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San Gabriel Valley

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Morning Delight Cafe, San Gabriel
Taiwanese

Morning Delight Cafe, San Gabriel

Weekend brunch at Morning Delight Cafe in San Gabriel had a couple of the egg pancakes - with sausage and pork. They were out of the tuna ones. Also had the peanut butter toast and a hash brown. Unfortunately the egg pancakes lacked egg - I think it was a small one too. The peanut butter toast barely had peanut butter. I really wanted to like this place but I don’t. I love a good Taiwanese egg pancake 蛋餅 I also like their concept. But at those prices and the execution - I can’t say I like it. The other couple of times I tried to go they ran out of food before they closed, which pissed me off. Anyways. I cannot recommend. And I will not return.

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! . . .

Hibiki, San Gabriel
Japanese

Hibiki, San Gabriel

Japanese BBQ at Hibiki in the SGV. Had to check out this place. Cool decor. Good service. They grill the meats for you, in case you don’t want to or don’t know how to. But I think they grill it for you to make you eat faster to increase the turns. Anyways the meats were good. Had varies cuts of wagyu and even had beef tongue, which could have been sliced thinner. The wasabi cucumber was interesting - initially eye opening and almost repulsive since you’re expecting something refreshing. The wasabi kick wakes you up and is almost addicting. I will try to make it. Anyways. I would recommend and I might return if I didn’t have to wait. Luckily only waited 5 mins. . . .

The Derby, Arcadia
American

The Derby, Arcadia

Prime Rib at the Derby. The Derby is the oldest and arguably the best restaurant in Arcadia. Used to be owned by George Woolf, who also rode the famous race horse - Seabiscuit. The derby was originally located on the corner of Foothill and Santa Anita. Along with the prime rib, we had cheese bread, creamed spinach, potatoes romanoff, calamari, and crab cake. We couldn’t finish our desserts. This year, the Derby is celebrating their 100th year. . . . . . .

Santa Anita BBQ Championship at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia
BBQ

Santa Anita BBQ Championship at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia

Santa Anita BBQ Championship at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia. Got to try a bunch of different bbq including, Pulled Pork Nachos, BBQ chicken, BBQ pork tenderloin, BBQ pulled pork tacos, BBQ pork ribs, BBQ beef tri tips and more. Yummy. KCBS - Kansas City Barbeque Soceity was on hand to judge 30+ BBQ entrants. You could see their trailers parked outside cooking and smoking. Also, I got to meet a BBQ legend - Harry Soo! Luckily we got there early to avoid the crowds and long lines. . . . . . . . .

Slabs Barbecue, Pasadena
BBQ

Slabs Barbecue, Pasadena

APL Barbecue. Adam Perry Lang, BBQ Hall of Famer, in my neck of the woods! APL, a YETI brand ambassador, has a new barbecue joint featuring smoked Beef Ribs! Though there’s no brisket, I feel beef ribs is the holy grail of smoking. It’s unfortunate that Moo’s craft and Slab rarely serve beef rib, I’m glad APL has them. It’s strange that Angelenos haven’t realized how good beef ribs are. Anyways. Check out the big beef rib, the pork rib sandwich, cornbread, and the sides. . . . . . . .

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

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. . . . . . .

Birria tacos, carne asada nachos, San Gabriel Valley
Mexican

Birria tacos, carne asada nachos, San Gabriel Valley

Birria tacos, carne asada nachos, and ceviche. Yum. The tacos had so much braised beef, but unfortunately was a little dry. Wish we had a dipping sauce. Luckily the hot sauce was available. The nachos were great but was too much. The ceviche was good but the fish had a slight smell. Perhaps that was normal. I wonder what kind of fish was in the ceviche. Regardless I would still return. This place has so many things I want to try. . . . .

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. . . . . .

Hui Tou Xiang Noodles House, San Gabriel
Taiwanese

Hui Tou Xiang Noodles House, San Gabriel

Beef Noodle Soup at 一條龍 PP Pop. I had the Taiwanese spicy Beef Noodle Soup with pickle vegetables. Quite spicy and tasty. We also had the tan tan noodles, beef and tendon soup with vermicelli, and fried pork buns 生煎包. Interesting 一條龍 used to be the name of a restaurant on valley Blvd with the English name Dragon Mark, which was a favorite of mine a long time ago. It appears this place “borrowed” their name. . . . . .

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. . . . . .

SBD BBQ, San Gabriel Valley
Korean

SBD BBQ, San Gabriel Valley

Galbi Jim at SBD BBQ. Seong Buk Dong from Koreantown has come to the SGV. Known as SBD Korean Bbq - they offer their traditional dishes, that made them well known, but also offering DIY kbbq. Their Galbi Jjim sauce is outstanding but it appears that the quality of beef rib could have been of high quality and more tender. We also had the spicy Galbi Jjim, cold noodles, kimchi Jeon, spicy pork, tofu soup. I really liked the kimchi jeon - the kimchi pancake. . . . .🍖

Old Country Cafe, Alhambra
Taiwanese

Old Country Cafe, Alhambra

Yet another . . . Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, this time from Old Country Cafe 老鄉親. The broth was ok, not overly flavorful or slightly spicy as one would expect. It appeared to be cloudy, which isn’t a good thing. The soup had an already acidic taste from the pickled mustard greens, in which I would have liked to add personally - depending on my taste. The beef chucks were tender with some nice chewy tendons. But they were smaller in size compared to the other bowls, I’ve had this week. The overall taste was there but not up to par compared to others. The Taiwanese sausage didn’t have the look or taste that Sinabala had - which has the best Taiwanese Sausage around. I would still Vivi at again, but I would probably order something else. Interesting, there used to be an Old Country Cafe, also 老鄉親, on Garfield in Alhambra - which is no longer there. They said they aren’t the same owners as the old one. But it appears they almost copied everything they had, including having a few comic books for people to read. . . . .

DashiWa Ramen, Arcadia
Japanese

DashiWa Ramen, Arcadia

Another Ramen Shop popped up in Arcadia. DashiWa Ramen. The broth and noodles were good. I had the black garlic tonkotsu ramen and it was pretty good. Unfortunately the chasu tasted oily and didn’t have the texture I was expecting and was cut really too thin. But at least they did the broth and noodles right. The inari unusually had warm rice - which in my book is a big No-No. And the chicken karaage was too greasy. Unfortunately, I can recommend, not will I return. But it appears that DashiWa Ramen will be fine without me, since they cater to the local lunch crowd. But if you do go, just have the their ramen, no need for their sides. . . .

California Pizza Kitchen, San Gabriel
Fusion

California Pizza Kitchen, San Gabriel

Barbecue chicken pizza and jerk chicken pizza with cauliflower crust at California Pizza Kitchen. I’ve always liked this place. I remember my first visit in the early 90s at the Beverly Center location. I thought it was pretty good. Looking at there recent menu - I was wondering where their Peking Duck pizza was??? Anyways. Good place. Would return. Their bake and take promo is pretty good. Take home an I baked pizza for $5 is a good deal. . . . .

Patty Wagon Food Truck, Pasadena
Multi

Patty Wagon Food Truck, Pasadena

Food Truck Feasting at the Rose Bowl. had cheese fries with bacon, pizza, pan fried dumplings, scallion pancakes - from Dina’s Dumpling truck, tostones (fried plantains), and mofongo with shredded pork from the Triple Threat Truck (Puerto Rico Cuisine). And finished it off with Cookie Monster ice cream from the Aftershock ice cream truck. I like how it was that crowded and the lines were reasonable. This is the first food truck event I’ve been to in years. Would return. Glad I brought beach and tailgating chairs to kick back on. . . .

JJ Bakery & Cafe, San Gabriel
Taiwanese

JJ Bakery & Cafe, San Gabriel

Awesome Taiwanese breakfast at JJ Bakery & Cafe. We shared the Rice burrito with fried egg and sausage 特製鹹飯糰 （香腸&蛋）what makes this better was the crispy Chinese oil donut. The one at Four Seas was too soggy and not crispy. Then we had the black sesame crisp with fried egg 燒餅夾蛋 This is an old favorite I hadn’t had in awhile. Usually people like it with the oil donut. And then we had the egg pancake 蛋餅. Unlike four seas - the pancake wasn’t as crispy (which is the way I remember it and like it - maybe other people had/liked it a different way). And lastly we had some vegetable noodles 雪菜肉絲麵. This was refreshing and cut through the oil and grease. Next time we need to try Yong Ho to complete the comparison.

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.

Beef noodle soup 牛肉麵, minced pork noodles 雜醬麵, fried...
Taiwanese

Beef noodle soup 牛肉麵, minced pork noodles 雜醬麵, fried...

Beef noodle soup 牛肉麵, minced pork noodles 雜醬麵, fried pork chop with rice 排骨飯, Beef ball soup 貢丸湯. Yummy classic Taiwanese dishes. The beef noodle soup is ordered by almost everyone. Enjoyed the hearty beef broth, which is so bad for my gout. The pork chop has. Nice crisp crunch with a bit of sweetness. So bad but so good. I think this is one of the better Taiwanese restaurants in the area.