mmm-yoso!!!

Roadtrip (During Covid) - Comparing Sea Harbour (Rosemead), Then and Now

Recently we had an appointment....a looong overdue appointment in our old neighborhood. The Missus had been wanting Dim Sum so we decided to revisit an old favorite of ours, Sea Harbour before our appointment. We got there about 10 minutes before opening and we waited by the front door....and then of course the "SGV moment" happened. As the door opened, a guy and his wife just cut right in front of us and then as we stood at the host stand asking for a table for two another couple pushed right in front of us and got seated....but heck, I guess it's ok because they are regulars??? Welcome to the SGV......I'm not sure if it's because I've lived in San Diego so long, but it seems that it's even worse these days...

Anyway, we got our table and placed our order. There seemed to be a strange disconnect during our meal as things took a very long time to come out and the order in which items came out seemed a bit strange. Also, some of the dishes seemed a bit off and one was just plain terrible. So, after coming back home, I dug out some photos from previous visits to Sea Harbour over the years and did a comparison of some of the dishes.

So, here's the meal in order.

Usually, during dim sum meals, noodles and rice comes out last.....but not today my friends.....the Seafood Pan Fried Noodles was out first.

The Seafood was excellent; cooked perfectly. The noodles not so much as some were just really hard....not crisp, hard. And there just wasn't enough sauce/gravy in the dish to help soften the noodles. There seemed to be a smaller portion of seafood as well.

Here's a photo from a previous visit.

The Durian Pastry arrived next....these were good. Light, creamy interior, crisp exterior...though more of a dessert kind of thing.

One of the two items we had that seemed basically unchanged (except for price) was the Egg Tofu with Abalone Sauce.

Wonderful creamy interior; slightly crisp exterior, nice savory sauce......

It does seem that earlier versions had a bit more sauce though....

The other was the Sticky Rice in Lotus leaf which was solid and quite filling....

Quite hefty with a decent amount of pork filling.

Next up was a favorite of ours; the Shrimp, Dry Scallop, and Chinese Celery Dumplings. 

   The shrimp were nice and plump, the dry scallops added a sweet-savoriness, and the celery helped provide a nice "clean" finish and crunch to things. The biggest issue for us was how thick, sticky, and rubbery the wrapper was.

I thought it was much thicker than on previous visits and also that it used to have "folds"; so when I returned home and looked at previous photos; guess what?

Here's what it used to look like.

I guess I'm not quite senile yet.....

We also ordered the Black Fungus and Celery Dumpling.

    These suffered from the same issue with regards to the wrapper as the shrimp and dry scallop dumplings. Too thick, doughy, and sticky. In this case the filling just could not stand up to all that wrapper; even with chili oil.....

Here's a photo of this from a previous visit......it looks like something from a total different restaurant, doesn't it?

And yet, I knew that if the last item to arrive would be up to our Sea Harbour standards, everything would be fine and end on a high note. The Missus's favorite item from here is the Radish Cake with XO Sauce. When it arrived, the Missus and I looked at each other and said "where's the XO sauce"?

Apparently, these days, they saute the bean sprouts with the XO sauce and dump it on the radish cake. Which used to be nicely crisp on the exterior and soft and with a decadently melt-in-your-mouth tender interior. This was like eating mush....it was terrible and lacked flavor. This was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I mean look at how it used to be.

Does it even look like the same dish?

The service was uneven, the pacing terrible, the staff indifferent, all for $80 of dim sum for two. It was quite sad; Sea Harbour was once our favorite Dim Sum restaurant. Perhaps Covid has changed things....I can imagine changing portion size and using some products sparingly....but even technique seemed missing here; look at those dumplings! 

We left sad and depressed, as in the days before Covid, Sea Harbour was a favorite stop for us in the SGV. I must have done at least a half dozen posts on the place and I know that Ed from Yuma had done at least two.

Looks like we'll have to find a new go-to Dim Sum restaurant in the SGV. 

Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant
3939 Rosemead Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

More Takeout from Golden Island

During the fall, I received news that the kitchen staff at Golden Island had experienced some turnover.....the interesting news was that the "new" folks were from China Max...which BTW, still looks quite far from any construction, even though they said they would be reopening this year (2022). 

I decided to place a takeout order and headed on over.

There were actually people dining in and it just seemed quite "normal"......

For whatever that would mean. One of the reasons I keep returning is the manager, Michael is such a nice guy. I asked him about the staff change and he confirmed that yes, the kitchen staff had changed over.

So, I went ahead and ordered what I believe is one of the two items they do well; the Shrimp Siu Mai.

This was actually better than what I'd had here before; moist, tender, and just toothsome enough. Good shrimp flavor without "muddiness", the wrapper wasn't as dry and tough as before, though it's now $7.45!

I also went ahead and ordered something that was recommended to me, the Baked BBQ Pork Bun ($4.99).

   Not a big fan of these; though the bun is nice and fluffy, it's quite dry and bland. The cubes of char siu are really tough and the "sauce" also seemed quite bland as well. Even though it's one of the most inexpensive items on the menu, there's a bit of a shortage of filling as well.

Well, it seems like there was some improvement; so I waited a few weeks and did a revisit. This time I ordered  an item I wasn't very happy with before, the Har Gow and a recommendation, the Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf.

The Har Gow ($7.45) was a bit better.

 The wrapper was a bit more pliable, the shrimp was still on the drier side, but this had a nice "shrimpiness", with no off or muddy flavors. Nice large pieces of shrimp, but I bit more chewy than I like.

Still this was definitely better than what I'd had before.

I also got the Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf ($8.69).

This just wasn't very good.

You can easily see the issue I had with this, right? First off, the seasoning hadn't permeated the sticky rice.....plus there were some undercooked rice in this; really hard and not good eats. There was a whole shrimp, which was on the hard and chewy side. And there was just not enough filling to give this much flavor. I brought one home for the Missus. After heating; She opened it...there was no real fragrance, She took a look at the fillings and gave me a look, telling me; "well, this one is for you....."

Sooo.......I decided to return in November. I had been craving Kwai Fei Chicken and the version I'd had from here on an earlier visit was one of the two items I enjoyed. 

I also got the Soy Sauce Noodle ($12.99)....because you know....I needed some carbs to balance out that chicken.

This was pretty good, though I would have preferred a bit more soy sauce. Still, all the noodles were firm to crisp and well coated. The bean sprouts were also still crisp; but the dish could have used a bit more "wok hay" as well.

As for the Kwai Fei Ji ($17.99).

 What the heck happened here? This was so disappointing. The chicken had all these weird and somewhat bitter "brown spots" and was very dry, the overall flavor was a bit off. The "sauce" tasted a bit off and lacked assertive ginger tones. This is basically why I ended up trying the Kwai Fei Chicken from Eastern Dynasty.

Needless to say, I was quite disappointed. 

It's too bad about the inconsistency as I really like the manager here; though not quite sure on the service as I always arrived at my assigned time and always had to wait for my order. 

Though they do have "Jazz Night" if you're into that sort of thing.

Golden Island
10660 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Takeout Revisit from Golden Island

And so it came to pass....a few days ago I went into the office and due to vacations, etc, I was the only one there. A huge office space that once held maybe over 75 people, was left to me. Of course I was used to an empty office when I get into work at around 515am....but by 830, there I was, all by my lonesome. Then around nine-ish I went to refill my water bottle, when I noticed the motion control light in the back was one. There was one other person in the office.....being from a different team/department, we often passed each other and said hello, but never really spoke. But today, well, while filling my water he came into the kitchen area to use the coffee pod machine and we had a nice short chat. At the end of which, he mentioned it just having been Lunar New Year and yet, he hadn't had any Chinese food this year. I think he thought I was Chinese. Anyway, I ran into him again when going to the restroom and he mentioned he'd be getting lunch at this place he had wanted to try called Golden Island. I mentioned that I'd visited for takeout a couple of times and what I knew about the place. I also told him he could order online and not to freak out at the prices. Anyway, he decided to go for it and told me that if I wanted to place an order he'd be happy to pick it up for me. It had been nearly five months since I last visited and I had been thinking about the getting the Kwai Fei Ji from there....about the only thing I really enjoyed. So I went and placed an order, gave the dude some cash, and he went tp pick up my order....hey, who needs Uber Eats/Doordash/etc, etc, etc!

Anyway, he returned at around 1130 with my order. In addition to the Kwai Fei Chicken, I ordered the dim sum item that was at least decent during my visits, the Shrimp Siu Mai (now $6.69 was $6.19 a few months ago) and decided to try something new, so I went with the Pan Fried Shrimp and Chive Dumpling ($6.69).

When I opened my package, I knew something was amiss....do you see what it is?

No, it not the Shrimp Siu Mai, which again, while being a bit on the tough side, was perfectly serviceable.....perhaps a bit mild in flavor...it could have used more of the briney-sweetness of really good shrimp. I brought two of them home and the Missus thought they were not bad.

I'd never seen Pan Fried Shrimp and Chive Dumplings that looked like this:

What the heck is going on with the wrappers? Jiu Cai Jiao wrappers are usually made with combination of wheat and tapioca starch or glutinous rice flour. When pan fried, this allows for a nice crispness, and a pleasant, very mild sweetness. This looked like they just went with some leftover siu mai wrappers, then threw in in  pan to get a hint of "brown" on it. The filling as almost all chive, which over-powered everything else.

This was so weird. I mean, the online process is - you place your order and wait for an acknowledgement, you get a confirmation email where the restaurant can update your order....the guy in the office ordered turnip cake, but they were out so he replaced it with something else. I'm thinking they should have done that here? I only ate one, I brought the other two home and when the Missus saw this, She just plain refused to eat it.

In case you're wondering what this should look like.....

At this point, I was kind of worried about my Kwai Fei Chicken ($15.99). But I was relatively happy with what I got.

The sauce wasn't quite as good as what I'd had the last time. It had much more oil and not enough scallion, the flavors seemed a bit muted, but it wasn't terrible.

As for the chicken, well in terms of the nice winey-anise-poultry flavor, with a bit more salt this time which actually helped. I did find the white meat on the dry side, but the dark meat slices were very nice.

So no complaints with that.

I do wish I could find some other dish at Golden Island other than the Kwai Fei Chicken....let me know of any dish you recommend here.

Golden Island
10660 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
858-578-8800
Current Hours:
Daily 10am - 930pm

Dim Sum To Go From Jasmine

My first visit to Golden Island had me wondering how takeout was going at Jasmine. I had checked out their website and found they were doing online takeout orders. So, I decided to order some dim sum...which was 20 cents cheaper then Golden Island......at $5.99. Interesting to note, Jasmine Express opens at 1030 as does online ordering. And then it's at least 50 minutes before your order is ready.

Upon arriving, I noticed that the signs lead you to Jasmine Express for pick-up.

And you have to wait in line with everyone else....all of the folks in front of me were placing orders. They placed their order and waited across from the restaurant to be called. So, while I expected my order to be ready at 1130.....which it was (see the photo below, it's on the shelf); I still had to wait another 25 minutes in line. Add in the rather perfunctory service..... Wouldn't it make more sense to have a separate line for online pick-up?

Anyway, check out the outdoor dining at Kula above....creative uses for those concrete dividers.

Eventually I made my way to the front of the line, mentioned my name, and was handed my bag....I mean...really, my food was laying on a shelf for 25 minutes, when I could have walked up and been out of there in less than five.

I then drove back to the office and checked things out; I went with the Pork and Shrimp Siu Mai, Har Gow, and the Steamed Shrimp Fun Gor (fun guo aka Chiu Chow Dumplings). All $5.99. Man, if I hadn't been to Golden Island before this; I'd have had a bit of sticker shock as this was twenty bucks of dim sum.

The siu mai was decent. The pork had been evenly minced, thus achieving a better texture and was also more tender and moist, Good porkiness; the wrapper was still pliable and not hard. Pretty good overall.

The Har Gow was the best of the bunch; no torn wrappers here. The shrimp were plump and tender, with a nice mild sweet-brininess. This was quite good.

The Chiu Chow Dumplings was the worst item; the wrapper too thick, the filling under seasoned.

I actually like a bit more pungency and peanuts in this style of dumpling.

Overall, while the pick up process was really weak, this was much better than Golden Island.

A couple of weeks back; I decided to try the whole drill again.....with the same results. Enter order and pay at 1030; told to pick-up at 1130, arrived, this time at 1115, and still waited almost 30 minutes to pick up my order which had been lying on the shelf since I arrived.

This time I got the Shrimp Siu Mai, the Har Gow again, and the Steamed Scallop and Shrimp Dumplings.

This time one of the wrappers on the Har Gow was ripped....bummer.

Still, these were as good as what I'd had on my previous visit.

The shrimp and pork siu mai was also quite good; moist, fairly tender, nice balance of porkiness and shrimp flavor.

No hard pieces, no grittiness, no muddy flavors. The wrapper was even more tender than with the pork siu mai on my previous visit.

The Steamed Scallop and Shrimp Dumpling was ok.

While the wrapper was a bit on thick side and the dumpling could have used more scallop.....I missed a nice tender-sweet-oceany scallop flavor, the shrimp in this was again quite delicious and prepared well.

So, while the dim sum at Jasmine was, in my opinion, superior to Golden Island, GI definitely had the better service and process. So, I'm not quite sure....maybe it's best for me to wait until this is all over and I can have a proper dim sum meal.

Jasmine
4609 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Dine In Hours
Mon - Thurs 10am - 3pm
Fri - Sun   10am - 3pm, 5pm - 8pm
Jasmine Express
Daily 1030 - 830pm

Takeout From Golden Island

Back in May, I noticed that Fung Fung Yuen had apparently changed ownership and was now something called Golden Island. Couple of weeks later, I did a online search and noticed that Golden Island took online orders. But oh my, the sticker shock....Har Gow at $6.19? Though I have to say that I recently did takeout from Jasmine; which is only about 20 cents cheaper. I went ahead and placed my takeout order online; it was accepted and I was given a time for pick-up.

I arrived precisely at my designated time and the very nice gentleman whom I believe is the manager greeted me. There was a makeshift able set-up for to-go orders....unfortunately, I had to wait an additional 20 minutes for my order...good thing I didn't have any meetings planned.

I had ordered three items; Har Gow ($6.19), Shrimp Siu Mai ($6.19), and because I thought the Missus would appreciate it; the half Roast Duck ($15.99).

The siu mai were of good size; the shrimp filling a bit on the tough side instead of a nice firmness; but the shrimp had a decent slightly sweet-savory-briny flavor....while mild; it wasn't bad at all.

The Har Gow was terrible.

First off, the wrappers were too thick and brittle. Two of the dumplings were already torn open when I opened up the container. Secondly; the shrimp were dry, tough, with some gritty bits and there was a definite muddiness to it as well.

I also got the Roast Duck.

Which wasn't too bad. I think you can tell that the skin is not quite as laquered and crisp as I enjoy. Also, if you look closely; there some feather remnants on a couple of pieces. The meat was quite tender and moist and the flavoring, while on the mild side wasn't in the same class as.....say.....Noble Chef. I took most of it home and prepped it using my toaster oven hack; but the Missus was unimpressed.

I had indended on returning, but kinda forgot about the place until "RD" mentioned (mainly about the prices) in the comments of my TJ Dumplings post. So, I decided it was time for a revisit. I again placed an order online and the same really nice guy; I think his name is Michael (??) greeted me. It seems that things were getting straightened out as I waited less than five minutes for my order this time around.

This time I got the Pork Siu Mai ($5.39), Ginger-Scallion Tripe ($5.39), and seeing Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings ($10.99) on the menu, I had to get that as well.

The tripe wasn't braised long enough and was really hard....not crunchy, but hard.

The flavoring was quite mild as well; very light hints of ginger and there's usually a mild chicken flavor to this dish as it's usually braised in chicken stock.....but that was quite mild as well.

I did not enjoy the Pork Siu Mai.

The pork was really, really hard and too chewy. There were some rather large pieces of celery in the filling, The shrimp was over-cooked and had that same muddy flavor to it...similar to the shrimp in the Har Gow I had on the previous visit.

The Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings could have been fried a bit more as it was on the mushy-greasy side.

It could have used more seasoning and I think the oil used was a bit old as there were hints of rancid oil in some of my bites. Wings had some black spotting on bones; so perhaps it had been in the freezer for a while?

Not a great meal.....

And in most cases; I would have left things at that. But the gentleman working had been really nice and I wanted to see if Golden Island could really pull off a Shrimp Siu Mai that was worth over six bucks. Plus, there was one more item on the menu that I wanted to try.

So, a week or so later I placed another online order. By this time outdoor dining was picking up and Golden Island had some al fresco tables ready for customers, along with taped marks for social distancing and lining up....which seemed a bit too close to tables if you ask me. Not that it mattered on this day since no one was eating at the time.

On this visit the timing was perfect as my order was ready to go just as I arrived.

I had ordered the Shrimp Siu Mai again, the Bean Curd Roll with Abalone Sauce ($5.39), and seeing Imperial (Empress) Chicken on the menu (aka Kwai Fei Ji) I decided to order that ($14.99).

While the prep job on the shrimp in the siu mai wasn't quite as good this time around; there some overly large chunks, the siu mai was steamed nicely as the shrimp was tender and moist, the wrapper had a bit of stretch to it and the oceany-sweetness of the shrimp could be made out.

The Bean Curd Rolls on the other hand wasn't very good.

The bean curd skin was strangely unevenly cooked; some spots mushy and falling apart; other parts too hard and brittle. The fillings had a nice crunch, but lacked flavor. The sauce was oh so bland and gloppy. I brought two of them home. After heating the Missus took one bite and told me to eat the rest.

So, how was the Kwai Fei Chicken?

I was so pleasantly surprised by this. While the skin of the chicken was a bit on the chewy side; the meat itself was tender. The chicken had been steeped/simmered nicely and just the chicken alone had good flavor, a hint of anise, a bit of a winey-ness, nice savory tones. And the best surprise was the sauce....take a look at it; full of scallion and ginger, not overly full of oil, it was perfect. Mild pungency, a hint sesame oil...….man, this was better than what my old standby, Golden City makes.

I'm glad I did that third visit. Things ended on a high note for me. Aaaaand, I have new place for Kwai Fei Chicken. Though I'm still not sold on paying Sea Harbour prices for routine Dim Sum.

For another view on things; check out Soo's post on Golden Island.

Golden Island
10660 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
858-578-8800
Current Hours:
Mon - Fri 10am - 9pm
Sat - Sun 930am - 9pm

Road Trip - Sea Harbour (Rosemead) Revisited

We had a nice night of sleep after dinner at Bistro Na's. Frankie was staying with one of his favorites Aunties, so I used some points and booked an overnight stay. And though we had enjoyed trying some new places on this visit; when it came to dim sum, the Missus wanted Sea Harbour, especially since it had been about three years since our last visit. Of course we got there a few minutes before opening; the lines don't seem quite as long these days. And were promptly seated when they opened....where we got a close-up view of the spot prawns.

The Missus was specifically interested in trying something She saw in various Instagram posts (and no; I don't do "Insta")

Yep, basically squid ink colored - gold leaf topped har gow. shades of gold leaf topped sashimi (in Kanazawa)! So, this was nearly ten bucks..... But, it was well put together. Sea Harbour really knows how to make their shrimp; these were plump, tender, and full of flavor. The mushroom in the dumplings had an earthy sweetness to them.

Next up was the mushroom tart.

These looked better than they actually were. The mushroom filling was really mild and didn't stand up to the pastry. Meanwhile, the pastry started to break down rather quickly and got quite gummy.

I was really happy to see that the Fish Roe and Scallop Dumpling was back on the menu.

It had been taken off the menu on our last visit a few years back. Perfectly textured wrappers; sweet-oceany scallops, balanced out with the crunchy masago.

Of course the Missus had to get Her Chicken Feet. A favorite of Hers.

And I had to get a favorite of mine, the Shrimp, Dried Scallops, and Chinese Celery Dumplings .

And these did not disappoint, wonderful combination of savory (dried scallops) - oceany and sweet (shrimp), all balanced out with the palate cleansing and textural contrast of the Chinese celery. The wrappers were faultless.

On one of our previous visits we tried the Black Fungus and Celery Dumpling and didn't think it was very good. So, we decided to try them out again.

This time around, it was much better. Great texture, the flavor of the celery coming through. Still a bit on the mild side in terms of flavor, but again the wrappers were perfect.

I was really disappointed in the Soy Sauce Noodles this time around.

Overcooked (even the bean sprouts!) and bland. Where the heck were the scallions?

Things finished off with another favorite of the Missus; the Radish Cake with XO Sauce.

While I don't think the searing of the radish cake was done quite as well; it lacked the light coat of crispness, this literally melted in our mouths. The XO Sauce adds another dimension in terms of flavor. It's still quite delicious.

Overall a nice meal. A big plus was that SH opens at 10am on weekends, so we were able to get back on the road before 11am, and head home.

We need to head up to the SGV more often.

Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant
3939 Rosemead Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770

 

Post #3951 - It's Back to the Beginning: China Max, Sandwich Emporium, Bay Park Fish, and Another One.....

Recently I was asked via email if I'd hit 5,000 posts yet.....well, I knew I wasn't even close since I've only been around since May 26, 2005, which, if we count forward until today would be a total of 4898 days. Of course there's no way we'd be doing more than one post a day. But, I was kind of interested in counting our posts and saw we were getting close to 4,000. But, I didn't want to burden myself with keeping track so I chose to do something; well today.

I had noticed something interesting; all of the places listing in my first five posts are still in business! What are the chances? So, I decided to revisit four of those places; the other Sushi Komasa is still going strong, at least as far as I know.

I think we've been to a good number of places over the years. I once had a page I called the "Big List" which listed places, included those which had closed, only in San Diego, with a few photos I'd never published....well, the page got too big for Typepad to handle and it wouldn't load anymore. So, it's back to the drawing board with that one.

Anyway, I'm not going to go too much into detail, after all, I've probably posted on these places a few times before.

Post #1 May 26, 2005; China Max:

Which I visited with the Late, Great, Ed from Yuma; I miss you my friend! The Missus humored me and was actually wanting some Gai lan….and I was craving the Seafood Pan Fried Noodles. The drill is that the Missus gets all the seafood, except for the squid which is usually on the chewy side, and most of the noodles and "gravy" is mine. I usually want this about every year or so.

Time sure does fly; this is now $20.99; man can you believe this used to be (with more noodles) $14.99 ? Anyway, having grown up eating what we call "cake noodle" (sam see mian) - "Mr Z" if you read this; Kin Wah used to make a nice version! Anyway, the shrimp was nicely cooked, at least that's what the Missus said. I just loved the always evolving texture of the saturated crunchy noodles.

The Missus got Her gailan.

We also ordered some dimsum.

We got two items that had usually been fairly dependable here; but you can easily see the holes in the wrappers of the Pan Fried Chive Dumplings:

The Chazhou Dumpling's wrappers were really sticky and tore when we removed them from the tin.

Still the flavor of the fillings for both were fine.

For what it's worth China Max still might be the best dim sum in the area. Which pretty much tells the story of dim sum in San Diego.

China Max
4698 Convoy Street #C101
San Diego, CA 92111

Post #3 May 28, 2005 Sandwich Emporium:

I've long mentioned my affection for those mom-and-pop sandwich shops. Though SE has pretty well for themselves over the years with locations in Rancho Penasquitos, Escondido, and Mira Mesa. Though I don't drop by nearly as much as I used to; it's still my neighborhood sandwich shop.

And "say hello to my little friend".....

This one is called the "Spicy Julio". I believe one of the "twins"; John told me they make the roast beef inhouse these days? Anyway; a toasted roll, a sauce with pickled jalapenos, guac….this was quite nice on an especially warm fall day.

Sandwich Emporium
3054 1/2 Clairemont Drive
San Diego,CA

Post #5 May 30, 2005 Bay Park Fish:

Though I really only bought some seafood on that day. This was way back when Bay Park Fish used to sell seafood.....interesting story; that seafood case eventually ended up at Catalina Offshore.

It had been quite a while since I last visited; for some reason, the Missus and I just aren't thrilled by the menu, prices, etc....

I recently dropped by for a beer and the one item I enjoy here; the smoked fish, though there seems to be a bit more "filling" than on previous visits.

Still this wasn't too bad.

And with a nice cold .394 I was full.

Perhaps one of these days; I'll drop by and start retrying other items on the menu.

Bay Park Fish Company
4121 Ashton St
San Diego, CA 92110

There is one place conspicuously missing; it's from Post #4 May 29, 2005. So here's the deal. I actually drove up to the College area on a recent weekend for a revisit. It had been about three years since my last visit and a decade since my last visit before that.

So, I actually dropped by......

I walked in and there was....shall we say a "fragrance"...….it was pretty tough, even for someone who has had some interesting and wonderful things over the years, and some unknowingly disturbing items as well. I mean, it was bad...….even worse than what you'd think trout smoked over...well, you know what. I had to leave....sorry, just couldn't do it.

Regardless; I'd like to thank everyone who have visited over the years. We're flattered that you'd even take the time to visit. It's been an honor to sit and do my "stream of consciousness" posts. Frankly, I didn't think I'd last a year. So, thank you once again!

Roadtrip - Xiang Yuan Gourmet (Temple City)

**** Xiang Yuan no longer serves Dim Sum

We had one stop to plan on our way back from Santa Barbara last year. The Missus really wanted dim sum. And naturally, Sea Harbour came to mind. But I wanted to try something different. And after showing the Missus a couple of blog posts, I talked Her into stopping at Xiang Yuan Gourmet. The Missus was somewhat skeptical since "Xiang" basically means Hunan.

Still we made the drive to Temple City, to a portion of Las Tunas Drive that I don't think I've ever been to.

The restaurant is clean and modern and was totally empty during our entire visit.

The service was quite good.....and very efficient, though I guess being the only customers might not be the best gauge of that. It seems that the menu serves dim sum during the day, with the Hunan menu coming into play for dinner.

The menu did indeed feature some interesting nouveau style dim sum items.

We ordered some of our favorites, along with some interesting items I'd seen on other blog posts.

Crystal Shrimp Har Gow.

The shrimp were very moist and plump, with a nice "shrimpiness". The wrapper was a bit too think for my liking. I think that the version at Sea Harbour is better than this.

We both enjoyed the nice "pull" of the wrappers on the Vegetarian Dumplings.

The filling had a nice combination of textures and was pretty tasty overall. Surprising for a vegetable based dumpling.

I usually enjoy Chiu Chow Dumplings and this was no exception.

The wrappers, while on the thick side, weren't too gummy, the ingredients, peanuts, chives, mushroom, shrimp, all worked together well. Very balanced.

We also ordered this....

To translate, least you think we're one "k" away from skunk. Bean Curd Skin Roll with Cordyceps Flower.

The broth was delicious, and not overly medicinal. The bean curd skin was nice and crunchy, though the roll was on the bland side.

Turnip Cake is a must order item for the Missus.

Nicely studded with Chinese Sausage, this was very soft. It doesn't hold a candle to the version with XO Sauce at Sea Harbour. The Missus said that She enjoys what I make at home more than this.

The last three items that came out were the one's we were really interested in trying.

The Mushroom Bun......really looks like a mushroom.

The dough was a perfect combination of soft-fluffy, while still having a slight chew and not overly sweet. The filling of mushroom and bamboo shoots had a perfect savory flavor, with just the right amount of crunch from the bamboo shoots and carrots, which added a touch of sweetness as well. My favorite item of the day.

The Crispy Bamboo Shoot Paste Balls really make an impression.

They arrive looking like carrots....I'm not sure why, there's no carrot in this. The exterior is said to be made from bamboo shoot paste, which reminded me of exterior of glutinous rice dumplings. It was overly sweet and chewy for our tastes and the amount of salted egg filling just didn't stand up to the sweetness.

Ever since first having Durian Pastry almost eleven years ago at Elite Restaurant, I always have to try it if it's on the menu. The version here is quite nice, if not as visually appealing as the previous two dishes.

The crust is fairly light, the filling thicker than other versions, but very tasty and not too sweet. As a bonus there's a slice of durian along one edge of the pastry. Very nice in a mildly savory-not overly sweet-custardy kind of way. I'd gladly have this again. Another winner.

The Missus really enjoy this meal. In fact, She told me that we should return as soon as we are able to.

In fact, She told me that "this might now be my favorite dim sum restaurant". I'm not sure. I think I still prefer Sea Harbour. I'm going to need several revisits to both. You know; for research purposes......

Xiang Yuan Gourmet
9556 Las Tunas Dr
Temple City, CA 91780

Fung Fung Yuen

Fung Fung Yuen opened this past summer (on the ever lucky 08/08) to quite a bit of hype and fanfare. My friends who visited soon after the initial soft opening told me the place really didn't live up to their expectations. So I waited about six weeks. We'd moved offices and was now a bit closer to the place. Three of us, Calvin, "BigD", and myself, made two visits, after which we decided to give it a rest.

The restaurant does remind me of those "Dim Sum Palaces" of my youth, a nice, rather large, space (formerly Hometown Buffet).

The place is set-up for larger "family style" parties.

During our visits, there only seemed to be 2-3 carts rotating at a time. During our first visit, we never saw the steamed dumpling cart, so no siu mai, har gow, etc. On both visits, we never saw any Cheong Fun.

I've decided to start with the best item we had; which coincidentally was actually ordered off the menu; the Roast Pork ($14.95).

The pork was moist, the skin, while a bit too thick was decent. A very nice dish overall.

A remote second was the tripe.

No off flavors, decently cooked, nice "crunch" the gooey sauce was a bit on the "sweet" side for my taste.

I think it's kind of sad that the two main reasons the Shrimp Siu Mai is number 3 was that it was hot and it wasn't overly tough.

The Soy Sauce Noodles was on the colder side, a bit greasy and overcooked.

Sticky Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf was barely past warm.

The rice was nice and tender, though the pork was really tough.

One look at the Har Gow and you can tell this wasn't going to be very good.

Dried out wrappers, hard and overcooked shrimp.

The Eggplant stuffed with shrimp was quite cold and greasy.

That sauce which was cold really didn't help matters.

The Ham Sui Gok, the fried glutinous rice dumplings stuffed with pork was also cold, thus the dumpling had become rather gummy. Check out the (lack of) filling, which was cold and tough.

The Bean Curd roll was at least served at a decent temperature. But the strips of vegetables were cut too thick and was undercooked.

Calvin just wanted the Xiao Long Bao.

Looking at the photo; you can kinda figure things out; cold, no soup, really thick, hard wrappers.

And yet, there was something even worse than the XLB; the Pearl Balls, these made with shrimp.

Cold, tough, some of the rice was just plain hard.

There's obviously some kinks to work out here.....things like keeping your product at a decent temp in the carts.....which, by the way, only made one pass, and then was gone. It was a rather unsatisfying two meals. I'm hoping they get things straightened out. I'm hoping they work things out. Folks were telling me how busy the place was, but on our first visit the place was one-third full, on our second even less.

For balance, please check out Kirbie's and Faye's posts.

Fung Fung Yuen
10660 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126

Vancouver/Richmond - Kirin Seafood Restaurant (City Square), Parker Place Meat & BBQ, and HK BBQ Master

The Missus and I really wanted to try out some Dim Sum while in Vancouver. We'd heard so much about the quality of Dim Sum in Richmond/Vancouver. The one little thing; we weren't quite sure when we'd return from visiting the Capilano Suspension Bridge, so I didn't want to make reservations. Instead, after checking out the fun at Anime Revolution, we got on the SkyTrain and got off at the Broadway-City Hall stop and walked over to City Square Mall. We'd take our chances at Kirin Seafood Restaurant.

Of course, when we arrived, the first thing they asked us was if we had reservations. Though we had no problem getting a table as the place wasn't totally full.

We weren't super hungry and we had plans after lunch, so we ordered five items from the menu.

Starting with the tendon and tripe.

This was a nice and hearty dish, though pretty mild in flavor. The tendon had a slight chew to it; the tripe slightly crunchy with no off flavors. The Missus actually enjoyed the daikon more than anything else in this dish.

The Scallop Dumplings were a disappointment as the scallops were tough and overcooked.

The wrappers were very sticky and tore quite easily.

Our favorite dish of the meal was the rustic looking stuffed wintermelon.

The wintermelon still had a nice texture; providing just enough resistance. It had also absorbed the flavors of the pork and the broth nicely. The enoki mushrooms provided a nice, earthy taste and the pork was tender and just about perfect.

The Deep Fried Shrimp Dumpling with Consomme was interesting.

The fried dumplings were excellent; the wrappers light, yet crunchy, the shrimp filling tender and flavorful. We both felt the consommé was rather bland and flat.......it was like watered down chicken broth in flavor and brought nothing to the dish.

After that rather bland consommé; we were a bit concerned about the Scallop and Bamboo Pith Fungus Dumpling in Supreme Soup, but this ended up being quite good.

Great flavors all around and the soup; while rather light had a nice balance in terms of seasoning to flavor.

Overall, while pretty good, based on all the great things we heard about the Dim Sum in Vancouver, we both thought Sea Harbour in the SGV was every bit as good if not better. I'll make sure to make reservations at Chef Tony or another place for Dim Sum the next time we're in Vancouver.

Kirin Seafood Restaurant
555 W 12th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Z 3X7
Canada

After lunch we got back on the SkyTrain and headed on over to Richmond, getting off at the Aberdeen stop, and walking on over to Parker Place Mall and Parker Place Meat & BBQ. Yes, this place is located in a shopping mall.

The line here grows rapidly and moves quickly....it's to your benefit to have your act together and know what you want......when its your turn you need to be quick about it.

The Missus was really looking forward to some Roast Duck....so I got the Roast Duck on rice to go.

Parker Place Meat & B.B.Q (In Parker Place Mall)
4380 No 3 Rd
Richmond, BC V6X 4E8
Canada

Having gotten out unscathed; we headed to our next stop. If you thought Chinese BBQ in a shopping mall was interesting....try going to a parking garage.

For some Chinese BBQ......

This is where HK BBQ Master is located; just down the street from Parker Place BBQ. Again, a fast moving line for take-out....here there are a couple of tables as well. Some deal; roast duck on rice.

HK BBQ Master (In the parking garage of Real Canadian Superstore)
4651 No 3 Road
Richmond, BC V6X 2C4
Canada

Since we had restrained ourselves somewhat during lunch; we'd have this for an early dinner at the apartment.

Walking down No 3 Road reminded me of the SGV.........without the crazy traffic.....

Choices abound.....

And guess who we ran into on the SkyTrain back to the apartment?

Yep....good 'ol DV himself.

This woman couldn't stop giggling and taking photos of DV.

Being the ever so friendly Canadian version of DV; he waved the woman over and they proceeded to take a bunch of selfies! You gotta love it.

As for the duck? Well, in spite of saying we'd be having it for dinner, we did have a couple of pieces while it was still warm.....just for comparative purposes of course!

Here's Parker Place.

Here's HK BBQ Master.

While HK BBQ Master's duck looks a lot darker; Parker Place's duck won hands down; being more moist, with a nice amount of anise-beany-duckiness. The skin HK BBQ Master's version was rubbery, the meat dry, and while it had a decent duck taste, it wasn't balanced out with anything else. Of course, both of these are vastly superior to any roast duck in San Diego. I was told that HK BBQ Master makes great roast pork, but the Missus was after duck.

It was time for a nap.....then we'd be off to our next stop(s)!