mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog. Today, Cathy is blogging. Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are "researching" places to blog.
Well. The day was fairly mundane, chilly, the first day of the year. The Mister and I were going to Pasadena to see the Rose Parade floats after the parade ended. We drove North on the 5 instead of the 15…a bit more of a drive, but we hadn't taken that route for more than three years. It was all new and interesting for us. We missed our exit. But since we knew the general direction we were heading, had no interest in turning around. Suddenly, the freeway ended and we were in Alhambra. Then the street had a sign welcoming us to San Gabriel. I had no idea we were heading or even near the San Gabriel Kirk always talks about. We saw this: 
Hi Pie Restaurant. That's what the sign says. We parked, stood out front. A nice lady opened the door and said "Happy New Year" with a heavy accent and held the door open. We went in. 
Steam trays. Menu above the trays. 
Menu on the wall. There are tables inside and out, including two eight person communal tables in the center.
The nice Lady, who spoke broken English, asked us what we wanted and I told her noodles with shrimp. She told one of the young girls working behind the counter what I wanted. The Mister pointed to some items and the nice Lady told us what they were. 
We sat near the steam trays at one of the communal tables and saw how quickly items were replenished and replaced. Seems everything is always fresh and a brisk business was going on.
The Mister ordered a three item combination ($4.99) 
Really good steamed rice, Ma Po tofu, on the bottom right, (excellent soft soft tofu, with a spicy different than I have ever had, no meat-in fact at least half the menu is vegetarian); ground pork stuffed tofu, on the bottom left, (again, nice light spices and wonderful flavor, tofu firm)and pork belly, in the front on the photo below… 
Not crispy pork belly. Flavorful, wonderous, melt in your mouth pork belly…on top of heavenly chopped vegetable something sauce. Seriously good.
Still, we wondered about the name "Hi Pie". I grabbed a business card, and my order came from the kitchen. 
See the upside down business card in the top corner?-"Hi Pei Corp." At the top was "Shau May Restaurant" Somebody orders signs. Somebody is dyslectic. Or maybe they got a good deal…
ANYHOW This noodle dish($5.95). Heaven. The shrimp really tasted like they were sauteed in butter. The mushrooms were soft and flavorful. The cabbage, carrots and onions were great and crispy. Oh, and the noodles- not mushy, cooked, but firm. The way I like them. The sauce was not overpowering, but complimentary. 
We could get extra rice from pots against the wall, and our own soup, as much as you want… 
This one was vegetarian-winter squashes in a plain broth. 
This one had a very rich, meaty broth and the green vegetable was not spinach, but more of a cabbage-an older bok choy maybe… 
Then, since The Mister was kind of planning on dessert of some sort, and since there would be no pie..I walked over to the other side of the cash register. These were toppings you could select, for shaved ice. Three toppings, $3.95 with tax. I was asked if I would like brown sugar and/or sweetened condensed milk on top. I only chose the milk (New Year Resolution was still in effect). I could get more shaved ice if I wanted…
Oh. My. You can see one of the lychees by the spoon there…and some black tapioca (boba) and then the green apple jelly. So delightful and refreshing.
The food here was really very good. The restaurant is definitely frequented by locals who are knowledgeable about the unlimited rice and soup options. The dessert was a bonus for us and a great start to moving forward in 2011.
Shau May Restaurant – Hi Pei Corp. 830 E. Valley Blvd. San Gabriel CA 91776 (626) 569-9600