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Paradise Dynasty Costa Mesa

Sep30

Location: 3333 Bristol Street, BLM, 1 Bloomingdale’s, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. (714) 617-4630

Date: February 17, 2022

Cuisine: Chinese XLB

Rating: Way better than DTF

I went twice to branches of Paradise Dynasty in Shanghai and really enjoyed it. This chain is like a much more interesting Din Tai Fung. Frankly, I don’t exactly get why DTF is so popular except perhaps that it’s a “gateway drug” to more modern Chinese food and is just “easy” for Americans.

Somewhat annoyingly Paradise Dynasty’s first US branch is in Costa Mesa. Well it could be worse, at least it’s in driving distance but I don’t go down there that often. In fact, it’s in the South Coast Plaza mall. I hate malls.

Build out is nice but it’s spoiled by that whole mall atmosphere.

The menu is epic with quite a bit of variety.

Spinach and Vermicelli tossed with Vinaigrette. A “salad” of sorts. Pleasant.

Specialty Dynasty Xiao Long Bao. These are why one comes to PD: the 8 flavored XLB.

Here is the “key” to the flavors.

White is “signature” (classic pork). Delicate and excellent. The skins on all of these are very thin and lovely.

Red is Szechuan Hot Pot and it actually tastes like hot pot broth!

Grey is Garlic pork, and it’s pretty garlicky.

Yellow is Cheese. Interesting.

Green is Luffa Gourd with Chinese Wine (and pork of course). Mellow.

Orange is Crab Roe (and pork). Lovely briney flavor.

Tan is Foie Gras (and pork). Tastes like foie.

Black is Black Truffle (and pork). Probably my least favorite actually, but not truffle oil.

Ginger for the XLB. One adds soy sauce and vinegar to the dish for dipping.

Hot and Sour Soup with Shrimp. Top notch.

Radish Pastry. Lovely flakey (probably from lard) texture.

Prawn and Kurobuta Pork Wonton in Chili Vinaigrette. Classic, light, and delicious.

Noodle with Prawn and Kurobuta Pork Wonton in Signature Pork Bone Soup.

A single portion. The broth was basically like Chinese Tonkotsu.

Stir-fried Shredded Pork in Black Bean Sauce served with Chinese Crepe.

This is the “Crepe” (Spring Pancake). This was an excellent version of this very salty/savory dish.

Ma Po Tofu with Pork. First rate version actually. Not super numbing, but very good.

Scrambled Egg White with Fish and Dried Scallop.

Breaking the egg. I really liked the soft texture and mild but very savory flavor of this dish.

Stir-fried French Bean with Minced Pork and Preserved Olive Vegetable. Nice version of this classic too.

Kung Pao Chicken.

Overall, Paradise Dynasty is very good. I wouldn’t really consider it a dinner restaurant where one would go to get hearty wok classics. Yeah, they have a few, but that’s not their strong point. However, the flavored XLB are unique and absolutely first rate and the noodles and other dimsum like dishes are really good. Only downside is having to walk in a mall. Blech. I haven’t walked inside a mall in years (probably over a decade) to actually shop.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese Food, dumplings, OC, Orange County, Paradise Dynasty, Shanghai Cuisine, XLB

SGV Style – Deferred Maintenance

Jul08

Restaurant: Shanghai #1 Seafood Village [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 250 W Valley Blvd. San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 282-1777

Date: June 2, 2019

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Very authentic Shanghai style

The San Gabriel Valley is a veritable treasure trove of Asian dining, particularly regional Chinese. Shanghai #1 Seafood Village is the LA branch of a high end Shanghai chain specializing in banquet dining.

The decor is Stark meets Chinatown. Interestingly, as cheesy as it is, it’s fairly authentic. It is however, some 7 years after I first went here, looking a bit “shabby.” This is typical of Chinese establishments as they don’t seem to do a lot of maintenance.

We had the private dining room tonight. Mysteriously, even though it was a Sunday night and the place was EMPTY, at first they gave us a table in the main area. We had to ask for the private room. It’s much better though.

Tonight we had a slightly more wine focused group — non of the non-drinking riff-raff — and an attempt to get some interesting menu items to go with it.

The menu is like a giant full color fashion catalog for food, but I thought I’d show a couple pages by way of example.

From my cellar: 2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Rosé Brut. VM 96. The 2006 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rosé is at once rich and refined, a simply fabulous Champagne Rosè I won’t soon forget. Intensely perfumed, with the Pinot Noir-derived red berry and cranberry flavors that are not just concentrated, but also remarkably pure. It is one of the better Rosé bubbles I have had in the last year.

Marinated sweet turnip. Delicious and crunchy.

Shanghai style smoked fish. Dry and smokey with a sweet soy glaze.

2009 Dom Pérignon Champagne. VM 94+. The 2009 Dom Pérignon is open, seductive and radiant, as it has always been. Soft curves, mid-weight structure and tons of plain allure make the 2009 impossible to resist in its youth. This bottle, the best I have tasted so far, offers a distinc citrus and floral-driven profile that adds a good deal of brightness. Above all else, the 2009 is a gorgeous Champagne to drink now and over then next few decades. This is the first time in the house’s history that a vintage was not released sequentially.

Vegan tofu “duck”. Not exactly duck like, but a delicious beancurd with a nice firm texture.

Bamboo shoots. Delicious and crunchy. Delicate flavors.

Lotus root stuffed with sweet rice in a tea marinate. Very interesting texture and a lovely tea flavor. But a bit cloyingly sweet this time around.

2010 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. VM 95+. The 2010 Chablis Les Clos is all about understatement and balance. White floral notes meld into white stone fruit in this utterly gracious Chablis. Clos can at times be fleeting and elusive, and there is certainly some of that in the 2010. Still, it is impossible to miss the wine’s textural finesse and sheer overall balance. I will not be surprised if the 2010 continues to get better in bottle.

agavin: singing!

Braised sea cucumber with brown sauce. Ever since I had good sea cucumber in Shanghai, I’ve been jonesing for it — and this was certainly delicious. Maybe not AS good as the one at Shanghai Tang, but still yummy.

Hot and sour seafood soup. I thought this would be more different. It was pretty much hot and sour soup (maybe with a bit of crab or something in it). Still tasty though and I do love hot and sour.

1996 Nicolas Joly Clos de la Coulée de Serrant. 92 points. A deep yellow/light gold center and clear rims. The medium+ intensity nose offered up ripe pear, tangerine, hazel nut, and some minerals. In the mouth, this wine had a lovely jelly-like texture. It was a bit heavy on the wood at first but this mostly blended in with time. It had good acidity and very good length after extended air. This developed extremely well. I know that this bottle got several hours of air before we started drinking it an it needed a couple more to show its best.

Lobster steamed with onion, garlic, and ginger. Very nice, light, delicious lobster prep that showed off the lobster without hiding it under a layer of fry.

Cabbage. I love Chinese cabbage.

House Special Stone Pot Fried Rice.

2013 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis. VM 90. Pale, bright red. Inviting perfume of raspberry, mocha, coffee, brown spices and wild herbs. Sweet and supple but vibrant too, with harmonious acidity framing the flavors of raspberry, pepper and fresh herbs. Finishes with nicely refined tannins.

Assorted Seafood in Abalone Sauce. There were whole abalone in here, jellyfish, more sea cucumber, a brown thing I have NO IDEA but with a beef-like texture (it was delicious), and quail or duck eggs. Interesting dish. Very Chinese (full of luxury ingredients). Not as good as the standalone sea cucumber, but still great.

2011 David Duband Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Aux Thorey. VM 90-92. Dark red/black stone fruits, wild flowers, sage, tar, rosemary and leather are some of the many notes that flesh out in the 2011 Nuits St. Georges Aux Thorey. The 2011 is soft and sensual to the core, with a caressing, expressive personality that offers considerable appeal, even at this early stage. There is much to like here.

Shanghai style sweet and sour fried fish (squirrel fish). This was one of those goopy straight up orange sweet and sour sauces, but it was awesome. Particularly dripped over rice. And the method of flaying the meat out and frying it created a much crisper effect, even if the appearance is a bit horror movie.

2003 Marc Sorrel Hermitage. VM 90-93. Good full ruby. Aromas of blackberry, cassis, menthol and bitter chocolate. Extremely ripe and impressively dense (the alcohol is 15. 2%), with port-like flavors of black fruits and dark chocolate. Very rich but just this side of heavy. Finishes with powerful but fine tannins. Impressive for this classique bottling. This will be approachable early but has the stuffing to age.

Special Shanghai BBQ red pork. Oh so fatty and oh so tasty!

Shanghai Whole Duck. Not what I expected, and kinda crispy and deep fried, but with a delicious smokey taste and very tender.

2016 Domaine Lucien Boillot et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Corbeaux.

XLB (soup dumplings). Nice versions, always delicious!

Pan fried Shanghai Style pork dumplings. Have to order these here, the juicy meat inside is amazing.

String beans with XO sauce. Nice version of the classic.

Peanut Chocolate Caramel Ganache Reese’s Gelato -Sweet Peanut Base with house-made Valrhona Chocolate Caramel Ganache and mini Reese’s Peanutbutter Cups! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — the ganache is delicious but the 80% Valrhona I used swamps out the caramel — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #reeses #peanutbuttercup #ganache #Valrhona

Blackberry Mango Amaro Sorbetto! — like a frozen aperitivo — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — although I do need to improve at decorating in the Pozzetti –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #mango #blackberry #amaro

Mangoberry Cheesecake Gelato — raspberry/mango cream-cheese base with blackberry/mango ripple and house-made graham cracker crumble — 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 #cheesecake #mango #raspberry #blackberry #GrahamCracker #coulis #ripple #creamcheese

Chess Chocolate Oreo Gelato — Valrhona medium chocolate base with layers of Valrhona Ivoire white chocolate ganache and crumbled Oreos — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #cheesecake #chocolate #valrhona #WhiteChocolate #oreo #chess

The wine lineup.

Overall, this was a really great meal. First rate Chinese and quite authentic and typical of high end banquet meals in China. I’ve been here many times and finally enjoyed getting some “tricked out” dishes like sea cucumber. They were great. Service was good. The place is QUIET these days. Maybe they subsist on dimsum, but it’s a shame as this Shanghai banquet food is delicious.

I flighted the food into waves and it was quiet successful in terms of pacing and size. We also had only 8-9 people which is perfect for both table spacing and dish sharing.

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

They have a Karaoke setup in the private room!

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Gelato, pork, SGV, Shanghai #1 Seafood Village, Wine, XLB

Shanghailander Arcadia

Jun14

Restaurant: Shanghailander Palace [1, 2]

Location: 1440 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 348-8866

Date: May 19, 2019 and January 18, 2020

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Excellent – best Shanghai food I’ve had in the US

Hedonist trips to the SGV and its requisite Chinese adventures are among my favorite dinners. Shanghailander specializes in Shanghai style cuisine (obviously). We’ve been out many times to their Hacienda Heights location, and last time the owner invited us to try their newer spot in Arcadia — which is closer so no complaints there.

Chinese frontage built into what may have been some kind of family restaurant in the 50s or 60s.

The dining room.

But the Arcadia one has several awesome private rooms!

Cold appetizer plate (5/19/19 & 1/18/20) to start.

Greens in a mustardy sauce to the left. Sweet meat and tofu to the lower left. Hainan chicken on the bottom.

Mushrooms to the right.

Perhaps an eggplant to the right.

Crunchy marinated sweet turnip in the upper right and pork jelly at the top.

Jellyfish in the upper left.

Cold Shanghai style duck (5/19/19). Excellent and very juicy.

Sautéed shrimp (1/18/20). Simple but tasty. I’ve had this dish dozens of times at many Shanghai restaurants and this was for sure one of the best versions I’ve had in the US.

Sea cucumber with shrimp roe (1/18/20). Sea cucumber, the white stuff was roe, shrimp and fish. Weird soft textures but very pleasant. Not exactly a looker, but quite tasty.

Sea cucumber (1/18/20) — nice texture, odd mild garlic and grain sauce.

Shrimp with pineapple in mustard sauce (5/19/19). Close to walnut shrimp, but with a distinctly different flavor.

Shanghai style crab with rice cakes (5/19/19). Really nice garlic and ginger sauce (delicious with the cakes).

Seasonal special: Crab with sticky rice (1/18/20) — really nice. sticky rice has mild but good flavor with sweet Chinese sausage.

Peking/Shanghai duck (1/18/20). Sometimes peking duck isn’t so hot at non Beijing places, but this one was excellent with a rich thick hoisin sauce and pancakes (way better than buns).

The whole assembly.

Duck soup (1/18/20). This was actually a tasty duck soup! It was rich, not overwhelmingly salty, and tasted of actual duck. There were also big chunks of juicy meat. Usually I hate duck soup, but this was quite enjoyable.

Shanghai style eel in pot (5/19/19 & 1/18/20). This was delicious. Soft and rich in a savory slightly sweet sauce.

Shaking Beef or French Style beef (5/19/19). Excellent juicy beef with lots of beefy flavor.

Fried fish with herbs (5/19/19 & 1/18/20). Lovely fried fish. We always order this.

Shanghai style braised pork in brown sauce (5/19/19). A huge hock of pig that falls off the bone. This is about as good as roast pork gets.

Cut up a bit. It’s a lean meat.

Meatballs stuffed with egg (5/19/19). Very unusual dish (here, typical in Shanghai). A kind of fried meat ball with a gooey duck egg yolk INSIDE!

Soy sauce or 3 cup chicken with chestnuts (5/19/19). Not always my favorite dish but this example was really good.

Jellyfish with cucumbers (5/19/19). We loved this dish so much we ordered another (larger) one. Awesomely tangy with a textural contrast between the crunchy cucumbers and chewy jellyfish.

Braised eggplant with salty fish flavor (1/18/20) — sweet sticky sauce and distinct bonito flake flavor. Almost Japanese in style like miso eggplant.

Grandmother’s special pork (1/18/20) — super tender, fatty, delicous with that thick sticky sauce

Pea tendrils with garlic (5/19/19). At first it was a little short on the garlic and we mentioned it and they remade it with even more garlic — awesome.

Shanghailander pan fried buns (5/19/19 & 1/18/20). A fried version of same. So hot they were hard to eat, but oh so tasty.

Shanghai steamed dumplings (XLB) (5/19/19 & 1/18/20). Always one of my favorites. The dough was great, the meat needed a hair more flavor, but I still ate about 6.

Nocciola Espresso Caramello Gelato (5/19/19) — A classic nocciola base made with Pure PGI Piedmont hazelnut paste and then layered with a house-made Espresso Caramel Ganache then topped with fresh roasted hazelnuts — 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 #hazelnut #ganache #dulcy #ChocolateTruffle #nocciola #caramel #caramello

Sicilian Tiramisu Gelato (5/19/19) –attempting to reinvent Tiramisu with Sicilian flavors: Pure DOGC “Bronte” pistachio paste gelato base with lady fingers soaked in house-made orange syrup and layered with house-made “cannoli filling” (sweetened fresh ricotta with cinnamon and mini dark chocolate chips) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — this one will be a test of concept: too much? –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #pistachio #sicily #ricotta #chocolate #orange #ladyfingers #tiramisu

Mud Pie Gelato (1/18/20) — Hot brewed espresso gelato with house-made milk chocolate coffee ganache and crushed Oreos — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — the gluttonous classic made even more gluttonus! — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #chocolate #valrhona #espresso #coffee #oreo #MudPie

Peppered Lemongrass Ginger Creme Brûlée Gelato (1/18/20) — A blended milk and Thai coconut cream base steeped with lemongrass and ginger and then juiced up with yuzu and black pepper. For sugar, I used coconut palm sugar and even torched the top! — created 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 #lemongrass #ginger #CremeBrûlée #BlackPepper #coconut #yuzu

Our 5/19/19 visit to Arcadia was insanely good. Almost every dish was on point and many were unusual. Food was really really good. Service was great too but this was certainly the best Shanghai style food I’ve had outside of China — and this is just a couple months after my most recent visit to Shanghai and incredible means like Shanghai Tang. The private rooms are better here, but we forgot to preorder some dishes, like roast duck, plus they had lots of other interesting things. So next time we will have to really up the ante for a major banquet. They are super nice and I’m sure will knock it out of the park.

Our 1/18/20 visit was just as good — if not better — with a great menu (picked by Bonnie W and I) and a more focused set of wines. Still the best Shanghai place I know of in the US.

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Wines from 1/18/20:

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Arcadia, BYOG, dumplings, Gelato, hedonists, pork, SGV, Shanghai Cuisine, Shanghailander, Wine, XLB

Crawling with an Old Friend

Feb27

The SGV (or San Gabriel Valley) of Los Angeles is not only a Chinese Food mecca (best in America) but lends itself to the peculiar but extremely fun tradition of the “food crawl” or as we sometimes call it the “SGV Parlay.” This involves heading out there and visiting multiple locations in the same day. Everything is so close together and the density is very high.

My oldest friend, Brent, and I have been eating Chinese food together for about 40 years so on this particular Sunday night (January 27, 2019) when he was in town we went out at about 4pm for the crawl.

First stop the Hunan Chili King and late Lucky Noodle King mini mall. This is a classic old school SGV mall, probably from the 70s.

Here’s HCK, the best Hunan joint I’ve been to in the state.

They were decorated for Chinese New Year.

And here’s Brent.

Hunan style cold cucumber salad with marinated cucumber, Cilantro, and chilies (everything has chilies). This was really tasty, and one of the least spicy dishes. The marinate lent it a slight cool quality. Very salty though.

Snails with preserved vegetables. This dish was amazing! Sure it’s an “advanced” dish, and incredibly spicy. Hottest dish we had that night by far. Super deep potent heap. The combo of the chewy snails and the unusual pickled green beans (with their crunch) was stunning.

This might have been our most expensive stop too. Lol.

Next over to King Kho Bo for some dried snacks like dried seasoned mushrooms and whacky New Year’s coconut strips.

Then into this weird low rent mall. Like a cheap mall in China as there are all sorts of “stores” tucked away inside this vast drop ceiling hall. Pretty ugly! And classic SGV charm (actually is fairly charming).

Speaking of charm, this guy in the parking lot drives a manga rice rocket!

Next we moved over to another (newer) minimall on Valley. I’ve eaten here at Mian, Mei Long Village, J &J, and Tasty Dining! This is in the heart of Alahambra and very dense.

Mian, where we decided to get some Szechuan on, gets a serious line. About 30 min at 7pm on Sunday for 2!

This place is much newer (2 years) and popular with the young Chinese couples on cel phones — wait, that’s all young Chinese (and other) couples.

Weird cold tea.

Slightly fermented spicy cabbage adorn the table — like Szechuan kimchee.

The awesome cold smoked plum juice — so good (too much sugar when you guzzle it though).

Egg custard with ground pork. One of those delicate fluffy egg custards covered in savory ground pork. Yum! I really enjoy the texture (and taste) of this kind of custard and with the pork was fabulous.

Beef in chili sauce. Quite spicy, dry, and nice.

Szechuan Cold Noodles.

You mix up the above cold noodles and eat. These were superlative. Nice noodle texture, good weight, and this scrumptious tangy chili sauce. Loved them. I adore when the acid balance is right and these really had it down. A bit of nuttiness, but not nearly as nutty or heavy as a dan dan — different, but great.

Then we went across the mini mall to the Foot Soak for a 1 hour Foot Massage ($20!).

This particular FM “spa” is one of my favorites because the guys on staff are strong and do a good job. There is NO GLAMOUR here. In fact, it has the oddest (not for the SGV but to the uninitiated) ambiance. The chairs are packed together almost touching and period Chinese dramas (in Chinese, of course) play on the TV. Plus, quite a number of people just hang out or sleep. The massage is good though and the price right ($20 is for a full 60 min).

Now on to our third minimall, well actually welcome to the Maxi-Mall. The California Mini-Mall’s GIANT SGV cousin.

You could spend all day in this mall, there are so many restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, and massage places. But since we’d done two spicy spots, we figured we’d finish up with some awesome carbs. Juicy Dumpling is upstairs.

They have a glassed in dumpling workshop!

Brent pounds the hard stuff — tea!

XLB (xao lao bao) “sweet”. Also known as Juicy Pork Dumpling. Really nice version of the classic. Soft skin. Juicy. Good filling. Maybe not as good as a Din Tai Fun, but great still. They have two types here — savory and sweet. We ordered the sweet because it’s more unusual. I kinda like it, although maybe not as much as the savory.

Pork and Shrimp Dumpling. Great version of the pork and shrimp, with delicate but pronounced flavors. Like the savory pork only version but with a shrimp inside!

Giant Crabmeat Juicy Dumpling. You eat this with a straw! People said this was a gimmick, but the slurry of crab and pork inside this thing was to die for. And after you burn your tongue slurping it out you can cut it up and eat the shell like pasta.

Here with the straw — so good, just watch you don’t burn your tongue.

As our final (7th!) stop we wanted some boba tea. There were options to choose from, like Boba Ave but we went instead to:

Whacky name.

Typical young clientele.

Slick modern (industrial) decor.

They double as internet cafe and offer unusual savory treats. Brent joked that “real men” would polish off the evening with an egg and prosciutto waffle — couldn’t manage it.

Instead just got a milk boba tea (small for me).

Overall, a total blast of a night. It’s really hard to convey how fun these crawls are — which is the purpose of this post. It feels kinda like teleporting to a section of a some slightly (American) Chinese city for an evening. Everything is so close together and if you like Chinese food the density of places is off the chart. We walked by a good 15-20 other places that looked delicious, some of which I have been to, many not.

This whole adventure was probably about $120 for the both of us too, including the Foot Massage and tip. Food was probably $80. With 4 people it would be even cheaper (each) and one could try more dishes. Hard to crawl with more than about 4-6.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, crawl, dumplings, Hunan, parlay, SGV, Shanghai Cuisine, Sichuan, Szechuan, XLB

Capital Dim Sum

Dec03

Restaurant: Capital Seafood Beverly Hills

Location: 50 N La Cienega Blvd #130, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. (310) 855-1234

Date: October 10, 2018 and August 1, 2019

Cuisine: Chinese Dim Sum

Rating: Good for this far west

Finding great Chinese west of the SGV has long been a problem, but the “great wall” between east and west has been cracking with lots and lots of new openings closer to (my) home.

Capital is the latest SGV place to move west, occupying the Newport Seafood Beverly Hills location that failed to work out. Not that I love even the original Newport, but Capital is fairly straight up banquet / dimsum Cantonese.

The space looks pretty Chinese, even in Beverly Hills.

Coves. Gotta have the coves!

The made to order dimsum Menu.

Sauces were great. The chili sauce and XO both awesome.

Cold Spicy jellyfish (8/1/19). Nice chew and great Szechuan-style spice flavor.

Shrimp and pork shui mai. Classic, but well done versions.

Spinach Mix Veggie Dumplings. We had a vegetarian in the house.

Shrimp Har Gow. Very nice, not too sticky either and kept together.

Tofu Skin Roll with shrimp. I like these bean curd wrapped thingies. The goji berries were a different touch.

Beancurd stuffed with shrimp (8/1/19). Great spongy textural play.

XLB (steamed pork dumpling). Solid versions of this amazing dish. A touch pasty, but oh so good.

Shrimp, scallop, and peanut dumplings. Dumplings always rule.

Baked BBQ Pork Pastry. Super rich lovely pastry and sweet BBQ pork.

Baked Honey BBQ Pork Bun (8/1/19). This is my favorite of the pork bun styles with the sweet bread stuffed with delicious sweet BBQ pork.

Stuffed Shrimp and Scallop Ball (8/1/19). The inside of this fried fellow is a shrimp and scallop cake/paste. Delicious with the provided mayo.

Steamed Cilantro Rice Noodle (Chow fun). I’ve never had it with just cilantro. A little bland but the rice noodle texture was excellent.

Minced Beef Rice Noodle (8/1/19). Tastier than the cilantro version.

Taiwanese Shrimp Egg Roll. I really liked these super hot, ultra fried, mega crispy cigarette-like spring rolls.

Deep fried mushroom egg roll.

Rice Noodle with XO Sauce. I loved these chewy rice cakes smothered in spicy XO sauce. Very soothing texture and a lot of salty umami XO flavor.

Lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice (8/1/19). Classic and filling.

Dried Shrimp and Pork Dumpling. The chewy fried bomb shaped dumplings were excellent.

Shrimp and chives dumpling (pan fried). Also greasy fried flavor.

Steamed Chinese Broccoli (8/1/19). Pretty tasty.

Roasted half duck (on the house). Really succulent and moist. Delicious.

Salt and pepper eggplant. Fried and salty and very hot (temperature) but delicious.

Seafood with Pan Fried Egg noodles (8/1/19). I’ve loved this dish for over 40 years!

On my 8/1/19 visit I brought these home-made (by me) gelati:

Strawberry Margarita Sorbetto! — like a frozen cocktail — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Strawberries from Avignon, blended with fresh lime, Reposado Tequila and Cointreau –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #strawberry #Margarita #cocktail #Tequila #Cointreau

Cioccolato Fondente Torrone Gelato — I’ve been working to squeeze the most chocolate humanly possible into a dairy gelato. This is 70% cocoa Valrhona and 100% Callebaut Chocolates — a total of 22.5% cocoa by weight — extremely intense — offset slightly by Italian soft nougat (torrone) — 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 #peanut #chocolate #valrhona #Callebaut #torrone

Overall, Capital Seafood is middling level dimsum for the SGV but excellent for Beverly Hills. Almost certainly the best west of the SGV. One of the only rivals is The Palace, which is good, but still the cart format. The manager/owner was awesome. Service was very attentive, but a little weird in that a few of the girls hovered uncomfortably close. They were trying though.

On our second visit service was clean and unobtrusive. Food was fresh and tasty. Really quite good. Not the BEST dimsum in the known world but still first rate.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Brunch, Cantonese cuisine, Capital Seafood, Dim sum, dimsum, dumplings, hedonists, lunch, XLB

Eating Shanghai – Paradise Dynasty

Oct03

Restaurant: Paradise Dynasty

Location: 3/F, 8 Shiji Dadao, near Lujiazui Huan Lu 世纪大道8号3楼, 近陆家嘴环路

Date: August 8, 2018

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Great XLB, everything else is just ok

We got in late to Shanghai and so we just popped over from our hotel into the IFC mall…

Which is like a giant high end Beverly Center, in search of dumplings!

Fortunately for us, the mall’s many restaurants include Paradise Dynasty, which is like Din Tai Fung’s more colorful cousin.

See what I mean?

Big contemporary space.

And a glassed in kitchen.

Salad rolls. Yeah, some kind of spinach-like green rolled up — you dip it in the sesame dressing!

Plain noodles for Mr. Picky.

Steamed baby shrimp. The Shanghai classic, a bit bland.

Vinegar, ginger, and chili sauce for the dumplings.

Paradise special mixed flavor Xao Lao Bao (XLB). These were fabulous with very thin skins and eight different flavors.
You can see these listed below. My favorites were original, garlic, crab roe and Szechuan.

Steamed garlic greens.

Pork noodles. A lot like ramen.

Vegetable potstickers. Not the most exiting.

Steamed vegetable buns. Breadier versions.

Crispy vegetable spring rolls. Quite light and crispy. Delicious.

Pan fried Shanghai pork soup dumplings. Heavier than the XLB. Still delicious, but I prefer the light-weight classic XLB.

Wontons in chili sauce. Not particularly hot but delicious.

Pork pot stickers. Just fine. Not nearly as good as the XLB.

Crispy fried red bean pancakes.

Deep fried buns. Just Chinese buns, fried.

Mysterious light Asian fruity jelly. Loved it. I always like this stuff. Might have been like hyacinth and lychee.

Sesame mochi balls in syrup. A lot of the kids (and many of the adults) love this dessert.

Rolled mochi dough with red beans and peanut dust.

Overall, the XLB here at Paradise Dynasty were really good. I enjoyed the different flavors and the light wrappers were great. The other items, also pretty similar to Din Tai Fung were just fine.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: China, dumplings, Eating China, Eating Shanghai, Paradise Dynasty, Shanghai, XLB

Quick Eats – Tasty Noodle

Jan25

Restaurant: Tasty Noodle House

Location: 2117 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. (424) 248-3232

Date: November 27 & December 15, 2017 and January 5 & February 23 & March 16, 2018 and February 12, 2020

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Large menu modern Chinese Cafe

Sawtelle Blvd is on fire and has 4-5 new opening in the last 2 months. One of the latest is Tasty Noodle House which is a very Chinese, SGV style, modern Chinese cafe. Pretty much appealing to 20 year old Chinese — and me. A bunch of these new openings are actually Chinese so the street focus is drifting from all Japanese to pan-Asian.

I think it used to be the Okonomiyaki place.The interior looks exactly like all these cheaper Chinese places on the street. Basically how to get a hint of decor while spending the least money possible.

But they did spend some bucks on the gigantic menu. It’s pretty much broad modern mainland Chinese with favorites, a lot of Shanghai and Beijing dishes.

Slightly spiced peanuts on the table to start.

Strawberry smoothie.Mango slushie. For some reason they don’t have boba!

Spicy Cold Cucumber Salad (2/12/20). Good crunch and a bit of garlicky spice.

Cold Spicy Chicken (2/12/20). Very nice. No bones, juicy meat, and a savory/sweet/spicy sauce with excellent flavor.

Xiao Lao Bao (XLB) pork soup dumplings (everytime). These are the best XLB I’ve had on the westside. They were considerably better than at nearby ROC which actually specializes in them. They had a tastier filling. You add the vinegar and soy sauce to the ginger bowl above.

Pan fried Shanghai Dumplings. These are the breadier, more fried version of the pork soup dumplings — awesomely tasty too.

Sticky Rice Shu-Mai (2/12/20). Interesting carb on carb action as these felt like dumplings filled with brown sticky rice!

House Sauce Noodles w/ Pork. Translation leaves a bit to be desired.

Mixed up. I enjoyed this dish a lot. The sauce is very sweet with a broad bean base and a TON of pork. If you mixed in a cup of Szechuan chili oil, some sesame paste, and used less sauce it would basically be a dan dan mein. I’m not sure they have real dan dan here. I’ll look next time. But this one, despite being sweet, did have a flavor profile I really liked. Noodles were a touch thin.

Plain noodles for my son.

Pan-seared green chili pepper w/ minced pork black bean sauce (many times and 2/12/20). Probably the same sauce as the house special noodles, but delicious just the same. I really liked this dish.Prawn with spicy minced pork sauce noodle soup. The soup itself is a mild light pork broth like a super mild cabbage ramen. Actually fairly tasty.Then the prawns come on the side like this. The sauce for the prawns is that goopy, garlicky, slightly spicy sauce that is often used for shrimp and I LOVE. It went well enough in the soup, but I will have to get this dish in a variant with lots of the sauce over rice on a return trip.

And here it is a few weeks later, the full sized prawns doused in sauce all by themselves (comes with a bowl of rice on the side) — yum!

Fish, shrimp, crab, and squid with crab sauce and snake gourd (2/12/20). Snake Gourd turns out to just be a green Chinese squash. Nice light garlicky seafood mush with slightly crunchy vegetable.

Spicy fish filet and tofu with rice (2/23/18). Pretty much similar to the Szechuan boiled dish below, but a sauce over rice. Almost more successful in this format, I enjoyed the soft textures.

Fish Fillet & Beef w/ Spicy Sauce. This is a Szechuan dish, but it’s not really a Szechuan place. There was plenty of garlic, but not much mala. The chili oil was too one note for my taste, it should have been fried with aromatics. So this dish turned out to be like a 6/10 for it’s type (which is a very typical Szechuan type). They actually have a better one across the street at Popcorn Chicken (and that one isn’t that great either). But as I said, this isn’t a Szechuan restaurant and you can bet the chef isn’t central Chinese (but more likely from Shanghai or Taiwan).

Spicy Beef with Tofu (3/16/18 and 2/12/20). Slightly spicy variant on the brown sauce. Nice texture with the firm bean curd. A touch salty.

Pork Belly with preserved vegetables (2/12/20). Meat was a touch dry and the vegetables not as salty/umami as they are in the best forms of this dish, but still enjoyable.

Cumin Lamb (2/12/20). Not very spicy, or massively cumined, but nice.

Pork with Leeks (2/12/20). Perhaps a twice cooked pork? Very nice smoked flavor and porky grease tone to the dish. Made the leeks delicious too.

On 2/12/20 I brought some gelato too:

Raspberry Sorbetto — French Raspberries and a touch of lime juice — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Unusual for me to go so “straight” with my flavors but I wanted a complement to a complex flavor — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #raspberry

Crackerjack Gelato – Smooth Peanut Base with homemade Dulce de Leche Ribbon, Toffee Peanuts, and Caramel Popcorn! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — oh my! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #caramel #DulceDeLeche #Popcorn #CaramelCorn

In the bowl you can see that Dulce de Leche.

Wines from 2/12/20.

Overall, I’m glad to have so many real Chinese dishes move to the westside. This is a cafe style restaurant, like Northern Cafe, and as such has more casual cooking at a lower level than a big menu more “dinner” restaurant like Beijing Tasty House. But it’s very welcome because it gives yet another great option to an already awesome area. It’s slightly Shanghai in style but with a lot of Beijing type and lightweight Szechuan dishes in the way that’s very popular in China now.

I do have to say that on my 2/12/20 visit the food had really sharpened up. It wasn’t perfect, or again as good as a very good “higher end” SGV place, but execution was pretty on point and we had many delicious dishes.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Wines from 2/12/20:

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Sawtelle Little Tokyo, Tasty Noodle, XLB

J&J – Crab XLB

Sep25

Restaurant: J&J Restaurant

Location: 301 W Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776

Date: August 9, 2017

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Great crab XLB, but rest was just so-so

As part 3 of our mini lunch SGV parley we move onto mini-mall classic J&J.

It’s tucked at the back of the same minimal as Mian, Mei Long Village and Tasty Dining.

The typical pictorial menu.

SGV haunts fall into a couple categories. This is of the 10+ year old “ugly white drop ceiling older clientele variety.”

Crab XLB. This is why you come here. These were the best crab XLB I’ve had. Nice delicate wrappers and lots of solid crab flavor. This should not be confused with a categorical statement that they were better than the best PORK XLB I’ve had — just different beasts. I should have ordered the regular pork ones as the shells were great and so those might also be excellent — but we didn’t.

Crab Rice Cake. Crab in a sort of lightly curried sauce with the chewy Shanghai rice cakes. I liked the cakes and the sauce, but there was almost no accessible crab meat — unless you are a seal or some other animal natural equipped with shell crushing teeth.

Sweet and Sour Pork Chop. Not a bad version of this dish. Sticky soy-sugar sauce, little bits of bone, but very soft accessible meat.

Since this was just a couple dishes as part of a multi-restaurant crawl we only had a few things. The Crab XLB were great, the other two dishes just fine. They used MSG (I could feel it after). The atmosphere wasn’t exactly lively or updated. Service was pleasant.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, crab, dumplings, J&J, SGV, Shanghai, Shanghai Cuisine, XLB

For the Bun of It

Aug03

Restaurant: Mama Lu’s Dumpling House

Location: 153 Garvey Ave, Monterey Park, CA 91755. (626) 307-5700

Date: June 27, 2017

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Tasty and cheap

Two days in a row I head to the SGV for Chinese yummies.

This time it’s Mama Lu’s, one of a small mini-chain of casual inexpensive dumpling places.

This is classic SGV. Look at this sexy corridor — right out of late 90s China — the restaurant bathroom can be found here too.

And the interior, vintage early 21st century SGV interior. Booths, drop ceiling, fish tank, dangling wires, all that.

On the table are sugared peanuts and cucumbers.

XLB. The classic pork soup dumplings. Skin is a touch thick and there wasn’t much juice, but the meat was tasty. I’ve certainly had better of these but like pizza and some other things, XLB are always at least good.

Pork, shrimp, and chive dumpling. Soft classic boiled dumplings. Not bad.

Spicy wontons. Disappointing. Not really spicy at all either and kinda bland.

Zha jiang mian. Not the really traditional version, but pretty tasty. Mild, despite the peppers, and no super strong bean flavor. Just kinda nice.

Crispy shrimp. Fried shrimp with mayo. I like this Chinese-American dish.

Shredded pork and bean curd. Really a Szechuan dish. This was fine.

Pea tendrils and mushrooms. What can you say.

Mama Lu’s certainly wasn’t mind blowing. It was cheap and tasty. If it were close to me I would go all the time. They have a big menu and are very crowded. Atmosphere is either hideous or quaint if you are an SGV aficionado like me. While everyone inside was Chinese, it feels slightly Chinese American. Maybe it’s just catering toward people who have been here 15-20 years rather than young folk just off the boat. Certainly there is no trendiness.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, dumplings, Mama Lu's Dumpling House, SGV, XLB

Elite Champagne Brunch

Oct12

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

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

Date: October 9, 2016

Cuisine: Cantonese Dim Sum

Rating: Elite!

Elite is well known as one of great LA’s top dimsum places and so the Dirty Dozen is heading there on this lovely (hot) Sunday afternoon for a blind Champagne tasting.

We have the private room, of course.

2014 St. Romain Les Jarrons. Just a little chard to get started.

The bucket of Champs.

Flight 1:

This flight of 3 (ignore the rightmost) was first, but remember the whole lunch was blind.

2004 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Millésimé. Peter says 93 points. Nice BdB bready-yeasty notes, fine, straw, with exceptional elegance, lemon, bosc pear, minerals, chalk, complex, super long, powerful but pretty. Loved this, guessed Comtes BdB ’04.

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

Peter, anther attendee says 93 points: Medium burnished yellow/gold; rich, powerful, a touch nutty, berries showing through tertiary notes, very long, complex and great balance. Blind at Dirty Dozen tasting. Guessed ’96 Dom. Would not have guessed a BdB. Curious to know disgorgement date since they have the new bottles/embossed clear labels.

1988 Salon Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 97. After the lackluster 1990, things get back on track quickly with the 1988 Salon, a wine that is absolutely peaking today. From one of the all-time great vintages in Champagne the 1988 Salon exudes power and explosive intensity, with superb balance and pulsating acidity that gives the wine its drive. A host of candied lemon peel, hazelnut, smoke, licorice and anise overtones meld into the super-expressive finish. Disgorged à la volée, with no dosage.

agavin: our bottle was a bit oxed. According to Peter, another of our guests: Quite dark gold color; this seemed very old with a quite strong oxidative nose, nutty aspect, light caramel bits, a touch of a sour tangy finish. Still, very intriguing and enjoyed the burnished aspect of an older Champagne. Drink up now for sure, although this most likely was prematurely oxidized as it shouldn’t have been this developed. Guessed ’90 Krug. Blind at Dirty Dozen tasting.

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

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

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

Peanut Dumpling. This one had peanuts and some other protein bits inside.

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

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

Hot sauces.

XLB sauce.

Macau style pork belly. What it looks like (pork belly). Today was really on point.

Layered beancurd. Never had this before. All texture but it was really great.

Halloween version! (actually dipped in its sauce)

Flight 2:

More goodies — vintage.

2002 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart. VM 94. The 2002 Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart comes across as rich, powerful and opulent. This latest release of the 2002 was disgorged in July 2015 and finished with a Chardonnay-based liqueur whereas the previous release, disgorged in May 2014, was finished with a Pinot Noir-based liqueur. This is a distinctly vinous, almost shockingly raw, visceral Champagne from Billecart-Salmon. There is no shortage of volume or intensity, that is for sure. Stylistically, this year’s release inhabits a whole other world relative to last year’s release. Dosage is 4 grams per liter.

Peter says 91 points: Distinct but subtle berry notes on the nose, slight pinot character with very slight oxidative character; somewhat rougher bubbles after the Heidsieck Millenaires, Billecart BdB and Salon. At first it seemed less fine in the mouth, but coming back to it it seemed very foamy small bubbles. 91-92. I usually like this much more than I did today. Guessed ’02 Blend. Blind at Dirty Dozen tasting.

From my cellar: 2000 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. BH 96. A wonderfully layered and nuanced nose features an intense yeasty character to the maturing fruit that displays interesting phenolic characters, in particular petrol, along with aromas of apple, pear and soft citrus hints. In contrast to the nascent maturity expressed by the nose the flavor profile is still tight and backward with a genuinely gorgeous texture, all wrapped in a strikingly persistent and highly complex finish. For my taste the 2000 Brut is at an inflection point as the nose does offer enough maturity so that it’s really quite pretty whereas the palate impression is substantially younger. As such it really just depends on how you prefer your Champagne because I suspect that the nose will be very mature by the time the still very youthful flavors attain their majority. For my taste preferences it would be no vinous crime to begin enjoying this now but be aware that this will age for a very long time. The best approach is probably to buy 6, or even 12, bottles and enjoy them over a longer period of time.

Peter says 93 points: This had great vinous character, clear aged notes, apple skin, baked bread, earthy minerals; fine foamy mouth, elegant but powerful and intense, with excellent acidity and very long in the finish. 2nd day drank kinda like a great older Burgundy. Guessed ’96 blend. Blind at Dirty Dozen tasting.

1999 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut. VM 92+. Light gold. Vibrant, tangy aromas of apple, pear, white peach and minerals. Wound tight right now, only reluctantly offering up flavors of fresh orchard fruits, herbs and pepper. Finishes zesty and long. Seems less deep than the 1997 bottling; is this just in a sullen, youthful stage?

Peter says 94 points: This was a killer–gorgeous complex character, fruit, minerals, yeast, all in perfect balance, savory notes shining through with power and elegance. Guessed ’90 BdB. Blind at Dirty Dozen tasting. My WOTN (with very strong contenders).

1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. BH 97. A distinctly reticent but elegant nose with a purity of expression that is truly impressive to experience as it’s relatively high-toned and while the yeast comes up with air, it’s relatively muted at presence, combining with intense, precise and superbly detailed and complex flavors that culminate in an explosive and wonderfully long finish. This may very well rival the sublime ’90 in time even if it’s not quite as concentrated. This is still a baby so there is absolutely no rush whatsoever.

agavin: our bottle was sadly corked.

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

Pheasant lettuce cups. Really nice crunchy texture. Put in the lettuce cups below and add hoisin.

Lettuce cups.

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

Singapore noodles. Great version of this classic dish with its yellow curry flavor.

Flight 3:

The NV wines.

NV Kirkland Signature Champagne Brut. CW 79-81. Light golden yellow color with steady stream of small bubbles; tart peach, baked pear nose; ripe pear, apple, honeyed palate; medium-plus finish.

Peter says 88 points: This had a prosecco-like aromatic floral nose (Not a champagne nose), it was light yellow (contrasting with the darker more intense colors of the other prestige cuvees), and more rustic effervescence and quick finish. Guessed Prosecco or low level young brut. This was fun because it ranked very high when put up against a slew of prestige cuvees. I think maybe because of the nice floral aromatics and bright freshness which may have been refreshing after a lot of older vinous wines? Blind at Dirty Dozen tasting.

2005 Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée. Always great!

1990 Perrier-Jouët Champagne Cuvée Fleur de Champagne. VM 92. Complex, nutty, vibrant aromas of orange peel, lemon oil, and biscuit. Very concentrated and intensely flavored; thick with extract in the style of the best ’90s, but without any heaviness. Lemon and apple flavors really cling to the palate. Finishes very long and thoroughly ripe.

Peter says 91 points: This was just as dark as the ’88 Salon (maybe a bit darker even); Oxidative, nutty, pecan, slight caramelized notes, old tired bubbles, but this really grew on me like a comfortable worn out old leather chair. It seemed a bit older than it was, but fun to drink. 91-92. Blind at Dirty Dozen tasting.

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

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

Elite fried rice. A bit of everything.
TT

Macau Egg Tart. Nice custard pies. Pretty awesome.

Coconut cakes. Wow are these good!

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

Mango pudding. Love this stuff.

Another awesome Chinese feast. This whole thing was $45 including paying for the winner AND a huge tip. Food was very fresh and on point. A large percentage of my fiends who go to dimsum think it’s the best in the SGV. I personally agree, with next best being King Hua. Certainly Elite, King Hua, and Lunasia are also at the top, but slightly below and there is a tier even slightly below that including Sea Harbor and maybe Shi Hai.

Wines were pretty good. Sadly the Salon and a couple others were over the hill or off (the Dom 96 too which should have been great), and a couple were showing oddly. But still great fun.

One of the best Dirty Dozen meals I’ve been too — particularly because they tend to be at restaurants I don’t like, such as Taylor’s Steakhouse, Del Frisco’s Grille, Locanda Veneta, or Wilshire. They are selected for being accommodating (which they are), but the food at that lot tends to be dated and/or sloppy which isn’t my thing. The next event, however, will be at BOA SM, which while still a steakhouse (I’m not a steak guy unless it’s Yakiniku), is a pretty good place.

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

Other Hedonist festivities.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Champagne, Dim sum, dimsum, Dirty Dozen, Elite Restaurant, hedonists, Wine, XLB

Westwood Chinese – Northern Cafe

Sep02

Restaurant: Northern Cafe

Location: 1064 Gayley Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024. (310) 208-8830

Date: August 4 & 29, 2016

Cuisine: Northern Chinese

Rating: Small menu (for Chinese), but great to have on the Westside

My quest for decent Chinese food on the west side of town continues unabated.

Northern Cafe joins Qin as one of Westwood’s two most recent fairly authentic Chinese openings. Here they serve northwestern Chinese type food, sort of quick Beijing favorites.

It’s located right in the heart of Westwood, on Gayley, far from the SGV!

The interior is simple but pretty updated. The clientele was almost all Chinese.

The format is fast casual. You order and pay at the counter and then get a number. They bring the food to the table.

The menu.

Some cold appetizers. Cold beef and cilantro.

Pickled cucumber and chili.

Cold noodles w/ Shredded Chicken. Chicken white meat, sesame peanut sauce, cucumber, chili oil. A bit western-a-fied (chicken?) and pleasant, but pretty mild.

Dan Dan Noodles. Sesame peanut sauce, chili oil, cucumber, peanuts.

The dan dan in a bowl. Lots of sesame flavor, but almost no heat and no meat! This is a far cry from the rich, spicy, umami flavor of the real deal.

Zha Jiang Noodles. Kurubuta pork, black bean sauce, cucumber.

Mixed up. Ok, but not as much flavor as I would have liked.

Vegetable pie. Like a tortilla pie filled with garlic greens!

XLB. Juicy Pork Dumplings. These are good as always. A little thicker dough than Din Tai Fung (which I had the day before!). But the inside was very tasty.

Pork & Celery Dumplings. Classic steamed dumplings. The celery flavor came through loud and clear and I always like this kind of textured dumpling. Pretty good actually.

Lamb dumplings. Not the perfect incarnation of this kind of simple dumplings, but maybe an 8/10, very enjoyable. Strong lamby flavor too.

Pan fried shrimp and egg dumplings. Excellent too, hard to tell what is inside these puppies, but it’s good.

Spicy wontons. Nice. Again they just tasted pretty good. A medium heat.

Beef rolls. Tasty enough. Not amazing, but certainly a decent version and not too huge.

Kung Pao Chicken. A decent version. Not amazing, and a little fried, and not too hot, but a good amount of flavor.

Orange Chicken. The American Chinese classic. More like sweet and sour spare ribs, the ultra-fried orange version. That being said, I like this homey dish and this was a very good version of the goopy sweet “type.”

House Special Cumin lamb. Onion, cilantro, cumin, chili oil. Not a bad version of this staple dish. Not super spicy but good lamb flavor.

Mapo tofu. (10/1/16). This mapo had nice soft silky tofu and a thin looking sauce — but there was a decent amount of mala numbing flavor from the Szechuan peppercorns. No meat however, I much prefer it with some ground pork, but this wasn’t a wussy Americanized version either. Sort of a 6/10.

Shrimp fried rice. A passable version. You can’t really go to wrong with fried rice. This version was actually very lightly fried.

Overall, Northern Cafe has some pretty authentic stuff on the menu, it’s not American Chinese exactly — nor is it as good as so many places in the SGV. But it is close, quick, cheap and pretty tasty, so I will go by again soon enough.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Dan Dan Mein, dumplings, noodles, Northern Cafe, Westwood, XLB

Mei Long Village – Pig Stuffed Duck

Sep04

Restaurant: Mei Long Village

Location: 301 W Valley Blvd #112, San Gabriel, CA 91776. (626) 284-4769

Date: August 30, 2015

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Solid!

Mei Long Village has been around forever as far as Alhambra is concerned, maybe even 20 years!

They serve up traditional Shanghai style fare.

The mini-mall frontage on Valley Blvd is pretty typical. Across the street from Shanghai #1 and Beijing Restaurant and in the same mall as Tasty Dining.

2001 Château Lynch-Bages Blanc de Lynch-Bages. 88 points. A touch of oxidation but drinking ok. Light golden yellow with tastes of quince and wet stones.

Smoked cold fish. Nice flavor, with that slightly slimy texture and little bones.

From my cellar: 2004 Morey-Blanc Meursault 1er Cru Bouchères. Burghound 89-92. This is a good deal riper with exotic aromas of mango, melon and dried apricots that lead to textured, dense and mouth coating full-bodied flavors that are beautifully complex and despite the weight, the marked acidity keeps everything focused and well-balanced. An impressive showing for a wine that I often find to be a bit top-heavy.

Jellyfish head. The marinated bits of the “head” (the round part) of the jellyfish.

2007 Pierre Morey Meursault Les Terres Blanches. Burghound 87-89. A very Meursault nose of hazelnut, soft white flower and yellow fruit aromas leads to pretty and elegant medium-bodied flavors that are round yet detailed with a discreet mineral undercurrent, all wrapped in a tension-filled and persistent finish. Lovely and very much fashioned in Morey’s understated style.

Marinated cucumbers. Nice and crunchy.

2012 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett. VM 87. Nectarine, pine nuts and lemon oil on the nose. Delicate tropical fruit flavors are brightened by a salty twang. Refreshing acidity gives a feminine character to the finish. Nicely balanced.

Hot sweet shrimp. Really nice eat the shell shrimp.

Pork leg. Special order 2 day steamed prep. Yeah, it’s pretty frightening to look at.

And perhaps even scarier once it got cut up. There is a whole trotter there too. I went just for the straight pink meat, avoiding the jiggling skin and cartilage. The meat was pretty awesome though.

From my cellar: 1998 Domaine des Chezeaux Griotte-Chambertin Ponsot. 92 points. Med dark red. Delicate creamy red cherry, a little spice. Light body, light concentration, cherry and old wood. Tannin and acid indicate youthfulness.

Stuffed duck. Another special order. We had this all sewn up.

Inside is a mixture of grains, chestnuts, etc. The sauce was amazing and it was all a bit sweet.

2000 August Kesseler Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling Spätlese. White peach and lemon aromas with hints of mint and lily flower lead to a quite delicate, refined peach, citrus and slate character on the palate. This is airy and generous in the manner of the few best 2000s, suffused with fine slate character. Says Kesseler: “Everything that came after this?and there were vintage 2000 rieslings of Auslese and Beerenauslese character?was heavy and inferior to this in comparison.” Those higher must weight wines were not retained for separate bottlings. 2 stars.

Pan fried Shanghai dumplings. The classic pan fried soup dumplings. Yummy, although there is a good bit of dough.

XLB. The steamed variant are amazing and a lot lighter.
2005 Aubert Chardonnay Lauren Vineyard. VM 96. Mark and Theresa Aubert’s 2005 Chardonnay Lauren, tasted from magnum, is every bit as special as I remembered it. Time has softened the textures and added gorgeous nuance, yet the 2005 remains fresh, perfumed and extraordinarily beautiful. Hints of orange peel, mint and sweet spices lift from the glass, but it is the wine’s balance that proves to be utterly captivating. Quite simply, this is one of the very finest California Chardonnays I have ever tasted. In magnum, the 2005 will drink well for at least another five years, while in standard bottle, the Lauren is naturally a touch more forward, although it should keep for another few years, perhaps longer. My own preference is to drink wines while the fruit retains at least some elements of freshness.

agavin: not bad for a new world, it did have acid, but way way too hot (alcoholic).

Shanghai rice cakes. A great rendition of the classic rice cakes in soy sauce. Nice chewy texture.

2009 Aubert Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast. VM 91. Dried mushroom, earth and tart cherry nose. Palate somewhat thin and acidic, dry finish. Has not really developed since last tasting.

Crystal shrimp. Light but tasty.

2008 Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch Vineyard. VM 92. Bright red. High-pitched aromas of raspberry, strawberry liqueur, dried flowers and Asian spices. Silky, bright and precise, but with good depth and power to its red berry and cherry flavors. Really expand with air, finishing with sweet tannins, tangy minerality and impressive length. If your impression of the K-B wines ossified around the 2004 vintage, you should check this one out.

Fried fish. Fried.

2000 Château Gazin Pomerol. GV 92. COLOR-dark; NOSE-gorgeous cranberry; chocolate; mature; a V8 juice component; PALATE-a really nice, dry and austere background; great little finish; really singing; heavy fruit coming through; really well made; big upfront fruit; really elegant tannins; I love the gravel minerality of this red fruit; a chalkiness; there’s a clear beef jerky component on the back-end; very meat; almost like an Italian meal with a tomato sauce component on this Merlot; very bright on the back-end; good long finish; this has plenty of age to it; the tannins scream baby to me; I really like it; very well made and brings a lot of character to the table; very smooth; the fruit is very bitter — more of a Sweet Tart play; I think it’s fantastic; RP-90; GV-92+.

Spareribs. Pretty much the origin dish for Panda Express red sauce fried pork, but much better. Tender and delicious and the sauce wasn’t so heavy and cloying as at some places.

1998 Alban Vineyards Syrah Reva Alban Estate Vineyard. VM 90+. Full ruby. Highly aromatic, pure, Cornas-like aromas of cherry skin, pepper, iron and minerals. Quite tightly wound and penetrating, with slightly green-edged flavors of red fruits, black olive and pepper. Not especially fleshy or sweet but offers impressive precision and intensity of flavor, and the structure to reward some bottle aging.

Eggplant. Awesome and garlicky. Not spicy really like it might be at a Szechuan place.

Shrimp fried rice.

Shanghai noodles. Classic soy sauce noodles.

2000 J.L. Chave Sélection St. Joseph Offerus. 87 points. Deep red. Dull nose some black fruits and pepper. Acidic and disjointed in mouth some earthy notes. Short clipped finish.

Tomato and winter melon soup. Mostly tasted like tomato. Mild, but not my thing at all.

1994 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain Vendange Tardive. 95 points. Beautiful wine. Nose was filled with honey, orange marmalade, flowers, and orchard fruit. Palate had notes of apricot puree and marmalade, botrytis notes, and the typical Alsatian bitter at the end; in this case it added to the wine instead of taking away. This was a deep wine with a moderately thick texture. Sweet, but the acid kept it from being a dessert wine. From comments, went well with seafood appetizer and bread pudding dessert. Long finish that coated the mouth. Haunting, it just got better as the evening went on. Wonderful.

We drove a mile west to Solju dessert for some awesome snow. Above is my mango with passionfruit sauce and blackberries.

And this crazy green tea with taro, mochi, and watermelon poppers!

Overall, Mei Long Village was some yummy fare and a total deal at $27 a head (all in, including tax and tip). An “old school” SGV place with really solid food.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, duck, dumplings, hedonists, pork, san Gabriel valley, Wine, XLB

XLB – Soup Dumplings!

Jan31

Restaurant: Roc

Location: 2049 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 235-2089

Date: January 24, 2014

Cuisine: Taiwanese Chinese

Rating: Awesome XLB

Among lovers of Chinese food the Xia Long Bao, or XLB for short, is a particular favorite. These little thin skinned dumplings stuffed with (usually) pork and a hot broth are quite delicious. So when a friend told me than one of the managers from Din Tai Fung (an SGV Taiwanese XLB palace) had opened a place on the Westside I waited all of about 24 hours before trying it.

Sleek space is nothing to write home about, but that’s not why we came.

Here is the menu. The top left corner in the red are all variants on the XLB.

Dumplings need their sauces. Here soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil, and ginger are available at all times.

Scallion pancake with ginger soy dipping sauce. Fried and tasty.

Beef roll. Cucumbers, green onions & cilantro. These monster burritos were filled with sweet BBQ beef and quite delicious.

Garlic dungeness crab fried rice. garlic, egg, & green onions. This was a fabulous fried rice. There were real chunks of sweet dungeness crab in here, making it a bit like certain rice dishes I would get in Japan.

Shrimp and pork spicy dumplings. I expected a more traditional wonton in chili oil (the Schezuan classic often called “numb taste wonton.”) These were more like potstickers with sirachi. Not my favorite dish of the day, although certainly fine.

Pan-fried dumplings, Shrimp and pork. These are the more fried, less spicy version of above. They were superior, pretty much classed fried potstickers.

Crispy balls. I can’t even remember what was inside.

Steamed bun. Same pork center, thicker coating.

Lobster & pork XLB. An interesting blend of the traditional savory pork with a bit of lobster sweetness.

Lobster, crab & fish XLB. Much more seafoody, with a sweet and briny taste.

Classic pork XLB. There is a reason these are classic. All the XLB were scrumptious, but these in particular are amazing.

You load one of these babies on a spoon and add some sauce (usually through a small hole). This helps cool down the boiling broth inside. Then pop in your mouth for an explosion of flavor. Don’t ever bite them, you’ll just make a mess — rookie mistake.

Pepper beef. Cubed filet mignon, red onions & bell peppers. The beef was tasty, but this is a pretty straight up, almost American Chinese style dish.

Pork chop. Great with the fried rice.

Shrimp and peppers. Light shrimp with shisito peppers.

Kale. Greens.

Chinese mustard greens sautéed with ginger. I think they mean steamed with ginger, because these were close to just steamed greens. They are what they are, but being a fat is flavor man, they didn’t do it for me.

Baby bok choy. Sauteed with garlic & shitake mushrooms. Better than the Chinese greens for sure, these had some actual flavor.

Overall, the XLB (all 3) and the fried rice made this meal. I want to try some of the other things on the menu, and next time I will, but my brother and I polished off all this just the two of us — that’s 15 dumplings each! I’d be perfectly happy to come in myself and order some rice and a steamer (or two) of XLB. Yum yum!

The menu is a little smaller than Din Tai Fung. The dumplings were just as good, but I miss a few of the other dishes at DTF: like the noodles, hot & sour, and chili wontons — but Roc is about 40 minutes closer, right in my hood, so I’ll be going a lot!

For more LA dining reviews click here

or, for my index of Chinese Food, here.