Chinese Restaurants – Page 54

Suzhou: Noodles and Sheng Jian Bao

January 17, 2011 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Suzhou, Travel

I realize that I really need to finish all my posts on China before we head off to our next vacation, so I'll try to catch up in the next few weeks.

We left Hangzhou on bus, the distance being about 100 miles and took about 2 hours. We arrived at the bus station in Suzhou, just South of downtown and made it to our hotel. This location of Green Tree Inn had seen better days. The carpets were scuffed and torn, much of the place smelled of cigarette smoke, the rooms were on the beat side. Still, you really couldn't beat the location just two blocks from Guan Qian Jie, the main downtown pedestrian street. Plus, the staff here was very nice, especially the housekeeping gals. One was so nice we actually tried to tip her…….which seemed to shock and offend her. I guess she didn't want to be mistaken for being a capitalist??? We were a bit hungry so after settling in we decided to grab something to eat. The young lady at the front desk suggested a noodle shop just a few yards away from the hotel.

The Missus said this seemed to be a chain of some kind. And as with many of these types of shops the drill is as follows….. you order and pay at the front desk.

Take your ticket to the back window were they'll prepare your order and you pick it up and eat at your table. As you can see, most of the dishes here are below 10 Yuan ($1.50 US).

The Missus went with an Eel Noodle Soup:

She told me the Eel was not very good.

I had the same type of noodle soup, but with a pork chop and preserved vegetable.

I felt about the same way regarding my pork…. it was tough and dry.

In spite of looks the broth was very mild in flavor, though the noodles, which were very loooong weren't bad.

We hedged our bets with some Chao Nian Gao (stir fried rice cakes), which was much better, if a bit more filling than the noodle soup.

After getting some food in our bellies we walked up the two blocks or so to the heart of downtown Suzhou, Guan Qian Jie. The first thing I realized is that although Suzhou seemed much more crowded than Hangzhou; things seemed to move at a slower pace. Unlike Hangzhou, which seemed to be much more "edgier" folks here seemed to enjoy relaxing, people smiled, laughed, and things seemed much less harried.

Almost directly from the hotel, our street took us up right behind the well known Xuanmiao Taoist Temple, also known as the "Temple of Mystery". I never found out what the "mystery" was, but maybe someone out there can fill me in.

With all the hawkers and vendors, this place sung out "tourist trap" to us….. so we decided to just enjoy the view. But we did find out that the first temple was built in 276 A.D. destroyed a couple of times. The current main hall was rebuilt during the Song Dynasty and the only remaining structure of that style in Suzhou.

Guan Qian Jie has all the trappings of the "new" China; a KFC and a TGIFridays is close by…..

But turn the corner and you'll see something like this…….

Looking at the line, I thought it was for a movie or something. But the Missus told me that this place made stewed meats….. and apparently was very popular.

Peering through the window, I was tempted, but the line went all the way down the street.

Renmin Lu is one of the main streets in Suzhou. One one side of the street is one of the many canals which why Europeans gave Suzhou the nickname of "Venice of the East".

The water was a bright green. But strangely, there was no smell…..

Folks lived above many of the businesses lining the street….. I love the shoes drying in this photo.

Actually this bridge is a landmark for us. Right to the North of it was this shop, which was doing some major bang-up business.

As you can tell by the line……..

So what were most of the people waiting in line for?

Why Sheng Jian Bao of course!

While I found us a spot outside the restaurant, the Missus paid at the front counter and stood in line. While waiting, She brought out Her camera and took almost thirty photos! Here are a couple:

There was an army of workers making Sheng Jian Bao! I found us two seat at one of the tables outside the restaurant. When I first looked at the SJB I was unimpressed…..

But it only took one bite…… the tops were surprisingly fluffy, the bottoms looked burnt but were just nice and crisp…. I'm guessing that those pans have been heavily seasoned over the years. The interior was full of lip melting soup…… slightly sweet, and very savory. The meat(quite a bit actually) was tender and full of pork flavor…. on the sweet side for the Missus; I loved it.

I saw a middle aged woman looking for a seat, so I gave her mine, and grabbed one of the plastic kiddie stools. She smiled and thanked us, and told the Missus "you're not from here, are you?" When the Missus said no, she decided to become our SJB "tutor". Using her chopsticks to grab an invisible SJB (strangely, she was the only person I saw who wasn't having SJB… she was having noodle soup). She instructed the Missus to turn the SJB on its side. Then "you bit a tiny hole in the side to let the steam out, and suck…Suck….SUCK all the good juice out first! Careful not to burn your tongue." It right then that I knew…… I was really going to enjoy this city.

As we finished our meal and walking up Renmin Lu, a little army of women, each carrying a stool and packages walked passed up ahead, and disappeared into an alleyway. Curious, I made sure to peer down the alley when I passed it…… it was women workers going on their lunch break.

Some Revisits: Noble Chef, Yum Cha Cafe, and Hong Kong BBQ

January 16, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese BBQ, Chinese Restaurants, Japanese Restaurants, Sushi and Sashimi

Here are a couple of revisits.

Noble Chef:

It's pretty much inevitable when I get to know someone, that one of the first items for discussion would be, "have anything good to eat lately". And such is the case with my Dry-Cleaner Lady, with whom I've shared recommendations and opinions over the years. One recent discussion was over Noble Chef. We both are of the opinion that many of the dishes were executed better before the previous owners retired. Although we both thought that as time passed the food there is getting better. The Dry Cleaner Lady told me that although the broth was pretty weak, the Hu Tieu with Shrimp Balls were pretty good. So during the recent rain and cold I decided to drop by and grab a bowl of Hu Tieu with Beef and Shrimp Balls:

And yes, the broth was decidedly bland, in need of help from the sweet-soy and other condiments. I'm used to a mild pork flavor broth for my Hu tieu soups…. this had almost no flavor. The Beef Meatballs were fairly "squeaky", and were also pretty weak. Those shrimp balls did have a nice shrimp flavor and were quite tender.

The rice noodles were prepared well, slippery with a mild chew to them.

Overall an ok bowl, but I don't think I'll be having this again due to the really watery broth.

The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111
(858)278-8688

More posts on Noble Chef can be found here, here, and here.

Yum Cha Cafe's cheapo 3 item BBQ Combo:

**** Yum Cha Cafe has closed

On a recent jaunt to Thuan Phat Market to pick up some vegetables the Missus wanted for dinner, I decided to check out what was going on at Yum Cha Cafe. I think things have slowed down a bit, so now there's all manner of specials going on. One caught my attention right away.

Granted, as I've mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of Yum Cha's Roast Duck. But 3 meats and rice for under five bucks? You know I just had to try it out. As the various meat was pulled and chopped I was surprised that it seemed like a good amount of protein. And the box seemed to weight at least two pounds. Not along the lines of Tita's in terms of insurmountable food, but the styrofoam box seemed quite hefty.

Opening the box up, it looked like there was a head on collision of Chinese BBQ that fell on a mattress of rice. After playing a bit of Chinese BBQ CSI, I could make out what was what.

The best item was the roast chicken which was very moist and tender., even the white meat sections:

It had a nice mild lemon grass flavor.

The Roast Duck was also moist, fairly meaty, but lacking in flavor.

The skin was on the rubbery side. Overall, this was better than what I had before, but still not even close to top-notch.

The worst item overall was the BBQ Pork, tough and bland are not good when it comes to Char Siu.

The best item overall were the pickled vegetables, which were good, if on the sweet side. So could I recommend this? Well, if you were really hungry and had only five bucks………this could be two meals.

Yum Cha Cafe
6933 Linda Vista Road
San Diego, CA 92111

Roast Duck from Hong Kong BBQ and Dim Sum:

If you've read my previous post on this place you'll know that I've been less than pleased with what I've had here. But after a recent less than satisfying meal from Song Huong, I wandered through Vinh Hung Market and walked pass the Chinese BBQ, and the Roast Duck looked pretty good, so I decided to buy me half a duck.

Which ended up being pretty good, much better than what I've had before.

So perhaps I'll return to try some other items in the future.

Hong Kong BBQ & Dim Sum
10550 Camino Ruiz(Inside of Vinh Hung Market)
San Diego, CA 92126

Postscript: With the left-over duck, I decided to make something. You see, I was still fuming from spending fifty bucks for a mediocre Peking Duck meal at Duck House in Monterey Park. I was especially disappointed in the stir-fried duck meat with bean sprouts which had no flavor at all. When I mentioned this to the Missus, She called me out and asked, "could you do better"…….

Which is why I made this with the leftovers.

I used my 55,000 BTU Big Kahuna to revive and crisp up the duck meat. Added the bean sprouts, which if you've just bought a high BTU wok stove, is a great way to learn to use it. Flavored at the end with duck drippings and premium soy sauce……

Compared to this:

Xmas Eve Roadtrip: Lucious Dumplings – San Gabriel, Qing Dao Bread Food – Monterey Park, Shufeng Garden and Happiness Restaurant – Rowland Heights, and other places (Los Angeles)

January 6, 2011 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

Just as we did the previous year, the Missus and I decided to have Christmas Eve dumplings in the SGV. In an attempt to show some restraint, the Missus picked one restaurant, and I another for Jiaozi. We'd then do some take-out for our Christmas day meal. This year the Missus selected Lucious Dumplings in San Gabriel.

Luscious Dumplings:

The Missus ordered the Pork and Celery Dumplings that we had enjoyed so much on our previous visit. This time around they were disappointing, the wrappers weren't made quite as well, a bit too tough, and though the texture of the filling was spot on, it was devoid of celery flavor.

Having been told that the Guotie here is really good, I decided to go with the pork version.

And though they really didn't look like the style of Guotie I'm used to, but I liked the color. Picking up the guotie gave me pause…… first the potstickers were strangely stuck together. Pulling them apart yielded thin strands….. When I took a bite I realized that the strand were sugar based as these were rather sweet. I'm guessing that instead of the water-cornstarch slurry used to create a crust attaching the guotie together, this one had something akin to simple syrup.

The filling for these were well flavored, and for me the sweetness detracted from our enjoyment of these.

The Missus was kinda bummed since we enjoyed our previous visit so much. Hopefully we'll have better luck next time.

Luscious Dumplings Inc
704 W. Las Tunas Dr.
San Gabriel, CA 91776

My choice was an easy one……..

Qing Dao Bread Food:

Of course. The Missus called me predictable and boring because I selected Qing Dao Bread Food last Christmas Eve. And as always I ordered my Lamb Jiaozi.

The wrappers were dead on perfect for me, soft with a bit of al dente "stretch" . These had a bit less "soup" than what we're used to here. The Missus also thought the filling was on the tough side this time. I thought they were fine.

The Missus, unsatisfied with what we had at Luscious Dumplings, decided to order the Vegetable Jiaozi. I had my doubts since this type of Jiaozi tends towards blandness…… I was wrong.

I managed to try two of these, and the flavor was quite good…… too good. The Missus and I agreed that veggie dumplings would never taste this good without a little "flavor enhancement" if you know what I mean. Whether or not our suspicions are justified or not, this was enjoyable.

Qing Dao Bread Food
301 North Garfield Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754

Our next stop was…..

Tianjin Bistro:

For my Christmas Yang Rou Suan Cai Guo, which of course I got last year as well.

I prefer getting this to go as it actually tastes better to me the next day. The flavors have time to meld, and the sour-gaminess is even more pronounced the next day.

Tianjin Bistro
534 East Valley Blvd. #8
San Gabriel, CA 91776

At this point the realization (with the Missus's help of course) that I was becoming pretty predictable, and that we needed to change things up a bit…..

So we drove East on the 60 freeway, past the rain scrubbed sky, with a wonderful view of the San Gabriel Mountains on the background……

To our old neighborhood of Rowland Heights. This stop was:

Shufeng Garden:

A Sichuan Restaurant across from Hong Kong Plaza that I first read about on Pam's Blog.

I had planned out what we were going to order until…… I saw an older woman sitting on the table near the door going to town on what looked like Tea Smoked Duck. She was gnawing and sucking away on the bones like this was her last meal before the electric chair. So we just had to order the Tea Smoke Duck. We paid, and took a short walk around the shops…. when we returned, the woman was still sucking away…..perhaps at the same bone? While it seemed kinda gross at first, her enthusiasm for that bone started making me hungry!

I've grown used to duck in Sichuan and Hunan restaurants being a bit on the bony side. In those cuisines flavor is king. This was the most meaty Tea Smoke Duck I can remember ever having. That entire container is just half a duck. The duck was moist, and while I think the smokiness and tea flavor was on the muted side, it was pretty good overall.

We also got a few cold dishes:

All of which were on the bland side (for Sichuan food) and forgettable.

Still, we'll be returning in the future to try some of the other stuff here.

Shufeng Garden
18459 Colima Road
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

So we had the beginnings of a pretty good meal for Christmas going…. but there was something missing. As you can probably tell, I'm not real big on sweets. There is however, a snack dish I just love. Right across the street in Hong Kong Plaza was a restaurant called Manie's which is long gone. It has been replaced with another Sichuan Restaurant called:

Happiness Restaurant:

And while the name has changed, much of the menu (other than the seemingly hundreds of "new dishes") looked the same.

There was one item that we decided to order…. we just had to see if they prepared the same way. Liang Ci Ba (Sticky Rice Cake – $4.95).

This is basically six large globs of sticky rice cake, topped with a peanut-sesame paste…. and it was… and still is delicious. Not too sweet, but just right for my tastes, this stuff literally sticks to your ribs as it is quite "heavy". This was dessert for the Missus and I for three meals.

Shufeng Garden also has this on the menu, but we just wanted to see how it would be here.

While we waited for our Liang Ci Ba, we watched the turtle occupying a tank at the front of the restaurant.

While the little guy was munching on a slice of cucumber, I turned to the Missus, and we both ended up blurting out, "I wonder when he'll be on the menu" at the same time! What is it that they say about couples who have been married a while thinking alike???

Happiness Restaurant
18438 Colima Road #106
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

After grabbing some jerky, and with Liang Ci Ba in hand we headed home…. ready for a nice Christmas meal.

Midweek Meanderings

January 5, 2011 mmm-yoso Banh Mi, Chinese Restaurants

Just a couple of quick items I keep forgetting to post:

Cali Baguette Express Opening on Convoy:

In the old Boll Weevil spot, across the parking lot from Chin's. This will be their third location. Actually, I prefer the bread at Cali Baguette to what is served at K Sandwich. We'll finally be getting a Banh Mi shop on Convoy proper.

Ba Ren is now closed on Tuesdays:

I keep forgetting to mention this one.

I've been told that this is only temporary, and will only be for a couple of months. Apparently, hte assistant chef is back in China for a few months.

Well, that's it….. I told you it was going to be short and sweet! Be back with more tomorrow!

Dumpling Inn

January 4, 2011 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Xiao Long Bao

Welcome to Mmm-yoso, a food blog. Kirk writes most of the posts. He wrote about Dumpling Inn way back in 2005. Cathy also blogs here alot. But today ed (from Yuma) is posting about Dumpling Inn. Way back in 2010.

In December, Tina and I were driving up Convoy Street heading for a couple bowls of ramen at Yakyudori when I asked her to look for someplace she'd like to lunch the next day. Almost instantly, she said, "Hey, Dumpling Inn, I'd love some dumplings."

So the next day we got lucky and found a parking place in the crowded lot, arriving at the tiny restaurant around 11:30:

By then, Tina had already heard my stories about Dumpling Inn. How the same space used to be occupied by a restaurant named MRSHO's. I never figured it out — Mr. Sho's or Mrs. Ho's? Or how I once came in and ordered fish dumplings. The waitress asked if I wanted spicy soup with it for a dollar extra, and I said yes. Only when the dumplings showed up, did I realize that the mild-flavored fish dumplings would be swimming in spicy soup. Another time I craved Xiao Long Bao (also called soup dumplings) that I had been reading about at Chowhound, but found nothing by either of those names anywhere on the menu.

Okay, maybe I had some past issues with this restaurant, but when Tina suggested going there, I realized that I hadn't been in Dumpling Inn in at least five years. Overdue for a visit.

After we received a complimentary pot of tea, the next thing that arrived on our table was an order of potstickers:

They certainly looked right. But I found them slightly disappointing. The mild filling was okay, certainly, but the flavor was not memorable in any way. The moderately thick wrappers seemed slightly understeamed and gummy on the top half and slightly overdone and cardboardy on the bottom. Not terrible, but far from the best potstickers I have eaten.

The available condiments were adequate:

Chile oil, white vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. No black vinegar, however. I also wished that each set of dumplings had come with separate little mixing plates or small bowls. The way it was, our little plates ended up with a mix of flavors — as if we wanted all of the dumplings with the same background tastes.

On the other hand, we had no complaints whatsoever about the jellyfish salad:

The portion size was excellent. The sweet, tangy, and salty dressing was perfect for the salad. Both Tina and I loved the contrast in textures between the generally crunchy julienne of daikon, celery, and carrot and the unique chewy crunch of the long strips of jellyfish:

The fish and chive dumplings showed up next:

The fillings had a mild fishy flavor, generally pleasant. The wrappers seemed about right, not too thick or chewy. Well steamed. I would have preferred a better filling-to-dumpling ratio. These were certainly not overly stuffed dumplings.

Then came the XLBs. These days, customers can easily find them on the menu without knowing the secret code words. The large dumplings were steaming and had a few long shreds of ginger across them:

Tina and I warned each other not to pop a scalding hot, soup-filled dumpling into our mouths. But of course, I tried to eat one too soon and then spent a minute or so shoving the dumpling around in my mouth to keep from hurting any one part of it too much. Nicely, Tina didn't laugh at me. Too much.

Once the dumplings had cooled to the proper temperature, we dug in and enjoyed the rest of them. While the wrappers were fairly thick, we felt they contained plenty of filling. The soup/meatball balance also seemed about right. None of the dumplings looked ruptured, and every one I ate (even counting the one I harpooned with a chopstick) contained some soup. Perhaps the flavors in the dumplings are not traditional enough to satisfy an XLB connoisseur like Kirk, but they were certainly good enough for Tina and I.

Overall, except for burning my mouth, I enjoyed the lunch. I'd happily return. And next time, probably try more than just dumplings. And remember to let the XLBs cool down.

Dumpling Inn, 4619 Convoy (in strip mall with Korean Mkt), San Diego, (858) 268-9638

Grand China in Yuma

December 14, 2010 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Interested in Chinese food in Yuma? Since Kirk and Cathy need some time off around the holidays, today ed (from Yuma) is posting about a new Chinese eatery in an old location.

Yuma Palace is now in this location; there is no buffet, but the food seems better than Yuma standard.

When I moved to Yuma full-time, about 10 years ago, the town had a lot of Chinese restaurants: Chef Lee's, China Boy, Gene's, Tai-San, Bamboo Garden, Fortune Cookie, Mandarin Palace, and Yummy Yummy. Today, every one of these restaurants is out of business, except my favorite, Yummy Yummy, a tiny Mexicali style Cantonese place that looks seedy and generally cooks simple Cantonese food well.

What's more, a number of huge buffets featuring allegedly "Chinese" food have also come and gone: The Hong Kong Buffet, The China Buffet, and two locations of Mr. Lu's. Even the largest fanciest Chinese restaurant in town, Mandarin Palace, became a buffet:

In 2008, with Chinese buffets collapsing left and right, Mandarin Palace decided to go back to preparing dinners off a menu, and I began taking pictures to do a post on it:

I was halfway through writing the post when Mandarin Palace became a full-time buffet again, and I lost interest and lost heart.

After being closed this summer, Mandarin Palace has been reincarnated with new ownership as Grand China:

It still has a full-time buffet with many of the usual suspects ($7.25 for lunch):

a nice selections of salads (I love asparagus salad and seaweed salad):
and some actually edible sushi rolls:
Most of the buffet items are pretty standard, but I was surprised to find a spicy hot cold baby octopus salad one lunchtime. Pepper flakes and diced fresh chilies packed a punch. The octopus chew contrasted well with the celery crunch:

Finding a take-out menu, I saw that the restaurant also cooked dishes to order, and I noticed that they served something called "Peking Duck," priced at $26.95. That sounded like the perfect thing for Tina's birthday, so I called a day in advance (as the menu advised) and showed up for dinner not sure what we were going to get.

The first thing to arrive at our table — not counting stiff cocktails from the bar — was an order of mixed vegetables, called Buddha's Delight on the menu ($8.50):

While not earth shattering, of course, the vegetables were well-prepared. All were crispy tender and the light sauce stayed in the background where it belonged.

The duck showed up on a platter surrounded by shrimp chips:
It came with little pancakes, a slightly sweet and savory duck sauce, and shredded scallions and celery:

We chuckled as we rolled up duck and complements in our Chinese tortillas. One taste, however, and we knew that we were not having burritos de pato.

While not exactly Peking duck, this was certainly the best roast duck I had ever eaten in Yuma — even counting the ones that I had driven back from San Diego. The flesh was moist and tender, and the skin was tasty if not crunchy crisp. Good ducky flavors, not overly gamy. Tina was delighted and surprised and has mentioned several times how much she enjoyed the dinner.

But before I felt I could do a post, I wanted to see if Grand China could prepare take out well as well. I ordered two of my old favorites from Mandarin Palace, so I could have a better comparison of this place and its predecessor.

Here's the shrimp and lobster sauce:

Overall I liked the dish. The numerous bamboo shoots pleased me, and they along with the water chestnuts provided a nice texture contrast to the softer peas and carrots. Diced Peapod accented the garden pea taste. The shrimp were well-prepared, still somewhat moist and fresh tasting. Not badly overcooked like so many other Chinese restaurant shrimp in Yuma. I was also impressed that the restaurant used some seafood stock in the preparation, giving the whole dish the flavor of the sea.

I also ordered Twice Cooked Pork, another favorite of mine:

Again I was pleased. Extensive chili flakes provided good spicy heat. I was also happy to find the dish was made with roast pork — since it is common in Yuma to use barbecued pork in this dish. The pork came with chopped American cabbage, peapods, mushrooms, and diced red and green peppers. I liked the mix of veggies, but they were slightly overcooked, just a bit softer than I prefer.

All in all, Grand China makes a worthy successor to Mandarin Palace. I like the convenience of the buffet, and they can prepare good Mandarin style Chinese food for American tastes.

Now let's hope they stay in business for a while.

Grand China, 350 E. 32nd St, Yuma, AZ 85364. 928-344-2805. Open daily 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Road Trip: Lu Dumpling House – Monterey Park (Los Angeles)

December 6, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

We had passed Lu Dumpling House, the newest shop opened up by the folks who own Mama's Lu. The shop is just a couple of blocks from Mama's Lu, which we found to be a bit strange…… but reasoning would become clear in short form.

We noticed how tiny this shop was when we first entered……

But all was answered when the side door was opened, and we caught the fragrances and saw the small army of people making dumplings. this place was doing some pretty brisk take-out business, both in cooked and frozen items.

We aren't big fans of Mama's Lu Xiao Long Bao, so we went with other items this time around.

We started with the Shengjian Bao.

These looked good, and when cut in half the fragrance of the filling was nice…. but these never delivered. It was much too bready and the Missus thought the dough too sweet. The filling was tragically dry and in spite of the fragrance, very bland.

The Pork and Fennel (actually Dill) Jiaozi were much better.

Though I'm not a big fan of the wrappers….the dough seemed to be over-mixed and was on the tough side, I enjoyed the fillings for these Jiaozi. Dill fragrant, but not overpowered by the herb, the mixture had quite a bit of meat. The filling was very light, maybe not as light as the mousse like filling at Lucious Dumplings, but quite good. The Missus wished for more dill, but I thought the flavor well balanced.

The standard Pork and Napa Cabbage Jiaozi were also good.

Like the Pork and Fennel Dumplings, the ratio of meat to vegetable was quite high. The flavor was very mild, but very light.

I enjoyed the Shrimp, Pumpkin, and Pork Dumplings much more than the Missus did.

The flavor of the shrimp really came through in these, but the Missus thought the filling too sweet for Her tastes, and She prefers that the pumpkin not be mashed into a paste. Each dumpling had a whole small shrimp in them.

We both thought the way the dumplings were fried did not do them justice…… it almost seemed that not enough oil was used, giving the Jiaozi wrappers the texture like that of really cheap frozen gyoza, more gummy than crisp.

Having six Jiaozi per order was nice since you could order and try several different fillings. Don't let the $2.99 – $4.99 price fool you though. Getting a dozen could run you $7 or more.

In the end, we may be back since we both enjoyed the Pork and Fennel Dumplings. The fillings are nice and light, and the ratio of meat to vegetable is pretty high. Service is decent, and the women working on this day all mainly spoke English, making this a very unintimidating place to eat.

Lu Dumpling House
330 N Garfield Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91754

Open: Mon-Sat 9 am – 6 pm
Closed on Sundays

Road Trip: Duck House – Monterey Park (Los Angeles)

November 25, 2010 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

I hope everyone had a delicious and fun Thanksgiving Day!

Like past years, the Missus had to work on Thanksgiving, again giving true meaning to what She always says about the day….. "Thanksgiving….. bah, I'm Chinese, I don't have anything to be thankful for!" All in fun of course…. I think. So the weekend before T-Day, we decided to have our own Thanksgiving. We'd always wanted to check out Lu Din Gee, which is now called simply, "Duck House".

Which makes ordering quite easy, right? According to such highly esteemed folks like Pulitzer Prize winning Food Critic Jonathan Gold, and heck even FOY (Friend of Yoso) Elmomonster of Monster Munching (his post on Duck House here), who has hit the big time now writing for OC Weekly, this is place the to go for Peking Duck. But isn't Duck House at it's core a Taiwanese Restaurant? According to another FOY, that's not much of an issue since, "Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese Chain, and they make the best Xiao Long Bao…." (which I actually don't agree with, but I get the point)

And so we ended up at Duck House at just before noon on a Sunday, and snagged one of the very few parking spots in the tiny parking lot out front. The restaurant itself is tiny, and fills up fast. We had ordered our duck, three ways when the Missus made reservations the week before. According to what I've read, you're supposed to call at least an hour ahead if you're ordering Peking Duck, something which made me scratch my head a bit later on. The place fills up quickly; and every table ordered duck. We went whole hog, or perhaps I should say… full fowl, ordering the Duck Three Ways ($49.95).

The first thing to hit the table was a plate of shredded scallion and cucumber. And rather large bowl of sweet bean sauce. Now, having eaten this many times in the US, I've grown accustomed to the usual Hoisin thing. But in Beijing, each major Duck House makes their own sauce, and takes pride in it. It was no different here, as the sauce was much different than any I've had before….. but not necessarily in a good way. The sauce was very salty and beany, and tasted more like Aka Miso. It truly lacked a sweet and fruity component.

I also asked the Missus what the corn flake looking stuff was in the condiment jar alongside the chili oils and mustard was. She didn't have a clue, so maybe one of you can tell me?

When the first course of duck arrived, we made a couple of observations….. first, the skin was pretty light in color, second, that was probably the biggest pile of duck meat I've ever seen in the middle of that plate.

Due to the size of the restaurant, I really didn't expect to have the duck carved at my table….. though that would have been optimum. I can tell you that the meat in the center of the plate was pretty cold, leading me to believe that much of this is done ahead of time. I also must say that this was some of the blandest and dry duck I've had in a while. But honestly, one does not order Peking Duck for the meat, right? It's the skin that makes the dish…… And in this case, the skin was light, greasy (in a good way), and basically melted in your mouth. Still, it was a none starter since it had almost no flavor at all.

The pancakes provided were nice and warm.

But were a bit too thick for me. Filled with a combination of bean paste, skin, meat, and scallion, it did seem that the sum of the parts were better, but everything still lacked flavor. The Missus, having made these pancakes at home had a much better appreciation for them than I did.

Next up was the huge bowl of soup made from the duck bones. Usually one of our favorite things.

We both appreciated the color and velvety texture of the broth. It started developing a "skin" quickly as it cooled. It had been prepared with good technique except for one thing…. it lacked flavor. If there's one dish that captures the soul of the duck, it's the soup made from it's bones. This truly lacked soul, as it tasted mainly of white pepper. To be perfectly fair, as it "ripened" the broth tasted much better….three days down the line the leftover broth started tasting a bit more like what I expected.

Next up was an additional dish we ordered; the Taiwanese BBQ Eel on Sticky Rice ($19.95):

Like the previous dishes, this was a large quantity of food. The glutinous rice was prepared with a soy based sauce, topped with Eel and steamed on lotus leaf. The oils from the Eel had seeped onto the rice, making this a rich dish. The flavor was again a bit lacking as everything tasted like a weak "Unagi sauce" had been poured on it. Secondly, even though everything was placed upon a lotus leaf, we could not taste the the wonderful flavor that lotus leaves add to dishes. The funny thing is, this dish tastes really good with some third party unagi sauce poured on it……

Our third duck dish was duck meat stir fried with bean sprouts.

Now coming from a bean sprout lover….. I'd say this is good. But was it good as part of a fifty dollar dish? Well first, where's the duck meat? The Missus and I were thinking that perhaps using some of the huge quantity of duck meat served on our first plate would actually make a difference….. until we considered how bland that duck meat was. Second, when I first started learning how to use a fire ring I practiced on bean sprouts; and in all honesty, that was just as good. Third, it sure seemed that Duck House was trying to present itself as a more upscale eating establishment…. so why didn't they pick off the root and sprouts?

The Missus and I discussed this meal constantly over the week, as I really didn't want to be exceedingly harsh. I didn't want our disappointment of the overall meal to be unfair. The service we received was as good as can be expected from a understaffed restaurant whose first seating is filled to the max with everyone getting the same thing. Much of the clientele is older and demanding, or in the banquet mentality, but the folks seemed to be trying. And yet the food fell way short. A couple of weeks ago, I tried to arrange a meal here with friends, I wasn't able to get a reservation and we ended up somewhere else. Which I'm now thankful for. In the end, Duck House ain't even close to this:

Perhaps our visit was a fluke……… I'm sure you'll let me know.

Duck House
501 South Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754

Hangzhou: Dinner

November 21, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Hangzhou, Travel

Waking refreshed after a short nap, the Missus decided that we should head out, and walk around a bit and perhaps grab some dinner. Traffic was pretty heavy, and the air quality started to reflect the congestion.

Along the way, the Missus found a fruit stand selling fresh Mangosteen…….. which instantly became an obsession.

This stuff wasn't cheap by Chinese standards, in this case 20 Yuan per 500 grams…. close to $3 a pound. We ended up buying Mangosteen whenever we could find fresh, good quality fruits, in spite of the price.

In Hangzhou, history is everywhere…. you could be walking on a side street and find a monument…. we found this one near Xihu (Westlake).

This were the remanents of the original Hangzhou City Wall.

Fairly soon the question of dinner came up……… we wanted to try a few more Hangzhou dishes, but really didn't want to head back to Zhiweiguan again. While walking, the Missus noticed this restaurant…..

This little restaurant was doing some pretty good business with several large parties……

The young lady who waited on us was very nice and efficient……. the best service we encountered in Hangzhou. We ended up ordering quite a bit of food; I guess we didn't know how hungry we were as we finished just about everything.

I recall "Sandy" inquiring about West Lake Duck in an earlier post; I'm pretty sure she was referring to Hangzhou Jiang Ya – Hangzhou Duck. This restaurant's version looked like this:

I understand that there are several versions of this dish. This duck had a cured texture to it, there wasn't much meat, but the flavor was nice, mildly gamey, with a mild "red-cooked" flavor to it.

I really didn't enjoy the Dongpo Rou at Zhiweiguan, and really wanted to try it again.

I really enjoyed this, the fat was silken, and the juicy meat very tender without being mushy. Though the Missus thought this was still too sweet, I enjoyed the sweetness and the rendered fat…. which tasted great over rice…. lots of rice.

I'm sure the photo speaks for itself.

Another dish we hadn't tried was the famous Xihu Cu Yu – Westlake Sour Fish. And since we were leaving the next morning, we had to order it.

Whoa…… the first thing that hit me was how sour this was. It was like someone placing a guillotine chokehold on me. A second later, the intense teeth wracking sweetness came through. It was a bit too much for us. The fish itself was excellent, moist and tender, cooked to perfection……. but man that sauce was like drinking vinegar laced with sweet syrup. We ended up removing the fish to a separate plate away from the sauce.

Arriving in Hangzhou just at the end of Bamboo Shoot season, we decided to see if they were available. The young lady told the Missus that they did have fresh bamboo shoots, but it wouldn't be as good as it was a few weeks earlier. Still we wanted to check it out.

When the dish arrived, I noticed the glaze looked much like the sauce used for the fish; but thankfully, it wasn't as sweet, nor as sour, and the earthy flavor of the shoots came through, as did the mild natural(thank goodness) sweetness of the shoots. This was delicious.

After dinner, the Missus needed something "sweet", I told Her She should've just had another order of that fish……. We ended up at, guess where? Yep, back at the multi-level monstrous Zhiweiguan. This time at one of the take-out windows at street level.

The Missus bought a couple of snacks…….

She really enjoyed this one……

The next morning we woke ready for our next city and caught a cab down to the bus station. Man, this place was busy. The ticket windows were somethings else…… doesn't it look like the betting window at the racetrack?

Hangzhou's bus station looked fairly new, and was relatively clean.

While sitting it struck me how difficult it would be to travel via bus if you didn't read Chinese, as there were no signs in any other language.

Suzhou was just two hours away…….

Hangzhou: Lingyin Temple and noodles at Kui Yuan Guan

November 18, 2010 mmm-yoso China, Chinese Restaurants, Hangzhou, Travel

Right across from Fei Lai Feng, is the Lingyin Buddhist Temple. The temple was originally built in the early fourth century, and has been rebuilt at least 16 times over time. After paying admission, we entered the very busy grounds of the temple.

Due to the crowds of tourists, all paying admission, it was easy to lose sight of the fact that Lingyin Temple is a functioning Buddhist temple. And having been to Thailand and Laos, we were a bit shocked to see young ladies wearing pumps and mini-skirts and guys wearing tank tops (one had even taken his shirt off) and shorts on temple grounds. Folks disregarded signs within the halls prohibiting photos, and even let their children climb into urns within the cultural treasury hall…… it was all a bit surreal.

And yet every so often you'd see a monk walking the grounds.

Or folks making offerings……

In spite of all the wonderful Buddhist statues and carvings it was hard for us to enjoy Lingyin Temple. The amount of noise, and the crowds made it a bit of a tiring experience.

We headed back to our hotel, for a nap, and to attempt to escape the humidity. As we passed this doorway, the Missus suggested trying this place out. Strangely, some noodle soup sounded pretty good…….

I would later find out that this noodle restaurant Kui Yuan Guan is very well known around China. According to the story, the restaurant was founded during the Qing Dynasty, in the late 1860's.

There was reason the place was pretty busy in spite of the heat and humidity.

The menu is full of various noodle soups, and there is a single phrase English description of each type of noodle soup.

I went with the Pork, Bamboo Shoot, and Preserved vegetable noodle soup (10 yuan – about $1.45).

I was to find out later that Kui Yuan Chuan is credited with creating this dish, called Pian Er Chuan, go figure…..

Other than the very lean and tough pork (which I expected), I really enjoyed this soup. The combination of the salty-sour tones of the preserved vegetable, with the earthy and mildly sweet flavor of the fresh bamboo shoots, and what seemed to be a mildly rich pork based broth was a great combination.

The Missus selected the Shredded Eel Noodle soup (23 yuan – about $3.20).

The Missus seemed to enjoy Her soup well enough. We both found the noodl es adequate, though nothing special. This restaurant also marked a first distinct occurrence we were to find several more times at noodle soup restaurants in the region. Our noodle soup arrived, but no spoons were provided. I noticed that other customers simply brought the bowl up to their face and drank their soup, and I was perfectly fine with consuming my soup that way. But for some reason, this wouldn't fly with the Missus, who, in every case would flag down one of the employees and ask for spoons……. it turned out that soup spoons were only provided upon request.

The shop had the A/C going pretty good, which made the soup go down well. As we stepped back out into the humidity, we still felt satiated…. and ready for a nice nap!