odub's Profile
H & H Restaurant Opens In Monterey Park
Tony: just to confirm, you said the noodle soups were wack, right?
And I think they made our noodles off-menu. We simply asked (in Mandarin), "you guys do fried noodles?" And they said, "sure. You want beef or chicken?" So we just rolled with that.
I'd try either the dan dan or zha jiang mien.
Best noodle soups in San Gabriel Valley?
Tony: Wrote about this in the dedicatee H&H thread but went there today: their noodle is Chinese only. Still managed to talk it out and order a chicken fried noodle which was good but what other noodle dishes would you recommend?
H & H Restaurant Opens In Monterey Park
Went here for lunch today, on the recommendation of TonyC b/c they do a Lanzhou style lah-mien.
•Big space, very empty. Provided, we were there early but still, not a great sign.
•None of their noodle or skewer dishes are on their english menu. Kind of strange, especially for a restaurant that's been in business since last summer.
•Their English menu has some notable typos and mistranslations, i.e. instead of "fungus," they use "bacteria." As in "three fried bacteria." Mmmmmm....
Me and a buddy ordered:
•cumin lamb skewers - pretty good. 10 sticks for $10. Just a little gristly but otherwise solid.
•fried noodles with chicken - the lah-mien was, indeed, pretty good. Not better than, say, Omar's but absolutely no complaints. The problem is that you have to read/speak Chinese to even figure out they serve noodles. TonyC said their beef noodle broth was weak so we opted for fried noodles instead but I'd still be curious to try these noodles in a soup.
•big bone with flavor sauce - this was a pork dish built around some kind of massive pig joints (shoulder? ankle?) that still have a little bit of meat attached. It's an impressive, caveman-looking platter but the actual amount of meat is modest. They give you disposable gloves to use with the dish; I liked that touch. Overall, it was fine but I wouldn't order it again.
Next time, if I ever go back, I'd want to try their take on Dong Bei-style chicken bones.
Best noodle soups in San Gabriel Valley?
I hit up the new Nha Trang the other week. I actually like the limited menu and I still think they execute on everything they do really well (which is made easier by the fact that they only serve *4 dishes* there.
H & H sounds interesting; might be worth a visit. Either that or Sweethome Grill today.
Best Hand Shaved Noodles in LA?
Mama's Kitchen does hand shaved? And 101 is weak; would never go there for noodles.
UMAMIcatessen - Thoughts?!
We had tickets for a show at the Orpheum on Saturday night.
Arrived at Umamicatessen (UC for short) at about 7pm. The wait, we were told, would be 45 minutes. Our didn't need to be in our seats until 9pm so we opted to wait. It helped that a single seat opened up at the bar so my wife sat down, ordered a very good Cape Cod, and we got some FRIED PIG EARS while we waited.
Those were good; I'd say as good as any other ones I've had in the city. My wife liked them better than the ones at Lazy Ox. They're cut a lot thinner and at $7, it's not exactly as cheap as an order of fries but they're generous on the amount. The "brainaise" sauce (brain + mayo) was fine; very citrusy which seemed to go over well with the saltiness of the pig ears.
One bad note: the bartender, despite making a good Cape Cod, assumed the small group of people standing behind us were "with us" and so he put all our orders on a single tab. The only thing we had in common - besides geographic proximity - was that we were all Asian.
Don't racially profile me, bro.
(Disentangling the checks proved to be a minor headache, to boot.)
Anyways, our table came ready after about 35-40 minutes. We ordered:
•BEET SALAD (which was really more of an arugla salad with truffled ricotta and these very tasty bits of fried almonds. Liked this one a lot)
•UMAMI BURGER (tasty but not to start up this old fight: not better than Father's Office. Not by a longshot).
•PASTRAMI ON RYE (based on JGold's "it would keep the Langer's folks up at night" recommendation) but here's the weird thing. The sandwich I got was spiced like pastrami but it also looked and tasted like...ham. That bugged me out for most of dinner. I'm sure I was wrong but it was some cognitive dissonance going on with that. It was decent but not remotely in the same orbit as Langer's)
We were seated right by the ham-o-vator and it was tempting to want to order a sampling but at $25 a pop, we shied away. I like cured meats a lot but that felt too rich for our blood.
I will say this: food was PROMPT. Our burgers were out within what felt like less than 10 minutes after being ordered. Got to the Orpheum with time to spare.
Overall, besides the unfortunate bar incident, I liked the meal. I'd totally go back there again...if I had another show at the Orpheum. But otherwise, I don't know how badly I'd want to trek down to DTLA to eat a meal there again.
Best Hand Shaved Noodles in LA?
I'd still submit their lamb noodle soup is excellent but the noodling does, alas, get too heavy after a certain point.
Their lamb cumin ribs are on point though.
RAMEN WITH BEEFSTOCK WESTSIDE
Can I safely say the answer to this is "no."
I mean ,there's a 101 Noodle Express at Fox Hills but they were never that good for NRM.
Pig Roast Party
Be careful what you wish for!
Unfortunately, I don't have good advice for you since I'm used to doing everything. But for 25 people, you're talking a pretty small pig. Not quite suckling young but I think something in the 20-30 lb range would be about right. Anything larger and you better have a second freezer for leftovers!
Mexican in Highland Park?
I'd also put a vote in for Caramba's which is at the border of Alhambra and El Sereno (which is also not far from Debs Park, just on the other side of the hill). Super old school. Food isn't spectacular but it's solid and I love the ambiance.
Pig Roast Party
To feed 25 people, you don't need that large of a pig but therein lies part of the rub: I'm planning on doing a pig roast in a month but I'm used to pigs around the 40lb mark and the butcher told me, straight up: the smaller you go, the more expensive it gets because most pig farmers don't want to sell off a younger pig before its reached its prime weight.
Sounds like you want this catered though vs. DIY?
Sushi Ichi: Great addition to Pasadena
Tony: would this be your #1 choice for sushi in the SGV?
Best noodle soups in San Gabriel Valley?
Hit BMCC for $3 pho ga the last two mornings. All said, that's a pretty insanely good deal. Worth the extra 1-2 miles to roll through before the morning commute.
But yo: what new noodle soup spots should I be looking for? My summer writing sojourn is about to kick off in a few weeks and I need to start prepping my wish list.
Best noodle soups in San Gabriel Valley?
Ah...I see. I went to the one closer to me, which is the BMCC on Valley. Thanks
Best noodle soups in San Gabriel Valley?
Went to BMCC today for breakfast but didn't see a 50% off bowl. Only certain days?
626 Asian night market a ZOO!
"Due to the car-centric culture of the US, it was hard for them to predict exactly what was going to happen"
I would say that if you've spent even a few months in L.A., this is NOT hard to predict. Regardless of the urban differences b/t LA and Taipei, if you're not taking the *local* transportation cultures into account, you're completely failing at basic planning.
626 Asian night market a ZOO!
I'll say this much though: the difference is that night markets in Asia are not "events." They're destinations, maybe but mostly, they're just THERE.
The challenge facing 626NM - and I'm very sympathetic with them on this point - is that they don't have the benefit of carving out a space over time. They can only create an event and events are unpredictable, can be very difficult to adequately plan for, and can easily be victims of their own popularity.
Ultimately, what people want - I think - is a real night market; some place open 365. I don't know if that' realistic/achievable given city codes, given the local consumer base, etc. So until then, we're going to get saddled with night market events but that can never achieve the same "lived in" feel of a night market that's literally built into the fabric of a city vs. one that is temporarily erected for a night.
626 Asian night market a ZOO!
One has to wonder if the city really thought this out either. I mean, we keep harping on the 626NM folks for underestimating the crowd but you don't to be on the city planning board to figure out the logistical problems the night might create. City could certainly have been more pro-active.
Case in point: on Sunday, me and the fam participated in Civlavia which involves shutting down 20 or so miles of city streets and supposedly, it only costs $100,000 per event to pull off this feat. And everything seems to run incredibly smoothly and safely despite tens of thousands of bicyclists descending on downtown.
626 Asian night market a ZOO!
With all due respect (and I mean that sincerely, since I generally trust Mr. Taster's, um, tastes), I disagree. Since childhood, I've been to Taipei and Shanghai to see family and the other night felt NOTHING like the kind of chaotic, crowded markets I'm used to in both cities.
I also grew up in the SGV and I know that part of Pasadena and don't think you can create a "proper" night market on that particular block. The street layout and local storefronts are all wrong. There was *no* integration, no sense that the 626NM seamlessly worked its way into the urban fabric of the city, none of that whatsoever. It's possible you could make it work somewhere else in Pasadena (I still don't think it's the right city for it but whatever), but Oakland and Colorado? No.
I also have never waited an hour to get food at any alley/market stand in Taipei or Shanghai. I can't completely blame that on the 626 folks - 25 stands is no small feat but you can't blame them if a gazillion people descend.
Anyways: you know what actually feels more like the night markets I remember? The monthly Rose Bowl swap meet: that's crowded, that's chaotic, that's slightly claustrophobic but it also feels far more organic despite it taking place in a big ass parking lot outside a football stadium. You don't need literal walls to create the feel of an alley if you have enough people and stands and a bit of smart planning.
Best noodle soups in San Gabriel Valley?
I hit this spot up too, looking for morning places. I wasn't all that impressed; wasn't better than Pho Ga Bac Ninh and it's also further for me to get to (which makes a diff. in the morning since I stop at these places before I head off to work).
626 Asian night market a ZOO!
CRAZY. I'm glad I got there when I did (around 6). It looked bad when we were leaving but wasn't so bad when we arrived, coming Arroyo Parkway.
Best noodle soups in San Gabriel Valley?
Tony: I've had to fall back this semester (b/c of my teaching schedule). That's one reason I've moved my noodle eating from lunch to breakfast instead. I mostly have been doing this place: http://www.yelp.com/biz/pho-ga-bac-ninh-monterey-park#
It's perfectly acceptable, especially for a place open at 8am and serves $6 pho ga. But I didn't know about Banh Mi Che Cali's $3 special! They're actually a tad closer to where I live too so maybe I'll try them tomorrow.
I do wish Fujin Ramen was closer; I'd be killing their Lanzhou beef noodle soup on the regular if that were the case.
626 Asian night market a ZOO!
I'm of two minds here: I'm sympathetic to the idea that they'd want to play things safer and plan for a smaller crowd. The problem though -as everyone has pointed out - is that this location left no contingencies for the possibility of a bigger crowd, let alone the incredible turnout it yielded. They couldn't scale up to handle the crush, since the space limited how many vendors could participate. I'm not saying they should have rented out the Rose Bowl for this but it doesn't take a city planning expert to point out: "um, I'm not sure Oakland and Colorado" can take the weight.
But all said, I don't think any of this was done with bad intentions (obviously). And what may seem obvious in hindsight is rarely so clear when you're in the planning stages.
I'd go to another one...so long as they change locations.
Dragon Beard Candy Maker Sets Up Shop In Front of Hawaii Market in San Gabriel
This entire thread is giving me flashbacks to the 1980s watching folks make dragon beard candy in the SGV.
626 Asian night market a ZOO!
They should make a t-shirt: "I Survived the 626 Night Market."
To be candid, I'm not really upset at the event if only because "underestimating turnout" is a lot better than overestimating it. So the fact that they were woefully underprepared for the thousands of people who turned out was more likely an outcome of overly conservative estimates but for a "first-time" event, I can sympathize. That said, I also agree with everyone who could have pointed out months ago that the location made NO SENSE AT ALL. And sure enough, traffic was a nightmare...I saw cars backed up on Los Robles, starting around Main! That was crazy. I wanted to roll the window down and tell opposing traffic, "don't go!"
So yeah, location planning took an L here. And yes, the Rose Bowl, next time, sounds like a much better idea. I can't cosign on the Convention Center though; what kind of night market takes place in a convention hall? (Of course, what kind of night market takes place off Colorado and Oakland?)
Anyways, we got there around 6, and it was already insane and clearly about to get much much worse so we bounced after 10 minutes of gawking. I would have been tempted to go back around 10 but sounds like it wouldn't have been that much better.
Best noodle soups in San Gabriel Valley?
Oops: not Tasty Garden. FLAVOR Garden. Same mall as Noodle Guy (or was that Noodle Boy)?
Asian Night Market to Open in Pasadena
I have to agree: it's really not very ideal if you're hoping to absorb the number of people likely to come through. Slew of bus stops but no close Metro stop means that most will be encouraged to drive and there's very little parking in that area unless everyone decides to swamp the Paseo lot.
I've been periodically checking on the site to see if they've added transit/parking directions? Nope. HUGE red flag.
I think most of this board would be behind this idea in principle but I think many of us have also seen, through experience, how good intentions + massive crowds + insufficient planning = a bad experience.
Asian Night Market to Open in Pasadena
I'll be there and add me in the "half excited/half skeptical" crowd. I just think this thing is going to get swamped and you're going to see similar logistical problems that other food festivals have experienced: crazy long lines, running out of food, etc.
I also don't know if you can remotely capture the feel of a night market in Pasadena but I'm willing to look past. I'm mostly just wondering at what point will this tip over and become a fiasco (even though I'm hoping it won't).
