raytamsgv's Profile
XLB Wars in the SGV
Sorry, I can't help you. My personal association with the word "popular" ended long before high school.
12 Reasons to Drive to San Gabriel
It's funny how an increasing number of Chinese food items are actually made or grown in the US: dumplings, beef jerky, stinky tofu, produce, etc.
gōng xǐ fā cái - New Capital - Suckling Pig Pic
You can get them at any place that serves them, such as Sam Woo on Valley Blvd in Alhambra. They are usually Cantonese places. If you see it hanging with the roast ducks, you can order however many pounds you wish. I've ordered as little as half a pound at a time. If you know Cantonese, you can order cuts from certain parts of the pig as well.
What is the Proper Way to Order in a Chinese restaurant to receive a spicy dish?
I don't have enough experience with Chinese OCR software, but you should be aware that many of the names on Chinese menus are poetic, such as "Eight Treasures Noodle" or something similar. Unless you have existing expertise in that particular regional cuisine, you may end up with a useless computer translation.
BTW, the four dots on the bottom of a character does necessarily mean "fish" (魚 or 鱼). In fact, it is the radical for "fire". It happens to be part of the character for fish, but it also part of many other characters as well, such as hot (熱 or 热).
Shanghai Dumpling House open in Monrovia
I was in the area and noticed a new Chinese restaurant that I believe opened just this year. It replaces a fast-food place which had replaced a Cajun shrimp place. The English name is "Shanghai Dumpling House". The Chinese name is Nanxiang Xiaolong, which may be reference to a XLB's alleged birthplace in Nanxiang, China (sorry folks, my knowledge of Mandarin and written Chinese are both limited). The staff there spoke English just fine, but just for fun, I tried to muddle my way through the meal with Mandarin.
I was eating by myself, so I ordered the juicy pork dumpling (aka xiaolongbao or 小笼包) and their beef rolls pie (牛肉卷餅). Eight XLB cost $5.95. The beef roll cost $5.55
It took a while to get the XLB. The waiter said that they make it fresh, so they made it after I ordered it. It was pretty good. There was a lot of soup. The flavor was more on the subtle side--the pork filling was very fresh, and I could taste it very clearly. For reference, the aroma and flavor weren't as sharp as those from Dean Sin World. The skin was moderately thin and stretched enough to avoid breaking as I lifted them off the steamer.
I didn't like the beef roll that much. The roll itself had a nice, crispy exterior, but they used too much hoisin sauce--it overwhelmed the dish. 101 Noodle Express' version may cost more, but you get more than double the amount, and it tastes better.
Monrovia is not known for its large Chinese population. I'm surprised that you can get some real Shanghai dishes here, including tripe, intestines, etc. They also have a small number of dishes designed for the non-adventurous eater: sweet and sour chicken, broccoli beef, and crab rangoon.
It's too early for me to pass judgment on this place because I've only had two dishes there. For those who live near Monrovia/Duarte, it is certainly more convenient than driving to San Gabriel, Monterey Park, or Arcadia.
Shanghai Dumpling House
215 E. Foothill Blvd., Monrovia
626-358-8258
Vegetarian Dim Sum at Fine Garden in San Gabriel
That's why my expectations were very modest--I had hoped that they would have improved since that original thread. At least I wasn't disappointed.
Vegetarian Dim Sum at Fine Garden in San Gabriel
Fine Garden Vegetarian Cuisine is a Chinese restaurant in San Gabriel that's located in the same mini-mall as SGV's not-quite-world-famous Golden Deli restaurant. They've offered vegetarian dim sum for a few years, and I finally had a chance to try it.
We got there just before 12 on a weekend. It started getting a bit more crowded later on, but it was not filled to capacity. There were more non-Asian patrons there than Asian ones.
It's a clean place with a decent English translations on their menu. We decided not to order the vegetarian items you can find at non-vegetarian places (e.g. pan fried turnip cake, steamed red bean bun) because they don't differ that much. You order from a menu that has pictures--very convenient.
Here are the dishes we ordered:
1. Pork Siu Mai: Nothing special. It was filled with pressed tofu, water chestnuts, and some other fillings.
2. Chiu-Chow Style Fun Guor: Very tasty. In fact, it was almost as good as ones I've found in decent non-vegetarian restaurants.
3. Shrimp Har Gow: Nothing special. The skin wasn't wasn't that great. The filling was similar to the Pork Siu Mai.
4. Steamed Shark's Fin Gow: Very good. I think they use mung bean noodle for the shark fin. The flavor and texture were great.
5. Sticky Rice Wrapped w/ Lotus Leaves: Decent. Not that different from a non-vegetarian place.
6. Steamed BBQ Pork Bun: Ok, but it had too strong of an anise flavor for me. A meat-substitute was used for the filling to impersonate BBQ Pork.
7. Steamed Shrimp Fun Guor: Good, but the Chiu-Chow Style Fun Guor was better.
8. Pan Fried Rice Noodle with Satay Sauce: This is like small cheung fun rolls that are stir fried. There's nothing special about this dish--definitely filler material.
9. Chow Mein with Soy Sauce: More filler material. Nothing worth noting.
I don't think it's fair to compare vegetarian and non-vegetarian dim sum. The flavors and textures are too different to judge by the same scale. On its own merits, I would say the meal was ok. I prefer vegetarian lunch and dinner entrees from this and other restaurants over the dim sum we ate. I wouldn't go back unless my vegetarian relatives are back in town.
Small dim sum dishes were $2.35, Medium dishes were $3.35, and Large dishes were $4.35. The pan fried rice noodles and chow mein were $7.95.
Great Lunch Spot in Los Angeles
LA is a big place. Perhaps you could be more specific with your approximate desired location.
Vegan or vegetarian Chinese?
Vinh Loi might be Vietnamese-Chinese. My wife told me that at least one of the workers there spoke a few dialects of Chinese.
What is the Proper Way to Order in a Chinese restaurant to receive a spicy dish?
That may be true, but it's different for every culture. For example, in China, some people like to pour Coca-Cola into their wines because they think it improves the taste. Some Cantonese people drink warm Coca-Cola with lemon. Many Westerners would shudder at these things the same way some Chinese people may shudder if someone adds chili oil to a chicken/vegetable stir-fry.
Shanghai Kitchen has closed (SGV/Temple City)
They've been there for almost two years. We talked with the owners of the previous restaurant (Hanabi) at that location. They told us that the landlord doubled the rent, so they had to close. Shanghai Kitchen moved in almost immediately, so I'm *guessing* they offered to pay a higher rent for that place so Hanabi would be forced to close.
Based on the rent info, the amount of foot traffic, and the price of their dishes, I'm quite surprised they lasted as long as they did.
Need some practical pragmatic input on a rice cooker! [moved from Home Cooking]
We use a rice cooker every day because we primarily cook Chinese or Vietnamese meals with rice almost every day. Usually, the quality of the rice should exceed rice that was cooked on the stove. I like our rice cooker because you can set it to cook at a later time, and you don't need to watch or stir constantly as you would if you were cooking on a stove.
I haven't cooked with durian, but I have cooked with other pungent foods, such as Cantonese salted fish and Chinese sausages. I've never had had any problems with odors.
Different types of rice may require different levels of water, so make sure you follow the cooking instructions.
We could live without it, but it would be a royal pain because of how frequently we eat rice.
Shanghai Kitchen has closed (SGV/Temple City)
It has closed. I couldn't quite read all of the notice written in Chinese that was on the door, but it seems like they are looking for a new location.
Best Chinese dinner for large group (8 - 10 ppl)?
What was the final determination of the weight of the fish?
Why are chicken breasts so HUGE?
As others have noted, it's due to many generations of selective breeding. But you should remember it is not limited to chickens. Almost everything you eat, including fruits and vegetables, is continuously being redefined by this process. The ancestors of many modern day fruits were probably nowhere near as large as they are today.
Best Chinese dinner for large group (8 - 10 ppl)?
I know that Elite takes reservations. I called at 830 AM on Christmas day for a dinner reservation that same evening. But unlike Ciao Bob, I wasn't able to afford a $780 crab dinner. :-(
BTW, I made the reservation in English instead of Cantonese that time--no problems were encountered.
Where can I find authentic shui zhu yu (water-boiled fish) and dan dan mian in the SGV?
If you speak Chinese, you may be able to ask for grass carp instead of catfish at New Chongqing.
Pasadena and Arcadia Help
Thanks for the update. It's always nice to hear from someone from outside the area.
Any foodie worthy restaurants in this region?
latindancer: I can confidently say that ipsedixit would be probably be a better source of information regarding Chinese food in the SGV than almost everyone else on the LA board.
What is the Proper Way to Order in a Chinese restaurant to receive a spicy dish?
In Mandarin, a character-by-character pronunciation would not work in this case. The first three characters are all technically third tones. However, when you string them together like that, the first two characters would be pronounced with a second tone. Only the third one would be pronounced with a third tone.
It would be better just to print it out and show it to the restaurant staff.
What is the Proper Way to Order in a Chinese restaurant to receive a spicy dish?
Fantastic! But I think if someone show them the second phrase, they won't be able to order because the wait staff would be laughing their heads off!
Boteco - new Brazilian restaurant in Alhambra
I read an article a few years back about Main Street restaurants. The owners complained that there wasn't not enough weekday/weeknight traffic. Business was okay on the weekends, but that was it.
Cats Ears Lovers Rejoice--Golden Spoon Opens In Rowland Heights
Back in the 80's, a number of the Chinese cooks that I knew (family friends and relatives) would cook slightly differently for non-Chinese patrons. The cooks were afraid that those patrons would not like the "authentic" versions of the dish. But the same is true even in certain Chinese restaurants for Chinese patrons. For example, my Cantonese relatives ordered spicy dishes (e.g. kung pao chicken) in Cantonese restaurants--dishes they thought were really spicy, but I thought to be quite mild. I've met Cantonese people who think a bell pepper is spicy. Fortunately for me, I've never been "Cantonesed" at a Sichuan restaurant--my Cantonese-American-faux Northern accent confuses them all.
New Indonesian Restaurant in Temple City replaces The Sushi
Stacked Sandwiches in Arcadia seats about 9-10 people at the counter. There are no tables.
Where to find dry Sichuan chicken with peppers?
I believe the proper term is "melanin-challenged." :-)
Middle-Brow, Non-Ethnic in Arcadia
Isn't Italian food considered "ethnic"? Or is there some other definition of ethnic that is being used for the purposes of this discussion?
Chocolate Croissants (ISO the best in the San Gabriel Valley)
I agree with Euro Pane and Cloverleaf. I haven't been to Proof Bakery, yet.
What's In A Name? Denmark Gefion Steakhouse Opens in San Gabriel
Just when I thought the SGV dining scene couldn't get any more bizarre.... Gotta love it.
