mmm-yoso!!!

Road Trip: Mama's Lu and Northern Dumpling House - Monterey Park(LA)

With gas prices at new highs, just wanting to take a road trip would probably be grounds to have us committed. But we were getting a bit stale just stewing in our juices at home. So, we went ahead with our little road trip and made the best of it. After doing our morning shopping, instead of heading toward San Gabriel, we decided on what in the good old days(at least for us) was the center of our eating universe. The intersection of Garfield and Garvey in Monterey Park. We were amazed at how light traffic was and even snagged convenient parking on Garvey. I'm guessing gas prices are affecting everyone.

Our first lunch stop was a newer restaurant called Mama's Lu....no not Mama Lu's, or even ahem, Mama's Loo(God help us all). It really is called Mama's Lu:

See what I mean? I asked the Missus what the deal was with the name. Her response? "Hey, you're the food guy, right? You figure it out." Which translated, probably meant, "the heck if I know...." This little shop occupies the area that used to be Heavy Noodling, which I was kind of sad to see go.

The interior of "Da' House of Lu", is very clean. Not a sign of "San Gabriel sticky" to be found here.

The menu is short and concise, mostly dumplings, Shanghainese, with some Sichuan thrown in on the Chinese menu board:

I dunno if we've gotten used to prices in San Diego or what, but we had reverse sticker shock when we checked out the menu.

10 Xiao Long Bao for $4.50? You can barely get a Carne Asada Burrito for that in San Diego! Maybe this drive was worth it.

As we looked over the menu, the Missus and I hatched our plan. 2 Xiao Long Bao, and one dish we'll sample, and load into the ice chest. We started with an old favorite of the Missus, Shanghai style "Smoked Fish"($4.50), a classic dish. The Missus grew up eating the stuff.

The photo is a bit deceptive, this was a pretty large portion. This version was drier(but not dry), than versions I've had. It also didn't have a very pronounced sweet and five spice flavor. I really enjoyed it, because unlike other versions, this was not "fishy" in the least. The Missus(and my MIL) still favor the version at Chin's. But I'll take this any day of the week.

The Pork and Crab Xiao Long Bao($8.50), probably the most expensive item on the menu.

These came with each XLB(8) packed into an individual foil container. What I thought; "wow, they pack them individually, in these little dishes so they don't leak." What the Missus thought; "no wonder they're so expensive, they waste money on those dishes. If they make them right, they won't leak. And they sure better know the difference between the crab and the pork Xiao Long Bao. What a waste."

For us, a good Crab and Pork Xiao Long Bao, will be rich and mildly sweet. This was bland and kind of greasy. The meat to soup ratio was not to our liking. Too much meat, not enough soup. The wrappers had a major defect; the fold was hard and chewy, and the bottom was gummy.

The Pork Xiao Long Bao(10 - $4.50):

These Xiao Long Bao suffered from the same problems as the Crab and Pork with regards to the wrapper and meat to soup ratio. Flavor wise, these were better with regards to a mild sweetness, and the meatball was melt in your mouth tender. I still think it was under flavored.

Still, I think it's better than any XLB we have here in San Diego, but when compared to all the other XLB in the area..... On the positive side, we had excellent service, our tea was refilled, and our water twice! The very nice Server, came back to check on us, something that almost never happens in the SGV! There is a booth behind the cash register that displays the XLB makers at work, a la Din Tai Fung. One more thing that I found somewhat humorous. The 'A' Health Rating is posted by the hallway door, away from the street...almost as if they're ashamed that they actually got an 'A'.

Mama's Lu Dumpling House
153 E Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91755

So why did the Missus and I exercise such restraint at Mama's Lu? Right across the street from Mama's Lu is this place.

The English sign only says "Restaurant". I had read about this place on Chowhound, called Northern Dumpling House. We saved some "room" for a meal here. We planned on one order of Jiaozi and "something else". Like Mama's Lu the place is very clean, and almost too cold and sterile. The prices here are very reasonable as well.

I really wanted to try he Pork and Opo Squash Dumplings(I thought they'd be interesting), but they did not have any.

So we had the Beef and Chinese Celery Dumplings($5.50):

These Jiaozi were interesting, the wrapper was very soft and pillowy. I enjoy a bit of chew, but the Missus enjoyed these as a change of pace. She went into a lecture about making the dough of Jiaozi, and water temperature, etc, etc, etc.... The filling was undoubtedly beefy, but lacked a decent Chinese celery crunch and the only way we knew there was celery in the filling was a slight aftertaste. I'm not quite sure about these, but the Missus enjoyed them. I want to bring my Mother In Law to see what She thinks.

Looking for something that we could have a few bites of, than take home; I went for the Cumin Lamb. We thought it strange that all the stir fry dishes had prices that had been covered by blank white stickers. So at the risk of being charged some exorbitant amount, we went ahead and ordered it anyway.

If you enjoy a milder cumin taste, you'd like these. What made this dish really good was how the lamb was prepared and cooked. There were slices that were melt in the mouth soft! If not for the mild gamey flavor(not wild enough for us), you'd think that you were eating very well prepared beef. Mildly spicy from the chilies, this was even better the next day. Did you guess how much this cost? It was $5.40......on our check the Server initially wrote $4.95, but crossed it out and wrote in $5.40....I'll take that any day.

Even more than the food, there was something really interesting about this meal. The restaurant was empty except for another couple. Apparently, the Guy is a "Chef" at another restaurant, the Missus said he had a strong Beijing accent, She could barely understand his girlfriend/wife("man, her accent is really hard to make out"). After making our food the cook came out, pulled up a seat, and they started talking about business in the area. And also started dissing other regional Chinese cuisines. They were especially hard on Tianjin Cuisine("no way a Tianjin restaurant will make it, they don't make any good food, only snacks"). Stuff like prices and competition were discussed, too much to write in this post. But if you've ever wanted to be a "fly on the wall."

Northern Dumpling House
138 East Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91755

A Road Trip from Memory Lane

I recently took a vacation day from work. For some reason my internal clock is still a bit off, and I just needed a day of R&R(that would be rest and relaxation, not readin' and 'riting). In spite of the recent increase in fuel prices, the Missus & I decided to take a "road trip down memory lane". When we resided in LA, we had a Saturday ritual. Whenever I was in town, we'd start our day with a drive down to the Torrance Saturday Farmer's Market. I know I've posted on this before, in fact, more than once. But this Farmer's Market holds a special place in our heart; if only because we spent a good many Saturday mornings at the market.

On this morning, we made it to the market in record time. There was a significant lack of traffic. I'm  thinking it was combination of the heat, and gas prices. We arrived at about 845am, and the market was just starting to pick up. As always, there was a nice selection of a variety of fruits and vegetables. Because of the heat, all the "bug netting" was up.

With the heat and the bright sunlight, it seemed like it was already noon! We purchased a few items, walked the market, which is one of the largest in SoCal, and headed off to our next "regular stop".

On "memory road", our next stop was Marukai Gardena. And we arrived a bit after the 9am opening, and found primo parking. And though we spent a good amount of time walking the isles(and soaking up the A/C), the main reason we stopped here was to purchase fish. Even though, Marukai has opened in San Diego, one of areas where it is still deficient is with regards to fish. Though that could be said for Nijiya and Mitsuwa as well. Our little ice chest full of super fresh salmon, Karei, and Ahi, we headed on our way.

Marukai Gardena
1740 West Artesia Blvd
Gardena, CA 90248
Summer: Monday - Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. & Sunday, 9:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

My previous post can be found here.

Our next usual stop would be East on the 91, North on the 710, and either getting out on Valley, or as today, East on the 10. Today we exited on Garfield, and ended up at the place we used to call the "center of LA's Chinese universe", the intersection of Garfield and Garvey.......this was circa the 90's of course, and much has changed since then. So where did we eat? Sorry folks, but that's future post. After not one, but two meals(hey, with gas prices, who knows when I'll be back....and leftovers are always welcome), we headed off "home". Not our current "Home" in San Diego, but our old stomping grounds, Rowland Heights. The Missus had a craving for her Shaved Ice from Shau Mei, and that's where we encountered a big surprise. While the Missus was enduring severely rude service at Shau Mei, I noticed this sign.

A bit curious, we entered Hong Kong Market, and this is what greeted us.

The produce section had been removed, and now consists of boxes of items being sold......inventory liquidation. The meat and frozen food section was "taped off". You can compare it to my previous post, here.

We were shocked, we hadn't heard that they were closing. Now over the years, I've endured some horrible service at Hong Kong Market, but we shopped here frequently, sometimes 4-5 times a week, when we lived in the area. It was within walking distance. The Missus called Her Dad, who shopped here often when they lived in the area.

I guess time had caught up with this rather run down and seedy market. But we had many memories of the place.

In spite of the horrid service, I'll miss the place. In keeping with the standard service at HK Market, the Missus went over to one of the cashiers who was standing around, and inquired about the closing. The young lady gave the Missus a dirty look, and in a nasty "it's none of your business" tone, told the Missus, "there is NO reason". You gotta love it, a final kick to the crotch!

We were still talking about the closing while I was prepping dinner.  Wondering what was taking its place, and what it meant to all the other businesses in the area. We had already noticed how much lighter traffic was in the area. It was the topic of conversation as we had a "memory lane" beat-the-heat dinner; Poke' 2 ways.

The Ogo from Marukai was lousy, but man that Ahi was super-fresh. It took us back to our old "Saturday Night" meals way back when. Time moves forward, but sometimes it's really nice to taste the past.

I hope everyone managed to keep cool this weekend. Tell me, what are your "eating trips down memory lane"?

LA Thai Town run: Thailand Plaza/Silom Market

It's time for mizducky to take another turn at blogging for mmm-yoso. Enjoy!

A couple of weekends ago I was up in Los Angeles to hear one of my favorite musicians play a gig, and decided to add a little Thai food-tourism to the mix--especially since Los Angeles apparently boasts the largest Thai community outside of Thailand (and also especially since most Thai food I've tried here in San Diego has left me pretty underwhelmed!)  Alas, the wondrous weekend food court at the Wat Thai in North Hollywood is no more, having fallen victim to neighborhood pressure. But Thai Town had been on my radar screen for some months now, so that's where I headed.

I had meant to seek out Yai Restaurant, but alas I forgot the bit of Kirk's post that mentioned it was hidden behind a 7-Eleven--d'oh! But while driving along Hollywood Blvd. wondering what place I should visit instead, this flashy sign caught my eye:

With a sign like that, I figured, this joint could either be very good or very bad--but it wouldn't be dull.

Turns out this place is a whole shopping center--downstairs is a Thai grocery with a couple of smaller shops tucked in, while the Thailand Plaza Restaurant takes up the whole second floor.

Kind of a bit glitzier than my usual! The large rambling space is apparently some kind of semi-campy club scene at night, with waiters getting onstage and doing karaoke and such. At 3:30pm on a Saturday, it's almost deserted.  But even though I was arriving at an off-hour, I get an unflaggingly cheerful greeting from the server when I asked to look at the menu. Looseleaf notebook with big pictures--and lots of them. I saw all the salads listed under "Issarn Specialties," and the surprisingly reasonable prices, and decided what the hell, let's stay and check this out.

I wanted to keep it light because of the long night ahead of me, so I got yer basic green papaya salad with salted crab (oops, fuzzy picture):

This was a darn decent salad--not a huge portion, but fresh and the dressing well-balanced. And the crab was extremely fresh  (and my server handled the "you know there's raw seafood in this dish, right?" inquiry very sweetly).  While I ate, three or so more parties were seated--not that I was trying to eavesdrop, mind you, but several of them sounded like they were regulars, of Thai background. So maybe I'll give this place another try sometime, to check out what-all they were ordering.

I wrapped up my meal, and headed downstairs to check out Silom Market. This space was as sizeable as the restaurant upstairs--but it was hard to tell because the place was so jam-packed to the rafters with stuff:

Alas for me, there was also a surprising-to-me number of shoppers and staff about, so this was the only photo I could snap (I'm really shy about taking photos with people peering over my shoulder!). But this should give you an idea of the vibe.

I couldn't resist making a few purchases, including some snacks (see? I knew there was a reason I ate lightly in the restaurant):

Here, on the front passenger seat of my car, we have two winners and two also-rans. Underneath all the cilantro in the upper-right package is saku sai, little meat dumplings whose skin is made of translucent tapioca pearls. These were delicious, if a little gloppy. The upper left package contained some extremely forgettable rice and four wonderfully cilantro-laced sausages--extremely yum!

The other two things I bought to bring home, only to discover once there they were yecch. The cardboard cup contains nam prik pow, a different brand than the one I'd last enjoyed--I should have stuck with that brand because this stuff was wretched, like machine oil. And the long sausage-looking thing said "preserved durian"--according to the label, just durian mixed with sugar. I thought I could sneak up on the durian experience this way. Uh-uh, this stuff was vile--and I'm not sure if it was the fault of the durian or the recipe. Guess I need to toughen up and try the real thing one of these days.

Obviously I've only just randomly scratched the surface of Thai Town's food riches. But no doubt I'll be back in LA pretty soon for another gig -- and further food explorations.

Thailand Plaza/Silom Market
5321 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90027
Google Maps link

The Very Last Day of 2007-and a preview of 2008! Behind the scenes at the Tournament of Roses! Oh, food, too.

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food..and what some of us do to get to eat said food.  Cathy is having her annual adventure North of San Diego and you get to vicariously enjoy!

Hi.  It is the 31st of December and here we are.  We made it through 2007, relatively unscathed and 2008 is right there staring at us.  We have to learn a little different way to type or write the date; new calendars are out on the walls and on the desk, filled with so many blank pages, papers can be filed and gotten ready to start inputting into the new Tax Program on your computer, or in a folder to hand to your Tax Guy or Tax Gal...and still, there is time to relax, because the the first day of the year is a holiday!  A lot of people have breakfast at home with family or friends and watch the Rose Parade on television.  A spectacular event, planned almost a year in advance, yet assembled only a few weeks before it actually can happen, because every visible portion of each float must be covered with something that is, or was alive...thousands of volunteers have been working on the float decorations, sleeping overnight in Pasadena, waking to sticky, glue covered hands and clothing and going at it the next day...and yet, nobody will see these lovely pieces of art and architecture until tomorrow on television...except for you, dear readers!

Oh yes, The Mister and  have this on our agenda every year...We just are skipping the sticky glue covered hands part this year.  Yes. we merely woke up about 4 a.m. today and drove north to Pasadena, to have breakfast with the Pasadena Host Lions Club at the Historic Castle Green Hotel and then take a VIP tour of the final float preparations.

The Hotel is now mostly an apartment building and the eating area is still used for parties and such. We got some food from the buffet: Kind of standard stuff; scrambled eggs, potatoes, fruit, muffins, danish, ham and sausage. One trip only...coffee, cranberry and orange juice too. We didn't care- we were here to take the VIP tour of the final decoration of the 2008 Rose Parade Floats! I am trying to give you views you will not see on television. This 25,000 pound Indian (Native American) float will be one you see on television, mid parade.

Remember, every square inch of every float has to be covered with something that is or was alive. The smells up close are wondrous...and also glue-like.

This is the back of the Lions Club International Float.. and this is what it looks like from the front. As I said, every square inch on every float must be filled in, and judging was about to happen in less than three hours. If you look close, you can see glue on the back of these Marguerite flower heads and the blank space they were being placed onto the float just behind. Other flowers had been cut and placed in water vials and were also ready to be used for 'spot fills'. OK, here are some other floats...for a sneak peek! AND SO ANYHOW...It was lunch time and we were hungry, but the streets of Pasadena were starting to line up with people claiming a spot along the parade route and we wanted to stay away from those crowds, so jumped on the freeway, started heading East, and decided the"Covina" exit at Citrus Avenue sounded nice...and we saw this sign in a non-descript mall...and stopped The menu was simple- So. we ordered...The pastrami sandwich ($5.25).

Very large, lots of meat, juicy, nicely spicy(not too much pepper), good fresh bread. No jus to dip in, however, there was enough juice on the bread to make it wonderful as a last bite. I wanted the gyros sandwich special ($6.99) included fries and a medium drink...the gyros was wonderful, meat cut in thick slices from a spit and perfectly juicy and flavorful, topped with a tangy tzatziki sauce, chopped onions and chopped tomatoes. In my quest for wonderful onion rings and knowing they are pretty much always perfect from these Mediterranean places that have gyros, I ordered the SMALL size ($2.59). I was not disappointed in the size, nor the quality and spice of the breading and crispiness; I was merely disappointed in myself that I could not finish it all...

P&G Superburgers 1030 N. Citrus Avenue, Covina open 7 am-11 pm, seven days

We wish everyone out there a Very Happy 2008!  (or "2000 ate" as ed so succinctly put it) Have a safe day!

Road Trip: Elite Restaurant - Monterey Park(LA)

The Missus and I have a tradition, during the Sunday of a time change, we attempt to make the best of the extra hour, by celebrating and having brunch. When we wind the clocks back...well, we celebrate by having brunch! However, on this day we decided to shake things up a bit, and have some Dim Sum. Why? Well, this year the time change occurred a week later, causing mild discombobulation. But more importantly, it seems that the Missus and I have a black cloud following us around to brunch. Last year, we had brunch at one of our favorites, The Red Lion Hanalei Hotel, one month later the brunch was closed, and the Red Lion became a Crowne Plaza Hotel. This past March, we enjoyed our time change brunch at European Bistro, and wouldn't you know it, a few months later, Chef Axel had stopped serving brunch. I've heard the change is temporary, but last time I checked, they are still not serving brunch. Now the Missus and I had become concerned that if this pattern were to continue, Jim, the Sunday Brunchmaster might start hunting us down...... And we wouldn't want that! So, what to do? Dim Sum seemed like a good solution, but we wanted something a bit different, not the usual stuff. One of the places on my "list" was Elite Restaurant. In it's former incarnation Elite was called New Concept, and I had been waiting to eat there, but never had the chance. I was a bit disappointed, but after reading Dylan's post  on his meal at Elite, on his wonderful blog, Eat, Drink, & Be Merry, I couldn't wait. So what's so special about Elite? Well much like Happy Harbor, Sea Harbor, and Mission 261, Elite represents the "New Wave" of Dim Sum service, that would be menu service(no cart here), and interesting, sometimes innovative, creations. I couldn't wait.....

One other item. On weekends Elite opens at 9am, which meant that we could take advantage of our "extra hour". Alas, due to some minor timing issues we arrived at 915 am, and were amazed at how packed the place was!

Elite was much different from the "usual" image of Dim Sum Houses. The restaurant was not the typical cavernous, giant Dim Sum restaurant. It became quite clear that there was no way this restaurant could ever accommodate carts without removing half the tables. Also, tasteful colors, decor, and lighting, replaced much of the faux Chinese ornamentation. Since we had just "missed the boat" we knew there would be a wait ahead of us, which gave us time to peruse the menu, and "people watch". It was pretty amazing how many people tried different strategies for getting ahead in line, from hovering around, to aggressiveness, to applying pressure. I'm wondering how many times the Chinese equivalent of  the LA-ish "do you know who I am" was used! Seated customers who knew people waiting would welcome them to their table, moving and adding chairs, suddenly a two-top became a very cramped 5 top. Very nice for their friends, bad for increasing the wait of others...... 50 minutes later, we were seated in a nice quiet corner in one of the side banquet rooms, ready to order after going through the menu. We decided to have some "interesting" items, and a few standards.

Off we go. Baked Durian Pie($2.98):

This was wonderful. Think of it as a Durian Cream Puff. The very light, melt in your mouth Choux-like pastry is filled with Durian Cream. Perhaps the filling was a tad on the sweet side, but we both thought that the best aspects of durian were presented in the custardy-slightly nutty flavor, with very little of the cheesy-old socks scent. Having a bite of this pastry, followed by a sip of tea, was a combination made in heaven.

Macau Egg Custard($2.98):

One of those Dim Sum staples. This version had a nice and light crust. The custard was also light, though also a bit too sweet for me.

For the Missus, one of Her hallmark dishes, is the Taro Gok(Fried Taro Dumplings/Balls). There is a fine balance between oily, and light and crisp, and the flavor can tend to the bitter side if the balance of filling ingredients is not right. We ordered this from the server since it isn't on the menu.

When it arrived, I wasn't too impressed at the very light color. But one taste of the crisp, light as a feather, dumplings, with a perfectly balanced filling, I knew I had met the best version of this I've had in a while. The addition of preserved vegetable was a nice touch, both in flavor and texture.

Thai Style Papaya with Goose Feet($5.98). sounds really interesting, doesn't it?

Think of deboned Goose Feet and sliced green papaya flavored like Chinese spicy pickles(like Kimchee). This was a nice refreshing change of pace. The flavor teetered on the edge of being too sweet. The spiciness was on the mild side. In fact, I added a good amount of chili paste to this. Goose feet won't be everyone's cup of tea, the texture consists of several levels of crunchy, from the leg portion which is chewy and tender, to the webbed portion which can be pretty hard.

Home Style Pork Legs w/Peanut in Special Sauce($5.98):

This was a hearty five-spice flavored broth, very rustic and home style. The pig's feet were tender, with a good amount of gelatin. The boiled peanuts added nice flavor and texture contrast. The only thing we didn't care for were the super hard and tough bamboo shoots. I was also wishing for a nice bowl of rice...........

The Macau Roasted Pork($5.98):

This was the dish I saw on Dylan's post that had me adding Elite to my list. And it delivered as promised, 12 Andes Mint sized slices of the most perfectly roasted pork belly, served in perfect proportion of velvety and sweet fat, a thin layer of light and crisp skin, and a layer of meat made this an excellent dish. Served with salt and hoisin, which were not needed. Very rich, we(ahem, I) only finished 4 slices.

Bamboo Pith Fungus & Sea Cucumber Wrap($2.98):

First let me say, I'm not a big fan of of Bamboo Pith Fungus (zhu sun - 竹荪). In fact, every time I've tried it, I hated it. I think it has a strong, earthy-muddy-bitter flavor that tastes like medicine. The Bamboo Pith Fungus in this dish was fabulous, with a delicate earthiness to it. The rest of the dumpling was problematic. It was so large, dominated by the shrimp cake, that you really couldn't taste anything else. We took it apart to sample the different flavors. Proportionally, not very good, I'd like something smaller with better balance.

The Scallop Steamed Rice Noodle(Cheong Fun - $2.98):

The Cheong Fun was sadly, a disappointment. Though it looked beautifully lacquered, and a had a good amount of scallop in it, the noodle was tough, and without a nice pull and elasticity. The scallops were flavorless, and the sauce tasted like almost pure soy sauce.

Shark's Fin Dumpling in Supreme Soup Stock ($5.08)

For us, this was all about the broth, rich, with sweet-peppery tones. The huge dumpling residing in the middle was full of various seafood and pork, most of which were bland and tasteless. The dumpling wrapper was terrible, gummy and tough. That broth though..........

Shark Fin & Red Clam Dumplings($3.98):

A trio of very large steamed dumplings. Again on the bland side with the flavor of the masago dominating. The Red Clam (aka Surf Clam/Hokigai) was basically a garnish for the rest of the dumpling. Another case of out of proportion flavors.

Sticky Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf($2.98). One of the Missus's favorite. Compared to the enormous dumplings these looked positively dainty.

The Missus said that these were good, nice flavor, and hot. There's a piece of abalone in the center of the rice, but it was super over cooked, tough, and flavorless. The Missus was satisfied, though.

And overall, so was I. We didn't eat too much.....I know that you're thinking we went insane here, but we've got a frig loaded with leftovers. The total damage, including tea was $51, less than what we'd usually spend at a good Buffet Brunch. I think the "super-sized" dumplings may appeal to some, but it really knocks the flavors out of balance. Also, I've also considered dumplings at Dim Sum service to be nice and delicate, full of flavor. Service was very good, considering the restaurant was stuffed to the gills. The Missus still preferred the flavors at Happy Harbor....but that pork......

Prices:

Small - $1.98

Medium - $2.98

Large -  $3.98

Special - $5.08

E Special - $5.98

No not cheap, but some of the dishes are a notch above!

Elite Restaurant 名流山莊
700 S Altantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Hours:

Mon - Fri 10am-3pm, 5pm-10pm
Sat-Sun  9am-3pm, 5pm-10pm

This is what the crowd outside the restaurant looked like when we left.

Road Trip - No.1 Noodle House - Rowland Heights(LA)

Well, I'm back, (almost)fully recovered from the "roast beef sandwich" from hell. Funny thing, I ate and drank all kinds of street food and other "interesting stuff" in Peru, with nary a problem. Now I'm back at work, and a sandwich from a (formerly) trusted source ambushes me..... Since starting this food blogging thing, I've spent much more time really "tasting" my food. EXCEPT, when busy at work, where I'll wolf stuff down at my desk. So about half way through my sandwich, my tastebuds finally sent a message, via slow boat, to my brain, that the sandwich tastes really "off".....and the rest, as they say, is history. I'll just say, that right now, I can't look at a piece of roast beef without the word "emesis" in shocking white letters flashing in my head. Well on to better things......

Waaaay back in August we made our way back to the old neighborhood....that would be Rowland Heights. Even though we've lived in San Diego since 2001, we still see our Ophthalmologist in the area. I'm not quite sure what it is, laziness, trust, or maybe just for an excuse to eat. I'm sure the latter plays a large part in our decision. On this visit, I had No. 1 Noodle House directly in my line of fire.

No 1 Noodle House is located in the super refurbished Yes Plaza, on the corner of Colima and Fullerton Road, which used to be a pretty beat and seedy looking strip mall when we lived several blocks away. Now, after a major face lift, we can barely recognize the place! We cracked up when we saw the laundromat we used to use is still there, looking pretty new, I bet it doesn't smell like fermenting geriatric diapers any more......

The menu at No 1, is comprised of various Sichuan (Chengdu-style) snack foods....that would be various noodle dishes, and the like. And yes(or in this case "YES"), this shop is sporting a 'C', facility food rating....

After spying such a rating, there are those that are going to flee in the opposite direction as fast as possible, and those that will say, when it comes to Chinese Restaurants in the SGV, "A=American, B=Better, C=Chinese....."

I had heard some pretty good things about the Niu Rou Mian, so I was excited to try it out.

This bowl set us back $5.50, and frankly, was pretty lousy. The broth had the consistency of dish water, and was served at a tepid temperature. The broth had a diluted beef flavor and lacked spice, with just a hint of anise/five spice in the background. The noodles were simple store bought, and over cooked. The beef was tender, but like the broth lacked flavor, other than a slight refrigerator staleness. Needless to say, the bowl sat pretty much untouched.

Luckily, we ordered a few other items, which helped to balance things out a bit. "Cold Bean Noodle" (liang fen - $4.50):

For those who haven't had (or knowingly had) this type of Starch Jellied Noodle, Liang Fen is made from mung bean. This version was mixed with a sesame paste-soy-black vinegar mixture, and served with chili oil/paste, ground peanuts, and green onions. Oh yes, and MSG. The flavor was right and refreshing, and hit all the salty-sour-spicy notes for us. Liang Fen has a nice slippery-mildy chewy texture that was very pleasing. Good stuff.

We also ordered the Chili Oil Won Tons($3.50):

This was another surprisingly good dish. The Won Tons were pretty large with a good amount of filling. The generous topping of excellent chili oil, peanuts, and green onions made this a spicy and satisfying dish. Like many of these types of dishes, it sure looked like a lot of oil was used, but it was not greasy in the least. I'd have this again in a minute.

I really don't  know what the deal was with Niu Rou Mian, but the other dishes made up for it. The service is typical San Gabriel Valley, brusque and efficient. You should not eat here if you have MSG-phobia, or have adverse reactions to MSG, you'll see MSG crystals in your food.

No 1 Noodle House
18180 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

You know, I just realized the irony of this post....many people I know wouldn't dare eat at a place with a 'C' rating. And yet, I suffered no ill effects, just as I've encountered no GI problems when eating at Taco Trucks, and various eateries with 'B' rating or lower....and here I was ambushed by roast beef with an 'A' rating!!!!

Road Trip: Dragon Mark - San Gabriel(LA)

Only in the San Gabriel Valley.....could 3 restaurants selling Xiao Long Bao co-exist in the same strip mall, nearly side by side! Dragon Mark, is the "middle child" of the three restaurants, with Mei Long Village to the West, and J & J right next door to the East. You can see just how close J&J is.....

Like J & J, Dragon Mark is quite tiny, though very brightly lit.....the Missus twice remarked how bright  the lighting was at Dragon Mark. Unlike J & J, Dragon Mark actually serves tea in a real tea cup, not cheapo Styrofoam cups.

You are handed a menu that is both in English and Chinese, but need to order on a check-off sheet, that is written in Chinese! Go figure.....I'm pretty sure that the ladies would do the check off sheet for you.

We only had time for a "snack" during this visit, so of course we had to order the Xiao Long Bao ($4.75):

Soon enough our steaming hot Xiao Long Bao arrived...first thing we noticed was all of the broth on the parchment paper...several of the XLB had burst! Second thing was that these were served with the julienned ginger on top the Xiao Long Bao...so where was the Black Vinegar???? After rummaging through the bottles on the table, we spotted the vinegar, in a Soy Sauce bottle, with a teensy-tiny label!

Here's what the XLB filling and soup looked like:

We found the dumpling to have too much meat, and not enough soup. The pork filling was very salty, and didn't have the unique savory-sweet flavor of XLBs. The wrapper was on the thick side, and the folds on the top of the XLB were hard. Bummer......better than Dim Sum Restaurant XLB, but not very good by San Gabriel Valley standards....still this XLB was better than anything in San Diego.

The Missus noticed a dish I enjoy on the table top placard, and ordered it.

The placard said "Pork and Basil Dumplings", but these are actually Pork and Dill Dumplings($5.25). I've seen these as Fennel and Pork Dumplings, and now Pork and Basil Dumplings......

We really enjoyed these, the dill was soft, without being mushy, and the ratio of pork to dill was perfect.

In most cases the dill overwhelms everything, but this was a good example of great balance. This got the Missus and I talking about how the flavor and texture of the filling was put together....perhaps the dill was blanched? Leave it to the dumpling heads to spend most of lunch talking about Jiaozhi! The wrapper was okay, on the brittle side without enough "pull". The Missus thought that the dough had not been kneaded enough.....too much kneading and you get tough wrappers, to little and the wrapper will be soft, but will break easily without any "pull".

As with most of these tiny restaurants, service is fast, but don't expect much in the way of friendliness.....instead expect efficiency. The restaurant is about the same size as J&J, but we thought it was brighter(much brighter) and cleaner. Though I think I enjoy the XLB at J&J more(and Mei Long Village even more...). Other than versions of dumplings, we saw most everyone else eating Niu Rou Mien.

Dragon Mark
301 W Valley Blvd Ste 110
San Gabriel, CA 91776

Another silly observation......

I kinda take it for granted that almost all signs in the area are in Chinese, or Chinese and English. So we both cracked up when the sign to the right, taped onto the stairway wall to the parking lot was written only in English. Why only in English?

BTW, I did NOT write the LOL on that sign.......

Road Trip: Green Village Restaurant SGV

Yes, this is a road trip, but  not Kirk's;  instead it's ed from Yuma who just had to get out of the 115 degree desert and into some good food.

The last time  I spent an evening looking for a restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley, I was like a little kid who was told he could only pick one from a gigantic box of mysterious chocolates. Complete choice overload. Which one? Which is the best? How can I choose? Smoke must have been pouring out of my ears from total systemic breakdown before I settled on the path of least resistance and had a mediocre meal at a Korean barbecue. Knowing that I would be spending another evening in the valley on my way up to Monterey, I vowed not to let that happen again, so I did what any wise individual,  faced with such daunting culinary  choices, should do - I asked Kirk to recommend a couple of places and mentioned that maybe a Shanghai style place would be interesting.

"You could try Green Village," he suggested, linking me to a Jonathan Gold article from 2002 and explaining that he himself had not eaten at the restaurant since it relocated many many years ago. "Oh, yeh, then you could also write a post on it for the blog." Now I understood his thinking -  I'd feel obligated to write it up in return for the advice, and he'd get another post out of me. OK, that seemed like a fair deal, and it did save me from a serious brain cramp.

When I stopped by to look the place over in the afternoon,  I learned that one thing had changed since Gold's review : there was now a young waitperson who could speak English, and in fact, he seemed pleased and amazed that some old pony-tailed white guy would be interested in a meal there. Talking with him made me feel welcome, and looking the menu over made me  salivate. Nonetheless there were pages of choices, most of them sounding delicious or at least weird and intriguing.

Being as food obsessed as I am, I spent the rest of the afternoon, after I left the place, pondering my choices (kid with candy box syndrome again). My first thought was to duplicate a couple of Gold's favorites, braised fish tail and the yellow croaker with liver moss (as Gold notes in his later review of Green Village, this second item is now listed in two places on the menu - once under its original name and once as yellow fish with seaweed - somebody must have showed them Gold's original article). But just ordering what Gold had already discussed would be too easy. And what could I say then? "Gold was right," or, "Gold was wrong." If I write the former, I have contributed nothing; if I write the latter, who is going to believe ME?

Therefore, I decided on two different items. First I ordered wine chicken ($5.50):

Serving the chicken in a little cup in this fashion was perfect. It insured that each piece of the chicken was in contact with the complex flavor notes of the marinade. Notice also that the meatiest breast pieces lay across the top of the pile of chicken, while the bonier bits lurked underneath.   What outstanding chicken it was. At first taste, the essence of cooked chicken flesh was intense. So often, we mask the flavors of chicken, drenching it in rich or spicy sauces or covering it with spiced breading and frying it. In this dish, on the contrary, the chicken flavor sang out like a rooster at dawn.

I am not implying that the wine sauce with its notes of ginger and hint of salt contributed nothing. In fact, the sauce was the perfect foil to show off the deep chicken flavors. As fast as the chopsticks brought the pieces to my mouth, I devoured them. Left with only the pile of bones, I looked through them, searching (the way one might search for a lost hiker in a forest) for missing slivers of flesh that had evaded my teeth at first. I wanted to taste every molecule I could.

For my main course, I went with the young server's recommendation of a whole fish dish. This fish was not listed on the menu and even the check contained the name only in Chinese characters with no translation, so I will call it Inside-out Fish, for reasons that will become apparent ($18.99). When it arrived at the table, it was truly a thing of culinary beauty and made me smile:

On the other hand, my dining companion  for the night, Mr Fish, did not look quite as happy about his situation:

Those of you familiar with Shanghai cuisine may consider a fish prepared in this fashion pretty standard, but I had never seen anything like it. Prior to being deep fried, the fish had been deboned, the fleshy side of each fillet had been deeply scored with a crosshatch pattern, and the fish had been dusted with flour. In the deep fryer, the scored flesh had expanded while the skin did not, and then the fish had been arranged, inside out, with the meat on the outside and the skin hidden within: