**** JN Kitchen has closed
We've passed the JN Kitchen sign on Valley Boulevard many times during our roadtrips to the San Gabriel area. A while back, we noticed that the place had changed hands, and though the JN Kitchen English name had been kept. In Chinese it said 818 "Shao Kao" which means BBQ. We were finally able to pay a visit on a recent trip.
The shop itself is tiny, with just a couple of two-tops, and one modified four-top (two tables placed together). The walls are lines with the usual paper strips of various offerings written in Chinese. The place screams "snack shop", and with good reason, we found that the folks running things in this little shop are from Tianjin, a region which is known for their snacks.
The menu is a small two sided laminated placard.
The Missus and I immediately saw items we were interested in, though the Missus had to do all the ordering since the nice lady waiting on us did not speak a word of English.
I knew I wanted the Guo Ba Soup ($3.50). I loved the version at the now gone Mei Jia Deli, even though we were dissuaded from ordering it.
For $3.50 we didn't expect much, but this was a pretty hefty bowl of "gravy" topped with slices of "Guo Ba" in this case the crepe portion of the Jiang Bing made from a batter using mung bean and millet flour. For some reason, I really enjoy the sour, fermented flavor of the thick, sickly pinkish-brown broth. This version wasn't as salty as what I've had before which made it even more enjoyable.
It is simple, but substantial fare, as the Guo Ba is pretty heavy and will stay with you for a while. Still, I could have this for breakfast quite often. The thick broth was extremely hot, and stayed that way until we finished the bowl.
Of course the Missus, still full of nostalgia, had to order the Jian Bing Guo Zi. This was a bit of an odd looking Jian Bing:
Instead of being round, and looking sort of burrito like, this was flat.
The odd shape was because of the fried cracker like item which occupied the middle of the Jian Bing, instead of the usual You Tiao (fried cruller). To the Missus, in search of the Jian Bing of Her youth, this made this all wrong.
As did the strange spiciness from the chili paste in the Jian Bing. This was just not very good.
Of course any meal here would not be complete without a few items on sticks. The Missus ordered the Chou Dofu (stinky-tofu – $1.20):
I was downwind when this hit the table, and it was fairly smelly, perhaps not in the "musty, rotten sewage like smell that comes from a dark, damp place" league of Dynasty Plaza or Shau Mei, but it was pretty stink. The Missus, upwind when the plate hit the table wasn't impressed, until a wind shift got Her attention. She declared this ok, but lamented the use of sweet chili sauce instead of the appropriate sauce.
We also ordered a few skewers, 2 Lamb ($1.20/ea), 1 lamb chop ($2.50), and 1 Chicken Gizzard ($1.20):
These weren't really that good, more salty than anything. The meat was tough. I thought the gizzards, and the lamb chop, which had a freezer burnt taste, and was so tough that I felt I was chewing on freezer-burnt flavor gum, was the worst. Extra cumin was provided on the side but was of little or no help.
The lamb flavor was also very mild. Not very good in our opinion.
Still, I'll gladly come back for the Guo Ba Cai…….
818 Shaokao/ JN Kitchen
818 E Valley Boulevard
San Gabriel, CA 91776
Open 10am – 10pm Daily