Los Angeles County – Page 22

Road Trip: Wat Thai Temple – North Hollywood Part II

January 23, 2006 mmm-yoso Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Thai Restaurants

*** Update 01/01/09 – Wat Thai food court had reopened, on Sundays only.

*** Due to neighborhood complaints about parking the Wat Thai Temple food court has closed.

Fairly stuffed on my Sausages and Papaya Salad, I sat watched the various vendors at work while waiting to see what the Missus would "find". It was also fun to watch what others were eating.

Soon the Missus returned with Her "bounty" including a large Sticky Rice with Mango($5.00):

A huge, perfectly ripe mango with sticky rice flavored with coconut. I hadn't had mango so good since I lived in Hawaii! The Missus told me that she had intended to purchase a small plate, but the Lady working the stall in the ultimate display of up selling, waved a huge mango in front of the Missus telling her; "Biiig one, moah betta, biiig one moah betta!" So how could she resist? I'm not quite sure how these vendors managed to get such perfectly ripe mangoes in the middle of Winter, but I'm sure not complaining! This is a "must eat" item if ever visiting Wat Thai.

Among other items; sticky rice with taro and sweet beans ($1.00):

I didn't get to taste this, but it met with the approval of the Missus.

More sausages, two sour sausages, another grilled sausage, and another "sausage patty":

The sour sausages had grains of rice in them and were sour enough to make me "pucker up", and were somewhat addicting. The other sausages were not as good as the versions I purchase earlier.

A fabulous Fish Curry in banana leaf($3.00):

Tasting like a really good panang curry, this little cup had a layer of shredded cabbage on the bottom, followed by a thin layer of thai basil with coconut milk, followed by the wonderfully moist and tender flaked fish in a red curry sauce. This was all topped off with a chiffonade of kaffir lime leaf. An amazing little dish! This same stall was selling meat from roasted pork shank. When you placed an order the pork meat was removed from the bone; chopped and placed over rice, it looked soooo good! But my arteries sent "no mas" signals to my brain which prevented me from ordering that dish. In what was a slightly humorous moment, the Missus asked the Lady manning the stall if she could purchase the pork bones, which the Lady responded "You have dog, huh?", and proceeded to trim off two shank bones, and placed them in a sack. When the Missus offered to pay; the Gal simply laughed and said "No, no, I give you free, for dog!" So even Sammy and Frankie made out!

On the side directly opposite the food stalls, we could see this Woman, busily moving back and forth. She looked like the busiest Woman in the whole food court; but had no customers! So we walked up as she was packaging two containers of white "disks", that a Young Lady came and "swooped up".

Totally intrigued, and having exactly $3 in tokens left, we decided to order the Kanom Krok. The Lady proceeded to oil the cast iron "pan".

And poured a rice and coconut "batter" into the molds.

And green onions are added if you wish. After cooking for a few minutes, and when the batter is starting to "bubble", a sweeter lighter batter is added to top off the Kanom Krok:

The Lady asked us if we wanted to go and take a "walk" around the Temple, and come back in 10 minutes. But we decided to just wait and had a nice chat with Her.

When the sides of the confection has developed a crust and the middle of the batter is starting to solidify, the Kanom Krok is loosened.

Until it's ready:

And it's packed up and ready to eat:

The way to eat Kanom Krok is to place two half disks together to form a sphere and eat them right away – they're Delici-yoso!!! One quick note, the interior of the Kanom Krok is positively molten. So unless you want to become a candidate for a lip and tongue graft, proceed with caution! (Thanks for the reminder MEalcentric)

When you visit Wat Thai please make sure to take a walk around the Temple grounds, you'll truly feel transported to a whole "different world".

There are so many different things available; you can' t possibly try everything in one trip. We're saving the Fried Banana/Taro/Sweet Potato, and the Soup/Noodle stalls for the next time. Yes, there will be a next time!

Visiting the Wat Thai Temple was such a fun and delici-yoso experience; even the lousy traffic on the 101 and 5 freeways, and the almost 3 hour trip back to San Diego didn't dampen my spirits.

Wat Thai of Los Angeles
8225 Coldwater Canyon Ave
North Hollywood, CA 91605

Weekend Food Court – 8am-6pm Every Weekend!

Road Trip: Wat Thai Temple – North Hollywood Part I

January 22, 2006 mmm-yoso Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Thai Restaurants

*** Update 01/01/09 – Wat Thai Food Court has reopened on Sunday's only

*** Due to neighborhood complaints about parking the Wat Thai Temple food court has closed.

The weekend "food court" at the Wat Thai of Los Angeles, the largest Thai Theravada Buddhist Temple in the United States has long been a food destination on my "list" of places to see and eat. After seeing various posts on Chowhound; Monster Munching, and Professor Salt's blog, You gonna eat that?; and several years of coaxing and cajoling, the Missus finally gave in to a "short" road trip up the I-5, from San Diego to North Hollywood for a Saturday eating frenzy.

We left fairly early and made what could on some days be considered an ill-conceived 130 mile trip in a brisk 90 minutes. Once off the freeway, and taking the turn at the corner of Cold Water Canyon and Roscoe Boulevard, you immediately see Wat Thai Temple looking quite out of place, looming above this land of auto repair shops, service stations, and the adjoining residential neighborhood. We had purposely chosen a fairly early morning during winter, that didn't coincide with any festival, so that we would not have to compete with the masses for parking or seating, nor have to wait in lines for any long period.

At 915 in the morning, all the vendor stalls are open but there are no lines:

And the fragrance of ginger, garlic, fish sauce, and Thai herbs are floating in the air. Noah seems to have designed this "food court". There are two of everything. Two stands making papaya salad, two "sausage/meat" stands, two stands making soup, and so forth.

The Vendors take no cash; instead you go to one, or more of the "token" booths and exchange cash for tokens.

After exchanging our cash for tokens; the Missus went off in one direction, and I in another. I made a beeline for this booth in the middle of the food court:

I had already pretty much knew what I would be ordering, but since there were no crowds I could take my time, and I looked over the larb and other sausages.

But my sights were set on having a Papaya Salad($3.00), even in the dead of winter.

And so while the Lady was hard at work at the mortar, I had time to look around.

And ordered a chicken satay($1.00):

Perfectly grilled; slightly charred around the edges, moist and mildly flavored, this was very good. The Missus was very surprised at my display of restraint; I didn't order any beef or pork, or any other of the satays.

I did order this interesting "sausage"($2.00):

If someone knows what this mystery meat is called, please let me know. It's a nicely formed rectangle of "meat", spotted with garlic and rice, with a slightly crunchy, almost tripe like, gelatinous strings going through it. The sausage was dense, garlicky, and slightly sour. And not the slightest bit salty; I had expected "Spam on a stick", but this was not even close. I really enjoyed the flavors and textures of this "mystery meat".

I also slid over to the booth next door and ordered a grilled sausage skewer($1.00):

Very similar to a"formed" sausage patty; this was nicely flavored, and quite dense. Nice pepper and garlic, and a slight sweetness throughout the sausage.

Finally, my Papaya Salad was ready:

As I sat, I took time to admire this melange of ingredients; green beans, peanuts, julienned green papaya, and tomato were readily visible. Along with a generous amount of Blue Crab.

The salad was as close to the most perfect Papaya Salad I've ever had! There was such balance and harmony(in such an appropriate venue) between the fish sauce and lime juice, the tomatoes added a touch of sweetness and kept the sour lime juice in check. The interplay of textures between the papaya, green beans, and peanuts was excellent, if on a menu, it could be called "crunch, three ways". The crab added at briny, salty component, that was tempered by the lime juice. The "heat" was perfect; I'd gotten medium. Spicy, but not so spicy as to block out all of the other flavors. This was delici-yoso!!! Even on a winter day, where everyone around me was having soup and porridge, this Papaya Salad was King.

I ate half of everything, and saved half for the Missus. But where was the Missus?

To be continued…….

Road Trip: The Boat – Rowland Heights

September 12, 2005 mmm-yoso Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Thai Restaurants

**** The Boat has closed

In need of a “quick” lunch I decided to drop by The Boat in Diamond Plaza off of Fullerton Road. We used to live relatively close to The Boat, and ate here quite often. So I kinda just wanted to see if perhaps my tastes had changed since I last ate there.

It was 10 til 11 and Diamond Plaza was absolutely packed! Unbelievable! I managed to find a parking spot at the far end of the mall, dodged the crazy drivers honking at each other and cutting each other off, and made my way to The Boat, which was very quiet:

I was quickly seated and my order was efficiently taken. The first item I ordered was the Pad Kee Mao ($5.25):

As you can clearly see; the Pad Kee Mao doesn’t even look like it’s been cooked in a wok! Though I enjoyed the chilies and the amount of basil, that’s all I could taste. There was really no other flavor at all. Also, the chicken was dry and tough. This dish was a disappointment, I’d never order it again. I took most of it home, where the Missus asked me, “where’s the flavor?” I gave her a bottle of Soy Sauce, and said “here’s the flavor…”

I also ordered the Papaya Salad ($4.95):

This was an okay dish. Nice flavor, good spice, and the shrimp added a nice salty, briny taste along with a good texture counter-point. The sauce needed, a bit more fish sauce, there was a bit too much lime juice in this dish. But decent overall.

In comparison to our meal at Krua Thai this was a very mediocre meal.

Some notes on The Boat. The service is fast and efficient, though friendly is not in the vocabulary. Most of the clientele are Chinese, but the people working looked to be Thai. I don’t think I’ll be coming back again, I left wondering what is was about The Boat that I enjoyed so much in the past?????

A little side note. This is the Restaurant that people were literally running each other over to get into; New Capitol Seafood. When we lived here it used to be Ruby Palace (?), or something like that. Maybe Elmo or Mealcentric can tell me what the deal is with this restaurant? There was a line all the way down the stairs! At 10 til 11 in the morning!

The Boat
1390 Fullerton Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
11:00 A.M. – 12:00 A.M. Sunday to Thursday
11:00 A.M. – 1:00 A.M. Friday and Saturday

Road Trip: Hannam Chain Market World – Diamond Bar

September 10, 2005 mmm-yoso Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

Had to make a quick trip to Los Angeles today. I was able to make it there in almost record time, and picked-up what I needed. Since it was still early, and I had already had a quick lunch, I decided to drive around the "old neighborhood" to see what changes have been taking place. Driving up Colima Road, to the point where it turns to Golden Springs, I noticed Market World:

I entered this huge, and packed Super Market. I immediately zeroed in on the produce department and noticed the Jujube’s:

Though not of the best quality, the price was right so I quickly "bagged" a pound.

Next up the "noodle" section, and I grabbed a package of the "instant" Naengmyun, at least that’s what I think it is:

I just went on the pictures, there were no English labeling, so we’ll see what happens. I immediately picked up a scent (Whooo-ah! ), of something being fried. Following my nose I came up to a "deli" section, and noticed a new batch of fried crab being wrapped:

This being a "solo" trip, I knew I needed "offerings" for the omnipotent deity, that is the Missus. I knew this would fill the bill.

The selection of items is staggering, you find yourself walking in circles in a complete daze forgetting what it is that you’d been thinking of getting just the minute before. Then turning the corner you come upon the shelf of Korean "pancake" mix (Pa jun).

Ohh-Kay….There were at least 9 different brands/varieties. I ended up getting the one with English instructions. This may be a mistake, but I don’t have the slightest idea how to make this, so I’ll need to start somewhere.

Of course no Market could survive without the isle of snacks:

Floor to ceiling, brand after brand. No one could possibly survive without those twenty brands of Corn Puffs Marketwor08 , right?

And of course the Panchan "bar". The selections looked good and fresh, though I did not partake.

There are also two "restaurants" within Market World. The one at the East end, was positively "rocking". Too bad I’d already had lunch. I’ll give this place a try next time, every dish I saw people eating looked good (except the sushi…)

There was a Woman rolling out dough and making Mandoo by hand. I’m definitely trying this next time!

This was an interesting and fun time, though I shudder at thought of the "damage" that Jo and Mills could do here! The crabs were a success, all gone in a few minutes, I also purchased some "Flaming File Tiles", and other items. Market World is definitely worth a visit!

Hannam Chain Market World
21080 Golden Springs Drive
Walnut, CA 91789

Road Trip: Krua Thai Restaurant – West Covina

August 28, 2005 mmm-yoso Los Angeles County, Thai Restaurants

After our brief browsing and shopping foray at Hong Kong Market, we made our way in the slowly rising heat to Krua Thai.

Though only on the other side of the mall, the heat almost got the better of us, and we almost stopped at other restaurants twice. But after reading Elmo's Krua Thai review on Monster Munching, I really wanted to give this restaurant a try. After what seems like a half hour (it's amazing how the heat can really slow you down) we crawled in through the door at Krua Thai. The first thing the Missus said was "Picturessss, I like pictures!" She has a thing about food photo's, I guess they help her make decisions on what to order. Though they sometimes sent her into complete analysis paralysis. The decor in Krua Thai is nice in a Eighties kind of way – the only thing odd is that the counter area is separated from the dining area by a divider, which has a sofa on one side. I found that a bit odd. I did like the glass exterior of the restaurant, though the view of Glendora Ave is less than thrilling, it kept the restaurant from being too dark.

After seeing the Pad Kee Mao($5.25) on Pam's site Daily Gluttony, I knew that I needed to order it.

The Pad Kee Mao($5.25) was cooked to perfection, the noodles smooth and slightly firm, provided the perfect amount of resistance. The ground chicken was excellent, the chunks not too small, moist, and with a nice taste. The tomatoes were tangy and added a nice sweetness to the dish. I'd have enjoyed the Pad Kee Mao alot more if it was more aggressively seasoned, in my opinion, it was not spicy enough, and there was not enough basil. The menu says mint, but it was Thai Basil that was in this dish. Good, not great.

Green Papaya Salad with dried shrimp and salty crab ($4.75):

I'm a big fan of Papaya Salad, in fact, one of the dishes I had the first time I ate Thai food was Green Papaya salad. I usually don't order Papaya Salad in most Thai restaurants, because I'm usually disappointed. It's usually a sour – salty mess, especially with salty crab. This version was very good, the papaya and beans crunchy; the tomatoes added sweetness, the chewy texture of the shrimp, and the briny crab together created a nice dish. I could've done with a bit more heat, but I'd order this refreshing dish again.

On the other hand, the Nam($4.95), or sour sausage was a complete failure:

Bland and mushy, this almost tasteless sausage was totally over-powered by any of the "garnishes".

We also ordered the Catfish with Chili Sauce($6.50):

The catfish was fried than topped with a sauce that featured Thai Basil, Mint, and Kaffir Lime, this was nice and tasty, though again it could have used a bit more heat. The catfish was prepared well, but you'll have to maneuver around some tiny bones. A nice dish with rice.

The best? The Papaya Salad; the "dressing" was excellent, darker than any I've seen, with sweet, sour, and salty tones. The Missus ended up pouring the dressing over rice to finish up.

You'll be really hard pressed to find anything over $6.95 on the menu, and the hours are great. The Missus first glanced at the hours and said, "so this place is only open for lunch". I had to show her it's 11am to 330am, that's three thirty in the morning. I'd say you get your money's worth here.

Krua Thai
935 South Glendora Ave.
West Covina, CA 91790
Open Daily 11am to 330am

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Road Trip: Shopping and Snackin’ in LA – Hong Kong Plaza Squared

August 27, 2005 mmm-yoso Desserts, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

We had an appointment in Los Angeles this afternoon, so of course there would be some eating involved. And knowing our luck it would also just so happen to be the hottest day of the year. Geez! We left at a quarter after nine, and made great time getting to our first destination at about ten till eleven, too early for lunch (restaurant not open till eleven). So we decided to take a walk around, even though it was stifling hot.

Our destination – Hong Kong Plaza in West Covina. This huge mall didn’t even exist when we moved from LA 4 years ago. So it was quite a shock to see this huge mall here. This outpost of Hong Kong Supermarket was also a shock. We lived down the street from Hong Kong Market in Rowland Heights, and it was basically a Chinese Market. This branch was different and looked to be directed at the Southeast Asian population. It was fun walking down the isles and finding items like the frozen Mangosteen:

One isle was totally dedicated to various packaged seasonings and mixes, many of which I’ve never heard of:

After picking up some nice looking lychee (99 cents/lb – a great price), rejecting the jujubes (dry and looking old), and picking up some packaged snacks I went to the check out, paid and headed for our lunch destination. All the time counting my blessings – I got out spending under twenty bucks.

Hong Kong Supermarket
987 S Glendora Ave
West Covina, CA 91790

After lunch and our appointment, we headed to the "other" Hong Kong Plaza, and our "stinky tofu" destination; Shau Mei Restaurant. While waiting for our tofu, the Missus ordered a Taiwanese Shaved Ice with 3 "items" ($2.50):

Basically 3 items – in this case Lychee, sweet rice balls, and Mango Mousse, covered with a pile of shaved ice with some syrup. You can also order this with condensed milk or juice for an additional cost. In about 5 minutes it looked like this:

The mango mousse was terrible BTW. Standing in the suffocating heat, with a large bag (3 orders) of stinky tofu in my hand was a bit much for me, so I returned to the car to store the tofu while the Missus browsed through a pile of CDs and DVDs. I returned and considered myself lucky; she only bought 3 Andy Lau CDs for $3. She had spotted this sign though:

99 cent Boba – Bargain City! How can you resist a 99 cent Boba? So after a sharp right turn we headed into the snack shop and got a Taro Shake with Boba (Boba in a shake 25 cents). I’m not a Boba drinker, but took a sip. It tasted like a Taro Shake. The Missus said it was a bit sweet, but the Boba was good. So this was obviously worth $1.24.

So done with our short reprieve from the heat, we headed out into the parking lot, and suddenly realized why we like San Diego so much. We miss all of the options available to you in Los Angeles, but really don’t miss the 100 degree plus temps and the psycho drivers and traffic.

Here’s the sign of the day:

You too can go where the "Implants Hang Out"!!!

What about our lunch? That’s for tomorrow, when I’ve recovered from my heat stroke.

Road Trip – Marukai Gardena and Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey

August 1, 2005 mmm-yoso Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

I made my way to Marukai Gardena from the Torrance Farmer’s Market. When I got there just at opening time, it was already quite warm, seems like it was going to be a "hot one".

Almost as big as an airplane hangar, Marukai Gardena is located right on Artesia Blvd. I remember the first time I entered this place; it had almost everything I needed. I had indeed reached the Ex-Pat food "Mecca". Redondo and Purity Portuguese Sausage, S & S Saimin, frozen Zippy’s Chili, Diamond Bakery Soda & Creme crackers, and Aloha Shoyu, to name a few, can all be found here. One of the first things you’ll notice when you enter is that for a place so large, it’s really somewhat cramped.

It can really get crowded in here, so we always plan to get in and out ASAP. The "wall of snacks" here is daunting.

There’s just so much here, I won’t go into it in too much depth. Just enough to say, it was a quick stop today, no maguro, no ogo for me. Just some snacks and alot of nice memories. Marukai is a membership market, but a daily membership ($1.00) is available – it’s cheaper than Disneyland, and almost as fun! So I shopped quickly loaded up my bounty, and headed back to my hotel room for a quick rest and to check out.

Marukai
1740 West Artesia Blvd
Gardena, CA 90248
Summer: Monday – Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. & Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Winter: Monday – Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. & Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.

*** Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey has closed

I than decided to hit Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey for a quick bite before hitting the road.

The definition of "hole in the wall", with only 6 tables, Harry’s has a small menu featuring hot table combinations (beef stew, fried chicken, etc.), cooked items (chop steak), and Saimin and Won Ton Mein. Call it a case of saimin insanity, today I decided to order what’s probably the most expensive item on the menu – a large size "Super" Saimin ($9.00).

There was a ton of Char Siu, several slices of kamabuko, what probably amounts to half a head of napa cabbage, carrots, and won tons. The best thing about the dish were the noodles, perfectly cooked, saimin (not ramen) noodles. The crunchy texture triggered many a memory of bowls of saimin and teriyaki beef sticks. The broth on the other hand was nothing to write home about, weak and almost flavorless, shoyu was a necessity. The other item I was thankful for was the watery "chinese mustard", just like back home. A swirl with the chopsticks to get a bit of mustard on it, place into the spoon, grab noodles and place in the spoon, consume – delici-yoso! I finished just about everything, enough to get a comment of "you did pretty good".

So great noodles, not the best broth, great service, and everything under $9.00 (actually most items are under $6.50). Not as good as I remember from my last trip here, but still worth the culinary trip down "memory lane". Enough so that I was willing to eat this even though the weather outside was clearly "heatwave" in nature.

Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey
1721 W Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247

Road Trip – Torrance Farmer’s Market

July 31, 2005 mmm-yoso Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

I decided to break up my return trip from Mountainview, and stay overnight in Torrance. Of course I had an ulterior motive – a visit to the Torrance Saturday CFM. We used to make a 90 mile round trip from Rowland Heights to Torrance every other Saturday when we lived in LA. Our first stop would be the Torrance Farmer’s Market at around 8-830am. The farmer’s market stretches the entire length of the Wilson Park parking lot. In our time in Los Angeles we had been to just about every farmer’s market – Hollywood, Santa Monica, even the Monrovia Farmer’s market. But Torrance remains our favorite. It’s a no-frills, no people watching, no great chef’s out looking for produce, farmer’s market, but there are several vendors selling excellent Asian vegetables, and lots and lots of fruit vendors. When strawberries are in season you can smell them from a block away, even faintly (more like smoggle-berries, though) two blocks away.

Today, the star of the show were these Sugar Lady Peaches, sweet and intense in flavor; ripe and ready to eat. I also picked up some kumquats and ripe figs for the Missus. I then went hunting for vegetables and picked up some long green peppers, Asian Eggplant, and baby bok choy. Sorry no pictures; I just dived right on in and grabbed my veggies.

Once done, my usual strategy is to go back to the car, unload, and wander around and take in the sights and sounds. One of the most busiest stands is this one – they’ve been there since we first started going to this farmer’s market in the late 90’s.

There is usually a "Hawker" pushing the peaches, strawberries, or whatever; and a table of samples. After I took this picture I stepped up and had some samples (breakfast…) and a guy started sampling a bunch of nectarines. When I made the return trip he was still there, now working on the peaches! There are samples at every stand – Costcos’ got nothing on this place! So you can get a nice Saturday Brunch in as well.

On this trip I noticed alot more food vendors – in addition to the old time Sausage, Crepes, and Thai stands, there’s one with Peruvian food, a peanut roasting stand. I decided not to imbibe, but couldn’t resist, the Kettle Corn! But who can?

It was getting hot, and it was almost 9am, so I decided to jump in the car and head to stop #2 – Marukai Gardena.

Torrance Sat CFM
Wilson Park, 2200 Crenshaw
Sat, 8A-1P

Here’s a pic of Pepper at the filling station in Atascadero – ooops, not in Atascadero (inside joke) – at Atascadero.

LA Road Trip Part 2 – Rutt’s Cafe

July 18, 2005 mmm-yoso Diner, Loco Mocos, Los Angeles County, Plate Lunch, Road Trip

*** Update – On a recent trip to the area, I noticed that Rutt’s Cafe has been replaced with another restaurant. Something along the lines of Don Carlos……

In the first part of the road trip I picked up some ogo from Marukai in West Covina, and went over the purchase of "stinky tofu" from Shau Mei Deli. I had initially, planned on picking up some "local kine grinds" from either Harry’s Aloha Chop Suey or Bruddah’s Hawaiian Food in Gardena. But since I ended up in West Covina, that was pretty much out of the question. While driving up Azusa I saw this sign:

So I drove up and did a u-turn on Azusa, and then did a right turn and went around onto Valley Blvd, under the Azusa overpass. In this no man’s land strip mall, with a Carniceria, 99 cent Chinese Food, and other businesses, stood Rutt’s Hawaiian Cafe on the corner. Now having lived a few miles from here for 4 years, I knew that this couldn’t be an optimal location – Valley Blvd, on the border of City of Industry and La Puente. This mall can be more than a little scary, especially at night.

So I went in and there were no "Hawaii kine" people to be found, but I had a seat at the counter, had a menu handed to me, and looked it over. There were a ton of "royales", that is, an omelet over rice, or over fried rice. This was definitely a "breakfast" kind of place. Many dishes came in Junior, Regular, and King sizes and ranged from$4.25 to $8.45. There was Portuguese Sausage and Kalua Pork on the menu. I went ahead and ordered a regular size Loco Moco $6.35. The waitress was apparently a bit new and had to check the menu herself to see what options there were – I chose the macaroni salad, and eggs over easy (is there any other way to serve eggs for a loco moco?). I also ordered an iced tea, which came in a very large cup. After about 10 minutes my "loco" was served:

The plate a had 2 easy over eggs over a large hamburger patty on gravy over rice, macaroni salad, and a roll (?). The gravy was country style, not what’s usually served with a loco – it’s usually a brown gravy. The gravy was lumpy and had ok flavor, though I’m used a more beefy brown gravy. The hamburger patty was tasty, with a hint of sweetness, and lots of onions and green onions – a plus in my book. The macaroni salad had a good amount of mayonnaise, but was also flavored with relish, yuck, one of my pet peeves, couldn’t finish the salad. And the roll, I really didn’t know what to do with the roll…. The eggs, well let me say this. If there was a College degree for Short Order Cooks, whomever cooked the eggs and the burger would have a Masters Degree, they were cooked to perfection. Nice and runny yolk, the whites crisp around the edges and yet soft, excellent!

The service was friendly and attentive, and a person who I think is the owner was helping to wait tables, and it seemed like it was his Daughters that were helping him out. I found out later that the owner of the original Rutt’s had sold the name and restaurant, and this location had been open for about a year, but it looks like they’re really trying hard here. Before leaving I saw a huge platter of fried rice with char siu in it, and was told it was the King Sized "Hawaiian" Royale with Portuguese Sausage and Char Siu, looked big enough to feed a family of four. So would I return? Sure, I consider this a pretty good diner, with excellent portions. The location is kind of strange, I really wouldn’t want to be around here at night, but I’d definitely return.

Rutt’s Cafe
17371 East Valley Blvd.
La Puente, CA 91714
(626) 839-6312

LA Road Trip – Marukai West Covina and Shau Mei Restaurant; Ogo and Smelly Tofu?

July 16, 2005 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Markets & Grocers, Road Trip

*** Note: Marukai West Covina is now Tokyo Central

Feeling really ambitious, I decided on a Road Trip to LA. The objective; Ogo from Marukai. I left at 715, and actually got to the Marukai in Gardena, 10 minutes before opening time (115 miles in 90 minutes – talk about making great time!). I decided to call the fish Dept and ask if they had Ogo; well they told me that they were out, and so it seems was I, out of luck that is! Well, just to follow-up I called Marukai in West Covina, and was told that they had Ogo. So I decided to go for it! What the heck, another 40 miles really wouldn't make a difference. When I drove into the parking lot of Marukai I noticed that there was alot of work going on the storefront.

I walked in, and there it was, Ogo – $7.98/lb. So basically a package of ogo cost less than 3 bucks. One really good thing about the West Covina branch of Marukai is that they are less busy and thus able to give really good service. I looked at the tuna in the fish case and none of them looked really good, plus all were less than 3/4 of a pound, and I wanted a larger quantity. So I asked the fish cutter if I could get a piece that was about a pound or more. His response "of course", and went and cut me a fresh piece. I also picked up a few goodies like One Ton Chips.

After grabbing a pretty huge lunch, I was ready to hit the road! But I decided to take a drive down Colima Road, through our old neighborhood of Rowland Heights, and there have been a ton of changes since I'd been here last. But Hong Kong Plaza was still there, and crowded and bustling as usual. You basically take your life into your hands when trying to park here on a weekend. We lived a half block away and used to walk here. In Hong Kong Plaza is the Taiwanese Deli Hsia Hsia Shau Mei Restaurant, home of the smelliest of the smelly tofu I've ever encountered!

So smelly, I can't even eat it! But the Missus loves it. This little deli/restaurant serves "hot table" dishes, has a menu of over 100 items, and also serves an array of Taiwanese "shaved ice", drinks, and snacks. Watching me place my order, was the stuff sitcoms are made of! You see I realized, that in all the times we'd been here, I had never placed an order, I let the Missus order in Mandarin. Also I don't really speak any Mandarin! So I tried to place my order for "Cho' Dofu", "huh?", "Cho' Dofu", she shakes her head and holds her nose, "No you don't want!". So I laugh and go, "than i want 2 order", and she laughs and rings it up (fried tofu w/odor, $3.50/ea). It was quite a wait, I really don't know why, everything else here is really "fast", but it must be something to do with the preparation. Come to think of it I really don't know much about Smelly Tofu at all. Here's a scientific article on "stinky tofu" courtesy of eatingchinese.org. She handed me the bag of Cho Dofu and I walked to the car and gingerly placed it far from everything. Unfortunately, some of the smell of the tofu had come off on my hand, ick! So what's the smell like? Well, if "Faces of Death" had "smell-a-vision"…. I arrived home and one order of tofu was devoured in a minutes flat, amazing! While reading the menu my wife noted, "hey look, they now have "Hot & spicy fried tofu w/odor", great, a double whammy…..

A couple of notes on Shau Mei, most of the business is conducted in Mandarin. Prices for most dishes range from $3.50-$6.00. We've received some really rude service here on occasion, especially when it's busy, most of the time it's just indifferent, today it was really nice. Don't let my story of Smelly Tofu deter you from trying this place. I've had many dishes here and some have been pretty good. I've also had smelly tofu at other restaurants, and have enjoyed it. It's only that this version is a bit much for me.

Hsin Hsin Shau Mei Deli
18438-1 East Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
626-964-1833

So what happened with lunch and what about the poke? Well I had the worst commute I've ever had on the '5' returning from LA – 3 hours! So I'm a bit tired, I'll post the other items in the (very) near future!