An update after returning to the 1940s hooker motel for more awesome Chinese BBQ.
Click here to find out what it’s all about.
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Jeff ordered a Pig Head for the fun of it.
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.
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.
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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.
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:
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
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.
sharethis_button(); ?>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.
sharethis_button(); ?>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).
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.
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For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.
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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.
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.
sharethis_button(); ?>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.
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.
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.
sharethis_button(); ?>Restaurant: Bafang Dumpling [Crawl: MK BBQ, Peking, Bafang, Spicy Home, Beijing Tasty ]
Location: 1552 S Azusa Ave Suite B, City of Industry, CA 91748. (626) 778-1958
Date: July 31, 2022
Cuisine: Chinese Dumplings
Rating: Bleh!
For stop 3 of our I’ll fated July far SGV crawl we (more or less me) inserted this dumpling place into the roster.
I’ve been wanting to try this for months as the website and online reviews made it look great. But as a dumpling only specialist I was never going to make a specific trip 40+ miles east just for this.
But boy was I in for some confusion. I hadn’t expected this “fast food” (or slightly “fast casual”) counter order format. Or the incredibly limited menu.
What I didn’t realize about Bafang was that it’s a super simple dumpling place reframed as a fast food chain.
Weird messages about their quality that don’t match the experience.
The menu is microscopic. It’s basically two shapes of dumplings, with 3-4 fillings, and a couple of simple noodles. Then a few extras.
The sauces, so important for dumplings, were just wretched. There was just plain soy sauce, vinegar, some gross packaged chili sauce. No proper dumpling sauce which is a mix of soy, vinegar, sugar etc. This completely ruined the taste for me (later).
They do a have a dumpling making room.
Signature pork dumpling, “potsticker” style. Pretty decent, interesting long shape, but a bit under seasoned.
Kimchi and Pork, boiled. Not too bad, but nothing stunning. A little spicy.
Corn and chicken potsticker. I liked the texture, but it didn’t have a massive amount of flavor.
Just in case you didn’t know.
These had a hint of mala, but looked kind of sad and tasted like the sauce was a mala tomato sauce. Very odd. Super overcooked noodles too.
Very mediocre. Almost any mom and pop dumpling place is better. If one of these was in a very convenient location and I needed a 15 minute solo meal I might consider going again — otherwise no — and certainly not an hour away. The dumplings themselves might be passable on a real plate. It didn’t taste BAD — I mean they are dumplings — but still.
I hate eating at crappy tables. I hate eating out of takeout containers and with plastic wares. I hate dumplings with no good sauce. Yuck. Just nothing to recommend. It wasn’t even that fast.
sharethis_button(); ?>Restaurant: Peking Restaurant [ CLOSED? ] [Crawl: MK BBQ, Peking, Bafang, Spicy Home, Beijing Tasty ]
Location: 19240 Colima Rd Rowland Heights, CA 91748. (626) 363-4961
Date: July 31, 2022
Cuisine: Chinese
Rating: Sloppy and not worth recommending in any way
This particular crawl was not well researched. In fact, it was slapped together mostly from yelp or driving around to include places in the “far SGV” (Rowland and Hacienda Heights). This is our second stop after one tucked in a Supermarket!
I love the look of these dives where they took some old 1950s-70s place and converted it into a Chinese restaurant.
The menu is big — just not good.
At least they let us open wines.
Cucumbers were just plain chopped cucumbers. Not marinated. Not smashed. No garlic. Nothing.
Jellyfish. Very mild flavor like they just dumped some distilled vinegar on them.
Cold appetizer plate with MORE jellyfish, ok cold beef, and shrimp with ketchup and Chinese mustard. The shrimp tasted just like shrimp cocktail Chinese style. Lol.
“Peking” duck. Wasn’t very crispy and the meat was quite dry. Total hack job.
Messy pile of scallions.
Gunky shredded cucumber.
Hoisin was not so great.
Tortillas! Yep, not spring pancakes. Packaged flour tortillas. Way too heavy and ruined the whole vibe.
Fried sweet buns. Fried Chinese dough with a bit of sweetened condensed milk. This was probably the best dish. lol. It was best dipped in a 50/50 soy sauce and vinegar mix.
Oranges.
This place appears to have closed (gone out of business). Not exactly surprised, it was one of the worst SGV Chinese restaurants I’ve ever eaten at. Kinda grungy inside too.
sharethis_button(); ?>Restaurant: MK BBQ [Crawl: MK BBQ, Peking, Bafang, Spicy Home, Beijing Tasty ]
Location: 18414 Colima Rd, Rowland Heights, CA 91748. (626) 616-1826
Date: July 31, 2022
Cuisine: Chinese BBQ
Rating: Not bad
This was part of an extensive (but ultimate meh) crawl in the far SGV.
Yarom found this BBQ joint online, and being a sucker for any kind of straight meat, put it on the list. But it turned out to be a counter tucked in a skeezy market.
Hanging meats.
Wieners in juice.
Duck or pork, that is the question.
!?!
BBQ duck we ate on the hood of our cars. Actually not bad at all.
See, glamorous.
I can’t say I’d recommend this unless one lived nearby and was grabbing some takeout. But for that, it’s actually pretty good.
sharethis_button(); ?>Restaurant: Grand Harbor [1, 2, 3, 4]
Location: 5733 Rosemead Blvd, Temple City, CA 91780. (626) 280-2998
Date: July 24, 2022
Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese
Rating: Solid Cantonese
It has become traditional for the Dirty Dozen (our blind tasting group within a group) to do white wine lunches over dim sum — but this time we mixed it up slightly and combined with Sunday night dinner into a Cantonese banquet Dirty Dozen White dinner. I think this was originally white Burgundy themed, then opened up to Rose Champagne for this event.
Grand Harbor is a relatively new Hong Kong place in Temple City from Jackie Zhou, having opened in 2012. It is part of the NBC Seafood Restaurant group, which has several other locations throughout the Los Angeles area.
The restaurant was designed to provide an elegant and upscale dining experience, with a focus on fresh seafood and high-quality ingredients. The owners of the restaurant were inspired by the traditional seafood restaurants of Hong Kong and wanted to bring a similar experience to the United States.
Since its opening, Grand Harbor has become a popular destination for diners seeking delicious seafood dishes and a luxurious dining experience. The restaurant has received numerous accolades and positive reviews from food critics and diners alike, and has become a go-to spot for special occasions and celebrations.
The dining room is huge and opulent in that chintzy Chinese way. I would have thought from all the overzealous cove lighting that the space was built out in the 80s, but apparently it’s only a year or two old!
Real marble blends non-so-seemlessly with faux-alabaster. They have wine too like many of the new high end places. Mostly big young red wine like Bordeaux which totally fails to pair with Cantonese Chinese, but it’s the thought that counts.
We had a private room — pretty much a necessity given the crowded main room.
Peanuts.
Smashed cucumbers. Slightly spicy sweet sauce. Not sure what the deal with dumping this kind of spring roll sauce on top of the cucumbers is.
We had the champagnes in flights but I’m too lazy to do anything more than present the photos of them in the order they were served.
And thus ends the champs.
Cold appetizers. Jellyfish, roast pork, pork belly, roast duck. Roast pork and duck were good.
Sauces for the cold apps. The hoison like one and sweet duck sauce.
Walnut shrimp. Lightly fried, very mayo, a bit sweet, and quite delicious.
“Peking Duck.” Skin is a bit soft and mushy and there are buns, but still tasty. This is “pseudo peking duck” like most of the Cantonese restaurants server. For more legit versions, check out my Peking Duck Guide.
Condiments.
Scallops in XO sauce. Very nice, not super strong.
Lobster steamed with garlic. Nice light prep.
Duck meat as lettuce cups. Good texture.
Pork belly with preserved vegetables. Mild and very fatty but very good. Mild is a theme tonight.
Fried pork chops. Very fried but not super salty.
French style beef with mushrooms. Super tender but why, why do we keep ordering this dish?
Bok Choy. Lightly flavored.
Everything fried rice.
Plated.
Truffle chicken. Chicken itself was very tender but the truffle was canned truffle with rancid truffle oil. I could only handle one bite.
Pan fried noodles with beef and egg whites. Topping was pretty good but noodles had a slightly odd flavor. Overall pretty mild (aka under seasoned).
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
My gelato is DOTN (dessert of the night) by about 5 orders of magnitude.
Light honey and plain sponge cakes.
Sweet soup with sesame mochi. Sweet egg drop anyone?
By July of 2022, Grand Harbor had come most of the way back since it’s immediate post pandemic low, but it’s still not quite as good as it was before 2020. The dishes look good, but there was a slight but consistent under seasoning that made a little one dimensional — except for the truffle chicken which was disgusting. Say no to truffle oil! Still, one could always bring some a shaker of “flavor” (MSG) and Grand Harbor a very solid Cantonese with top notch rooms and service. From those who have visited more recently I’ve heard they have rebounded even further.
And I do like Rose Champ with Chinese food.
sharethis_button(); ?>Restaurant: Five Star Seafood Restaurant
Location: 140 W Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 288-1899
Date: July 9, 2022
Cuisine: Chinese Dim Sum
Rating: Meh
Once or twice a year the hedonists (and Yarom’s family) trek’s out to the SGV for a two part Saturday featuring dim sum and some banquet dinner. Locations vary but several times we’ve been to the awesome Juicy Dumpling.
This is the same maxi-mall with Juicy Dumpling and Spicy City (now sadly closed I think). 5 Star has a comanding position in the corner, high above everything else (you need to take an elevator up above the market).
It’s a giant room with a decent view, classic Cantonese.
And a cart place. I haven’t been to a cart place in a while and 5 Star reminded me why.
Our table.
Pan fried meat and chive patties. Oily and delicious.
Greens. Just were. Not much garlic.
Red bean sesame balls. One of the problems with carts is the totally random order. Actually it’s not random, it’s bad to better.
Fried shrimp paste balls on sugar sticks. Luke warm (or even cool) by the time we got them.
Disgusting pig trotters the way Yarom likes ’em.
Chicken Feet. Same deal as the pig’s feet.
Pork ribblets. Pretty tasty, if boney.
XLB. Doughy version and not very warm at all, but still tasty.
Veggie roll. This is normally a great dish — here a bit meh.
Eggplant stuffed with fried shrimp paste. Not so great. They love the shrimp paste here.
DEEP fried wontons with mayo.
A different deep fried roll, I think with shrimp paste — and more mayo.
Yet another deep fried roll with mayo. Hard to tell the difference, maybe different (fried) wrapper.
Lotus Sticky Rice. They do have all the classics here.
Siu Mai. Took us a long time to get these and even when we did they were luke warm. They were passable.
Scrawny.
Beef ball. Very “processed” and almost sweet like a jewish meatball.
Chive and shrimp dumpling. One of the best dishes. Somehow, despite this being a dim sum place, I basically had to ambush the dumpling carts at the kitchen and rip the steamed dumplings out of their hands — they were very determined to push more over-fried stuff.
Har gow. Very hard to get, surprisingly, and just fine.
Baked pork bun (char siu bao). Ok. You can see from the picture it’s a bit flabby.
Pineapple bun. Excellent actually.
This was some pretty mediocre dim sum for the SGV. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s still tasty. Even bad dim sum is pretty good. And this wasn’t terrible, it’s not like some of the horrible ones in downtown or further west, but there are about 10 much better places within a mile or three! And it’s a cart dim sum which basically sucks. It’s hard to get the dishes you want. They’re cold when you do. You get them in the wrong order. Hungry party members insist on loading up on the bad fry they always drive by first. Much better to order from the sheet in waves.
After this I got two different two hour massages (because I couldn’t convince my normal place to do longer than two hours). THEN we went off to Shanghai #1 Seafood for an awesome dinner (way better than lunch).
sharethis_button(); ?>Peking Duck (also more correctly known as Beijing Duck) is one of those sublime foods that’s full of contrasts. It’s always good, but rarely perfect. Seemingly common, proper versions are hard to find. And it’s poorly understood and equally poorly distinguished from it’s ducky cousins. I’ve loved it for nearly half a century, enjoyed it in America and China, and recently made an exhaustive study of the offerings in the greater Los Angeles area. Myself and my good friend and infamous fellow-glutton Jeffrey (a.k.a. @xtremefoodies_) co-organized DuQuest, the search for the best in LA. But before we get to the rankings (click here to skip to them) we need to discuss the basics.
Fundamentally, Peking Duck is a kind of Chinese roast duck. But as far as I can tell there are at least 4 broad categories of roast duck COMMONLY available in LA’s vast bounty of Chinese restaurants (and a few fusion places). They are:
For the purposes of this article, I’m focusing on this: A dish from Beijing (Peking) that has been prepared since the Imperial era. The meat is characterized by its thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and breast/thigh meat, sliced in front of the diners by the cook. Ducks bred especially for the dish are slaughtered after 65 days and seasoned before being roasted in a closed or hung oven. The meat is often eaten with spring onion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce with pancakes rolled around the fillings.
There are two major sub-variants (cutting styles) we will discuss later but for the purpose of distinguishing “real” Peking duck from other types of duck the main marker is spring pancakes. When served with pancakes it’s “real” and without them it’s usually one of the following:
Because Peking Duck is a popular premium dish most restaurants in LA’s amazing Cantonese scene offer it on the menu. However, the vast majority of these, nay, perhaps all, offer what I am calling “Pseudo” Peking Duck. This dish, somewhat beyond the already bloated scope of this article, is a variant of Cantonese Roast Duck, typically cooked in the Cantonese BBQ manner and served with steamed buns, hoisin, cucumbers, and spring onions. It’s a close cousin, and often delicious, but the duck itself is prepared differently, cut differently, and served differently. The buns do not offer the sublime minimalist carbohydrate balance of the pancake. The hoisin is usually sweeter, the duck is generally plated with shrimp chips, and most importantly the skin is never quite so crispy. Pseudo Duck can be delicious, but it’s just not the same thing.
This delicious dish is offered at nearly every Cantonese, dim sum, and Chinese BBQ joint in the city. It’s great, but it’s not Peking Duck. This duck is usually rough chopped with a cleaver (Chinese knife) and soaking in jus. It’s very moist and at it’s best has a very satisfying fatty skin. If it has any condiment it’s just some sweet (orange) plum-based sauce.
I’m not sure if smoking counts as roasting, but many central Chinese restaurants, particularly from Sichuan, Hunan or Yunnan will offer a tea-smoked duck. As you can tell, I like duck, so I also find this a fabulous dish. The skin is not as crispy and the whole thing is dry with a smoked pastrami-like quality.
Nanjing Duck is salt cured and also dry, often cold, and has a lovely flavor. It’s not crispy at all.
I’ve been to Beijing several times but on my most recent visit in 2018 I enjoyed several high end Peking Ducks, most notably at Dadong and Country Kitchen. On previous trips I also ate at a different Dadong, Made in China, and some old school spots. I’ve had high end duck at various places in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and other various other Chinese cities.
Proper Beijing duck in Beijing is never quite replicated here in the states, although we have a few that come close. Over there, the duck is always dry-aged, seasoned, inflated with some kind of compressed or pumped air, often filled with a special broth, then slow roasted for 1-1.5 hours in a wood-fire oven. Here in LA they always use gas ovens. Wood-fire is just too complicated or expensive, probably because of annoying regulations. In China, a duck pit master tends the ducks, moving them around to cook them evenly. After roasting, some special bits of the belly skin are served by themselves with sugar. This is enjoyed as a crunchy snack with a sweet/salty/fatty contrast. The legs and wings are removed, and the breast meat is sliced into little ovals that contain both juicy meat and crispy/fatty skin. The meat skin pieces are combined with hoisin, cucumber, and spring onion inside a spring pancake and enjoyed rolled up. Remaining meat is often (optionally) stir-fried and the carcass is made into duck soup. Realistically, they don’t make YOUR particular duck into duck soup. Previous carcasses, probably from previous days are cooked into big batches of the soup and served on demand.
Peking Duck consists of several different components, each of which is worthy of separate evaluation:
The skin should ideally be super crispy/crunchy with just a bit of (mostly rendered) fat. It’s traditionally served by itself and often on parts of the meat. The solo skin can be eaten plain, with a bit of sugar, or dipped lightly in hoisin. It can also be placed inside the pancake roll (which I’ll call a “bing” as explained below).
The “meat” of a peking duck consists of three main sub-parts. The most important is the breast, which is served typically in one of two styles in LA (see below) with or without skin. Then there is thigh meat, and at many places the legs and occasionally the wings. The legs (and wings) are eaten mostly by themselves but the breast and thigh bits are generally designed to go inside the rolled pancake (“bing”). Ideally the meat should be juicy and delicious with a distinct duck taste but not an overwhelming gamey or barnyard quality.
A proper Peking Duck comes with ultra-thin delicate warm spring pancakes. In Chinese these are known as Chun Bing 春饼. They should be almost translucent, durable enough to wrap, and add just that touch of carbohydrate goodness to their task of binding together the contents. A “Pseudo” Peking Duck will often be served with steamed buns instead of pancakes. It’s not a Peking Duck. Even worse, some Chinese American places will attempt to serve “Pseudo” Peking Duck (it’s not roasted like a real Peking Duck either) with (store bought) Mexican Tortillas. Not only does this taste terrible, but it’s sacrilegious and offends the food gods.
Peking duck sauce isn’t a true hoisin, but we will call it that nonetheless. Peking duck sauce is a thick, fragrant sauce commonly used in as a glaze for meat, an addition to stir fry, or as dipping sauce. It is dark-coloured in appearance and sweet and salty in taste. Although regional variants exist, peking duck hoisin sauce is not exactly the same as the Cantonese hoisin, but instead is usually made from Tian Mian Jian (甜面酱), a chef specific blend of fermented yellow soybean paste, fermented wheat, sometimes fruit (like plums), and the oil from roasted ducks in additional to aromatic ingredients. Tian Mian Jian translates to sweet flour sauce and despite it often having the work “bean” in the description is not primary made from beans. It should be salty, savory, a bit sweet, medium thick, and have a hint of medicinal/herbal quality. It should not be too jammy, watery, or too sweet. Interestingly, it’s actually one of the most important elements of the pancake roll (“bing”) even though it should be used sparingly. One of the reasons “Pseudo” Peking Duck is often inferior is the use of Cantonese hoisin, which while good, is not the same. Peking duck sauce (hoisin) is used — sparingly — to flavor the rolled up pancake (bing) and and to flavor meat eaten on its own.
Accoutrements are anything else potentially added to the pancake roll (“bing”). Minimally it’s julienned cucumber and spring onion but pickles, melon, and other ingredients are frequently found in China. They make interesting and important combinations of flavor.
Since the rolled up pancake containing duck meat etc is such an important part of Peking Duck I’m going to give it a name, “bing.” Really, bing just flat cake in Chinese, and chun bing is a spring pancake, but I had to call it something. But regardless, the “bing” is the main event of any Peking Duck. It consists of the spring pancake, lightly coated in hoisin, meat, skin, and accoutrements then rolled up into a thin cigar-like shape, possibly folded over a bit at the ends. All of the above elements are required for a proper “bing” and it is very sensitive to flaws in any of them, particularly the pancake itself or hoisin. The score for this category is about the overall experience of the “bing,” not the individual components themselves. Hoisin should be used sparingly as it can overwhelm other flavors.
It’s long been possible to get a plate of the “bones” of your duck. This is the hacked up remains of the carcass. Depending on the technique and skill of the carver these can be merely a pile of roasted bones or contain quite a lot of tasty meat. More recently, LA Peking Duck restaurants will stir-fry these bones either with “spicy salt” or cumin. This last seems to be new and non traditional but it is delicious. These stir-fried versions are almost always better than the plate of hacked roasted bones, which is often inedible. One place even stir-fries the duck tails, which are fatty and delicious.
For decades it’s been an option to get parts of the meat that aren’t served on the main plates for the “bing” stir-fried or prepped in some manner. The most common are stir-fried with bean sprouts or lettuce cups. I’ve never liked the bean sprout version. The lettuce cups can be fine. Both have very minimal meat and I rarely order them. This is sometimes called “2 ways.”
Duck soup is often sold in a “3 ways” package with the main event duck, a stir-fry, and the soup. At best it’s a mild chicken-like (but duck) soup with tofu and cabbage. At best it can be pleasant and soothing. At worst the soup is very gamey and kinda nasty.
An overall score takes all the relevant above elements into account, presenting a score of Peking Duck quality at a particular restaurant.
In LA, there are three basic methods of presentation, which end up in two “on the table” styles:
In this presentation, only really performed at Chang’An in Tustin and Meizhou Dongpo, the whole duck is brought out and carved up table-side to the amusement of the guests. The breast skin is pulled off and the breast is sliced into ovals with some skin attached. It’s generally served on little white duck plates. The table-side presentation is not just for show — although it certainly is fun — but has material impact on the overall Peking Duck experience. Sliced duck meat, and particularly skin, has a lot of surface area and it cools rapidly. Ducks sliced in the kitchen often linger there for a few minutes and come to the table luke warm.
This is pretty much the same as the table-side style, but the carving is all done in the kitchen and the meat and skin are brought out on plates. It should be noted that one appears to get a lot more meat via the Beijing style carve, regardless of it being table-side or not. Generally there are two full plates of skin and meat as opposed to the bowl cut which seems to be closer to half a duck. Kitchen sliced duck will generally be cooler in temperature than table-side duck, and therefore will be drier and seem fattier (hot fat is always better).
Many “classic” LA Peking Duck restaurants bring the duck meat and skin out from the kitchen together on a single large plate. The skinless meat is packed into a soup bowl and then inverted in the center forming a dry packed meat dome. The best skin is cut into rectangular “petals” and arrayed around this dome to form a floral pattern. This system has an efficiency for the kitchen, and does seem to provide some of the crispiest skin in the city (as it’s separate) but the plate is sometimes cool by the time it arrives and the meat is usually lean and dry. Overall, I find it an inferior technique but it does have it’s advocates — namely those who prize the crispy skin above all. There is certainly less meat available via the bowl cut method as it seems to be reserved for the other dishes (that you also have to pay extra for). An additional problem with the bowl method is that there is frequently some delay between carving the duck, arranging the platter, and serving it. The net result is that bowl cut duck is usually not very warm, sometimes room temperature. Hot duck means hot duck fat and is much superior.
Overall ranking is just an order but all of the other categories are rated 1-10. Currently included are only Peking Duck specialty restaurants serving “Real” Peking Duck that I have visited recently and reviewed in detail.
Restaurant | Overall (of 7) | Bing | Skin | Meat | Pancake | Hoisin | Accoutrements |
Chang’an | 1 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 |
Meizhou Dongpo Arcadia | 2 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
Ray’s Duck House | 3 | 8.5 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 3 |
Duck House | 4 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
JiRong | 5 | 8 | 7.5 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
NC Peking Duck | 6 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 7 |
Happy Duck | 7 | 4 | 8.5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
Tasty Duck | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
Location: 13051 Newport Ave, Tustin, CA 92780. (949) 324-5558
Last visited: December 10, 2022
Meat was served 2 ways, both with some skin on the white meat, straight up = 10 where it was really juicy and full of flavor.
A second half of the meat was served smoked which was very different, a bit more like ham, and quite lovely = 9.
Location: 400 S Baldwin Ave #2045, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 538-4136
Last visited: December 4, 2022
Location: 4721 Chino Hills Pkwy, Chino Hills, CA 91709. (909) 606-9046
Last visited: January 26, 2022
The overall spread at Ray’s. They used the modern Beijing cut (in the kitchen) and brought it out on the usual two white duck plates. Ray’s serves a really first rate Peking Duck (even if the leg’s and wings were missing). All of the top three places (Ray’s included) are very good and slightly different. Here the skin is the best of any of the modern cut places being delightfully thick and crispy.
In addition, at lunch they have a really excellent dim sum service. Really excellent. The only problem is that the restaurant is located very far east, about 50 miles from Santa Monica! It’s a shame that 2 of the top 3 places are extremely far from LA proper. I have to come back and try the Cantonese banquet dishes and seafood.
Skin was thick, crunchy, airy, and quite spectacular, both the separate parts and the bits on the meat — it was all crunchy! = 9. I actually think this skin was even slightly better than the Happy Duck skin. The fact that the skin on the meat bits was also crunchy was incredible.
Meat was served mostly moon cut with the skin, some dark meat by itself. The wings and legs were missing. And while the meat wasn’t as juicy as MDP it was very very tasty with great duck flavor. Probably the third best meat = 7.
Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual. This was the weakest element as they had been cut the previous day (most likely) and were dry = 3. However, in the bing it was hard to tell.
Hoisin was great. It wasn’t goopy thick, nor too sweet, and had fabulous on-point flavor = 9.
Pancake was thin and translucent and there were plenty of them = 10.
The bing pancake together was excellent largely due to all the ingredients other than the scallions being first rate = 8.5/10.
Duck Soup was bland although at least not unpleasant = 4.
Bones were on the menu, but they didn’t think we needed them = N/A.
A full review of Ray’s is in the works.
Location: 501 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 284-3227
Last visited: December 22, 2022
Duck House is one of the SGV’s classic… well you guessed it… duck houses. Hostess and owner Catherine used to operate Tasty Duck but moved years ago to this location and she’s one of the best hostesses in town. Not only do they serve great Peking Duck but they have a wonderful all around menu. The decor is excellent in the height of 2000ish Monterey Park style and they have nice private rooms. They prepare the duck in the kitchen with a gas oven and then serve it using the SGV “bowl cut” style. Bones and even duck tails are available a number of ways as I’m sure are stir-fries and duck soup.
Skin was very thick and crispy, really delicious = 9.
Meat was dry without the skin, but fairly pleasant flavor = 6.
Pancake was thin and translucent, but a bit sticky = 8.
Hoisin was very good. Not too thick, sweet and savory, with a hint of medicinal tone but not off-putting = 8.
Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual plus a spread of pickles, mustard sauce, corn flakes, and raw garlic = 9. These extra four condiments were specially prepared for us by the owner, they aren’t always available, but is totally worth asking about!
The bing together was a 8/10 because the pancake/hoisin is the most important component.
Bones are very good both salty and cumin style.
The duck tails are to die for. Little bits of super crispy fat!
Duck wings are another option.
Extra bonus incredible service!
A full review of Duck House is available here.
Location: 8450 Valley Blvd Suite 115, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 280-8600
Last visited: November 1, 2022
In recent years, Ji Rong has risen to be one of Alhambra’s “go to” places for Peking Duck. You must order ahead here and they serve using the “bowl cut” method, but it’s very dependable and they offer a vast array of modern Beijing food that is quite excellent. This includes a variety of western and Sichuan influenced dishes. It’s very popular and feels very 2010s SGV. The “private rooms” are merely separated areas to the side of the main dining room and it can be quite loud. Service is very efficient but young employees sometimes seem at the mercy of the kitchen staff. They have three ways and all that.
Ji Rong skin was very crispy and some of the pieces that were thick were about as good as Happy Duck, however there was a slight funk to it so -1. point for that = 7. Thick pieces maybe an 8.
Meat was packed in a bowl, no skin. White meat was medium dry, also with a slight funk = 4, but the dark meat was better = 7. They do offer the legs with the main dish.
Pancake was thin and resilient = 9.
Hoisin was very good with really nice balance, not perfect, but extremely good = 8.
Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual = 7.
The bing together was a 8/10 because the pancake/hoisin is the most important component of that.
A full review of Ji Rong can be found here.
Location: 17515 Colima Rd Unit A, City of Industry, CA 91748. (626) 839-0000
Last visited: October 27, 2022
In just the last few years there have been more and more great Chinese restaurant openings in the “far SGV” (Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights, City of Industry). NC Peking Duck isn’t the fanciest, but it is a Peking Duck specialty place with a broad menu of Northern Chinese Cuisine and very modern Beijing Style duck. They have a couple of minimalist private rooms and excellent service as well as many great dishes. The duck itself is served in the Beijing Style, but carved in the kitchen. Ducks should be pre-ordered.
NC skin was ultra-thin and crispy, and gets an extra point for some of the pieces having some meat/fat on them = 9 for fatty pieces and 7 for regular ones.
Meat was juicy and flavorful with skin on = 8. On some occasions they plate in the really “classic” double duck dish style.
Pancake was thin and resilient = 9.
Hoisin was tasty but “goopy”, extra thick, and with a bit too much medicinal tone = 5.
Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual = 7. Before the pandemic they offered this incredible 9 way deluxe accoutrement spread, which would have earned a 10! Hopefully they bring it back.
The bing together was a 6/10, dinged mostly by the hoisin.
They offer cumin bones.
Or very meaty “chopped” bones.
A full review of NC Peking Duck is available here.
Location: 18210 Gale Ave, City of Industry, CA 91748. (626) 581-4747
Last visited: October 27, 2022
Happy Duck is also located out in the far SGV. As a restaurant I’m not that much of a fan. It’s just a little mom and pop place with no atmosphere and a fairly boring mixed “duck house” and Cantonese menu. Others like it better. It’s not bad at all, just not exciting to me (no spicy dishes). However they do offer “Real” Peking Duck and it’s pretty decent. Service is very friendly. Ducks should be preordered.
Happy Duck skin is unusually crispy and delicious, almost spongy = 8.5 (some people in our group think a 9). This skin has its devotees and some people thing it’s the best skin in the city — certainly it’s very good skin. They have a special “torching” technique here that crisps up the skin.
Meat was dry and served packed into a rice bowl and served as a dome (no skin) = 5.
Pancake was house-made but chewy and uneven, really disappointing = 5.
Hoisin was very sweet but tasty, with a strong medicinal taste = 6.
Accoutrements featured fresh spring onions but flabby cucumbers = 4.
Bing with everything rolled up was a 4/10, dinged hugely for the pancake and hoisin.
Like most duck places they have duck soup.
And duck and bean-sprout stir-fry, which is pretty bland and dry.
A lot of duck houses also have eel sticky rice and this is actually the best version of this dish I’ve ever had. Eel was perfectly cooked and the rice was great too.
A full review of Happy Duck is available here.
Location: 1039 E Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 572-3885
Last visited: November 16, 2022
Tasty Duck was one of our “go to” duck places for around a decade and it’s located in a small, crowded, not-particularly-attractive space in the center of Alhambra. Ducks should be preordered and they traditionally served in the “bowl cut” style. The last time we went they had new owners and tried to cut table-side in the Beijing Style and made a real hack job of the duck. They offer 3 ways and we did “up the ante” by bringing half a pound of fresh caviar.
Skin was very thin, oily, and not very crispy. And there wasn’t that much of it = 4.
Meat was juicy, but was gamey, luke warm, and not particularly appealing. Attached skin was soggy = 5.
Pancake was thin and translucent = 9.
Hoisin was absolutely first rate. Not too thick, sweet and savory, with a hint of medicinal tone but not off-putting = 9.
Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual, but extra point for sugar and melon = 8.
The bing together was a 6/10 because the pancake/hoisin is the most important component of that. Caviar was BYOC so not normally available.
Duck soup was terrible with a barn-like flavor = 2.
Duck stir-fry. Bleh. I don’t get this dish.
Extra bonus for table side carving — although it was a duck massacre!
A full review of Tasty Duck is available here.
As the Southern California duck situation evolves I will continue to update this page. In addition I may list places with “Pseudo” Peking Duck and revisit fusion restaurants with Peking Duck like Merois, Mr. Chow, and Chinois. There are also a couple places I haven’t been in a long time, like Shin Beijing, which serve a Peking Duck somewhere between “real” and “pseudo” or just some places like Moon House that serve passable (real) Peking Duck but are of a lesser status so I haven’t rolled into the grid.
Last Updated: January 3, 2023.
sharethis_button(); ?>Location: 8728 Valley Blvd #101, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 307-0203
Date: May 29, 2022
Cuisine: Cambodian
Rating: Awesome meats!
We Hedonists have been going to Tai Siu for years. I think I first came here in 2015.
But they recently moved into a new Valley Blvd space.
I guess it’s lucky they did!
This is the main dining room.
But we set up in the small private room off to the side.
Herbs for the next three of dishes. Thai Basil is great.
Sweetened fish sauce.
Mega crispy deep fried wontons. Really nice crispy texture and delicious.
Super crispy deep fried spring rolls. Fabulous with the herbs etc. Very fried. Very crispy.
Omelet with shrimp, pork, and bean sprouts. Really delicious with the herbs and sauce.
Chicken and Chicken Liver Cambodian Salad. Very nice dressing but the unusual star of the show were the small chunks of liver that gave it an unusual flavor punch.
Crispy fried Garlic Quail. Extremely crispy and so delicate one could just crunch through the bones. Delicious.
Almost every dish came with this salad of greens, onions, and a pleasant dressing to help wash things down.
Dressing-like salt and pepper sauce.
French style venison. More flavor and a bit chewier than the usual beef.
Goat Curry. Delightfully balanced curry (I was drinking it) with tons of flavor. Potatoes in there with the goat to absorb the sauce.
French bread to dip in the curry.
Crispy fried garlic bait fish. Quite delicious and salty with perhaps a hint of curry flavor, or maybe because I was also eating the curry.
Spicy hot pot. This broth was actually quite spicy. The following proteins and herbs were added.
Little squids and thick cut soft beef with egg for the hot pot. First we added the squids then we mixed the egg and beef and added that with a bunch of herbs. All delicious.
Herbs for the hot pot.
Clams with a very odd white pepper and corn starch sauce. Clams themselves were good but the sauce wasn’t my favorite.
Deep fried crispy frog legs. This was some fabulous frog. Super crispy and light (but thick) batter with delicate and moist frog. Boney though as usual.
Hypnotiq blue, chocolate peanut butter, and lemon cookie from the archives. The chocolate was a bit freezer burned.
I had “forgotten” how good Tai Siu is. This was a really fabulous meal filled with bold flavors and well balanced cooking. Service was great and overall a total winner.
sharethis_button(); ?>Restaurant: Happy Valley Village / Shanlitun
Location: 1655 S Azusa Ave E, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745. (626) 669-8406
Date: May 26, 2022
Cuisine: North East Chinese
Rating: One of a kind
This unusual “hot pot” restaurant in Hacienda Heights specializes in lamb spine and goose hot pot from the region just west of Korea.
It’s located in the usual kind of mini-mall and is as far as we can tell one of a kind in California — in that no one else offers this cuisine.
It has a pretty nice build out.
And a colorful decor. Notice the hoods over each table.
And each table has this built in super hot pot.
The menu.
Five Vegetable Noodles. Mustard and tangy sauce with mung bean noodles.
Cold beef with garlic sauce. Sauce was great. Beef is dense and pastrami-like.
Sweet and Sour Crispy Pork. Very breaded. Not actually sweet enough. A bit mild in flavor.
Lamb spine hot pot with mushrooms and eggplant.
Add in pork belly and pork ribs.
Add in crystal noodles (wide).
And corn cakes cooked on the side.
Steaming up.
Spine had a ton of flavor. Very boney, but worth it. Ribs were the best and pork belly also great. Sauce/broth had huge depth of flavor.
Inside of the corn bread.
This is a pretty focused restaurant where the stew is more or less the thing, excepting the fairly simple set of “appetizers.” But the stew is pretty darn tasty. There are the 5 variants: fish, goose, cabbage & pork, chicken, and lamb spine. You can’t really try more than one per visit so we’ll have to come back sometime and try at least the goose.
For more LA dining reviews click here.
sharethis_button(); ?>Restaurant: DaLongYi Hot Pot 大龙燚火锅
Location: 250 W Valley Blvd L, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 872-6690
Date: May 20, 2022
Cuisine: Chinese Szechuan Hot Pot
Rating: Very solid spicy hot pot place
Da Long Yi Hot Pot is a relatively new spicy hot pot branch of some Chinese chain, in the Chongking style, but from Chengdu specifically.
It’s located located on the second floor of this classic mall right next door to Shanghai #1 Seafood Village.
The interior has a decent but modern industrial build out.
The “snacks” are extremely minimal.
The sauce bar section is decent, totally workable, but not as good as a few other chains.
I made my usual pair of sesame and vinegar based sauces.
Fried Pork. Super nice fry with juicy pork. Great!
Half spicy, half bone broth. The bone is boring, of course.
Smooth beef. Thick slices coated in egg. Very tender and nice.
Pork meat balls. Great, not those dense packaged ones.
Luncheon Meat. Always one of my favorites.
Fish Balls stuffed with Roe. Great.
Angus Beef.
Beef Tongue.
Lamb Shoulder.
Assorted Tofu.
Assorted Mushrooms.
Lotus root. Love that crunchy texture.
Napa cabbage. Because this is always the favorite veggie, we decided to just order it.
This turned out to be a surprisingly nice spicy hot pot. It’s “almost” as good as Shancheng Lameizi or Chun La Hao, but not quite. Build out isn’t as attractive as either of those. Sauce/snack bar is a bit worse. Actual hot pot food quality was quite good, basically equal. Weirdly, they were completely empty. One employee I think and we were the only customers. Food was great though.
Update on this awesome place can be found here.
Ultimate Condiment Box. Tons of interesting things to put in the duck pancake, including sweet and spicy sauces, sugar, candied fruits, melon, etc.