In need of a "quick" lunch I decided to drop by The Boat in Diamond Plaza off of Fullerton Road. We used to live relatively close to The Boat, and ate here quite often. So I kinda just wanted to see if perhaps my tastes had changed since I last ate there.
It was 10 til 11 and Diamond Plaza was absolutely packed! Unbelievable! I managed to find a parking spot at the far end of the mall, dodged the crazy drivers honking at each other and cutting each other off, and made my way to The Boat, which was very quiet:
I was quickly seated and my order was efficiently taken. The first item I ordered was the Pad Kee Mao ($5.25):
As you can clearly see; the Pad Kee Mao doesn't even look like it's been cooked in a wok! Though I enjoyed the chilies and the amount of basil, that's all I could taste. There was really no other flavor at all. Also, the chicken was dry and tough. This dish was a disappointment, I'd never order it again. I took most of it home, where the Missus asked me, "where's the flavor?" I gave her a bottle of Soy Sauce, and said "here's the flavor..."
I also ordered the Papaya Salad ($4.95):
This was an okay dish. Nice flavor, good spice, and the shrimp added a nice salty, briny taste along with a good texture counter-point. The sauce needed, a bit more fish sauce, there was a bit too much lime juice in this dish. But decent overall.
In comparison to our meal at Krua Thai this was a very mediocre meal.
Some notes on The Boat. The service is fast and efficient, though friendly is not in the vocabulary. Most of the clientele are Chinese, but the people working looked to be Thai. I don't think I'll be coming back again, I left wondering what is was about The Boat that I enjoyed so much in the past?????
A little side note. This is the Restaurant that people were literally running each other over to get into; New Capitol Seafood. When we lived here it used to be Ruby Palace (?), or something like that. Maybe Elmo or Mealcentric can tell me what the deal is with this restaurant? There was a line all the way down the stairs! At 10 til 11 in the morning!
The Boat
1390 Fullerton Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
11:00 A.M. - 12:00 A.M. Sunday to Thursday
11:00 A.M. - 1:00 A.M. Friday and Saturday
That is the sorriest, blandest looking pad kee mao ever! wow!
Isn't it supposed to have a bit of sweet soy in it anyway?
Posted by: clare eats | Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at 12:29 AM
Hi Kirk,
Sorry you had such a disappointing meal. If I had eaten food like that I would definitely not go back either.
BTW...I had to make mention that you're an eating machine. You seem to come up with something different every day. I don't know how you do it...and multiple times too. I'm in awe buddy!
Posted by: Reid | Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at 03:51 AM
Hi Clare - You've hit it right on the nose. This used to be one of regular stops when we lived in the area. How disappointing!
Hi Reid - Oh well, I don't think I'll be coming back. Funny thing, I' ve lost a few pounds since doing this food blogging - isn't that funny! I pay alot more attention to what I eat, and end up eating less. I've got a bit of a backlog, so that keeps me afloat (no pun intended)! I'll keep chugging along.....
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at 07:00 AM
Ahhh, the Boat. I've been there a few times in the past myself. It was one of my friends favorites. But alas, I never liked it much. I had a dish of fried Hainan Chicken there once that was bad - only the crispy parts were edible, and I remember it being really greasy. Another time, I tried pad thai and another dish...and it wasn't good either. Seemed like it had it's heyday, but it's been on a downhill slide for the past five years. There's another one of these faux-Thai places on Colima and Fullerton called Banana Bay (or the one that came before that), the food is not exactly Thai, and not exactly good.
As for New Capital, I've only been to the one in Rosemead and I found it excellent. But my parents have been to the new one in Rowland Heights and they raved about it. I'll have to try it myself one of these days. The one in Rosemead had a price war going with its competitors a few years ago and offered a special where all lobster dishes were $99/lb. The catch was you had to buy at least a 3 pounder, and anything over 2 pounds you had to pay the market price. So the dish we had of salt and pepper deep fried lobster ended being something like $10-15 (which was a good price)...AND DELICI-YOSO by the way!
Posted by: elmomonster | Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at 07:28 AM
BTW, I meant $0.99/lb, not $99/lb.
That decimal point makes a little bit of a difference!
Posted by: elmomonster | Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at 07:30 AM
That pad mee koa looked pathetic, though the papaya salad looked pretty legit with the dried shrimp and all.
I got word of Capital Seafood from a friend whose parents live around there. Still havent ventured over there to eat, but from the way you describe the line, I may be planning a trip in the near future.
Posted by: MEalcemtric | Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at 08:11 AM
It's always sad when one of your old favorites takes a turn for the worse.
Kirk, you really get around! You're eating your way all through SoCal :) Impressive!
I believe that Rowland Heights (or maybe it's Hacienda Hts.) has a hot pot restaurant that my family and I used to go to a lot. It was called Kingswood Inn I think. I remember that they had really excellent fried rice.
Posted by: Howie | Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at 08:33 AM
Hi Elmo - Thanks for the info, man that's a cheap (second price, not the first!!!) lobster dish! I've seen Banana Bay - when we lived in Rowland Heights it was a Korean BBQ Buffet, I don't quite remember the name. Also the strip mall behind Banana Bay has been prettied-up alot. We used to do our laundry there, boy, things sure have changed!
Hi Mealcentric - The Papaya Salad was fine - the Pad Kee Mao will prevent me from visiting in the future. Sounds like there's a possible Elmo/Mealcentric "double-team" in New Capitol Seafood's future!
Hi Howie - Had to drive up to Industry to pick something up and thought I'd make the best of it. The only Kingswood Inn I vaguely remember was on Gale????
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at 09:04 AM
Actually, there's "New Capital Seafood" and then there "Capital Seafood". The former is a traditional Chinese Seafood House...in the tradition of NBC and Ocean Star...except cheaper. The latter is a Vietnamese/Chinese joint akin to Newport Seafood (also in Rowland Heights). Both "New Capital" and "Capital" are worth trying. I go to "Capital Seafood" more often because their lunch specials are UNBEATABLE and comes with a Che dessert at the end (also a rockin' spicy Hot and Sour Soup at the beginning). "Capital" can be found in the 99 Ranch Plaza at Nogales, next to the Japanese Sushi Place that seems to change names every year.
Here's "Capital Seafood's" website:
http://www.capitalseafoodrestaurant.com/
Man...I need to go back to try both again soon...(so a double team *IS* imminent!) seriously lacking that kind of food in O.C. eventhough there is a branch of Capital Seafood in Westminster.
Posted by: elmomonster | Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at 11:13 AM
Hi Elmo - those prices make me sick.... :o) We used to go to MPV when it was next to TS Emporium and had stuff like Jellyfish and Duck lunch specials for like $3.95... If there's one thing I miss about LA, it's that the competition sure makes for good prices and food!
Posted by: Kirk | Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at 11:20 AM
Yea Kirk, you would be PERFECT for "Grocery Cart"...
Posted by: Jo | Tuesday, 13 September 2005 at 02:46 PM
oh my! that pad kee mao looks sickly! someone call a doctor!
Posted by: Pam | Wednesday, 14 September 2005 at 09:36 AM
Hi Jo - Grocery Cart...what a concept - LOL!!!
Hi Pam - Can you recommend someone who would fix an anemic Pad Kee Mao??? Pretty pale, eh?
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 14 September 2005 at 10:13 AM
Fix for the Pad Kee Mao? How about KiKo man? ::falls to the floor laughing about her dumb pun::
Posted by: Jo | Wednesday, 14 September 2005 at 11:08 AM
Hi Jo - Yoso-pun-ny!!! Actually, that was the solution I gave the Missus for the leftovers, or was it Ya-Ma-Sa? LOL!
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 14 September 2005 at 11:30 AM
::snicker:: Yep, I hear ya!!
Posted by: Jo | Wednesday, 14 September 2005 at 06:43 PM