So, the Missus's new favorite restaurant is Mountain House. And since that meal we've been back three more times, I'll combine that into one post later! And we've stayed overnight on each visit. On the first revisit, we dined at places I'd posted on before, so I'll do that in a COMC post. The third time we did a bit of a longer road trip, that'll be coming up. This was the second revisit. We were looking for a place for lunch. On our previous trip, I'd read about a new dumpling shop opening in Yes Plaza. Aaaah, Yes Plaza, I'd posted on our "history" with Yes Plaza before and my has the place changed. Anyway, after having dinner at Mountain House on the previous trip, we took a drive to the strip mall. It was 730pm and at that time Jiou Chu Dumplings was only open from 5pm to 830 pm and there was still a line of folks waiting outside! The Missus looked at Her Instagram and wouldn't you know it, so many influencers showing off! Of course, often times it's all about the "content" and attention than the actual food.
The week before we left for Rowland Heights, Jiou Chou started opening at 11am. We decided to go for lunch and arrived at around 1040. The place was empty, there was no line, so we headed off to Hong Kong Market to buy some snacks and returned. It was just after 11am when we parked and noticed that there was a line!
Notice the 85° logo on the signage? Well Jiou Chu is owned by 85C and has two restaurants in Taichung, where we had just been a couple of months prior! This is the first location of the dumpling restaurant in the U.S.!
There was a sign posted saying that the place wasn't doing takeout orders on this day. I guess they were anticipating a major lunch rush? By the way, this was a weekday. One thing we noticed, that is usually a positive sign were that most of the customers were older folk, which to us is usually a pretty good sign.
We were led to a table and seated. The restaurant was pretty sizeable.
Folks just kept on coming in and within fifteen minutes of being seated we noticed that the place was full!
Listening in, the Missus noticed that folks were placing orders to dine in and additional orders to go! I guess that's how they got around "no to go orders" for the day? Several of the parties around us had apparently been here before. Ordering was done, at least by us, using the QR code. We noticed that many of the older folks struggled a bit and had their orders taken by the very accommodating staff.
Of course we started with the Pork Xiao Long Bao ($11.99). We quickly noticed that the prices were pretty good, perhaps that's why all the folks were coming out?
These were not very good. The wrapper was chewy and brittle, there was some "soup" in the XLB but it was very bland. The filling was tough and chewy and also pretty much tasteless.
Kinda sad overall.
Next up were the two versions of Pork Chops. When we were in Taiwan the Missus said several times that I "didn't meet a pork chop that I didn't enjoy".
The Fried Pork Cutlet ($8.49) had a nice black pepper flavor, decently salty, but was over fried, tough, and dry.
The best item of the meal was the Fried Pork Strips ($8.49).
Think of this as a pork version of the typical Taiwanese "popcorn chicken". It was crisp-crunchy, moist, with a good amount of five-spice, white pepper, and salt.
We had wanted to order some Guotie since the photos looked quite good. They were out of several versions so we ended up getting the Kimchi-Pork version ($11.49). Good lord, this was a mistake.
The wrappers were gummy, the filling was weird, the "kimchi" lacked flavor as did the pork which was chewy. The menu warned that these dumplings contained hot soup, but that was a false alarm as there was none. This was our least favorite item of the meal.
Well, this meal was a fail. Unlike Taiwan where "lines don't lie", here in the states things can get over run by hype it seems. That's too bad as we were kind of excited about eating here. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
At least we tried it……and we'd be headed to Mountain House for dinner.
Jiou Chu Dumplings
18156 Colima Rd.
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
Really friendly folks, a nice selection. I got the Missus a French Press and I got an Americano before we hit the road.
The Entry for Rotary International, "Clean Water, The Music of Life" was being tested with weight (people) onboard. You can see a rectangular slot at the front end of the 'keyboard'-that is where the 'Spotter' for the float will be watching for traffic and hazards during the parade. He or she will be communicating with the driver, who only looks down and follows the 'Rose Colored Line' painted on the street.
The entry by the City of Alhambra, "Celebrating the Year of the Dragon"was tested in its full open position. 
But every float has a maximum height and width it must be able to collapse down to so it can proceed along the Parade Route. The doorway of the decorating barn is that maximum size. 
"Chimes of Liberty Protecting Our Future" is the 2024 entry by the Fraternal Order of Elks, a Service Organization.
This detailed float will certainly be an eye catcher! You might notice the hands are missing from the Fife and Drum Corps- the faces as well as the hand flesh tones are being decorated with various spice blends/mixes by professionals (not us volunteers).
Lutheran Hour Ministries entry, "Make A Joyful Noise Unto The Lord" passed its third mechanics and maneuverability test and is ready to be decorated beginning on December 2. You can see the rectangular slot for the 'Spotter' in this photo.
Step inside, order and pay. We were directed to a table and soon enough, our orders were delivered. 
Pretty much a standard first time order for us: Har Gow ($3.99), Shumai ($3.99), Crescent dumplings ($3.59) and egg tarts ($3.59) were brought out first. Fresh and warm, great flavors.
The soup dumplings ($7.99) took a little longer and were steaming hot. (I took the photo before asking for a spoon, but there was no leakage) quite a bit of soup and a thin dumpling skin). Tasty.
There were utensils in the drawer under the tabletop-but no spoons. 
Tea was $1 each (so, one green and one oolong) and you could get more hot (as well as chilled) water at the counter.
Man, these were super stuffed, full of porky goodness, hint of sweet- savory tones, and wrapped with rice paper. It was slightly more chewy than I prefer, but man, the overall package was much better than anything here is San Diego. This also heated up well in the air fryer!
The Laundry" hangs over a bowl with a smoky-mildly spicy chili oil, with a large dollop of garlic paste in the middle. We quickly noticed that fat was dripping off the slices of pork belly enhancing the concoction.
This was an interesting Liang Cai (cold dishes) trio; the Duck Tongue in a chili oil was interesting. Usually, when we've had duck tongue, there's a hard inedible piece of bone in the center making eating it somewhat ponderous. The center of the tongue in this dish was cartilaginous, reminding us of 
The pig tongue was as expected, fairly chewy and very porky. Quite typical.
We quickly noticed that on this visit, the dumpling wrappers were very soft, lacking in the slight "pull" that we enjoy in jiaozi wrappers. The filling of the shrimp, pork, and leek was very moist and actually had a good amount of "soup" in them…very nicely flavored, though a bit short in the shrimp department.
But man, that filling was so gamy, moist, juice just poured out of it when I took a bite.
We did notice that the dish has changed since our last visit. The shrimp shells and the shrimp seems to have some coating; like the tofu skin, the portion size is smaller. The shrimp is not quite as delicate as it used to be. But the flavor is still there and the shells and tail are a pleasure to eat.
Soon enough the large plate of bun, herbs, and veggies. And of course the Missus enjoys the Banh Trang Me dipping it into the mam nem. As for the Mam Nem, we noticed that it's not quite as potent as it used to be.
It's self check-in at a touchpad at the hostess stand. Soon, a text message arrived that our table was ready.
We were seated, hot tea ($2) was promptly brought out and we could order from the photo menu as well as from the passing carts. 
Additional beverages were also available from a cart. 
Shrimp Noodle Roll ($5.99) came from a cart and was filled with large, plump, flavor filled shrimp. Slippery and satisfying.
Our order from the kitchen (each item $5.99) was delivered quickly. The Shrimp Har Gow was filled with the same large shrimp and wrapped in a not too thick nor too chewy tapioca based dough.
The steamed Tofu Skin Roll was filled with pork, carrot, mushroom and crunchy water chestnuts. 
The Black Mushroom Sui Mai was really tasty. The Sui Mai filling (pork/shrimp/ginger/mushroom/scallion/water chestnut) was a large serving size to facilitate holding the large black mushroom. Flavors in every bite! 
We ordered the soup dumplings from a cart. None were leaking. The dough was chewy, especially at the top folds but overall the filling was quite nice. 
The fried shrimp balls ($7.99), ordered from the kitchen, were a great choice. Very large, cut in half and simply a mass of cooked shrimp formed into a paste then rolled in breadcrumbs and fried, this serving could be a complete meal if I could control my cravings. 
The picture menu had this "Sweet Tofu-available only on Saturday-Sunday", so I had to order it. What a great way to end the meal! Soft, warm, fresh made tofu served with a sugar-ginger sauce. It was quite perfect. 
Our Order Card. Seven items plus the hot tea ($49.95). A very nice special meal. 
