Road Trip: Kang Kang Food Court - Alhambra (Los Angeles)

A pretty long while back, uber Foodblogger Wandering Chopsticks mentioned that she thought that Kang Kang Food Court in Alhrambra made the best Shengjian Bao in LA. Kang Kang Food Court...... So I made a note, and on one of our road trips we decided to drop by, and check out the SJB.

 
 Though the storefront is right on Valley Boulevard, you drive to the rear and find parking in the parking lot. Once down the hallway, you enter the world of Kang Kang....

Bare bones and very cafeteria like, Kang Kang offers both steam table and cold items, in addition to various menu items. The word "menu" kinda understates "THE MENU" which takes up the top of an entire side of the place. It's one thing to have a book-sized menu delivered to your table..... and another to have to look at what seems like an unending number of items lining a wall.......

And it seems like that entire side was just not enough room to contain this "menu on steroids" as various banners around the place display other "specials".

But we were here for only one thing:

Which became a non-starter, since we found out the SJB cook comes in at 11, and it was 10.  So we decided to check out the Xiao Long Bao, and return at a later time for the SJB.

As far as XLB are concerned these weren't very good. First off, a couple had leaked..... so "no soup for you". Second the folds of the Bao were hard as rock, and the wrapper too thick. Not enough soup, which was flavored pretty neutrally, not too sweet. The meatball was too hard and "squeaky".

 

Usually, food like this would pretty much ward me off. But in this case, there were a couple of things I kinda enjoyed. First, when you place your order, you give the cashier your table number. And in a few minutes, you get a pot of tea delivered to your table, along with the standard black vinegar based dipping sauce. I admit that this place goes a bit overboard with the styrofoam, and the tea is basically tea colored water, but it's a nice touch. Second, the cashier is very nice, a step up from the perfunctory, sometimes rude service you get at the other Shao Mei's and Sam Woo's. And in fact, some of the steam table stuff looked pretty good. I'll say this much, the stuff at Sam Woo's take-out here in San Diego looks pretty bad in comparison.

So on Christmas eve, the Missus and I decided, to drive up, and kinda do a semi-crawl, very leisurely going back to a few places we enjoyed, maybe try a new place, and do some take-out for calm Christmas Day. So why not stop at Kang Kang and try the Shengjiang Bao? Which is what we did.

We followed the drill, and after about 15 minutes, our Shengjiang Bao arrived, glistening under the fluorescent lighting.

So how did we enjoy it? Well first off, these were blasting hot, and full of juice. They'll literally explode when you bite into them. The "soup" has a strong pork flavor, which the Missus thought was too "porky", for me, the porkier the better. I love the crust on the bottom, but thought the rest of the Bao had not risen enough, and we were left with gummy dough. I want the tops of my SJB or Lu Bao to be somewhat fluffy. Again, I had a problem with the filling, which was a hard and squeaky meatball.

I guess if we could get the crust and soup from this SJB, and cross it with the filling and semi-leavened breadiness of the SJB at Food Cabin we'd be happy. As it was, this was not bad, and soon enough it was time to move on to our next stop.

Kang Kang Food Court
27 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801 

Comments

[Eat. Travel. Eat!]

Looks better than what I had almost a year ago! But my favorite experience here was my first one, almost 5 years ago. That plate of SJB was BOMB. Not too hot, and very soupy. Yummy! Unfortunate to see that the XLB looked good but didn't taste good. I had a "no soup for you moment" when a waitress helped us pack XLB after eating it in the restaurant. Each of the XLB lost its own soup!

Happy holidays BTW. Forgot to tell you. Why is Wandering Chopsticks "uber"?

[kat]

too bad about the SJB. can't wait to see what's up next!

[Kirk]

Hi ETE - Happy Holidays to you too! Both you and WC are "uber", as in top notch in my book!

Hi Kat - We ended up having a fun time on Xmas eve.

[Eat. Travel. Eat!]

Kirk,
Aww, thanks :). Can't wait for your other SGV postings! You are "uber" too in my book. ;)

[Andy Sze]

Kirk, I've been to the Shau Mei Kang Kang on both Garvey and Garfield in Rowland Heights, but have never ventured to order anything off the menu. I've always opted for the 3 item boxed food. Kudos to having the guts to do so!

BTW, I affectionately call this place the $5 date. Cheap and feeds you and your girl for $5 each.

[Andy Sze]

I mean Monterey Park location on Garvey and Garfield nad the Rowland Heights location across from your Fried Pork Rectum place.

[Kirk]

Thanks ETE!

Hi Andy - You are too funny.... the "five dollar date"! The Missus's favorite Chou Doufu is from Shau Mei in Rowland Heights.

[Kelvin]

Kang Kang Food Court used to sell Chou Doufu, but i don't think they sell it anymore. Last time I went there they they didn't have it, and the girl behind the counter said they don't sell that anymore.

If you like dumplings, there's this place called Luscious Dumpling. It's on Las Tunas Dr. and is parallel to Valley. The chili oil form this place is very good. I think they have SJB or XLB on the menu. I've only been able to order to-go, since the lines are always so long, and haven't been able to order the SJB/XLB since they don't sell that to-go. Might be a good place to try the next time your in the SGV.

[Dennis]

Hi Kirk, I still drool when I think of the ones I had in shanghai! I still feel SJB's will blowup in popularity when they figure out how to get it right and be consistent here. But I guess that's true for a lot of things.

[Kirk]

Hi Kelvin - I've been to LD, though not in a very long time! Thanks for the reminder.

Hi Dennis - There's a ton of items that I think could be the next "big thing"...... so who knows.

[Wandering Chopsticks]

Aww, so sad your sjb weren't good. :( Kang Kang and Shau Mei are the only places that I know that serve them this style. Other places have basically the buns with the folds on top, and pan-fry those.

[Kirk]

Hi WC - Acutally - Dean Sin World does them the same way.

[mehndi]

Woww, thanks for this great post..