Taiwanese Food at Jurassic
In my series of reviewing Taiwanese cuisine, Jurassic Restaurant is my second of three. The other restaurants that I choose are Wan Heng and Old Country Cafe.
I know a little about the history of this place and when it was based in Taiwan. From what I was told and was able to piece together, the owner of Jurassic is Taiwanese, from Taipei. The owner was some how related to the original Indian Beer Houses in Taipei, where there were at least 3 locations. I remember going to these beer halls years ago. The largest of the locations had a huge dinosaur skeleton inside, along with wood tables and benches. They also had the terrible old fashion squatting Asian toilets.
Then, back in the US, about 15 years ago, I saw the same logo, from Taiwan, on a small shack in Temple City, off of Baldwin and Lower Azusa. I remember going there for Taiwanese food and beer. Later, I heard they moved to Arcadia, on 1st avenue. After a few years he sold this location. The new owners renamed the restaurant as Native, and kept the same decor, menu, and theme. Then our same owner opened up shop on San Gabriel Blvd., again with the same logo and name – Indian. Again, after a few years he sells the place, though Indian is still there and thriving, and opens his current location in the City of Industry with the name Jurassic.
For whatever reason Dinosaurs and Indians go together with Taiwanese food. Inside this restaurant – like the Taiwan ones, which are now all closed, feature some dinosaur motifs all around. The waitresses all wear Indian, native American, outfits. Nice little outfits.
Anyways… the Taiwanese food here is not bad overall. But I kinda prefer Indian, in San Gabriel. I think the Taiwanese food, here at Jurassic, is more authentic and has more comfort food items that Taiwanese people like. I am not a big fan of the weird stuff they eat – like intestine, pig’s blood, etc. The food is also, overall, more greasy and oily that I like.
I ordered the 3 flavored Chicken – one of my favorite dishes from Indian. But when I got it this time, I wasn’t all that happy. I thought it was, again, a bit to oily and boney. Its unfortunate, how can you mess up chicken? I don’t know. Anyways…
Then, there’s this one super spicy glass noodle dish. I have no idea how to write the name, nor do I remember it. But I do have a picture of it. It was so spicy, that I knew I would have BTS.(Burning (insert Korean word for another human orifice) sensation) It was a favorite dish of a friend of mine, who used to work at Jurassic. It was actually very good and flavorful.
The popcorn chicken, another dish I ordered, is an old standby that I got, that almost everyone likes. You really can’t mess it up.
One of the best things about Jurassic is the alcohol. The Beer, sold by the pitchers, is cheap and good. They have amber bock, by Michelob, and a few different Sake’s. One of my favorite sake we drank was Sho Chiku Bai, which is a ginjo sake. Don’t ask me what a ginjo sake is, but I am trying to refine my sake taste and learn more about sake. I think sake goes well with spicy food, since the alcohol cuts through the spiciness and the vinegar.
Anyways… I am not sure I would venture out this far for Jurassic again. I think there are other Taiwanese places that are comparable in this area, if not better.
