuce in casserole. This can be a great dish but this version was a little soggy.

Twice Cooked Potato Slice. I really wanted twice cooked pork. This actually tasted great — it was the best dish — but potato is so carby.

Pickled Chinese Cabbage & Riby Beef in Special Szechuan Chili. This was a bit sour and the meat is certainly “fatty.”

Overall, Szechuan Place had a menu with all the regular goodies but the flavors were a bit bland and flat. I was hoping for more GuYi type quality. One of these days I’ll have to go back and try it again.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Robo Eats, SGV, Sichuan Cuisine, spicy, Szechuan Place

OOToro Double

Mar21

Restaurant: OOToro [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

Location: 1569 Fairway Dr, Walnut, CA 91789. (909) 598-8299

Date: August 13, 2022

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi (with slight nod to China)

Rating: Ends of the earth, but very good

Chef Kaz of Totoraku, an occasional hedonist, sent us far east to this Sushi restaurant in 2016 and it was such a fun time that we had to return again for a sixth visit — it’s now become a twice a year thing. This is my second return since the pandemic — although some in the group went once in the middle for a meal that was supposedly not quite up to snuff. Because a bunch of us have engaged in a special Sushi Series this fall (tasting all the best LA sushi places) I figured I’d include OOToro in the mix.

And by far east I mean REALLY REALLY far east — to Walnut California. 40+ miles from my house. 20 miles past Alhambra (which most people consider to far to drive for food). It took an hour and twenty minutes on a Saturday night!

The slick looking location is in the heart of the affluent Chinese American San Gabriel Valley. But yes, it’s Japan, if perhaps catering to Chinese taste. This photo was shot at about 10pm after everyone else had left.

Here is the private room — the only way to go.

Edamame.

Mango, Avocado, Hairy crab, Some kind of Jelly (ponzu?). This was a new dish, and quite refreshing. Many in the party loved it. I thought the mango and crab bit was a touch too sweet, but was pretty good.

On the right Octopus with Caviar and Yuzu. On the left Scallop with Uni. The yuzu part was great. This was a lovely dish, although they don’t use the best quality caviar here and there is an overreliance on uni.

White fish tempura. The name sounded like “pea soup.” The tempura was dusted with wasabi salt which is traditional. Nice, but slightly dull tempura.

Abalone, jellyfish, shrimp tempura (wrapped in potato), sea snail and “katsuloco” (the yellow sponge). The abalone was great for that creature. The jellyfish was a bit bland. The shrimp great, the snail nice, and the sponge a fishy spongey texture I really enjoyed.

Sashimi of toro, ikura, uni, and a white fish. A bit of rice was hidden underneath. This was a lovely (and rich) dish.

Oysters 3 ways: with black tobiko, ikura, and uni.

Wagyu toast with caviar and balsamic. This used a “truffle oil caviar” that was kind of gross. Otherwise it would have been a nice dish but the truffle oil only detracted.

The stain!

Kumadai and another snapper with yuzu and wasabi. Lovely bright fish.

Kama-toro. The ultra rich tuna collar. Always an awesome bite.

Seared Ruby Snapper. Very sauced and lovely.

Crab, Red Snapper, Truffle Oil Caviar and Yuzu miso sauce. The dish was nice except for that truffle oil in the caviar which was a minor negative. It basically should never be used.

Kimchi uni noodles. Great. Kinda spicy.

Ron’s “non spicy” creamy version.

A5 Wagyu. Simple but delicious.

Clam miso. Lovely.

Green Tea Cheesecake. Very straightforward, basically just cheesecake with matcha powder in it.

I jazzed ours up with my own private stock of Valrhona 70% and house-made Hazelnut Brittle.

The room.

This group of “kids” (20s) were celebrating a birthday and we toasted them with some extra Krug.

Wines for tonight:

Overall, OOToro — while always good — showed again that the private room is really the way to go. This was a great meal and much more subtle and sophisticated than some of the front room fare. Really great stuff — although we should have gotten the largest omakase for max variety. Tonight I felt was the weakest OOToro in a while — although it was still very good — but somehow there were a few dishes that I didn’t love. Maybe it was the truffle caviar. Maybe it was the fact that I had a massive Longo Dim Sum Lunch only a few hours before.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Also, after dinner, instead of the surprisingly fun Courtyard Marriott view parking lot, we ended up at this terrible picnic table at some even cheaper dive hotel Ron was staying at. Kinda dingy and depressing. Never again.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, hedonists, Japanese cuisine, Omakase, ootoro, SGV, Sushi, Wine

Home Sweet Spicy Home

Mar08

Restaurant: Spicy Home [Crawl: MK BBQ, Peking, Bafang, Spicy Home, Beijing Tasty ]

Location: 1635 S Azusa Ave, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745. (626) 636-1128

Date: July 31, 2022

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Great kitchen

I think we inserted this fourth stop on the crawl as well because the first couple really sucked.
I’ve been to Spicy Home a number of times, usually just for a dish or three (as they don’t allow wine). It’s a great casual Sichuan place.

The menu.

Peppercorn Sauce Chicken. Sauce was great but the chicken had a very high bone percentage.

Scrambled Egg with Shrimp. Solid version of this dish with fluffy shrimp.

Sautéed Shredded Cabbage. Really great version of this dish with a nice “oily” flavor.

String beans with eggplant. Garlic eggplant into which string beans was mysteriously thrown. Not particularly great.

Tea Smoked Duck. Awesome. Very juicy with a pastrami / ham like quality.

Sliced Pork Belly with Tofu Dry Pot. Great flavor and textures. Not super spicy but nice. Best dish so far.

Spicy Home has a great kitchen and implements solid rustic Sichuan. It’s very informal though and has no liquor license so doesn’t feel like a “proper” dinner location. But for pure tastiness of the dishes it’s extremely solid, excellent even.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.