Los Angeles County – Page 8

2018 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade float road test, Breakfast at Penny’s Family Restaurant (West Covina), Snack at Kolache Factory (Tustin)

August 1, 2017 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! a blog about food, and events leading up to acquiring said food. Cathy is writing today; Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are staying away from warm things (like computers and the outdoors).

Yes, it is that time of year again. Posts about Rose parade float road tests, float decorating and the Showcase of floats will be on the blog about once a month until January of next year. The related food/meal posts, will be changing quite a bit. The Phoenix Decorating Company, which constructs the floats where The Mister and I volunteer to decorate in December, has moved its barn about 20 miles East of Pasadena, to Irwindale. The drive there from here is a bit quicker, but we still left at 5 on Saturday morning, to see the floats lined up at 7 for their mechanical and maneuverability testing.

The Theme of the 2018 Rose Parade is "Making A Difference" and each float entry has its own interpretation of those words. Here are some previews of floats that were tested. We will get to the food in a moment.

The Shriners Hospitals for Children 2018 Parade float, "Caring for Kids Around the World", depicts their mascot, Fezzy Bear, in a space suit surrounded by planets and satellites.

Kiwanis International has a tiger driving a race car on its "Racing to Serve Children" titled float.

"Planting the Seeds of Service" is the theme of the Rotary International 2018 Rose Parade float entry.

The Odd Fellows and Rebekahs float, "Sacrifice To Serve" has another patriotic float entered in the Rose Parade, the title is in line with the 'Making a Difference' Theme. Western Asset is going to have at least a whale and turtle on their 2018 float entry.
The Lutheran Hour Ministries 68th entry into the parade is titled "Bringing Christ to the Nations".

There were two other floats (Armenian and Lions) which were in the 'rebar' stage of assembly which were also tested that morning.

Phoenix Decorating Company 5400 Irwindale Avenue Irwindale, CA 91706

Now, on to the food section of this post.

The first stop of the day (at about 6:05 a.m.) was at the Red Hill exit, to get to the Kolache Factory, mentioned in this post
We enjoyed the ham, egg and cheese stuffed dough ($3.19) and the simple, wonderful bacon and cheese stuffed treat ($2.26). The modern version of an Eastern European pastry roll was enough to keep us satisfied before arriving in Irwindale.

Kolache Factory 14091 Newport Avenue Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 730-2253 Website

When we left Irwindale, we took side roads South, looking for a place to get breakfast and also scoping out possibilities for dinner after we decorate floats in December… We saw a variety of Mexican restaurants and taco shops, several 'Diner Type' places and then somehow got to this "HK2" mall. Kirk wrote about visits there 12 years ago. (Krua Thai is still there).

Because we were here before 9 a.m., only workers were showing up for early morning openings of the shops (I counted at least 20 restaurants, of so many ethnic varieties-Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, Japanese, Mexican and…the only one that was open when we were there- the American place, Penny's.

Signage, Specials, Services offered, Penny's has it all, especially good food.

The weekday breakfast specials are 40¢ more on weekends. I went with a "Mini Breakfast" ($6.95 plus 40¢), two eggs (over easy-perfectly cooked) 2 sausage (or bacon) and home fries (also rye toast). This was great, really good; I love those sliced fried potatoes. The sausage was a good quality.
The Mister chose the corned beef hash and eggs plate ($8.59). Very flavorful corned beef, with diced potato and crispy grill top fried. Those perfect over easy eggs and more of those delightful home fries.
He chose a biscuit and gravy as the side. Great gravy, a really nice baking powder biscuit.
Now that we (sort of) know this mall is here, we will be back a bit later in the morning to try some of the other restaurants when they are open.

Penny's Family Restaurant 969 S. Glendora Avenue West Covina, CA 91790 Open 7-2, daily

I hope your week is good so far!

Rowland Heights – Chengdu Taste and a Walk Around Hong Kong Plaza

July 31, 2017 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip

It was that time of the year again; time to head up to City of Industry. This time, like the previous, was a solo trip. Last time, I went and checked out the "West Colima – Azusa – Haceinda Heights side of things. I did this because there was a line outside of the one restaurant I wanted to try; Chengdu Taste. when Chendgdu Taste opened it really created a buzz; some said it to be "the best Sichuan restaurant in America", so forth and so on. Soon enough, it became it's own empire with locations in Rosemead, Houston, Las Vegas, and even Honolulu to go with the original shop in Alhambra. So here I was over a year later and guess what?

No line! So in I went…..

The place sure is a step up from restaurants we used to eat when we lived a few blocks away!

I ended up getting a small variety of dishes; starting with the "Pork with Garlic Sauce". Which came in a very nice presentation.

While I thought the pork more tender and flavorful in the version at Shufeng Garden across the street; I think the basic chili oil-garlic-soy-sugar here was superior. The pork was very fatty and a bit more chewy than I prefer; but man, that flavor was good.

If you've read our little blog for a while; you know I love Zi Ran Yang Rou; cumin lamb. I often make this at home, it's not hard, and yet it seems really hard to get a good rendition at most restaurants that serve the dish. So I had to order the signature and now much copied "Toothpick Lamb".

So, let me just say…I'm not a big fan of toothpicks in my food. As for everything else? Well, for once there was a nice amount of cumin in the dish….I could have done with more, but this is fine. There's a touch of heat from the chilies, but not too much. There's some Sichuan Peppercorns in this version, something I do with lamb loin chops, skirt steak, and even chicken at home. The meat was toothsome but not tough. This was very good. I do think onions and more cilantro would add to the dish.

Feeling a bit guilty, I felt I needed to order a vegetable dish; I ordered the Garlic Eggplant, which was the only mediocre dish of the set.

While it was cooked very well; the interior of the eggplant slices were creamy and molten, I felt the flavors fell short. Too sweet, not enough pungency, in spite of it being called a "garlic" dish, not enough spiciness, just kind of weak on the flavors.

I've been missing a couple of simple Sichuan "snack" dishes….the versions here in San Diego are not very good. So I ordered the Won Tons with Hot Sauce.

While the won tons were totally routine; not quite having that "kou gan" (口感 – mouthfeel) which makes for an excellent won ton. Thought it was not hard and tough, it's when you mix things up…..

And while I could have done with a bit more spice; this hit the spot. It's not quite like what I enjoyed in Chengdu or even what I had at No. 1 Noodle House years ago (my sources tell me it's not close to being the same these days), but I finished the whole bowl.

Leftovers to boot. Surprisingly good service, even friendly. Make me want to head on out to Alhambra to try…Szechuan Impression! Which my friends tell me is even better. Hopefully, I won't have to wait another year to get some decent Sichuan Food. Sorry to say; San Diego does not measure up.

Chengdu Taste
18406 E Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

After lunch I took a walk around Hong Kong Plaza.

I've done posts on this place going back to 2006, we used to live just a few blocks away. Things have changed quite a bit over the years. And new businesses always seem to be opening.

There are places that are still there from back in the late 90's when this was our neighborhood.

Places that I've done posts on over the years.

I even offered to get the Chou Doufu from the place She used to get it from weekly; Shau Mei. The sign has been freshened up and it had me wondering if the Missus would still enjoy the stinky tofu from here.

Was never a fan of RH Garden; but it still stands.

And those buses still pick folks up in the parking lot; whisking them away to Vegas and other places.

And of course; there are shops that cater to….well, the luxuries that come with having money these days.

It was nice to see that those older businesses seemed to be doing well.

But this is Rowland Heights and there's always change. Man, Shun Fat Market is becoming GW Supermarket.

We always say that we need to get up here more often; but work and life get in the way.

I hope we'll be back soon.

SGV: Sea Harbour Dim Sum; Norton Simon Art; Nha Trang Soups

May 16, 2017 ed fromyuma Bun Bo Hue, Chinese Restaurants, Dim Sum, Los Angeles County, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Kirk and Cathy both work too hard, so today they're letting Ed (from Yuma) post here.

I recently wrote about seafood dinners Tina and I had on our first and last evenings in the San Gabriel Valley. This post is about the day in between.

That Saturday began just after 10 AM at Sea Harbour where we were seated immediately and asked what kind of tea we wanted. We hadn't thought about that so we went along with Jasmine which showed up quickly on our table:

It was pleasant, but our minds were on dim sum. We ordered items we had not had before, so no pork ribs, chicken feet, or shu mai. Instead, look at this pork and shrimp dumpling with truffle sauce:

Truffle flavors dominated. The shrimp and pork provided more texture than flavor – and that was fine with us.

The ox tendon and tripe in brown sauce was full of tender chewy tripe and tendon seasoned with five spice:

A lot of tendon and tripe. We both enjoyed our first few pieces, but this was one of those dishes where we could have used more pairs of chopsticks at the table. Too much of a good thing.

Tina had suggested baked mixed mushroom custard tart:

This was very tasty, full of mushroom flavors. The textures were perfect. The pastry was light and flaky, and the filling had little bits of crunch amid easy chewing slices of button mushrooms:

We also ordered the shrimp, dried scallop, and Chinese celery dumpling:

Kirk really enjoyed this dumpling on one of his visits to Sea Harbour, so we wanted to try it. He's right, the wrapper is faultless and the filling flavors spot on, the celery balancing the seafood:

On the other hand, I was surprised that Kirk never mentioned the steamed preserved salted egg yolk bun, which arrived looking pretty ordinary:

But inside was sweet gooey egg yolk:

The overall effect was like a warm rich sweet egg custard. The only problem I had was egg yolk squirting out of the bun when I bit into it. That could make for messy eating.

We thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Sea Harbour lived up to its reputation, and the price seemed reasonable:

Sea Harbour Restaurant, 3939 Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead, CA 91770, (626) 288-3939

After dim sum, we headed up to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena (website). As you'd expect, it has a modern and attractive entrance:

Our friend Penny recommended it, and we are very glad she did (thanks Penny). Though we did detour to find Adam and Eve by Cranach, we concentrated on modern art. There were five van Goghs on display including masterpieces like this portrait:

And even more Picassos:

We also enjoyed a special exhibit of works collected by Galka Scheyer, the art impresario who introduced modern art and artists (including Kandinsky and Klee) to California. While the Norton Simon is not on the scale of LACMA or the Getty, it is an impressive collection.

Norton Simon Museum, 411 West Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91105, (626) 449-6840

We wanted something simple and low-key for dinner. Vietnamese noodle soup sounded just about right, and Nha Trang – which specializes in bun bo hue and bun rieu – had a location about a mile from our hotel. It all seemed easy, we had no trouble finding a parking place, and then we realized it was closed (who knows why). So Tina's smart phone located another Nha Trang in Alhambra, not too far away:

Again we were eating early and were the first customers of the evening:

The small menu was printed on the placemats:

In addition to soups, we ordered eggrolls that were quite good, savory and crispy fried:

Originally there were more. They were served with lettuce and fresh herbs:

I only wish they had arrived before our soups, though we did manage somehow to eat all of them.

The soups came with a generous plate of shredded lettuce and red cabbage, lime wedges, bean sprouts, and abundant fresh herbs:

Really fresh herbs, bunches.

I got bun rieu:

It was decent with nice seafood pork tomato broth. Compared with the version at Mien Trung, however, it fell a little short. The broth wasn't quite as stellar, and the tofu wedges were dense and chewy. The crab/pork meatballs were fine and flavorful, but I missed the light chunks of crab cake (?) at Mien Trung.

On the other hand, the thin noodles were well prepared and those abundant herbs really stood out when added to the soup. Took it to another level.

Tina had the bun bo hue:

Excellent. Lots of beef, tender and flavorful. The pork was represented by chunks of pig foot, which Tina enjoyed gnawing. The thick noodles, not all clumped together, were nearly al dente with a firm bite. The spicy heat got our attention, but was not overwhelming. While the broth was not especially beefy, it had a preternaturally dark brown color. All in all, a very good bowl.

We were looking for a low-key dinner with good Vietnamese noodle soups. And we found it.

Nha Trang, 417 W. Main St., Alhambra, CA 91801 (626) 588-2833.

Two Seafood Dinners in SGV – Seafood Palace; Newport Seafood

May 7, 2017 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Seafood, Vietnamese Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Ed and Tina recently had an extended weekend in the San Gabriel Valley area, eating interesting food and going to interesting museums. So Kirk and Cathy get today off.

Tina had to work on Friday morning, so we came rolling into Temple City just about dinner time. After the drive, we were looking for something familiar and tasty, and Seafood Palace nee Seafood Village was certainly familiar (another post) and we hoped tasty.

We were happy to see the boiled peanut and pickled vegetable free appetizer:

Refreshing and enjoyable.

Of course, we ordered the house special deep-fried crab:

The flavors are impressive — Dungeness crab, dried red chilies, abundant small fried chunks of garlic, chopped scallions, and the crunchy tasty coating. This is no wimpy crab. Unfortunately, however, the crab itself was overcooked and lacked moist juiciness:

This was not a bad dish, it just fell short of its usual perfection.

On the other hand, the baked oysters in black bean sauce was close to perfect:

The oysters were firm and chewy, nicely breaded, and flavorful. The black bean sauce matched slight funkiness of the bivalves. We liked. We liked so much that we were halfway through before I stopped and took the photo.

And the house special fried rice was light and tasty:

The meal concluded with a small cup of sweet red bean soup:

In addition to the generally good food, we were pleased with the service; there appeared to be a floor manager who oversaw the waitstaff. Our waters were refreshed regularly, and plates full of shell bits were replaced with clean plates. The bill seemed reasonable:

Seafood Palace, 9669 E. Las Tunas, Temple City CA 91780, (626) 286-2299

For our last dinner in the San Gabriel Valley, we were looking for more seafood. Researching restaurants, we kept running across references to Newport Seafood; it seemed to be the gold standard for the area, but it was also expensive and famously over crowded, with long lines and waits of one to two hours.

Then I realized — we were planning on a Sunday night dinner, so there couldn't possibly be long lines. "But let's show up early, just in case," Tina suggested.

So at around 5:30 Sunday evening, we arrived at Newport Seafood, parking across the street to avoid the already crowded parking lot. Here's an exterior shot of the place:

Amazingly, there were already over a dozen people waiting for larger tables, but we got lucky and got the last booth. Here's a fuzzy interior shot:

There is also an area with several semi private rooms as well as the main dining room.

We had barely sat down when we were offered appetizers (not free) of boiled peanuts or cucumber chunks. We went with the cukes:

Very tasty, crunchy, spicy, and tangy — the nutty flavors of sesame oil in the background.

Since this was our splurge meal, we opted for some wine, ending up with the Raymond Napa Valley Chardonnay, which was okay though the restaurant was out of our first choice:

Then came hot and sour catfish soup:

Stunningly good. Not at all like Chinese hot and sour soup, this was redolent of the complex flavors of southeast Asia — pineapple, tomato, lemongrass, cilantro, green chilies, celery and more, closer to hot and sweet than hot and sour. Along with that good broth was a lot of catfish (wonderfully fresh, but somewhat bony) and numerous chunks of fruits and veggies along with chopped bean sprouts. A carnival of tastes.

But we had really come for lobster. The menu offers five different lobster presentations (including simply steamed), but whichever you choose, you get an entire lobster. We opted for the Newport special preparation. It arrived looking very special:

Chopped green chilies, diced scallions, and black pepper were the dominant seasonings. Lobster flesh exposed by the chopping had been breaded before the lobster was fried. While not as moist as steamed lobster, the meat was flavorful, fresh, and juicy when extracted from the shells:

The first-rate New England lobster was a real treat, and the preparation was flavorful.

We also ordered the clams in black bean sauce:

The black bean sauce didn't seem quite as tasty as the one at Seafood Palace two nights before. The clams, however, were perfect –exceedingly tender and mildly clammy, highest-quality bivalves treated well.

By this point of the meal, we realized a certain unplanned similarity between our two seafood dinners. Yes, Seafood Palace features chiu chow cuisine, and Newport Seafood is in the style of Tan Cang, a small port by the Mekong River estuary, but chiu chow dishes often show Southeast Asian influences. And yes, the fried crustaceans were different, as were the mollusks in black bean sauce, but the overall pattern of the dinners was largely the same, hence this post.

Anyway, at the end of the meal at Newport, we received a complementary chopped orange:

And the bill for the meal:

The overall experience Newport was positive. While the waitstaff was not as attentive as Seafood Palace, it was certainly professional and unobtrusive. The food was excellent. So we were happy as we walked out of the restaurant past the couples and families waiting for the next table to open up.

We had a good time in the SGV.

Newport Seafood Restaurant, 518 W. Las Tunas Dr., San Gabriel CA 91776, (626) 289-5998 (website)

2017 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade Showcase of Floats and snacks at House of Cookies and Egg Roll Express (Pasadena)

January 13, 2017 Cathy Bakery, Chinese Restaurants, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Cathy Eats!

Welcome to another edition of mmm-yoyo!!!, the food blog with variants on the acquisition of said foodstuffs. Kirk is very busy with work this week and Ed (from Yuma) is very busy with retirement (in Yuma). Cathy is writing today.

Last Monday, January 2, was the official New Year holiday and the Tournament of Roses held its annual parade and Bowl Game. The following morning, The Mister and I drove North to see the parade floats lined up end to end, at the Showcase of Floats. The Banner float, which was first in the 96 unit parade entries (floats, bands, equestrian units), reflected the theme of this year, "Echoes of Success". Of the 44 floats in the parade, five are not judged (this is one of those) and 24 of the remaining floats are trophy winners. I'll just show you some details from some of the floats. Walking along to view takes at least two hours and that's if you aren't paying attention to the details that went into the meticulous decorations. You can see the work and thought that went into the design and execution of each float.

Cal Poly Universities entry, 'A New Leaf' featured three chameleons, with that yellow one changing color via an elaborate system of dowels. (YouTube video, 1:45 in length). The California Milk Advisory Board, with its entry "Legacy of Generations" provided a surreal view of a good variety of California Dairy products and emphasized the generations of California dairy families who helped to make California the most successful dairy state in the nation (The 'raisins' are covered with real raisins and the 'cereal flakes' are dried apple skin).

Ragu sponsored this "Simmered in Tradition" float, which was meticulously detailed in its design.
Dole Packaged Foods, "Spirit of Hawaii" won the Sweepstakes Trophy for the most beautiful entry in parade with outstanding floral presentation and design (The inside of the robe is lined with dried banana chips). The float that The Mister and I helped to decorate in early December was finally revealed and left in this position to display at the Showcase. The meaning of 'We Came, We saw, We Covered' was finally revealed during the parade. We were happy to be a part of the Farmers Insurance entry.
So much detail went into the decoration of every float. I will add some thumbnails to the end of this post and you can enjoy a few more photos, but now…it's time for the food portion of this blog post.
We had parked near the North entrance for the Showcase of Floats (there are three entrances) and walked, so on the way back to our car, we again stopped at the House of Cookies/Arsen Bakery, where we were recognized and warmly greeted.

Such a small area holds a great deal of delicious treats. This box was $4. Everything was so fresh, crispy, creamy and flavored wonderfully. A great, local, family run bakery. Arsen Bakery House of Cookies 2451 East Washington Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91104 (626)794-4280

A block away,

we'd been seeing this signage (and outside lantern decor) for years, but never were here when Egg Roll Express was open. We had finally the chance to dine here!

Simple decor, a pitcher of hot tea and weekday lunch specials!

Each lunch special comes with a choice of either hot and sour or egg flower soup. This was a wonderful, fresh, chicken based, creamy and very eggy egg drop served in a quite large bowl. I wanted more.

The serving plate of the special(#30-fish filet with Szechuan sauce)($7.29)was so cute! The food was even better. The spicy fish and vegetables were so fresh and flavorful.

The egg roll? Well, it was fried right (not greasy and nicely crispy) and filled with fresh and bright flavored vegetables. Quite good.
Since this was our first visit to a new Chinese restaurant, our standard , Egg Foo Young (with chicken) was ordered ($8.99). Wow! Every restaurant makes EFY their own way and The Mister and I liked this version. Filled with bean sprouts, onion and eggy goodness, the pancake was crispy even under the (not salty) gravy, chicken and fresh vegetables.

Egg Roll Express 2397 E. Washington Blvd Pasadena, Ca 91104 (626)791-2398 open daily 11a.m.-9:30 p.m. Website

We walked over 6,000 steps that day- starting off the year with a good habit. Soo and Maggie were here too, each wrote their own post! Here are some thumbnails of a few more floats. Here and Here is a link to 2017 float road testing, This is a link to one of the 'dry decorating days'.

2017 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade- float decorating, meals at Kolache Factory (Tustin) and Tops (Pasadena)

December 13, 2016 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Burgers, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for stopping to read our food blog, mmm-yoso!!! Kirk, Ed(from Yuma) and Cathy contribute to various posts about various foods and various activities. Today is that kind of a post, by Cathy.

Yes, it is that time of the year. The countdown to the 128th Tournament of Roses Rose Parade has begun, floats are being decorated. We volunteer with the Petal Pushers at the Phoenix Decorating Company Rose Palace barn. We had to check in at 9 a.m. to begin work, left home at around 6 a.m., stopping in Tustin.

In the same mall as THH, where we stopped for breakfast before the first road test this year, the Kolache Factory has its sole California location. Kolach, Czech or Slovak in origin, are soft, puffy, slightly sweet dough 'circles' filled with various ingredients. These portable, almost 'hand pies' are fresh made all day. As you can see, quite a variety are available. In the back, a sausage, egg and cheese ($3.19), the middle is a 'Kolache of the month'-turkey with stuffing- ($3.88) and in the front is a cream cheese kolache ($1.62). Each of these were warmed, so very fresh and really tasty. We have such a variety of places to choose from on that street (Cream Pan is less than a mile away, just East of the 5) Kolache Factory 14091 Newport Avenue Tustin 92780 (714) 730-2253 Website We got to the Rose Palace as the sign-in area was being set up. Just inside, the Crew Chiefs were getting last minute instructions. This barn would be busy soon. The Lions Clubs International float: 'Celebrating 100 Years of Service' is magnificent! Shriners Hospital for Children, with the float titled 'Anything Is Possible' is so whimsical. The Odd fellows and Rebekahs float, 'Through The Ages' features a gazebo, wedding cake, diploma and mortarboard and a book with pictographs of prior events. The Lutheran Laymans League has their 67th entry into a Rose Parade with the float 'Celebrate Jesus', observing the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
The American Armenian Rose Float Association has a parade entry for the third year, 'Field of Dreams'. The United Sikh Mission, with its float 'Together We Rise' is also in the Rose Parade for the third year. This float will be so beautiful! All that stuff in the foreground of that photo? Construction in the barn. It's the NHL float (which The Mister and I really had hoped to work on).

Then there is the Farmers Insurance float. It looks so …'plain'…just like a large Recreational Vehicle (especially compared to the 2016 float (at bottom of this link). We were specifically asked to not photograph the secrets of this float while decorating, but the title of 'We Came, We Saw, We Covered' is a clue. You'll love it when you see it! So what did we do this day? "Dry Decorating", or "Detail Decorating" is its own job. Scissors and glue… Beans, peas, poppyseeds, dry flower petals…more glue…In a cold barn for eight or so hours. It was fun, but a long day. By the time we got down Colorado Boulevard, the sun was setting and we were hungry!The Original Tops, (Since 1952) is always a tasty stop (I wrote about breakfast here two years ago). The meal was simple, a bowl of chili ($4.59) (made from scratch daily; no beans, a bit of heat and unique great taste), 1/4 lb burger ($3.79) charbroiled on that constantly used grill, imparting a delightful flavor on the toasted bun and simple toppings and a SMALL order of onion rings ($3.39) Thick cut onions in a light, seasoned batter. We had leftovers and were so satisfied.

The Original Tops 3838 East Colorado Boulevard Pasadena, CA 91107 Open daily 6:30 a.m.-11:00p.m. Website

The Rose Parade is in January 2, 2017 (never on a Sunday) Artist rendition of most of the 2017 Rose Parade floats

2017 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade float road testing and breakfasts: Chuck Wagon (Corona); Rod’s Grill (Arcadia); Silver Dollar Pancake House (Corona)(revisit)

November 20, 2016 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Breakfast/Brunch, Diner, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, Ontario/Riverside/San Bernadino, CA, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the name of this food blog. Kirk is not writing today, neither is Ed(from Yuma). This is just another Cathy posting.

Chuck Wagon has closed. In February 2023, Rod's Grill closed but will open under new management. Both are sadly missed.

This year has been different. In addition to having a tremendous amount of friends and neighbors die (I stopped counting in mid February, after there had been 23), I tried to keep things more or less normal, writing a post about the first Float Road Test for the 2017 Rose Parade. The Mister and I drove to subsequent monthly road tests (and afterwards, breakfast) and took photos. This post is a summary of what we ate and some of what you will see on television on January 2, 2017 (there's never a parade on Sunday).

Trader Joe's will have another three part float in the 2017 parade, (parade theme is Echoes of Success), titled 'All Aboard! 50 Years of Serving the Best'. The American Armenian Rose Float Association road test in August showcased a magnificent looking float. The road test two months later showed the color outlined (coloring outlines are there to help decorators as well as help if there are any problems with decorations during the actual parade: you'll still see color) fully expanded float, titled "Field of Dreams", depicting the 'Echoes of Success' of the American Armenian diaspora success story.

I'll take some breaks from floats and road tests, interspersing breakfasts enjoyed driving home.

Because we got stuck in traffic (again), we stopped at a place we have been passing for several years. The old fashioned sign (which must look very cool at night) is a friendly welcome to the naugahyde, paneled, not recently updated interior; half of the building is a 'bar' area, open in morning hours. The breakfast menu is served all day. Let me preface this by saying that we took home a lot of leftovers. The 'Chuck Wagon Country Breakfast' ($11.95) was absolutely wonderful in quality and flavors! Three eggs (poached, of course), two (large, flavorful) link sausages, two thick pieces of smoked meaty bacon and a slice of country style ham with a side of thinly sliced, crispy home fries topped with green pepper and onions. There was also a choice of toast or pancakes with this plate. Ever since the summer road trip and meals across the USA with either my brother or nephew, pancakes have become a slight obsession. The ones at Chuck Wagon are notably good; from scratch flavors, slightly sweet, fluffy with a delicate crust .
The perfectly prepared, real cube steak chicken fried steak was lightly breaded and fried perfectly ($11.50). The flavors were fresh, the country gravy (again, from scratch: there were flour lumps) and even the crispy hash browns were wonderful. The fresh made from scratch biscuit-flaky layers with the golden, crispy crust- was great.

Another really great Corona restaurant.

Chuck Wagon Cafe 1070 6th Street Corona, CA 92879 (951)737-7162 open daily 6:30a.m.-10 p.m.

Returning to some float road tests… Rotary International's float, 'Doing Good in the World' is just so cute even without the coloring outlines added! Shriners Hospitals for children, 'Anything is Possible', is adorable! From the artist rendition(see end of post for a link), it looks like the mascot, Fezzy Bear, will be riding on the float in January. Union Bank has again teamed up with the American Heart Association for the float 'Keep the Beat Alive'. Last month, we didn't even bother going on the freeway to get home, took side roads parallel to the 210 and noticed Rod's, a corner coffee shop that's been in Arcadia since 1957. Taking seats at the counter, because all the aqua naugahyde booths were full, we took note of some posted daily specials (even on weekends!)

The 'pork sausage w/ fresh apples- cheese omelet' ($9.95) was most unexpected (and in keeping with my penchant for fresh apples). Yes, breakfast sausages and sautéed fresh apples filled this large eggy-cheesy breakfast omelet! There were some great home fries and toast which accompanied this surprising menu special. These banana walnut crepes which came with two eggs and sausage ($8.95) were filled with a fluffy cream cheese-cottage cheese mix and topped with toasted nuts and nicely ripe banana slices; not crazy sweet at all. These are not delicate flat crepes, but also not thick pancakes…more of a Swedish pancake.

So glad we stopped here! Rod's Grill 41 W Huntington Drive Arcadia, CA 91007 (626) 447-7515 open 6 am-9 pm daily

United Sikh Mission USA has another beautiful float, 'Together We Rise', which I think will be a prize winner not only for its beauty, but also for the message. Western Asset (an investment group) is sponsoring this float, 'Prosperity in the Wild' which won't have any riders, but instead much animation. This rather simple looking float from Farmers Insurance has a 'reflection' of the parade route in the front 'window' (including the rose colored line that is in the center of Colorado Boulevard, a guide for float drivers, who drive 'blind' while speaking to the 'spotter' who each has a small window in front to observe the activities in front of the float). The title of 'We Came, We Saw, We Covered' is a slight clue as to the 'surprise' you will see on January 2. (see the bottom of this post)

One last breakfast, a repeat visit.

If we find ourselves in Corona and notice there is no line waiting for seating, we stop at Silver Dollar. This day, it was convenient to sit at the counter instead of waiting for a table to be available.
This is the two egg, two pancake deal (the second egg was brought over later)($5.49, additional .69 to substitute sausage patty for links-worth it!) was particularly good. The 2 bacon, 2 egg (and biscuits with gravy instead of toast) ($8.59) was enjoyed by The Mister. The country gravy and fresh flaky not too large biscuits were just right with the perfect over easy eggs and bacon.

Silver Dollar Pancake House 710 East Sixth Corona, CA 92879 (951) 737-5977 Open Mon-Sat 5 a.m.-4 p.m., Sun 6 a.m.-4 p.m.

Rose Parade preparations. Diners for breakfast. America.

See artist renditions of some 2017 floats here.

What's going on under that Farmers Insurance float? Here's a sneak peek:

Borneo Kalimantan Cuisine and Some LA Museum Eats

June 3, 2016 ed fromyuma Indonesian Restaurants & Food, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Today Ed (from Yuma) is finishing up his posts about a recent trip to LA. Tomorrow Kirk or Cathy will be posting about something different. That's what happens here at mmm-yoso!!!

Tina and I had a good time in LA. We saw interesting and sometimes amazing stuff in the museums, but this is a food blog not an art blog, so I’ll mostly focus on food. But I do want to give a brief shout out for the Mapplethorpe exhibits in both LACMA and the Getty. He was an incredibly talented photographer who took pictures of all sorts of things, even things like this:

Now let's look in a different direction:

Since we were comped two days of free breakfast buffets at the Hilton (don't ask) and had a lot of leftovers, we ate very little at the museums. But a lunch at an informal café at the Getty was pretty tasty. I had a half portion of a beef, radicchio, and horseradish sandwich with a cup of vegetable minestrone:

Really quite good. The soup was packed with vegetables and had the classic Italian flavors. I was quite taken with the sandwich – interesting combination of flavors. Tina's sandwich seemed more conventional to me, but she liked it:

The next day at the Huntington, we were feeling a bit peckish from walking around the grounds, so we went to the pavilion at the Chinese garden:

and both had a nice jasmine iced tea and a red bean paste stuffed pastry:

However, the main focus of this post is the meal we had at Borneo Kalimantan Cuisine on Garfield in Alhambra:

This small restaurant says it's the only restaurant in the entire United States featuring the cuisine of the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. It has a couple tables in the front and then a row of tables along the wall to the back of the restaurant:

The menu had a page of appetizers, a page of soups and curries, a page of rice dishes, and two pages focusing on noodles. We tried to order some variety.

Our server was exceptionally friendly and welcoming, and after we ordered, he set our utensils on the table – two small plates, two forks, two soup bowls, and two soup spoons:

Our first dish, from the rice section, was Ayam Muda Goreng Penyet, which the menu described as Indonesian spiced chicken fried Singapore style:

The fried chicken had no breading but the outside was cooked crackly crisp. Its interior was moist, and while the chicken was very hot, there was no trace of oiliness. Tina and I also enjoyed the nicely sweet and mildly hot chili sauce. A perfect match with the bird.

The steamed rice was fine, and it came in very handy with the second item to arrive at the table, Borneo Oxtail Curry Soup:

While the menu said the coconut curry was spicy, most of the spicing was of the aromatic and sweet variety – a reminder that Borneo is in the same region as the fabled Spice Islands. There was one large piece of tail and two or three smaller pieces. All very tender and mildly beefy. The soup had some scallions and cabbage pieces, but my favorite of the vegetables were the chunks of fresh tomato that provided an acidic contrast to the creamy sweetness of the soup. Of course we ladled the soup into our bowls with the rice.

One page of the menu had been devoted solely to Borneo style homemade egg noodles, which could be thin, medium, or thick and chewy. Each type of noodle could be matched up with one of three types of toppings. We decided on Mie Karet Hakka, chewy egg noodles served Hakka style with red pork, marinated egg, fish ball, and fish cake:

The eggs were tasty, a good upgrade from regular boiled eggs. The few small fish ball halves and the plentiful slices of fish cake provided a nice light seafood flavor. The red pork lacked the porkiness and richness of good char siu, but all of these things – as well as some scallions, fried shallots, bean sprouts, and a thin stalk or two of gai lan (?) – were really just flavorings for the wonderful kinky chewy toothsome egg noodles:

A great noodle dish. It was served with a small bowl of seafood flavored broth on the side:

At first, we ate the noodles dry, sometimes dipping items into the broth, but toward the end of the meal we poured all of the broth into the noodle bowl:

It was good to the last drop.

We enjoyed the meal a lot. The clean bright restaurant, the friendly server and the 90s pop playing in the background created a pleasant atmosphere. The dishes we tried were various and tasty. Though the place is cash only, you gotta like the price tag:

Northern Chinese Restaurant – Rosemead (LA)

May 27, 2016 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

Kirk is on vacation, Cathy is doing bunches of things, so Ed (from Yuma) has today's post on an unusual eatery in San Gabriel Valley.

I had been researching restaurant possibilities for Tina and my trip to LA, and I was intrigued by a short post that Kirk had written back in August, 2009, about the Northern Chinese Restaurant. It was his second restaurant of the day, so he sampled only a few dishes, but hinted that he would be back. If he ever went back, he never told us readers about it.

Tina and I were looking for something different, something we'd never had before, so this place seemed intriguing and its location just down Valley Boulevard in Rosemead was close to our hotel:

The interior, with only about 14 tables, was clean and attractive. Of course, I wondered what a faux rococo pastoral tapestry was doing on the wall in a Chinese restaurant, but it’s certainly better than a bare wall:

We had arrived a little before 6 PM, by the time we left every one of those 14 tables had customers, sometimes large family groups. Tina and I were the only non-Asians in the place, and maybe the only people there who didn't have family ties to northern China. Nonetheless, we were treated well and the menu had clear translations for each of the over 200 dishes available. It was easy to point to what we wanted on the menu, so there was no confusion in the ordering.

The first dish to arrive was the Dried Tofu with Hot Pepper:

Talk about something different that we never had before! Those pale ribbons are not pasta, but strips of dried tofu. The light sauce had a mild pork flavor and the jalapeno slices added a nice spice and crunch to the dish.

Next was a huge bowl of Sour Napa with Pork Belly Soup:

In addition to the suan cai and pork, there were also chunks of frozen tofu and at the bottom of the bowl long transparent noodles.

For me and Tina, this was true comfort food. You can give pork and sauerkraut a different name and throw in some tofu and noodles, but it is still pork and sauerkraut, a combination that brings back memories of my childhood. The sour cabbage had been prepared perfectly so that the finished dish was sweetly sour, the mild tang cutting through the richness of the meat.

A cold dish, the Spicy Cucumber then arrived at the table:

This simple dish was a perfect palate cleanser – salty, garlicky, spicy, and crisp.

When I thought I was finished ordering, the young man wondered if we wanted rice, so I asked if there was something more typical of northern China that he would recommend, and he pointed to Smoked Meat and Pancake. So I ordered that also:

As soon as I saw it, I realized that this was a dish which Kirk had really enjoyed back in 2009. Of course he had called it by its real name, Xun Rou Da Bing, and of course we really enjoyed it in 2016.

The pancake was like a yeasty flatbread with a bit of chew and a nice crusty exterior. We happily would have eaten the bread by itself, but the dark bean paste sauce was wildly good and deeply flavored. The smoked pork was mild and okay, but if you put it and some scallion strips on top of a wedge of pancake slathered with sauce, you ended up with a very very tasty slice of Northern Chinese pizza:
But we weren't finished yet. The last dish to hit the table was the one that turned out to be our favorite overall, Cumin Toothpick Lamb:

The numerous chunks of gamy lamb were all speared with toothpicks. Some pieces were very tender and some a little bit chewy and gristly. The meat, tossed with stir fried onion, was flavored by abundant chili flakes, ginger, cilantro, sesame seeds, and especially cumin seeds. The combination was masterful.

Of course, as you have probably already figured out, we ordered way too much food even for two hungry people. We joked that we needed some starving imaginary friends to help us finish. We did eat most of the smoked meat and pancake in the restaurant, but we still had tons of leftovers. The cold lamb was still incredible two days later.

For us, this was more than just a different and interesting meal, it was a real feast.

And a reasonably priced feast:
The next day, we went to the Getty Museum and kept crossing the paths of a couple of young Chinese women. As we were leaving, we found ourselves waiting for the same elevator, and I asked if I could take their picture. Kindly, they said yes:

Afterwards, we chatted a bit and I learned that the young lady on the left was from Shanghai and the one on the right was from further north. "Beijing?" I asked.

"No, north from there." So I said that Tina and I had just eaten at a northern Chinese restaurant and had dishes like sour cabbage and pork.

"Yes," she said, "that's where I'm from."

Seafood Palace Née Seafood Village – Temple City (SGV)

May 26, 2016 ed fromyuma Chinese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Road Trip, Seafood, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!

While Kirk is out of the country, Cathy posts the most, but today Ed (from Yuma) posts about an old favorite with a new name.

Tina had some slack time at work, so she and I drove up to LA for a few days. During the day we went to LACMA, the Getty, and the Huntington where we especially enjoyed the Chinese Garden:

We stayed at the Hilton on Valley Boulevard in San Gabriel. That meant a lot of windshield time to LACMA and especially the Getty, but it also meant that we could have dinners in the San Gabriel Valley, which is a very good thing.

In particular, we wanted to go to Seafood Village in Temple city where we ate several times in the past, but that restaurant (as well as the one in Monterey Park) has been renamed Seafood Palace. Had the quality changed? In addition, we’d always ordered the special deep-fried crab, an amazing dish, but this visit we wanted to see what else the kitchen could do. We went there twice for dinner.

Both times we parked in the large lot behind the restaurant and entered through the back door:

One evening, we ordered a bottle of white wine; Seafood Palace had only two white wines, but we were happy with the Emmolo Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc:

It was complex, medium bodied, and dry – remarkably sophisticated with a very fair markup.

The first dish we ordered, the crab and fish maw soup, arrived in a large attractive bowl:

Wonderful soup. Imagine an egg drop soup with crab flavored broth packed with almost chewy, semi-gelatinous, and mildly flavored fish maws (air bladders). So good we each had three little cups:

This squid dish, salty baked squid I think it's called, really doesn't look baked:

The very light and somewhat salty crust has a bit of a crispy crunch and a touch of chili heat. The squid itself was remarkably tender. The tasty cephalopods were topped with slices of jalapenos and scallions and were served with white pepper and red vinegar.

The garlic fried snow fish (alias black cod, sablefish, butterfish) had an equally light breading and was moist, rich, and properly flaky:

Very well prepared. Not greasy at all, the fresh flavor of the fish accented with garlic.

One of our favorite dishes was the chiu chow scallops and asparagus:

Chiu Chow (various spellings) refers to cookery in the style of Chaozhou (various spellings), a city at the northern coastal apex of Guangdong province. In many ways the cuisine is similar to Cantonese but shows distinct Southeast Asian influences.

The asparagus was thick, fresh, moist, and cut perfectly. The large sliced scallops balanced the vegetable well and the mildly spicy sauce brought everything together. Even the scallions and roasted spinach leaves made small contributions.

We also loved the oysters cooked with scallions and ginger:

Scallions are often underappreciated, but here the fresh green onions became the main vegetable. I also liked the numerous oysters, mildly funky with that taste that reminds me of estuaries or small backwater coves. The ginger likewise was abundant, and the presentation emphasized the similarity of knobby and irregular ginger roots and bumpy and uneven oysters. Sort of a culinary pun.

The braised chiu chow duck was a little more problematic:

Every piece of duck was a bony piece of duck. The sauce was strongly flavored with ginger and leek, but I detected a slight odd herbal note and cornstarch. The hot pieces of duck were also hard for me to eat with chopsticks, lips, teeth, and tongue alone. The next day, however, in the privacy of our hotel room, Tina and I used our hands to devour the pieces of cold leftover duck, so I guess the duck was pretty good after all.

On one visit, we had the house special fried rice:

It was interesting, permeated with seafood flavors but light in texture. There were small clouds of egg white, thin slices of asparagus, scattered shards of crab, and occasional bits of shrimp. The rice matched well with the food, but it was the only thing that seemed kind of high-priced ($13.99).

Overall, however, Tina and I were delighted with Seafood Palace. The service was generally good even though the young man serving our wine didn't seem quite sure how to do it; nonetheless, he and the other servers consistently did well. If you want to see costs of the two meals etc., here is meal #1 :

#2:

Thanks for reading.