Probably one of the saddest days of 2009 was the day I learned that the simple, humble Noodle House (Mian Hsiang Yuan) on Garvey Avenue was sold to new ownership, with the entire kitchen staff replaced. Long gone were the wonderful, made-to-order Steamed Buns (Baozi) and Dumplings (Jiaozi), replaced by a solid product, but much different from the [...]
Recently, I've realized that there are quite a few "comfortable restaurants" / "comfortable cuisines" that I've overlooked, either due to them being so routine or just taken for granted. One such "comfortable cuisine" would probably be Chinese Dim Sum. Being a So Cal native, I was lucky enough to grow up with family or friends who would take me [...]
One of Eastern China's most popular culinary exports would have to be the Xiao Long Bao (known as "XLB" or "Soup Dumplings"). These little, pouch-like creations have become so popular across China, that a version of them are even served at Southern-style Dim Sum restaurants. In the West, they're gaining popularity, and just the mere mention of [...]
Duck. A glorious, delicious Duck dish at any restaurant would turn me into an instant regular! :) Besides Duck Confit, my other favorite preparation for Duck would have to be Peking Duck (Beijing Kao Ya). Unfortunately, L.A. lost its best Peking Duck specialist years ago, with the closing of Quan Ju De. In the interim, Duck House (Lu Ding Ji) in [...]
Over the past few weeks, a startling current ran through the Dim Sum community: Sea Harbour's main Dim Sum cook left and was now working at a new restaurant, King Hua in Alhambra. Surprised as well, I figured "Oh well, guess we'll have to go to King Hua for Dim Sum from now on if this was true." But then the mixed reviews starting coming out, and [...]
*** UPDATE 2: The original Chef and staff have moved to open up a new restaurant: Fu Fang Yuan (Noodle House)! Reviewed here.*** UPDATE: Noodle House (Mian Hsiang Yuan) was sold to new ownership sometime around the end of Dec. '08 / Jan. '09. Currently, their original chef and entire kitchen staff have left and been replaced. This review is no [...]
Lamb in all its incarnations has to be one of my favorite types of protein. Whenever I see Lamb on a menu, I tend to gravitate towards that dish, unless there happens to be Pork Belly or Grade A5 Wagyu. (^_~) So when Mr Taster spoke volumes about a new restaurant that specializes in Roasted Lamb Skewers, I knew I had to try it out as soon as [...]
With the chilly Winter evenings setting upon So Cal, I found myself looking for some hot soup noodles to fight off the cold. As I was thinking of places to try, I remembered the great info from veteran SGV Hound Chandavkl, about a new restaurant that used Bamboo to make their Noodles. I wasn't sure what to expect, but off I went to visit [...]
Out of all the styles of Chinese cuisine found in Southern California, perhaps the most popular would have to be Yue Tsai (Cantonese cuisine), or more specifically Hong Kong-style Cantonese cuisine (note the huge "seafood palaces" spread out across the San Gabriel Valley packed to the gills on weekends - during the day (for Dim Sum) and night [...]
Continuing on the tour of wonderful Dim Sum restaurants in Southern California (and as previously posted, a "comfortable cuisine" I've never gotten around to writing about), is Sea Harbour in Rosemead, California. As with Elite, Sea Harbour is another of the top Dim Sum restaurants in L.A., and wildly popular: If you show up after 10:00 a.m. on [...]
