Roadtrip - Brodard (Fountain Valley), Wing Hop Fung, and Mandarin Noodle House (Monterey Park)

A few months back, what is now several road trips ago, we decided to head on back to one of our favorite lunch restaurants in Santa Barbara County. Instead of making it a single over night stay, we decided to stretch things out into three nights. We'd be doing a bunch of shopping along the way and be able to take our time. We'd spend the first night at the huge Courtyard by Marriott again, then head off the next morning.

We started off early, with thoughts of hitting up Canton Restaurant - Cháo Cá Chợ Cũ again. But we had gotten an early start and the Missus changed Her mind and suddenly requested a visit to Brodard. Brodard! I told Her that Brodard had moved since we last visited over a decade ago(!). Cathy has visited the "new" (it's all relative) location a couple of times. 

We arrived a shade past 9am.

The place was almost empty, with one two top occupied.

The restaurant is quite large, with a dedicated takeout area. The space is modern and clean.

I could never have imagined Brodard being this quiet.

Service was quite pleasant and relaxed.

Of course we had to order the Nem Nuong Cuon. These days you can order just two rolls if you want for $2.50 each!

   These seem a little smaller than I recall, but the sausage was nicely grilled and the proportion of ingredients seemed right, so one could enjoy the salty-sweet-savory flavors of the "bouncy" nem nuong and the crunch of the crisp egg roll wrapper. The wrapping was done perfectly, neither too loose nor too tight which would make the rolls tougher, creating what I'd call "bad botox spring rolls". The sauce was as before slightly sweet-sour, with garlic and umami tones. I does seem a bit more watered down than I recalled.

We also got the Banh Khot ($14.95).

   I did notice that one of the shrimp was "MIA". Still, the Missus enjoys the crisp rice flour cup/shell, which has a hint of coconut. The shrimp were plump and tender, nicely cooked. These are quite a treat with the mung beans, pickled veggies, the anise-citrusy tiet to (perilla), and the slightly sweet-chili-fish sauce concoction.

We're glad we stopped by and will make sure to visit more often.

Brodard Restaurant
16105 Brookhurst St.
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Hours:
Daily 8am - 9pm

We then headed off to the SGV. We did some shopping at the TS Emporium off Rosemead (I'll do a bunch of shopping/misc posts later) and some other stops before heading to the Courtyard. We were lucky enough to be able to check in early and spent the rest of the afternoon napping.

We hadn't made any plans for dinner. We were just going to play it by ear. It was a Wednesday, so we didn't expect things to be too crowded. The Missus wanted to walk to our dinner destination, so we headed down Atlantic, pausing at Daikokuya, then crossing over and taking look at a couple of places. We crossed back over Garvey and noticed Wing Hop Fung in the strip mall that housed 99 Ranch Market.

We had passed by many times over the years, thinking this was something along the lines of TS Emporium. But once entering....whoa....

The Missus made a beeline for the teas.

And really took Her time checking out the Pu-Erh. Well, this was no cheapo shop.

It seemed like some good quality products here.

And in case you have $1800 lying around.

And the wine/liquor section was no less intense.

They also carry a good selection of Kavalan, one of our favorite brands. My favorite over time has been the Amontillado Sherry Single Cask Malt Whiskey. Our visit to the Kavalan Distillery affirmed that it is still my favorite. You can get that here. It's ahem, "only" $549 a bottle. I'll just admire it from afar for now....

We enjoyed our time in Wing Hop Fung, it looks like the herbs/tea are high quality and the selection is vast. I understand that for many years Wing Hop Fung had a very popular store in LA's Chinatown. Though I really don't recall that.

Wing Hop Fung
725 W Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754

We walked out of the store suffering from a bit of sticker shock. We decided to get something comforting and simple for dinner. We had passed a Taiwanese place right around the corner named Mandarin Noodle House many times over the years . It had been around back in the days when we lived in the SGV! I was really missing the pork chops I'd enjoyed in Taiwan, so I thought it would a great time to finally stop by. We turned the corner and there it was.

The restaurant is simply adorned, a typical mom-and-pop type establishment that immediately made us comfortable. The prices seemed so reasonable.

The gentleman working was nice and efficient. Ordering was a breeze as we immediately set our sights on two dishes.

Of course I wanted the Pork Chops. At $14.95, this seemed a bargain for these times.

The rice was decently cooked, the pickled greens were fine. The soy sauce egg had been cooked to death, the yolk dry. I enjoyed the Taiwanese spinach. The pork chops had a good amount of pepper, but not enough five spice flavor, was on the salty side, and really tough and chewy. Sadly, it did not remind me of Taiwan.

The Missus got the Pig's Feet ($14.95).

Which came with the same cooked to death soy sauce eggs. But after that, things got so much better. The wonderful porky-sweet-savory-soy based sauce had been poured over the rice. Oh man, talk about comforting! The pigs feet had been cooked perfectly; still intact, but the skin was so tender, the flavor of the cooking liquid had permeated every nook and cranny of the trotters. Once the skin was off, the meat fell of the bones, porky deliciousness. We got a winnah here!

By this time, folks had started coming into the restaurant. Different nationalities, all classes, from guys in workwear and boots speaking Spanish, to three guys in suit and ties, an older couple who knew the guy working. All converging on this little business, it was great to see. Looks like Mandarin Noodle House might be what I call a "thread in the fabric" of this neighborhood! 

Mandarin Noodle House
701 W Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Hours:
Daily 1030am - 9pm

Comments

[kat]

bummer the pork was tough

[Sandy]

There's a Wing Hop Fung in the Santa Anita mall in Arcadia. I too thought it was a traditional supermarket (and thinking it was an interesting location for one) until I walked in. I'm not a tea person, so my wallet came out of there intact!

[Soo]

That reminds me I've been meaning to make some pan fried pork chops.

[Kirk]

Yeah, but those pig's feet was ono Kat!

Glad your wallet made it out safely Sandy! ;o)

Hope they turn out well Soo!

[Cathy]

So nice that you got to go to Brodard; weekdays are much less crowded. We did see the Noodle House last year, but we were early (it wasn’t open) the building/signage is attractive. We’re drinking tea a lot more lately, but I don’t think we can appreciate some of those…

[Kirk]

It was nice to finally get to the new Location of Brodard! That tea was much more than I'd appreciate.....