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Liu's Cafe, Westwood
Chinese

Liu's Cafe, Westwood

Had a chance to visit Lou’s Café in Westwood thought it was really good. I kinda like this interior better than the Ktown one I like the counter. It’s kind of cool to sit at a counter. This time we had the chicken rice and also the Hong Kong style toast. The toast was really good at inside. It had condensed milk, which is sweet. It’s actually a really tasty dessert. Again I would recommend and I would visit again. Just like the ktown one. Amazingly they have a nice following with small menu.

Stone pot rice with Chinese sausage at a Hong Kong style cafe in Monterey park
Chinese

Stone pot rice with Chinese sausage at a Hong Kong style cafe in Monterey park

Stone pot rice with Chinese sausage at a Hong Kong style cafe in Monterey park. Brings back memories of late night meals after a night of drinking. Or when I was stumbling around in LKF, also after a night of drinking, looking for a place to eat (but settling usually with a shawarma). What’s cool about this place is the HK taxi parked right outside and the old movie posters. Was full, but had to also have the peanut butter toast. Friend had the baked rice. Yummy! . . .

Snacking on Piano Island, Gulangyu
Chinese

Snacking on Piano Island, Gulangyu

I had a cool interaction with the chef of the little restaurant. I was going to buy a small bottle of gaoliang and I asked him to drink with me if I got it, for only 40 RMB. He looked tempted but he politely declined. Later we shared a cigarette and chatted about how his boss won’t then drink on the job and how he is friendly with everyone including foreigners, like me. I do get stares since I am a bit taller and bigger than most locals, especially now with a shaved head. But once you get a chance to chat with local purveyors everyone seems friendly. . . .

小埕戏, Xiamen
Chinese

小埕戏, Xiamen

小埕戏 is one of the best design restaurants that I have ever been to. Amazing views, excellent blend of modern and traditional Chinese dining furnishings, and indoor, yet outdoor feel with a retractable roof. Fully impressed by this restaurant, and I’ve been to a lot of eateries. The food was traditional Xiamenese food featuring duck, fish, and vegetables, which reminded me of Taiwanese cooking. My ex coworkers also said the restrooms and the views were also impressive. The private rooms also feature great views. And lastly check out that cabinet full of Mao Tai!! . . .

Cantonese Bbq pork and roast pork belly over rice and...
Chinese

Cantonese Bbq pork and roast pork belly over rice and...

Cantonese Bbq pork and roast pork belly over rice and pork meat ball soup. At short stop at HKG airport with a classic Cantonese deli meal. When I lived in HKG this was my favorite meal. I found great little restaurants that served this classic dish. Yet the first time I had this dish was in LA. I remember my mom bringing home bbq pork in a paper bag lined with foil. I remember later in college, we’d go to Sam Woo’s 三和 in Chinatown to order this or beef chow fun. I later grew to appreciate roast pork belly, too. Bbq pork or chasu or 叉燒 or cha siu. . . .

Happy Mooncake eating festival day, Shanghai
Chinese

Happy Mooncake eating festival day, Shanghai

Happy Mooncake eating festival day. 中秋節Also known as Mid Autumn Festival. Mooncakes are big and heavy to eat. Usually I can only eat a small portion of one, this year about 1/4. Today we decided to have pan fried dumplings - Sheng Jian Bao 生煎包 I call these the big brother to the more famous steak pork dumplings Xiao long bao XLB 小籠包. The Sheng Jian Bao are much larger, juicier, and have a thicker skin. When I lived in Shanghai there was a Sheng Jian Bao stall a few minutes away. Used to grab a few of these for breakfast on the weekends. In Shanghai, there was a famous chain called Little Yangs that featured Sheng Jian Baos, and they were really good. There are a few places in LA that have sheng Jian Bao, but I believe the best ones are from Kang Kang in temple city. If you have never tried it, I strongly recommend it. . . . .

Xiang La Hui, Los Angeles
Chinese

Xiang La Hui, Los Angeles

Sichuan food 川菜 at Xiang La Hui 香辣汇. We had Spicy Roasted Fish with Red Peppers 香辣风味烤鱼, which was super spicy. The square caldron of fire had a simmering oily broth of goodness with cauliflower, potatoes, peanuts, a fish, and of course spicy and mouth numbing Sichuan peppercorns called Hua Jiao 花椒. Out mouths were in a constant state of fire. But with the fish and hua Jiao, it numbed our tongues to allow us to eat more. Not sure if that is a good thing. Later on, I realized that we needed to have the plum juice 酸梅湯, which is a sweet and sour juice. This juice, a typical Chinese drink, is offered at hot pot joints as well as Sichuan restaurants, really hits the spot and soothes your overly excited taste buds and neutralizes that spicy mouth fire tingly sensation, just so you can eat more. I’m sure you’ll pay for it later, if you know what I mean 🚽. We also had House Special Pork Belly 梅菜扣肉, which isn’t a Sichuan dish, but it was perfect for us. The sliced pork was overly salty which had its place for our taste buds, since we had spicy, sweet, sour, and now salty. We each had a bowl of rice to make sure we were full. I recommend this place, but I caution those who might not be ready for a full tongue sensory overload. . . . . .

Northern Cafe, Temple City
Chinese

Northern Cafe, Temple City

Northeastern Chinese Cuisine at Northern Cafe. 東北菜 is one of the more under appreciated cuisines in my humble opinion. Dumplings and noodles are the hallmarks of Northeastern Chinese Cuisine. We had lamb skewers, pork pancake, beef roll, house special knife cut noodles, sauerkraut pickled pepper beef noodles, braised pork belly, and their house special soup. It return again to try their northern style hotpot and their dumplings. It’s also cool that they have private dining rooms and liquor lockers too. . . . . . .cafe .northern

Tea Master Matcha Cafe and Green Tea Shop, Los Angeles
Chinese

Tea Master Matcha Cafe and Green Tea Shop, Los Angeles

Cold brew tea and lunch at Steep. Had the braised pork on rice, the chicken rice, and pork soup noodles. I think the pork soup noodles were the best. I loved the flavorful broth. The chicken rice, similar to a Hainan chicken rice, did have the expected garlic rice - but it wasn’t suppose to hence the name. The braised pork over rice with the soft boiled egg was not bad. I did like my pu-erh tea. I like the glass bottles. . . . . . . .

Jia Jia Tangbao (佳家汤包), Shanghai
Chinese

Jia Jia Tangbao (佳家汤包), Shanghai

Rou Jia Mo and Liang Pi. This is Shaanxi or Xi’an Cuisine. You could say this street food. Rou Jia Mo is a Chinese Sandwich with braised pork. You can also have it with lamb or beef, too. I think Rou Jia Mo 肉夹馍 could be easily accepted in mainstream US. Liang Pi 涼皮is a spicy cold noodle. It is a simple and tasty vegetarian dish. I first had these noodles when I was living in Shanghai. The spiciness creeps up on your after a few bites. Yum! . . . . .

Pearl River Deli, Hong Kong
Chinese

Pearl River Deli, Hong Kong

This is the last of the Hainan Chicken Chronicles - Pearl River Deli. The Pearl River Delta is area of China in the Guangdong Province encompassing the major cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, among others. I used to live and work in Shenzhen and Hong Kong awhile ago, so I am quite familiar with the area. The province of Hainan is also nearby as well. Hainan Chicken rice is a popular dish that is offered in Cantonese restaurants. I remember first seeing it, before frequenting savoy, at Hong Kong style cafes - like ABC cafe in the early 90’s. Anyways, PRD’s offering offer large cuts of boneless chicken with flavored rice and sauces. I wish I remembered to ask for all dark meat. Heck I’m not sure they had a all dark meat offering. The rice was spiced and flavored right. The sauce were good, more spicy than others. I also had a chasu egg pineapple bun sandwich. Chasu is Cantonese bbq pork and the pineapple bun is a “pineapple” looking crusted sweet bread. This was a nice little sandwich combination with the sweet and salty. . . . . . . . 🐔

Maxwell Chicken Rice, Downtown LA
Chinese

Maxwell Chicken Rice, Downtown LA

Our third stop for Hainan Chicken Rice is at Maxwell Chicken Rice in DTLA Chinatown. Maxwell is the name of Food Centre in Singapore with famous hawkers selling street food including Hainan Chicken rice. And in DTLA, this place does not disappoint. The tender and not dry dark meat chicken is succulent with slight flavors. Then again it isn’t about bold flavors. The sauces provide the added taste along with the fragrant garlic chicken rice. Unfortunately I didn’t take picture of the sauces. What makes Maxwell standout is there fried egg and their Vietnamese-influence garlic noodles. I would try again and recommend. . . . . . .

The Chicken Koop, Alhambra
Chinese

The Chicken Koop, Alhambra

This week is all about Hainan Chicken Rice. The chronicles starts with Savoy Kitchen in Alhambra. Arguably the most famous Hainan Chicken restaurant in the greater Los Angeles area. 海南雞飯 has origins in Singapore from immigrant Chinese, naturally from the Hainan province. This boiled chicken dish features tender chicken with flavored garlic rice. Paired with a ginger sauce, a sweet spicy sauce, and soy sauce, this dish was introduced to me, years ago from an old girlfriend. Now, it is still one of my favorite dishes. You can find variants with roast chicken or fried chicken, but the garlic flavored rice remains the same and the most popular part of the dish. Savoy does not disappoint. If you never had Hainan Chicken rice, please do try it. The delicate skin, which might seem off putting, offers a moistness with the tender chicken. The rest of the week will have other Hainan Chicken from other establishments in the area. . . . . . .

Traditional Hong Kong style breakfast, Hong Kong
Chinese

Traditional Hong Kong style breakfast, Hong Kong

Traditional Hong Kong style breakfast. With the rice porridge, pineapple buns, macaroni spam in soup, rice noodle with dried shrimp, and the dry noodles. Reminiscent of my short time in Hong Kong years ago. You can see the western British influence with these dishes. I love the rice porridge with thousand year old egg and pork (which I didn’t get this time). The pineapple buns with the hard butter is also a favorite. Check out my next post of the tea coffee with the condensed milk. Too bad for breakfast they open at 9am. They should open earlier. . . . . . . . . macaronisoup

Baking With Ish, San Gabriel
Chinese

Baking With Ish, San Gabriel

Sichuan lunch with old friends. Finally got a chance to visit Szechuan Impression. Had the spicy boiled fish, sausage, veggies, pork belly with rice flour, mapo tofu. Crazy spicy with the Sichuan peppercorn. 花椒. Mouth numbing feel. Interesting they had a bunch of different dishes from different regions of China. Those dishes had a twist with their interpretation with Sichuan influences. I like the small cozy space, was very inviting. . . . . .

Duck House, Monterey Park
Chinese

Duck House, Monterey Park

Beijing Roast Duck 北京烤鴨 at the Duck House. Haven’t had duck in a long time. We had the half duck with the crispy skin. They provided the thin rice paper wrappers as opposed to the thick buns (which I prefer). The duck soup was savory and flavorful. The thinly sliced translucent pork belly was perfect with the garlic sauce. The glass noodles, sesame sauce lettuce, and jelly fish was good, also. The last dish the eel over sticky rice was also a stand out. Restaurant building looked like it was an old bank. I think the Duck House has been around a long time, just never had the chance to try. I’m glad I did. . . . . .

Hainan Chicken Rice in the OC, Orange County
Chinese

Hainan Chicken Rice in the OC, Orange County

Hainan Chicken Rice in the OC. But they ran out of the rice. 海南雞飯 usually comes with flavor rice - which is steamed with ginger, herbs, and sometimes chicken broth. But this time they said they ran out and had to substitute it with white rice. WTF. Another thing, there was no option for us to pick white or dark meat. /SMH. I wanted to like this place. . . Heck I had pressure to impress my coworkers with one of my favorite dishes. . . . .

The PuLi Hotel and Spa (璞丽酒店), Shanghai
Chinese

The PuLi Hotel and Spa (璞丽酒店), Shanghai

The meat of the meal. To many too mention - standouts include braised pork belly 紅燒肉 which was decadent, luscious, and rich all in one bite. The roast duck might have been too dry with the steamed buns. The fried fish was gobbled up so fast by everyone. Unfortunately the crab was not too popular. And the tang yuan rice Ball soup dessert was good except for the slightly too sour broth. And the friend dumplings 生煎包 almost had a breading to meat ratio that skewed too much toward the wrong side. And happy 100 days - Troy! . . . . .

JiouDing Hot Pot, Los Angeles
Chinese

JiouDing Hot Pot, Los Angeles

Chuan Chuan in LA at JiouDing Hot Pot. Spicy as hell. One of the most uncomfortable meals, but I can’t wait to try it again. 🤪 imagine this - you go pick a bunch of skewers of meats and vegetables. Then they take them and return them in a cauldron of hot spicy flavorful oil. Then you snack on each of the skewers after a quick dip in garlic oil. We had 52 skewers at $0.39 a skewer. Make sure you get the plum juice. Yum! Unlike anything I’ve ever had. Even in China! . . . . .

Shan Xi Cuisine Restaurant, Arcadia
Chinese

Shan Xi Cuisine Restaurant, Arcadia

Shan Xi cuisine in Shanxi province, where noodles rules over rice, is just west of Beijing. Popular for lunch and dinner, with locals, new Chinese immigrants, and those pesky millennials. We had soup-less ground pork noodles, known as Zha Jiang Mian 炸醬麵 - which is my favorite. Then we had the popular cat ear noodles soup 貓耳朵 - which seems like Italian pasta - was the most interesting. Then we also shared a knife cut vegetarian noodle 刀削麵. I love the chewiness of these noodles. You should watch how they make and cook these noodles. And the last significant dish was the fried pork meat balls. I insisted on adding this to our order, even though we were full, since I saw almost everyone ordering - plus a picture of it on Merrill Shindler’s review. Good place. Noodles had better texture than Valley Blvd’s Mian.

Rolling Rice, Rosemead
Chinese

Rolling Rice, Rosemead

Yummy Rice 飯香 - Shanghainese cuisine in Rosemead. I was craving 蔥油拌麵 scallion oil noodles - so I coerced my family to have Shanghainese food tonight. Yummy Rice (yes it is a funny name) featured a staff all from Shanghai. The noodles were just ok - flavor was good but the noodles weren’t the ones I liked from shanghai. The 紅曬肉 Braised pork belly was very good. The luscious fat melted with eat chomp. The fried jelly fish and dark soy fish was ok. Didn’t care too much for it. The spicy frog legs was a favorite of my wife’s. The vegetable fried rice was a bit too oily, also. I am not sure I would return, due to the noodles. They have 小籠包 steam pork dumplings that I am tempted to try, next time.