Okay Noodle

San Marino Seafood Market

2008-05-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

During my last visit Vinh suggested going out for lunch at a local seafood joint. This time, he did the research and we ended up at the San Marino Seafood Market for lunch on a calm weekday afternoon. I was a little bit skeptical about such a land-locked location for seafood but it seems like inland seafood markets that double as restaurants are the new rage. I say new because I have encountered a spate of them recently, but I'm sure this particular restaurant is not the new kid on the block.

We were quickly seated and perused the menu. Our waitress was super nice and cheery as she informed us of the specials. I decided to go with the fish tacos since it was "Taco Tuesday." These particular ones were blackened battered bass with a cabbage and guacamole. Vinh ordered the salmon grilled with rice pilaf. He also got a cup of clam chowder.

He enjoys his clam chowder in this obviously posed picture.

When our waitress heard it was our first time there, she offered up samples of their chowders. They have a red and a white. Both samples for me and a red sample for Vinh because he ordered a full cup of the white. I was surprised when they came out because I was expecting a small plastic cup full. These were substantial samples, about 1/3 of a cup. We debated which we liked better, but they both had their merits. The red was broth based, with a bit of spiciness and a lot of flavor that Vinh preferred. The white was the more traditional cream-based that I happened to like better.

My fish tacos came out laden with goodness in the form of guacamole that is made by hand onsite. They were crunchy with the smoky creaminess from the combination of the batter and the guacamole. The only problem I had was that they were so filled that it was hard to eat. By the end I was eating my second taco with a knife and fork.

Vinh's meal started out the the chowders and progressed to a side salad with their signature sesame dressing. Apparently they also hand make all of their dressings. It was a classic Asian-style dressing that went well with the greens.

I think he liked his salmon. He pretty much finished it within ten to fifteen minutes of receiving it. The fish looked like it was cooked well without being too dry. I think the benefit of eating fish at a restaurant doubling as a market is that they don't try to add too much to the fish itself. They let the flavor of the fish be the main star because they know it's the freshest it can be.

I would definitely go back again because the quality fo the fish was excellent and the service was outstanding. It's a neighborhood place that's easy to miss while driving along the expanse of Huntington Drive. The next time you're in the area I highly recommend a stop at this landlocked seafood market.

San Marino Seafood Market
2150 Huntington Drive,
San Marino, CA 91108
(626) 943-8862

Food bites: Almansor Court Sunday brunch and Lee Kam Kee

2008-04-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I experienced two contradictions: a new oldie and an not-often visited standby. How so, you ask? Let's start with the new oldie first.

A new discovery: Almansor Court Sunday Brunch

The new oldie in question is the Sunday Brunch at the Almansor Court banquet center by the golf course. It's new to me, but as some fellow Alhambrans can tell you, it's been around for years and years. My family and I went there this past Sunday to celebrate my mom's birthday. Going there was like a step back in time, with mimosas and colored napkins and patrons dressed up in their Sunday best. This is what you see upon entering the foyer:

The buffet is spread out into a few different rooms, which is visually interesting but confusing for my parents, who couldn't find everything they wanted because of it. Choices range from traditional breakfast (custom omelettes, hash browns, bacon) to Mexican offerings (do-it-yourself tacos, enchiladas, and menudo) to seafood (oysters and king crab).

Extensive variation is obviously their strength here. Where else can you put a chicken crepe next to your unagi sushi that's already sitting next to a barbecue chicken wing? Evidence is here on my plate:

I do wish that the seating area wasn't quite so far from the food, and that the seafood was fresher. For the price, it's not that bad. I would say that the breakfast exceeded my expectations but that the rest of the food was just satisfactory.

Hong Kong-style Vietnamese: Lee Kam Kee

In this case, the not-often-visited standby is Lee Kam Kee, a Vietnamese restaurant located on the far west end of Valley Blvd. It's not your typical Vietnamese restaurant, with a nice interior and beautiful plateware. My mom informed me that the owner is from Hong Kong, and so the food is catered to a Hong Kong palate. A quick look around the restaurant confirmed this: almost all the patrons spoke Cantonese, and nearly all of the waiters too.

We go there for the canh chua, a sour soup filled with catfish or shrimp, pineapple, tomato, bean sprouts, and some spongy-looking green stalk. It's slightly sweeter here than at other, more heavily Vietnamese places, but is still good. This time we also had a shrimp and pork papaya salad with nuoc mam and some lemongrass pork chops.

My mom thought that the nuoc mam needed to be a bit more sour as did the soup. I find that's a theme here, to tone down the loud notes of Vietnamese cooking to appeal to the Chinese clientele. Most people who eat at Vietnamese restaurants (myself included) don't really care if the plates match or if the ambiance is any good, which are two key things here. It's not a bad thing to know its clientele, and that's probably why I don't fault it as much as I would another restaurant serving Vietnamese food.

Almansor Court Sunday Brunch
700 S. Almansor St.
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 570-4600
10am-2pm every Sunday
website

Lee Kam Kee
2505 W. Valley Blvd.
Alhambra, CA 91803
(626)282-7720
11am-9:45pm, closed Tuesdays

The Green Zone

2008-04-09T10:09:00.001-07:00

While looking for bento supplies in the area, I came across a sustainability-oriented website that had listings of various restaurants that matched their mission. One of the restaurants on that list is the Green Zone, which advertised itself as having "entrees using locally-raised, farm fresh ingredients." I was intrigued because this restaurant in located smack-dab in the middle of the eating landscape that is the SGV, a place not well-known for that kind of organic, pro-local attitude.

I double checked with a browse through other SGV blogs and a quick perusal of yelp and chowhound. It seemed to be very favorable and generally the sentiment was "I can't believe it's located on Valley!" I convinced my sister to tag along yesterday and soon we were there. It's located in Valley Plaza next to many other restaurants.

The inside is modern but not cold, with wood accents and a green theme. Almost everyone else inside spoke Mandarin. Our waiter was nice, and I'm pretty sure he is the co-owner of the restaurant. The menu is sort of a pan-Asian, not-quite-fusion affair.

We decided to each order a dish and share the wild-caught sea bass over spinach salad. She got the seafood pasta with linguine. There's a choice of sea bass, salmon, or shrimp scampi, but our waiter offered to do a mix of the three. I decided to get that SGV standby: Hainan chicken over rice. I also ordered an organic ginger ale and my sister ordered a pomegranate-apple juice.

The salad came out after about a 10-minute wait. I liked the balsamic vinaigrette on the spinach, but the sea bass was a little bit too cooked for my liking. My Hainan chicken came out soon after. The presentation was beautiful, and everything tasted really, really good. I liked that they poached the dark meat so that it was not dry at all, and I didn't have to deal with picking the meat off the bones. The rice was very flavorful, and all the sauce accompaniments worked well with the chicken and rice.

After a bit of a wait the pasta came out and we both thought the portion was huge. There was quite a bit of seafood and the sauce was very liquidy. The pasta itself had a nice bite to it, and all of the seafood was cooked perfectly and tasted fresh. However, my sister felt it wasn't their strong point and said she would come back but not order the pasta again.

With everything we ordered the price came out to more than we would normally spend for lunch (this is the SGV after all), but I am sure it would have cost way more had it been in west LA or Pasadena. I look forward to returning. In fact, I think I will go back next week and try some of the other things on the menu, like the salmon triangles with tri-colored salt, or the organic wonton soup. I recommend the Hainan chicken and may even like it better than what they serve at Hainan chicken standard Savoy down the street.

The Green Zone
534 E Valley Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626)288-9300
menu

Current food sampling: Bollini's Pizzeria Napolitana and the Boiling Crab

2008-04-05T18:17:00.001-07:00

Here's part two of my mental food blog clean out:

Italian in the SGV: Bollini's Pizzeria Napolitana

Blogger Lyndsay mentioned she'd heard blog rumblings about a good Italian place in Monterey Park and that it seemed legit. Me? I was skeptical. She sent me the link to this post by Wandering Chopsticks, and a looksie at the pictures there and a quick look at the menu had me convinced that I had to try it. I convinced my sister it was the perfect place for her casual birthday lunch (evil aren't I) and so we went there yesterday. Owner Chris is out, so no pasta, but we did order salad and pizza. A sign inside said no photography (boo for this blog) but I managed to shoot one of the outside and of the cal bianco pizza once we got home.

We got the arugula salad with bacon, corn, baby tomatoes, mushrooms, goat cheese, and a red wine vinaigrette. The arugula was perfectly peppery and matched well with the other elements providing salty, sweet, or creamy notes. A cal bianco pizza (parmesan sauce, smoked chicken, garlic, basil) and salsiccia 3 pizza(mozzarella, tomato sauce, three-pepper sausage, red and green peppers, italian peppers, goat cheese, basil) were shared.

The pizza was super thin! All in all delicious, and the people were super nice. Merits a return visit for the pasta when Chris returns.

Another blogger recommendation: The Boiling Crab

While looking for crab places (don't ask me why) I came across Jonathan Gold's snippet about The Boiling Crab in Alhambra, almost literally down the freaking street from my house. I heard more while perusing food blogs and decided I needed to try Cajun-style crawfish as presented by Asian people. I convinced friend Vinh (pictured with such an enthusiastic look on his face and a crawfish bib) to try it out with me.

Inside is packed with stuff on the walls, televisions, fishing nets, and Mardi Gras beads. Not exactly your usual SGV restaurant. The clientele was mostly young and R&B blasted from the speakers. The menu is simple, with a choose-your-seafood then what type of seasoning, and various add-ons like corn on the cob and fries.

We were originally going to do one pound of crawfish and one pound of dungeness crab, but the latter was too expensive for our tastes so we switched it to shrimp. We added two corn on the cobs and some cajun fries, all with the "whole sha-bang" seasoning which means all the seasoning options thrown together. About 15 minutes later a clear bag showed up on our table with everything we ordered except the fries. Opened, it looked like this:

The seasoning was good and very garlicky and paired well with both the crawfish and the shrimp. We both liked the shrimp better because the payoff was better after all that peeling. the corn on the cob managed to be spicy and buttery at the same time. The fries were nice and crispy, but were the last to get eaten. This is what my side of the table looked like afterward:

$28 for all of the above plus a refillable soda with tip for the both of us for lunch didn't seem like a bad deal at all. As Jonathan Gold says, "I can hardly wait to return."

Bollini's Pizzeria Napolitana
2315 S. Garfield Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(323)722-7600
website

The Boiling Crab
742 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803
website

Brief return to the SGV: old and new favorites

2008-04-05T17:33:00.000-07:00

I'm back in the SGV for a brief vacation and I thought I'd do a sampling of what I've eaten so far. Upon perusing my blog pictures folder, I also came across some restaurants from previous trips that I had yet to add to this blog. So, I'm going to lump them into two long "here I am again" posts to save room in my brain and because I'm too lazy to think of more post titles.

Up first, an oldie but goodie: Garden Cafe

This is my standby for cafe food when I'm at home. We usually stop by for late night drinks of the non-alcoholic variety and some greasy late-night food. About a month ago I stopped by with my boyfriend to take advantage of the late night eating option that doesn't seem to exist where we live. This particular night it was totally dead in there, which makes me thing Garden has fallen out of favor with the local late night crowd in favor of newer establishments like the Sunday Bistro.

I ordered the Hainan Chicken with rice, and he ordered pork chops with mushroom sauce. My dish came out with better presentation than I expected, and it was delicious, too. The soup was flavorful and the sauces were a perfect foil to the moist chicken., right on par with Savoy's famous Hainan chicken. The pork chops were greasy but big portioned, and somehow Garden's mashed potatoes were better than I remembered.

I hope that they don't close down due to the new, flashier cafes because it's still one of my favorites after all these years.

Another restaurant memory: Chabuya Ramen

In the same visit we went to the Sawtelle neighborhood for a visit with the BF's sister. After perusing blogs per usual I settled on Chabuya ramen. I was looking forward to their "Asian Bun Sandwich" and some ramen. I ended up getting a mini pork sandwich and a mini shrimp rice bowl. The sandwich came on a peking duck-type sandwich roll alongside a small salad. The rice bowl was not so mini with its huge mound of rice. I thought the flavor was good, but that with the amount of rice the rice bowl became bland.

My boyfriend got the special dipping ramen (tsuke-men) that came with two dipping sauces. He liked, but thought it was a lot of work since the noodles kept sticking together. His sister got the classic ramen with miso and said the portion was just enough that she felt satisfied without being too stuffed to ice skate, which we were doing later on.

We all agreed it was good, but not the best ramen we'd ever had.

Garden Cafe
228 W. Valley Boulevard
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 289-1833

Chabuya

2002 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA

(310)473-1013

Blogger adventures: Cozy Cafe

2008-01-04T22:30:00.001-08:00

This winter break while back in the SGV Lyndsay and I decided to have lunch, and little did we know what an adventure it would be! After much discussion and perusal of SGV food blogs for over an hour, we decided to hit up Luscious Dumplings, helped by the fact that it is conveniently located near a Phoenix food boutique where I wanted to get pecan tarts.

Unfortunately for us, Luscious is one of the few asian eateries that is actually closed on Christmas eve. I mean, come on! That's one of the good things about living in the SGV...almost everything is open on any given holiday. Our faces were sad, but I was cheered by scoring some pecan tartlets for $3.50 (6 to be exact) at Phoenix. The smell wafting from nearby Vietnam House was very enticing, but since I had professed an urge for Taiwanese food, we reluctantly passed. Lyndsay remembered going to a Taiwanese place in Arcadia with Lillian named Sin Bala, so we decided to find it and eat there.

Driving east on Duarte, we congratulated ourselves on finding it in an asian strip mall...until we saw that it too was closed! Just our luck. By now so hungry we were almost desperate, we looked around that strip mall for something to eat. May mei restaurant almost made it, until we saw Cozy Cafe and its Taiwanese bento boxes! This was the perfect amalgam of my two cravings: Taiwanese food and bento.

Huge menu on the wall

We sat beside this couple in the extremely small restaurant (seating 25 max) and waited for service. Looking at the menu on the wall, I ordered the short ribs bento and Lyndsay ordered the unagi bento. Each bento came with rice, a vegetable, some pickled vegetables, and some meat sauce with a hardboiled egg, all for $6.50! We waited, waited, and waited for our food. The couple next to us waited, ate, and paid their bill before Lyndsay got her unagi! The woman's dan dan noodles smelled and looked extremely good, and I contemplated wishing I had ordered that instead.

Short ribs bento

Although the service was lacking and semi-difficult because of language barriers and the extreme wait time, the food was excellent. Each part of the bento worked well together, and each was delicious on its own. My only dislike was the chewiness of the short ribs, but I blame that more on my own folly for choosing it than their cooking of it. Lyndsay's unagi was very good, but the portion size was small.

Since the bento do not have to be piping hot, I think it would be good for a take out lunch for an exciting day trip where the access to food is questionable. They also had three refridgerators full of available side dishes and Taiwanese specialties. Also, ordering ahead would probably alleviate some of the wait, which was the our main problem with our experience at Cozy cafe. Now if I could figure out how to order in Taiwanese...I'd be eating there every time I visit the SGV.

A huge variety of take out

Cozy Cafe
651 W Duarte Rd. Ste. B
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 294-2981
menu

Emperor Taste Seafood Restaurant

2007-10-16T21:22:00.000-07:00

I pretty much grew up with dim sum. Even before preschool my heart favored certain dim sum dishes and I consumed unhealthy amounts of tea.

For the sake of this review, I will try my best to phonetically translate the dishes--I know only how to speak it in Cantonese.

When Emperor Taste Seafood Restaurant had its grand opening, it disappointed and subsequently warded off many people. Fast forward to now: The dim sum is great. The service? So attentive that my plates were changed several times in one hour. In addition, its prices are competitively low: barely under two dollars per dim sum dish.

One factor I use to judge the skill of a dim sum maker is the wrapper of the har gow. The har gow presented to me had all great qualities. It was not made the day before--you can tell this by the smell of the shrimp and the way the wrapper breaks when you bite into the dumpling. The wrapper was translucent and thin--in addition, when I bit into it, the wrapper did not fall apart in my mouth in chunks. The shrimp was definitely fresh and had no strange smell.

Another factor I use to judge a restaurant serving dim sum is the quality of their gee hung (basically congealed pork blood cut into squares). This is used to judge the overall quality of the restaurant as it is one of the hardest dishes to make well. Again, like the shrimp in the har gow, smell is key. This gee hung tasted well and its consistency was rightly firm. The only smell coming from it was the smell of cooked gee hung and nothing else. Had it smelled like anything else--be it putrid, or flowery, or especially if there is an overwhelming, powerful smell--I would have raised my eyebrow.

The rest of the dim sum was just as good as the har gow and gee hung. Nothing was lacking--a good example was the cheung fun. The noodle itself was smooth and its filling was fresh.

Despite all these attractive qualities of this restaurant, there is a low number of customers. I attribute the bad grand opening as the culprit. Because of the amount of customers there is no waiting in line--but! the dishes are not steaming hot.

I recommend this place for high quality dim sum. Not only do you bypass long lines found at other dim sum restaurants, but you also get the superb dim sum at a great price.

Emperor Taste Seafood Restaurant
1039 E. Valley Blvd., #B201
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 280-6668

Mon - Sun 9:00AM to 3:00PM, 5:00PM to 10:00PM

Penang

2007-08-13T22:28:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite restaurants in the bay area is Banana Leaf, in Milpitas. Its Malaysian cuisine is second to none, and the wait is always busy and the food always good. However, I am not able to get there as often as I like, and this saddens me. I was heartened to learn from blogger Lyndsay that there was an oft-praised Malaysian restaurant in the SGV, called Penang. She sent me the article in LA Weekly about it, and suggested I make the trek out to West Covina.

What caught my eye in the article is that it mentions the quality of the roti canai at Penang. Roti canai is a treat from the gods and should not be missed if possible. Immediately I made it my mission to eat at Penang the next time I got down to southern California. The opportunity came when I decided to treat all of my cousins to dinner for a particular cousin's birthday. Various significant others came along, bringing our party number to 11.

Finding the place was a bit difficult, as it is located in a corner of an ethnic strip mall that is chock full of places to eat. Inside, the decor was a bit tropical, and gave me the weird feeling that I had been there before. Which, of course, I hadn't. We were seated promptly since I had made a reservation, and after a bit of wrangling with my cousins we were finally able to order some drinks. They unanimously decided I would order everything, and left the food decisions to me and my boyfriend.

First I ordered some appetizers: three of the roti canai, the curry puffs, and a beef and chicken satay. The curry puffs came out first and we split the four huge pieces among ourselves. They look plain from the outside, and are stuffed with hearty curried goodness on the inside. It was a good start to our huge meal.

When the roti came out, I warned everyone that they were only good when piping hot, and wouldn't taste as good within a minute of sitting on the plate. They heeded my suggestion and the light, buttery layers were snatched up and dipped into the waiting chicken curry. The combination, as I mentioned before, was heavenly.

Suddenly, the food started coming. I say suddenly, but it took a bit of work on my part to attract the attention of the waiter to order my entree choices as we were eating the appetizers. Not everything came out at the same time, but this was expected and no one seemed to mind. I ended up ordering a couple of Malaysian classics like beef rendang and char kway teow, thrown in with coconut fried rice and sizzling shrimp, and two sambal vegetable dishes.

Everyone laughed as I hurriedly tried to take pictures of everything, but they were much too hungry to really wait. The beef rendang was tender and flavorful, and went well with the rice. I have to recommend the asparagus sambal, but not the samal petai (pictured next to the roti canai above). The green peas in the petai had an uncooked taste to them that my untrained tastebuds weren't prepared to like.

The sizzling shrimp was a hit, but everyone concluded it was a lot of work to get the shrimp out of the shells. One of my cousins decided to save himself the trouble and ate the shell, too. The char kway teow was spicy and reminded me a lot of beef chow fun, while the coconut fried rice was pleasing but uneventful.

At the end we decided to forego dessert because we were too stuffed, but the waiter brought out a small block of jello/pudding like dessert. The flavor was simultaneously salty and sweet, which I didn't really like. However, it did find favor with some of my cousins. Next time I would try one of their desserts off the menu.

It was unanimously decided that Penang was a good place to eat, and that we were all stuffed to the gills. I would return again for the roti alone! It was that good. I must, however, throw in a compliment to Banana Leaf, who still makes the best roti canai I have ever tasted.

Penang
971 South Glendora Avenue
West Covina, CA 91790
(626) 338-6138

Sunday-Thursday: 11:00am-10:00pm
Friday-Saturday: 11:00am-10:30pm

Real Food Daily

2007-08-05T18:04:00.000-07:00

Real Food Daily should change its name to Real Good Food Daily. Or just plain Good Food Daily. This vegan restaurant provides healthy and organic food complete with modest proportions and quality ingredients. The dishes look very beautiful and the descriptions written on the menu are detailed and alluring.

I started off my dinner with a nori maki starter plate (pictured above). On the menu it sounded incredible: avocado, tempeh, collard greens, and much much more. However, when I actually tasted it, I was initially disappointed. I found myself dipping it heavily in soy sauce for taste. But then I discovered that each piece was more delectably enjoyable by eating it via small bites. Doing so helped me taste each individual ingredient. Eating it whole actually masks any flavor save for a faint seaweed taste--which made sense as none of the ingredients tasted exceptionally strong aside from the seaweed.

After the starter plate, my friend and I were served our main courses. He had a tofu wrap made from a spinach tortilla that holds an overflow of tofu.

It looked delicious! I only had a tiny bite of a grilled tofu piece from the wrap itself, but it was a rather promising bite. My friend reported that the tofu wrap is one of his standbys at RFD.

My main course was one of the restaurant's weekly July specials: the Bollywood Special.

The Bollywood Special was a curry dish served with rice and spinach. Included with the special was a piece of chapati (a type of flatbread) and mango chutney. The curry barely hinted at being spicy, but it was chock full of vegetables and taste. It was good! The overall combination with the brown rice and soft spinach made my meal extremely appetizing. The chapati by itself is best described as floury. The two sides of the bread provided a great texture twist for the tongue. The top portion (pictured) was tough and dry. The other side, however, was moist and malleable. A dip into the curry made the bread extremely satisfying. The mango chutney was slightly sweet with a tinge of onion taste. I noticed that oil was mixed with the chutney, which leads me to believe that it is of the stored variety and not freshly made.

Although I did not eat this during this trip there, I need to add that the Living Wrap is amazing. Upon my first bite of it, I found myself enjoying a mix of flavors and zest that I did not know could work together so well. Tasty and colorful, the Living Wrap is my standby at RFD.

Overall, this place is worth the time and money. It runs slightly expensive for its portions but the service is attentive and the food is as inventive as it is tasty (which is, very). I went to RFD's Santa Monica location, which I find to be a bit cramped, but that is the only woe I find there.

Real Food Daily
514 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 451-7544
website

Mon - Sun 11:30AM to 10:00PM

414 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 289-9910
website

Sun - Thu 11:30AM to 10:00PM
Fri - Sat 11:30AM to 11:00PM
Sunday Brunch 10:00AM to 3:00PM

Rainbow Noodle

2007-07-31T22:39:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would like a noodle place with a cheesy name like Rainbow Noodle, especially when my favorite, Mien Nghia, is just down the street. However, this recently opened restaurant in the crowded market center on Valley is definitely worth a visit. A huge picture menu in the window is what first drew my mom's attention, and it depicts many delectable noodle dishes waiting for your enjoyment.

This place has many, many food options, ranging from noodles with soup, chow mein and chow fun, to rice dishes, porridge, and vegetarian options. There are over 120 options! Luckily, there's also a picture menu to help you with your choice.

The interior is small and clean, and is much more visually appealing than the usual noodle place. It wasn't very busy on a Sunday for lunch, which I attribute to its newness. The dish that caught my mom's eye was their seafood deep fried egg-noodle. It features a mound of crispy noodles that is covered with seafood, bok choy, and sauce. The temperature of the sauce softens the noodles. I like to eat a mix of soft noodles and crunchy, deep fried noodles with the seafood. Deep fried here does NOT mean greasy. It's a great texture in my mouth. I mean, who doesn't love yummy sauce goodness with crispy carbohydrate noodles?

I decided to order the needle rice noodle. I don't know why it's called the needle rice noodle, because it's misleading. This thicker noodle came swimming in a very flavorful broth, accompanied by fish cake, shrimp, chicken, and a duck wing! The chewiness of the noodle was great with the saltiness of the broth. It was very much like the Vietnamese dish banh canh, which I love, but without the thick soup. This bowl of noodles alone persuaded me to come back to try more on my next trip home.

One the next visit, I was accompanied by my mom and my boyfriend. The place was packed, with almost every table occupied. My mom decided to order the Special rice noodle, which came with the default flavorful broth and was chock full of delicious things, like shrimp, chicken, fish balls, and duck.

My boyfriend decided to order his favorite noodle dish, which is a soup noodle with duck. Here it's called "Soy sauce Duck egg-noodle" and he asked for the big egg noodle, which had the right amount of bite to it. The duck leg makes the broth deliciously salty and fatty, which he loves, but is also notoriously hard to eat. My only complaint was that there wasn't any bok choy in the soup for a change of texture.

Although I was tempted to order the needle rice noodle soup again, I decided against it for the sake of this blog. It's not exciting if I order it twice. I ended up ordering the "Fish ball soup with seaweed" before I realized it didn't come with noodles. The waiter was obliging, however, and told me he would ask them to include noodles. Now, would I rather have egg noodles or wide rice noodles? This was such a nice gesture and wholly unexpected. When my bowl came out, it was steaming and full of noodles. The broth had a hint of seaweed flavor which I liked, and they had included two types of fish cake. See those brown, oval bits? That was deep-fried garlic, one of the best things about this dish. However, I think I still prefer the needle rice noodle soup.

With my second visit out of the way, I can now officially endorse Rainbow Noodle as a place to get some noodles that hit the spot, whether you want soup noodles or fried noodles. The service is fast, the restaurant is clean, and the location is close. A win-win situation for all...especially this blog, as noodles are its namesake.

Rainbow Noodle
1281 E. Valley Blvd.
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 282-8878

Open 7 days: 8:30am-8:00pm

Gin Sushi

2007-07-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

I can’t front: Gin Sushi serves the best sushi I’ve ever eaten. Complete with a sushi bar and photographs of happy customers sprawling across its walls, this restaurant’s food quality is hard to beat. Although the service varies highly, especially during the busy night hours, I do not recommend skipping this joint while in the San Gabriel Valley.

Here are photos that detail my latest splurge there:

Salmon sashimi: fat, smooth, and creamy.

Philadelphia roll: The cream cheese does not overwhelm the roll. Instead it complements well with the creamy salmon, making this dish a smooth and fresh delight.

Unagi roll (right): Served with a sweet sauce, this roll’s unagi boosts both freshness and flavor. The unagi itself was a bit crisp around the edges.

Spider roll (left): Crunchy and tantalizing. The mix of ingredients in this provided a light and cold feeling.

Baked scallop crab roll (BSCR): Wonderful! + Tastes heavy. The best verb I can use to describe this is “ooze”. The big amount of sauce on it just oozes out of the roll. The blended flavors just ooze easily out. This roll is such a mouthful that its ingredients just ooze out of your mouth when you bite into it.

Cherry blossom roll: I was informed by a regular of Gin Sushi that this was a new roll. The spicy tuna serves as the main flavor and the rice seems to taste extra sweet. The salmon was just as fat and smooth as the ones used as the sashimi dish.

Dragon fire roll: Filled with cream cheese and spicy tuna, the roll itself was excellent! The pepper was simultaneously juicy and crunchy, which complements well with its crunchy fried exterior. The spicy bang seems to fade the longer the roll sits uneaten, so be sure to eat this the moment it arrives!

Caterpillar roll: The fact that I somehow forgot to take a picture of this roll should not unjustly make you think that this roll isn’t memorable. This perfect combination of the avocado and unagi is one of my favorite dishes at Gin Sushi. It was a bit salty this time, but the avocado never fails to be fresh and the unagi never fails to be sweet.

Might I mention that the prices are also rather fair for such good sushi? Everything totaled about $65 (minus tip).

Don’t be fooled by the photos’ focus on sushi. Gin Sushi serves other kinds of Japanese food, such as noodles, rice bowl combinations, and delicious desserts (pictured: strawberry mochi ice cream and tempura green tea ice cream):

Gin Sushi
3589 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91107
(626) 440-9611
website
Sun - Thu 11:00AM to 10:30PM
Fri - Sat 11:00AM to 11:00PM

U2 Cafe

2007-06-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

This tiny restaurant, called U2 Cafe, confused me when it first opened. I mean, what does the band U2 have to do with food? And isn't that copyright infringement? The answers are nothing, and yes. However, asian food places have never shied away from naming themselves or having similar logos to pop culture entities, so you or I shouldn't be surprised.

The name comes from the fact that it's a hybrid of two popular Chinese eating establishments: the BBQ place, and the cafe. The former is known for its roast duck, cha siu pork, and other favorites, like wonton soup and beef chow fun. Flagship: Sam Woo. The latter is known for its coffee drinks, baked dishes, pseudo-American dishes, and penchant for being open into the early morning hours. Flagship: Garden Cafe.

U2 has both in its small building, appealing to many of its customers, I'm sure. I have to confess I have yet to try anything from the BBQ side, so I haven't yet taken advantage of this duality. However, the cafe I've been to many times. The main draws here are breakfast and lunch. The breakfast menu is unique, offering a "Chinese breakfast" and an "American breakfast." The Chinese breakfast consists of your choice of congee, fried chow fun or macaroni soup, and a breakfast drink like coffee or tea. The American breakfast consists of your choice of pancakes or eggs and bacon or sausage, oatmeal or macaroni soup, and the breakfast drink. All this for the bargain price range of $4.50-5.50!!

I had eggs and bacon, the macaroni soup, and milk tea. It was way too much food for breakfast, but since it was so cheap I couldn't help but try to eat it all so that I would feel I got my money's worth and more. My boyfriend ordered the pancakes and eggs, and chose the oatmeal. He was satisfied, but thought the oatmeal was a weird soupy consistency. Plus, they only provided white sugar, not the brown sugar he was used to. My reply was that it was his fault for ordering oatmeal at a Chinese place! My aunt says when she doesn't have anything to bring for lunch, she'll order the congee and the fried chow fun. She eats the congee for breakfast and has the fried chow fun for lunch...two meals for under $6!

The lunch here is like most other cafes, including a cup of soup and a drink that's coffee or tea (there's an extra charge for cold drinks). The soup I had there for lunch was a cream soup with corn and chicken. It was flavorful and creamy, and fell right in line with other cream soups I've had (though I usually get the "vegetable" soup at Garden). I ordered my usual, which is the pork chop with whatever sauce I feel like that day (mushroom, garlic, or black pepper) and that day I felt like garlic. I order this dish at the cafe regardless of what meal it is (lunch or dinner) and whether I'm hungry enough.

The pork chop came smothered in sauce, with some rice and buttered vegetable medley that I suspect is from the freezer aisle (all cafes include this). It was fatty and delicious, but I couldn't finish it all. It wasn't the best that I'd had, but it wasn't the worst either. The cafe serves a wide range of items, like curry, sandwiches, pasta, and Chinese favorites. No cafe would be without its baked dishes. These usually come baked with lots of cream sauce and cheese...definitely not for the ones watching their weight!

I wouldn't say this is my favorite cafe, but they are my old standby when I don't want to wait at Garden, or want a cheaper breakfast that's not vomit-inducing like the neighborhood Denny's. It's a novel idea to combine the two kinds of establishments, and I wholeheartedly support it.

U2 Cafe
1200 E Valley Blvd.
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626)282-1800

Lunch special 11am-3pm

Wonton Time!

2007-05-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

I went to a little place called Wonton Time with my mom for lunch last October, but have only found the time to publish now. This place is so memorable that I can taste the wonton soup in my mouth right now. True to their name there are only three options on the menu: noodle soup, lo mein, and plain wonton with soup. With each option there are three topping options: shrimp wonton, sliced beef, and fish balls. You can also get any two combos of the three toppings, or, if you're feeling really hungry, all three at once.

I walked in and we were ushered to a small table next to the wall. On the walls the menus are reprinted (only in Chinese) and also pictures of Wonton Time in Hong Kong. My mom informed me this was "Hong Kong Style" which I took to mean simple menus specializing in one thing. We each got a bowl of noodle soup with wontons, and I also ordered a side of vegetables with oyster sauce.

The soup was fragrant and clear, and the noodles were also good. The wontons were pretty big. My mom told me my granduncle refused to eat there because they only used shrimp in their wontons, with no meat at all. This was pretty extravagant, I thought. The shrimp filling made the texture of the wontons different than what I was used to. It was good, but eventually became monotonous without the variation of the meat filling.

I'd definitely eat there again when I have the craving for wonton soup, and I recommend getting the vegetables with oyster sauce, which only cost $2 and taste so good with my wonton soup. I prefer this place over industry standard Sam Woo, which can be noisy, and not as flavorful.

I liked the way the restaurant decided to specialize in wonton soup. That way you knew what to get there, and there was no fuss about it. It's also a cheap option for lunch in the SG valley, running about $4 for a nice-sized bowl of noodles.

Wonton Time
19 E. Valley Blvd.
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 293-3366

Mon - Sun 11:00AM to 9:00PM

Top Island Seafood

2007-05-20T21:56:00.000-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to eat two meals at Top Island: dinner and dim sum. For those familiar to the area, Top Island inhabits the space that used to be the Wherehouse music store for many years (where I cultivated my own particular collection of rap, pop, and rock). In between, it was a buffet and another seafood restaurant whose name I can't recall. I had been looking forward to eating there, after hearing tales of $50 fish alongside $2.99/pound of peel and eat shrimp from my family, and seeing pictures of the food on Biggest Menu.

We went early for dinner, and it was pleasantly uncrowded. Most Chinese seafood restaurants are so noisy you can't hear yourself think. I think that the only downside of this place is that you pretty much have to speak Cantonese to really get good service here. However, they aren't totally exclusionary of non-Chinese speakers... you just don't get to read the good specials they have advertised in Chinese.

We ended up ordering the watercress with dried duck kidneys soup, deep fried crispy chicken, clams with black bean sauce, BBQ squab, three pounds of the peel and eat shrimp, and the sliced beef with vegetable. The soup started out with a pleasant taste, but ended with a slightly bitter aftertaste because of the watercress. My mom says that watercress is bitter when it's harvested while the weather is hot, and I suppose this is what must have happened with the watercress in the soup. The chicken was good, but since I didn't dip it in the salt and pepper lemon juice sauce, it didn't have enough flavor for me. I didn't try the clams or the squab, but my family thought that they were both delicious. The shrimp were huge, and came with the heads on (how it should be, in my opinion). They were good with the soy dipping sauce, but most didn't have the right, fresh texture I was looking for.

The best part of the meal was the sliced beef with vegetables. The beef was flavorful and tender and coated with this delicious sauce. The beef was sitting on a plateful of perfectly cooked broccoli. The thing that struck me as weird was that it was literally broccoli, and not the Chinese broccoli (gai lan) that it usually is. It's pretty clear that this was one of the best dishes there if my family didn't really care that it wasn't the right broccoli. Dessert was the hot red bean soup, and that wasn't bad, but it wasn't a standout.

The next morning, we went back for dim sum at around 11, and man, was this place packed. We waited for about 30 minutes to be seated. I was surprised, but it was definitely worth the wait. Almost immediately after we sat down, we had our tea and about 5 dishes in front of us. This included: BBQ pork buns (Cha siu bao), shrimp har gow, pork shiu mai, beef tripe, and steamed rice with chicken wrapped in banana leaves (lo mai gai). Everything was delicious, especially my favorite, the beef tripe. I usually judge my dim sum by the cha siu bao, and here the meat was flavorful and the steamed bun was great, with no soggy bottoms. This is what our table looked like:

The weird thing was that the women pushing the carts did not call out what they were plying. You basically had to keep an eye out and recognize which carts were offering what you wanted, or ask the women what they had in their carts. A part of me liked not being bothered, but the other part didn't like having to put so much effort to find what I liked. We ended up ordering more food which included: Turnip cake (lo bak go), ham siu gok (little football-shaped rice sheets wrapping a meaty filling and then deep fried), and steamed chicken feet (fung jeo). More deliciousness, except for the chicken feet which I did not touch, but which my mom insists were delicious.

Also, when you go for dim sum, you'll be looking around for napkins. Where are they? They are in this cute little pouch that looks like a travel size tissue with the restaurant's logo, address, and telephone number. I kept it for myself at the end of the meal.

I think that I would definitely go there again for dim sum, and I think the flavor was on par with some of the bigger dim sum places like 888 and Ocean Star, minus the 2 hour wait. For dinner, I'd stick with tried and true favorites, and the fresh fish. I was pleasantly surprised by this place, and am thankful for its proximity to my house!

Top Island Seafood Restaurant
740 E. Valley Blvd.
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 300-9898

All India Cafe

2007-05-18T22:21:00.000-07:00

My friend Diane wanted to try Indian food and I, being the nice friend I am, did a little research on what nearby restaurant could provide quality Indian food. Via some websites, All India Cafe has had some strong ratings, and I decided to take my taste buds (and Diane, my human bud) to the restaurant's Pasadena branch.

The food was mostly excellent. I shared naan with Diane. The bread came to the table fresh and hot. Steam wasn't the only thing emanating from it--so was a heavenly and delicious scent! Although it looked a bit too burnt in certain areas, it still satisfied me. With a taste heavily reminiscent of pancake, this naan was unlike any naan I've had before. However, the taste complemented well with the tandoori chicken salad.

The salad itself was beyond wonderful. Each ingredient in the dish provided an individual texture and taste that blended well together. Upon first glance, the cheese cubes looked like tofu and the vivid red color of ripe tomatoes dotted the salad of fresh and large green leaves. The cheese had a rather unique taste in that it was a sharp contrast to other cheeses I've encountered--its taste was incredibly mild. The most evident thing about it was its loose texture in the mouth. The mushrooms were excellent and succulent, as were the tomatoes, but the chicken pieces were a bit dry. The dish is saved by the smooth and cool feeling of the zucchini, which balanced out the overall texture of the chicken. The lettuce was tangy, thanks to the dressing, and the leafy greens rounded out the whole party of textures by being crisp.

I've seen this restaurant accused of serving Indian food that's ethnically diluted. From my limited experience, I would have to agree, but that should not deter any potential patrons. The food is still yummy, and the overall atmosphere of the place is resoundingly splendid in colors!

All India Cafe
39 S. Fair Oaks Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 440-0309
website

Mon - Thu 11:30AM to 10:00PM
Fri - Sat 11:30AM to 11:00PM
Sun 11:30AM to 10:00PM

Houston's

2007-04-03T22:37:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my family and I (and fellow blogger Lyndsay) ate at Houston's in Pasadena for my sister's birthday. My sister loves Houston's and has been wanting to go there for a long time, and always talks about how good it is. I should have been skeptical when she said she always orders the fish there, even though Houston's is a steakhouse.

When we first got there, the hostess told me the wait for a large party would be around two hours. Now, I don't know about you, but I expect the food to be spectacular if I had to stand there and wait 2 hours to be seated. It's because they don't take reservations here. However, we got lucky and a table was available for us within a half hour ( just about when the rest of the family got there). Houston's is primarily made up of large, dark booths and we ended up getting the corner booth. I'd like to think that's where the VIPs sit. All of the waitstaff is extraordinarily attractive and slim, and our waitress also happened to be very nice.

I ended up ordering the fish (what was I thinking?) which was the halibut. My sister ordered the other fish that was available: salmon. The cool think about Houston's is that you can choose what side you would like with your entree, which ranges from french fries and a baked potato, to the seasonal vegetables of the day, which this time included chilled asparagus, glazed carrots, spaghetti squash, or cauliflower. Almost everyone got the chilled asparagus.

My halibut was served grilled with a half of a lemon covered with cheesecloth and four big spears of asaparagus lightly drizzled with some sort of creamy vinaigrette. The halibut was perfectly grilled with just a bit of salt, but I found it lacking in flavor. The lemon juice helped a bit. The asparagus was slightly cold and delicious with the vinagrette, but I wish there was more of the dressing. It perplexed my dad as to why there was "no flavor" so he put a lot of lemon juice on his asparagus.

I found myself craving some sort of carbohydrate...which was thankfully placated by a big mound of french fries in the middle of the table, which my sister had ordered for everyone to share. The french fries here are delicious, cut thinner then regular french fries, but fried just enough to be crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. I think that was my favorite part of the meal. I was still pretty hungry after finishing my fish.

I tried a bit of my boyfriend's prime rib, but I thought it was too beefy for me. My family laughed when I said this, because after all, prime rib is beef. However, when I eat steak, I like to taste the flavor of the grilling and the spices put into it, with the texture of the beef. I do not like thinking that my steak just tastes like...plain meat. Or plain cow in this case. I also tried the rotisserie chicken that my mom ordered. The glazing on the chicken was delicious, but the Louisiana dirty rice that accompanied it was nothing to write home about.

In the end, I think if you like steak you would like Houston's. Also, if you like spending almost 30 dollars a plate after having waited for 2 hours, you would like Houston's. If you don't mind a lack of presentation (though I guess most steakhouses aren't big on this anyway) and a weird menu (the restaurant serves sushi, salad, burgers, and steak and chicken), you would like Houston's. I was unimpressed overall, but I think I would give it another shot on someone else's dime.

Houston's
320 S Arroyo Pkwy
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 577-6001
website

Sun - Thu 11:30AM to 10:00PM
Fri - Sat 11:30AM to 11:00PM

Europane Bakery

2007-03-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

I first discovered Europane Bakery while salivating over tasty-looking creations on the picturing_food livejournal community. A picture of an egg salad sandwich had arrested my wandering eyes. The sandwich looked small, but extremely appetizing. After hassling the owner of the photo for a couple of days, I found out which restaurant made the sandwich.

I arrived to find that Europane Bakery had outdoor seating on the street; inside was a short line of people trying to place orders. The line quickly grew to be a lingering snake inside the little bakery. There was a beautifully painted ceramic pitcher of free water balancing itself on a divider. I was impressed with the atmosphere almost immediately. It was hip and a perfect place to have a cup of hot chocolate on a rainy day. Not only that, but tantalizing loaves of bread line the shelves on the wall. I even found a loaf of bread intricately craved into a picture. The only drawback in the ambiance was its limited seating. It was hard to navigate (especially when the line got longer) and it felt as if I could not have a private comfort zone.

I ordered what originally enticed me there--the egg salad sandwich--on wheat, and also a chocolate dessert which caught my eye while I was waiting in line. Since I don't have photos this time around, I'll use my words to describe just how amazing the food was.

While I waited for my sandwich to be made and brought to my table, I dug into the chocolate dessert. It looked kind of like a cupcake, except it wasn't, and was topped with milk chocolate shavings and a raspberry. Honestly, the milk chocolate shavings were probably the best part of the dessert. Although it wasn't dry (but definitely not moist), I was offended by the lack of fudge or any other kind of filling inside the round dessert. I felt that it had too much flour substance, though I won't deny that the quality chocolate taste was evident and that that was the main reason for actually somewhat liking the dessert. Before I go on to rave about the sandwich, I need to say two more things about this dessert: it was more expensive than expected and locating its price prior to buying it was impossible. I could not find its price (nor the prices of the other desserts or the names of this and other desserts) on its display and I certainly couldn't find it on the written menus on the wall.

Let's continue onto the something more spectacular: the sandwich.

When the sandwich was brought to me, I was blown away. In addition to its tomato pesto sauce, and fresh, dark green lettuce, the egg's yolk was just oozing a bright yellow and orange. I will not lie: it looked--and I later discovered it was--delicious. Despite the fact that the actual salad dwarfed my wheat bread slices because the toasted bread was so small, I had no complaints about the sandwich. I could clearly taste the pesto sauce whenever I bit into the bread and the bold taste of egg yolk was rampant. It was so bold that I wondered if any egg white was even used. It was very very good.

My total for this meal came to $12.02, the sandwich being around $6.85, which makes the ambiguously priced dessert to be around $5.00. I would say this is a moderately priced bakery, but the sandwiches seem to be worth every cent, if not more, of their prices. Although I wouldn't suggest eating at the restaurant itself due to its seating arrangements, I do suggest stopping by even for just a cup of coffee. The quality of the food is mostly superb.

Europane
950 E. Colorardo Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91106
(626) 577-1828

Mon - Sat 7:00AM to 5:30PM
Sun 7:00AM to 2:00PM

Orean the Health Express

2007-03-12T15:45:00.000-07:00

The thing that's confusing me most about this place is whether to call it Orean's Health Express, Orean's the Health Express, or Orean the Health Express. The restaurant's name, not its serving of healthy fast food, is the most confusing thing about the restaurant. But since I cannot quite clarify which is the correct name, I will talk about something I can vouch for: the healthy fast food.

Concepts of health and fast food are usually akin to oil and water, never mixing. However, Orean's has mastered speed, healthy-goodness, and taste. This vegetarian restaurant even proudly touts an "American Heart Association Approved" sticker on the front. It utilizes a wide variety of ingredients to make each dish flavorful, exciting to eat, and healthy. For instance, the Orean Salad Burger has garden vegetables, sunflower seeds, black beans, tomatoes, onions, pickles, and organic clover sprouts.

I made two trips to Orean's; on my first trip there, I decided to order the African quesadilla at the window and sit down to enjoy the meal. I'm accustomed to quesadillas with cheese and grease seeping out of the tortillas and soaking onto the plates, so I was genuinely surprised to find that the quesadilla wasn't at all greasy. In fact, the tortillas looked kind of dry. I felt disappointed and thought perhaps I should've ordered something to drink to help eat it, but my first bite told me that it was flavorful and definitely not dry. The variety of ingredients including sunflower and pumpkin seeds, beans, and cornmeal gave it an amazing blend of colors and an amazing tangy taste. The only bad thing about this dish is that I found it smaller than expected.

Because the prices were moderately cheap (it was $2.79 for the quesadilla!), I made a second trip there the same day. This time, I used their drive thru to buy the African burrito and Strawberry Super Shake ($4.69 for the burrito and $2.85 for the shake). I found the African burrito to be large and well worth the money; in addition, this boldly flavorful dish boasted more ingredients and was tastier than the quesadilla. The freshness of the vegetables was hard to escape notice and it was so juicy that I had to use a paper bag to prevent the juices from falling onto my lap. The strawberry shake was quite thick and creamy, but I detected a taste of soy powder that was perhaps too strong. Other than that complaint, the shake was overall pretty good.

I would greatly recommend this restaurant to anyone, even to non-vegetarians. The fresh food is so good that people who love meat will not complain. The time it takes the food to be prepared is not long and I found that using the drive thru actually decreases waiting time. Just as I thought the restaurant couldn't get any better, I found out that it sells a healthy whole wheat vegan pancake and waffle mix at the restaurant--it has no cholesterol, dairy, or eggs! Excellent!

Orean... the Health Express
817 N. Lake Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91104
(626) 794-0861
website

Mon - Sun 9:30AM to 9:00PM

construction

2006-08-07T23:30:00.000-07:00

Hello Okay Noodle fans!
I just wanted to quickly update you on the state of the site. Thanks to Sharona, we now have photos to accompany our words. To accent these, I am working on updating the site layout. Please be patient if you see some stray lines or extra spacing. For now, savor my tasty test photo of the side dishes that came with my delicious sizzling bowl of bibimbop at a great Korea Town restaurant. A full entry will be up here soon. Until then, happy eating.

The Restaurant at the Getty

2006-08-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

During my recent evening visit to the fabulous Getty off of the 405 in Los Angeles, my boyfriend and I ate at the restaurant there. We made reservations online, which should have given us a clue as to how fancy the place really is, but we showed up in shorts and flip flops anyway. The cool thing is, even though the service is really elegant and the food is artful, they really don't care how you dress. I think they call it California casual dining.

They sat us near the window at a cute table with white linens. The menu was very Californian, with fresh appetizers, salads, and main dishes that included lots of seafood. The bread plate came out with parmesan crisps, sourdough, and rye, with butter, salt, and an olive tapenade. It was hard to stop eating the bread and tapenade.

I decided to start with the corn and leek soup with a morel fritter, and my boyfriend chose the dungeness crab salad with papaya, cucumber, and melon water. My soup was perfectly creamy and light and reminded me of summers eating sweet corn on the cob (picture above). The morel fritter was good, but nothing remarkable. The dungeness crab salad had a surprising citrus flavor which perfectly matched the cold temperature of the dish. It was a refreshing starter.

For my entree I chose the striped bass with eggplant caponata, romano beans, and lobster polenta. The fish was lightly seasoned and grilled, which was conducive to tasting the basic flavor of the fish itself. The beans were good, but I didn't care for the eggplant caponata. It was just a mushy mess. The lobster polenta was the star of the dish. The polenta was creamy and it tasted of lobster, in addition to the huge pieces of lobster meat in the polenta itself.

My boyfriend chose the muscovy duck breast with corn, New Zealand spinach (yes, really), and barbecue corn wrap with mascarpone horseradish and pink peppercorns. It's a lot of ingredients that tasted just alright to me, but I'm all about the seafood. The cut of duck breast was juicy and the spinach was good, but the corn wrap I could do without. He ended up really liking it, though (picture above).

Our waiter was very attentive and brought us the dessert menu. I opted for a latte and my boyfriend chose the dessert called "Berries and cream." It was a strawberry sorbet with vanilla panna cotta and fresh berries. Very pretty presentation, and my boyfriend was happy with the result (picture above). My coffee was rich, creamy, and full-bodied. But for the price I paid for it, it better have been!

All in all, I would recommend this place for a nice date (the Getty itself doesn't hurt either), but not an everyday meal option because of the price. However, you do get what you pay for in the ambiance, the attentiveness of the waitstaff, and quality of the food. The restaurant is only open on Fridays and Saturdays for dinner (those are the only days the Getty is open until 9p.m.) and the view outside is amazing. They are also open for lunch Tuesday-Sunday.

The Restaurant at the Getty
1200 Getty Center Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
Reservations: (310) 440-6810 or
website
lunch

Tues - Sat 11:30AM to 2:00PM
Sun 11:00AM to 3:00PM
dinner
Fri - Sat 5:00PM to 9:00PM

Bean Sprouts

2005-08-05T17:57:00.000-07:00

With a cute-as-a-button name as Bean Sprouts, this new vegetarian restaurant on Huntington Drive is hard to miss. It sure caught my eye when I was on my way to the Olive Garden last week, so I made a mental note to return. Bean Sprouts' menu may not be large, but their Chinese vegetarian food are flavorful and filling.

The first thing I noticed when I walked in during lunch hour was how clean and serene the small restaurant looked; the hardwood floors, matching tables and chairs, waterfall wall, brightly sun lit room, and new age background music gave a zen feel. In addition, diners can glance out the window at the peaceful cars and pedestrians go by.

Once the kind owner handed me the colorful menu with pictures on it, she explained what dishes were and what she recommended. There certainly wasn't any help needed, since the menu was divided into three simple sections: Appetizers & Soup, Noodle & Rice, and Drinks. Also, the menu was easy to read with icons explaining if the dish included egg and if it was oily or spicy.

Before any dishes came out, the owner presented my table with a small complimentary dish of fresh cut celery, carrots, and shredded tofu with a mild, refreshing dressing. It made for healthy snacking before the main course arrived.

For the appetizer, I was divided between the Rainbow Roll, Crispy Spring Roll, or Wonton with Hot Spicy Sauce. Though the Rainbow Roll looked and sounded interesting, a sushi-type roll with vegetables, veggie ham, and mayonnaise, it was too exotic for my taste buds. I stuck with a safe variation of the Crispy Spring Rolls, and they turned out to be crunchy, tasty, and stuffed full of vegetables. The hot Rolls came in four with a dipping sauce I suspected was sweet and sour but turned out to be salty; I suggest skipping the sauce because the rolls are already oily enough and bursting of flavor.

Under the main course, Noodle & Rice, there are only 17 selections to choose from and many of the pictures looked unappealing and dull. Many of the dishes, Sesame Cold Noodle with peanut sauce, Dan-Dan Mein, and Spaghetti w/ Tomato Sauce sounded boring and typical; my experience with vegetarian food has been inventive, colorful, and unique. I eyeballed Hawaiian Fried Rice and went with that even though there wasn't an accompanying picture of it on the menu. With carrots, peas, mushroom, crispy sweet ginger, and chunks of pineapple, the Rice was a yummy winner! I could barely finish the large dish, which was surprising because I don't get full fast.

Bean Sprouts dispels the myths that vegetarian food is bland, rabbit food; instead, this relaxing and clean restaurant serves Chinese vegetarian food in large portions and full of zest. Healthy and creative, vegetarian food never looked so good.

If you're looking to try Asian vegetarian food for the first time, I would recommend going to New Happy Family Restaurant (8632 E. Valley Blvd. #E Rosemead CA. 91770) or One World Vegetarian Cuisine (178 S. Glendora Ave., West Covina, CA 91790) first. These two offer a much larger and diverse selection with many familiar dishes given a vegetarian twist!

Bean Sprouts
103 E. Huntington Drive
Arcadia, CA 91006-8708
(626) 254-8708

Mon - Fri 11:00AM to 3:00PM, 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Sat - Sun 11:00AM to 9:00PM
Closed Tues

Seafood Village

2005-07-31T21:26:00.000-07:00

Seafood Village is a restaurant that I go to for special occasions such as birthdays and graduations because of one thing: the awesome crab. Almost every table orders the "House Special Crab" because it's so good. The pieces of crab come roasted among an insane amount of chopped garlic, with chilies and scallions. If you go, you must order some, it's to-die-for.

The crab is the central part of the meal, but Seafood Village also produces great dishes featuring other seafood and meat items. My family always orders the steamed tilapia (which is not on the menu), and the "Crab Meat and Fish Maw Soup." Another good soup choice is the "Pork Stomach and Black Pepper Soup."

For meat, you can't go wrong with the "House Special Chicken" which is also known as "Princess Chicken" in Cantonese, because it was only eaten by princesses. Now us mere mortals can partake of this salty, juicy dish. I would also suggest the "Crispy Deep Fried Beancurd w/ Bamboo Fungus" which is way better tasting than the name suggests. To round off with some vegetables, my family usually orders the "Pan-fried String beans w/ Minced Meat." It's a great celebratory meal!

As with most Chinese seafood restaurants, the environment is loud, but the food is worth it. There are two locations of Seafood Village. Both are excellent in cuisine, but the Monterey Park branch has substantially less parking., and the decor of the Temple City branch is nicer to look at.

Seafood Village
684 Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 289-0088

9669 Las Tunas Drive
Temple City, CA 91780
(626) 286-2299

Mon - Sun 11:00AM to 1:00AM

Yazmin Malaysian Restaurant

2005-07-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

After having a taste of Malaysian food in Northern California at the restaurant Banana Island, I came home craving pan-fried noodles and roti canai with spicy curry sauce to dip in. The only Malaysian restaurant I could think of in Alhambra is Yazmin, a place I have never been in but was familiar with since its location is in the busy heart of Main Street, next to the Edwards Renaissance. With its courteous staff, affordable prices, and relaxing, spacious ambiance, Yazmin is worth a look.

Upon entering, I noticed the walls were adorned with colorful paper artwork and fans. There are booths parallel to opposite sides of the wall; this creates an illusion of a large environment that made me keep scoping out the diners on the far other side.

The expansive menu includes noodle soup, fried noodles, seafood, and vegetarian; they have lunch special prices (~$4.75) on Monday-Thursday (excluding holidays). Although I went on a Sunday, the prices were still within a reasonable range (~$6.75).

For the appetizer, the roti canai, which is a flaky, thin fried pancake, came in a pair with a bowl of curry dipping sauce. My grubby hands rushed to tear off a piece, but retreated as the roti canai was piping hot and burned! Once it cooled down, I was able to savor the chewy, fried bread. Instead of crispy and light, Yazmin's version of the pancake was more soggy and greasy. However, the curry sauce was good enough, being spicy opposed to creamy.

The main dish I ordered was Char Kuei Teow, which was fried flat rice noodles with bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken, egg and leeks. When asked if I wanted to order it spicy or non-spicy, I opted for spicy but once it was delivered, my taste buds did not detect anything so their chili sauce must not be very hot. I ordered mine sans chicken, and overall, this oily stir-fry dish went down the palate easy enough. At many Chinese restaurants such as Sam Woo, this fried flat noodle dish is quite popular but with beef instead of chicken and shrimp.

As for dessert, we ordered a ice blended taro drink with bananas and tapioca and many other things I could not identified called Mo Mo Cha Cha. It was possible the best dish of the meal, and the waiter informed us that it could be served both hot and cold. Try the latter and it makes for a satisfying summer cooler. Here a tip: instead of sharing it like I did, order one for each individual because it will disappear fast!

Throughout the meal, the waitresses and waiters were attentive and brought an extra bowl and napkins for the dessert without us having to ask. This made the meal even better as I felt the staff prided themselves in what Yazmin served.

Despite my limited knowledge of Malaysian food, Yazmin delivers a passing grade in my book, which means it is miles better than say the bland and tasteless Noodle Planet/World. But Yazmin adds to that with their wonderful service, bright and clean atmosphere, and great prices, which makes this lone Malaysian Restaurant stand out on Main Street.

Yazmin Malaysian Restaurant
27 East Main Street
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 308-2036

Sun - Thu 11:00AM to 9:30PM
Fri - Sat 11:00AM to 10:00PM

Seven Courses of Beef

2005-07-27T20:59:00.000-07:00

My all-time favorite Vietnamese food would have to be the specialty served at Anh Hong Restaurant: 7 courses of beef. As soon as you walk in the door the delicious smell of the food overwhelms you. I would not wear my best clothes, because they end up smelling like the restaurant. Also remember to wash your hands before going, because you'll be using them a lot.

What is 7 courses of beef? Well, not only is it literally its namesake, it also entails a special interactive way of eating. Each course is accompanied by rice paper and a bevy of vegetation like green leaf lettuce, cucumbers, bean sprouts, and marinated carrots and daikon. The idea is to wrap the various courses of beef in the rice paper filled with your choice of vegetables. Two sauces for dipping come as well, and I like to mix the two for the flavor.

The courses are:

Special Beef salad (strips of beef with a lot of carrots, celery, onions marinating in a vinegary dressing)
Beef Fondue ( cooking strips of beef in a boiling broth)
Beef meatballs
Beef meatloaf
Beef wrapped in Hawaiian Lot Leaves
Grilled beef with lemongrass and onions
Special beef rice soup (my favorite, a great tasting beef broth with rice, ground beef, and tiny pasta)

One orders by telling the waiter how many "orders" of the 7 courses of beef you want. One order is enough to feed two. Usually my family gets 3 "orders" for 5 people, but we also order an extra course: grilled shrimp and squid, which can be found in the menu under the heading "House Specialties." In this interactive meal, you grill it yourself, of course.

It's a fun group experience and worth the wait on busy nights. I always eat here at least once during my visits home, although it's not something I would eat daily because it's so rich.

Seven Courses of Beef
8748 Valley Blvd. #A
Rosemead, CA 91770
(626)572-9805

Lighthouse Buffet

2005-07-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

This sushi buffet restaurant was named one of the top five buffets to eat in the nation by the Food Network.

Located conveniently near the ever busy 3rd Street in Santa Monica (on the corner of 2nd and Arizona), this small restaurant has sushi to die for. Although its size cannot compare to Todai, its variety is far different from those of Todai. Its sushi is prepared fresh before your very eyes and extremely tasty--I dare say it even tastes better than Todai's (not to mention it is also about $5 cheaper per person than if you ate at Todai).

My favorite sushi (not really sushi, what is a sushi without fish in it?) was one that had a blend of avocado mixed with onions and cilantro topped on the sticky rice, wrapped with seaweed. It was amazing. The avocado melts in your mouth and the cilantro flavor is just right--not too subtle, not too overwhelming. They also have non-sushi foods there. Aside from the obligatory miso soup and tempura, they also had fried oysters, egg drop soup, and mussels baked in a cheesy sauce. They also had cold baby octopus mixed with vegetables. The octopuii were tender and sweet.

After a heavy meal you can walk it off at the nearby 3rd street--you can have an enjoyable feast and enjoyable walk down fancy shops and amusing entertainers. But beware, don't be like me and arrive 30 minutes before the restaurant closes and the rest of the 3rd street goes to sleep. This restaurant closes at 9 pm (sometimes 9:30 pm) and most of the stores nearby have already closed their shops by then too.

Lighthouse Buffet
201 Arizona Ave.
Santa Monica, CA
(310) 451-2076
website

Mon-Sat 11:30am to 2:30pm
Sun 12pm to 3pm

Sun-Wed 5:30pm-9pm
Thurs-Sat 5:30pm-9:30pm

Juquila

2005-07-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

This is a wonderful little restaurant on Santa Monica Blvd. near Federal. And when I mean little, I really do mean little. It's a small restaurant that you would most likely overlook since it lacks any bright colors that advertises itself to death.

There's a comfy family feeling to it once you walk in. Aside from main dishes, they've got appetizers and even pan dulce (sweet bread). The prices are very cheap and the portions are huge. It's not a fancy restaurant, and it's never crowded. In three words: EAT THERE NOW.

You can get real authentic mexican food in addition to the main stream stuff. Horchata goes for about $2 and you get a large glass of it--there's no skimping of anything here. Burritos are stacked with flavor. The burritos are filled plump with fresh ingredients end to end. You can get tamales and mole on basically everything. There's even chile relleno. Everything.

I recommend the chicken tamale with chocolate mole. It's wrapped in a huge green leaf instead of the usual corn husk. In the tamale itself, you can barely taste the chocolate mole and the chicken individually just because the two blend so well together that a completely new and tasty flavor is created. And how's about a sweet tamale? Never had one? Try their tamale stuffed with pineapple. It's an utter dream. I also recommend their burritos mojados (wet burritos). They drape the entire burrito with melted cheese and sauce. It is amazing. And fucking good.

And don't worry about waiting too long for your meals. The waits are not usually long and if they do take too long, don't worry about staying hungry. To appease your appetite while you wait for your food, you get an unlimited supply of corn chips to munch on. And extremely spicy salsa to go with them.

Juquila
11619 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025 - 2907
(310) 312-1079

Mon - Sun 8:00AM to 12:00AM

Rubio's at UCLA

2005-06-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

I must congratulate Rubio's for fulfilling my hunger, but I frown upon its ingredients in its fish and shrimp burritos. Though Rubio's provides wonderfully large burritos for their price (remember, this is in Westwood, where prices are rather high), their burritos will quickly bore you.

Today I had the fish burrito--I fell in love with it the first time I had it--but this was about the fifth time I've eaten it. The second time around the ingredients' tastes already made me want to give up Rubio's altogether. Rubio's foods generally have a trend towards exploding tons of flavor in your mouth, but that explosion dies quickly because it just gets tiring.

The fish burrito has an abundance of white sauce that sticks to everything inside the burrito like mad. There's also this strange disparity of temperatures in the burrito. The fried fish is warm to eat but everything else, especially the lettuce and onions, are cold. And that is what that entire burrito is usually composed of: cold lettuce and warm fish.

If you want something healthier, they have Healthmex burritos and a cup of rice to accompany that instead of the usual chips (though you could sub chips with rice anytime you want). The Healthmex burritos are made of wheat tortillas and have fresh ingredients. Unlike the fish burrito, everything is nice and warm in your mouth.

They also have a shrimp burrito which is extremely disappointing. The shrimp were scarcely scattered in the burrito and they were pretty small in size. They did not complement the rest of the ingredients inside the burrito--especially since the shrimp seemed to have no taste at all. It was the most expensive burrito on the list, and also the worst tasting.

If you want to save money on Mexican food though, go to Juquila (which has real mexican food, in addition to the mainstream stuff that Rubio's serves), which is a review that I will save for a later time.

Rubio's
308 Westwood Plz.
Ackerman Un., 1st Flr., Treehouse Food Ct.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 794-4009
website

The busiest noodle place on Valley

2005-06-27T17:57:00.000-07:00

Luckily, I unknowingly did research for my first post yesterday: I ate at one of my favorite restaurants on Valley Blvd, called Mien Nghia Noodle Express. The place is always packed on the weekends because the noodles there are awesome. I personally like what's called "Cha Siu dry noodles" in Cantonese, because it's a one of a kind dish that I can't (and haven't) found at any other restaurant. It's not on the menu, but you can ask for "BBQ Pork Egg Noodles" with the soup on the side.

The cuisine is labeled " hu tieu" in Vietnamese because it's not your typical pho or bun. There's seafood noodles, beef stew, and the "dry" noodles I like to eat, that come with soup on the side. The noodles aren't plain, however, because they pour flavored oil in along with your Cha siu or seafood. Most items can be eaten with rice noodles or egg noodles.

The service is informal, the host speaks several languages (Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and English), and usually the same woman will take orders at every table. If you eat there often enough, she'll remember what you like. Try the iced coffee with condensed milk (Ca Phe Sua Da) or the lemonade with soda (Soda Chanh) if you want, and iced tea comes without question.

It's a great place to eat noodles, and one of the places I miss when I'm away at college. It's open from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week except on holidays when they close at 6 p.m.

Mien Nghia Noodle Express
406-408 Valley Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 570-1668