mmm-yoso – Page 172 – As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.

Kangxi is Coming (has arrived as the new Village North)

February 6, 2019 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** Kangxi is coming has closed

First off; we here at mmm-yoso would like to wish everyone a wonderful Lunar New Year! Welcome to the "Year of the Pig"!

It was finally getting cool enough to start making Suan Cai again. It had been so hot for so long this past year. Once our first batch completed; the Missus wanted me to pick up some Suan Cai with Pork from Village North to mix up with our really cheesy fermented stuff. I dropped by and noticed that Village North was gone. It had been replaced by something called Kangxi is Coming?

A few weeks later I had an conversation with "YZ" about the new Chinese restaurant opening; she was referring to Taste of Hunan (which we ended up going to and enjoying) and I Kangxi is Coming…… She had been wondering why I kept referring to some Taiwanese talk show as a Chinese restaurant until I presented her with the photo above. At which time she just cracked up.

Anyway, I waited a couple of weeks before finally visiting. Upon entering there were two things I quickly noticed…..

The first being that the interior looked unchanged. The second, well, the nice lady who worked at Village North was also working here. She was really happy to see me. And chided me for not dropping by sooner. She then told me that even though the owners were new and the menu was now more Sichuan and Hunan focused, the kitchen staff was the same, from Dongbei, trained in Sichuan kitchens.

The menu was an interesting "change" from the now ubiquitous book with slickly photographed dishes. And it there was an interesting variety of items….the really friendly woman quickly pointed out that several dishes I used to order were still on the menu.

Over time, I've made two visits, with a couple of repeat dishes; so here goes.

Fu Qi Fei Pian, something I always try to order when checking out Sichuan restaurants….and since it was on the menu….

This was an odd dish; the beef was nicely flavored on its own and there was actually tendon served up. It had a weird chili based sauce which was on the sour side and it totally lacked Sichuan peppercorn. Sort like they pulled some meat from the fridge; sliced it up, and dumped some sauce on it….which is what they probably did. It was obviously not marinating in anything.

I ordered the stir fried tripe; thinking it was going to be beef tripe; but it turned out to be pork tripe.

Chewy-crunchy; standard stir-fry, decent wok skills, but nothing special.

The other two dishes I ordered twice on different visits. It was an interesting in that both dishes were different during each visit.

First off; the Mapo Tofu on the first visit was really good.

Wow, it had a nice Sichuan Peppercorn "ma" thing going on along with a pretty spicy kick. It was spicy, the flavors sharp, the flavor of a decent chili bean paste came thru nicely.

On the next visit, the Ma Po Tofu looked totally different (photo to the right); it lacked Sichuan Peppercorn, was strangely sour, but was still quite spicy, with the thicker, more "gravy" looking sauce, and more pork. I preferred version 1.

Of course the item I usually ordered (mostly for the Missus) was the Suan Cai with Pork. On that first visit it looked like this.

It was amateur hour with the wok; no color, too much liquid…like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be a hot pot or stir fry. It lacked the nice cheesy-savory flavor of fermented cabbage and was quite bland.

I decided to give it another try and this time it was better; while it still had more liquid than I care for in this dish; it popped with sour-salty flavor and there was a decent smokiness from "wok hay". It also had much more suan cai this time around. In this case, I'd take version 2.

I also ordered the Spicy Bean Curd Skin.

This was good. A nice crunchy texture, light spice, slight sweetness, good soy sauce, with just enough sesame oil to add a pleasant nuttiness to the dish. I could have gone with more cilantro, but this was a decent dish.

I used to enjoy the pork intestine dishes at Village North, so I ordered the Spicy Pork Intestine, which turned out to be pretty good.

This had a nice spiciness to it; the intestine was decently crisp as well. Good offal funkiness, without being off-putting. It also had a decent amount of Sichuan Peppercorn, something that is often in short supply in Sichuan restaurants these days.

Since Kangxi pushes their Hunan dishes and I'm a fan of La Rou with dried/preserved vegetables; I ordered the Preserved Pork with Pickled Radish.

Strangely; I found the Sichuan dishes here to be more spicy than the Hunan items. The la rou had a very nice texture; not overly rubbery, with a decent smokiness, but was really salty. I really enjoyed the pickled radish; nice crunch, good sour counter-point to the pungent and salty ingredients. I just wish there was more of it used in the dish.

So, overall a kind of mixed bag, and there seems to be; at least on my multiple visits (which is why I try to do several visits before doing posts) some variation in flavoring and cooking of dishes here. I did enjoy several items and the dishes that were spicy; we legitimately so. I did think the dishes here were more spicy that other Sichuan restaurant in San Diego and they seem to use more peppercorn as well. So, I'll probably be back….to try more items on that rather vast menu.

Kangxi Is Coming
4428 Convoy St.
San Diego, CA 92111
Hours:
Mon – Thurs 11am – 230pm, 5pm – 10pm
Fri – Sun 11am – 10pm

Los Angeles – Kinjiro and Karayama

February 4, 2019 mmm-yoso Fine Dining, Japanese Restaurants, Los Angeles County, Travel

While we were enjoying Little Tokyo, we knew exactly where we were headed for dinner. I'd been reading about Kinjiro for several years now. And knowing of the Missus's love of Izakaya's, I thought the somewhat modern elevated izakaya type dishes would please Her.

So, I made reservations about a month in advance. My emails were quickly replied to and the process was a breeze. Good thing too….this shop next to the always busy Sushi Gen in Honda Plaza is reservation only.

We were the first customers of the night and were quickly seated by the very efficient, friendly, and knowledgeable young man working the front of house.

It was pretty easy determining what we wanted to eat, starting with the Squid Ink Shiokara ($7)….to think of the days when the Missus wouldn't touch this stuff; but now with Her love of fermented foods (ah those "chinmi" foods) and our visits to Japan and especially Hokkaido, Her tune has really changed.

The wonderful salty-cheesy-funky-oceany-savory and oddly sweet flavors goes so well with sake. We tried several over the course of the evening; our favorite being the Kokuryu “Black Dragon” Junmai Ginjo, smooth, not overly sweet, and so balanced. The squid fermented in guts had the perfect amount of toothsomeness. This was quite good.

Next up was the Uni, Scallop, and Blue Crab in Ponzu Jelly ($25). This was a nice refreshing turn after the shiokara.

On this evening it was Santa Barbara Uni, decent quality, meaty, slightly sweet, mildly astringent. We both loved the tender scallop….talk about sweet and tender. There was quite a bit of tasty, moist crab meat at the bottom of the cup. Perhaps not the best quality, but still quite good. The ponzu jelly helped to create a nice balance in flavors and tie the dish together.

Next up was the Homemade Agedashi Tofu with Mushroom Ankake Sauce $16).

My least favorite dish of the evening. The typical gooey-starchy ankake sauce lacked the woodsy-earthy flavor I enjoy from mushrooms. Even with the dashi backbone it was still quite bland. The tofu was a bit more firm than I enjoy in this type of dish as well.

The Missus's least favorite dish of the night; the Bone Marrow Dengaku ($12).

Deeply beefy in flavor it was just too much for the Missus; but I loved it. The miso wasn't over-powering and paired well with the buttery-rich bone marrow.

The Missus absolutely adored the Seared Uni ($30).

Initially we thought this was going to be a mushy mess; but the uni had kept it's shape well and was very sweet. It went well with the texture of the wakame; which added some crunch and made the actual nori strips somewhat superfluous. I let the Missus have most of this as She loved it so much.

We both thoroughly enjoyed the Tendon, Tongue, Sinew, and Tripe Stew ($18).

This was wonderfully beefy and savory; with just the right amount of savory (read – miso/soy sauce), tanginess (tomato), sweetness (probably mirin/sake)….we were begging for rice! The tendon and tripe were so tender; the tongue had a wonderful beefiness……that dried pesto toast was a travesty to a dish that truly deserved rice! This was wonderful; the flavors taking me back to Nagoya for some reason.

We decided to end the meal here. It was quite nice and I'm sure we'll return. Service was excellent. Again, reservation only, as several parties were turned away.

Kinjiro
424 E 2nd St. (In Honda Plaza)
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Since we had eaten dinner early, we decided to stroll around Little Tokyo a bit more. It was nice to see that an old favorite of the Missus was still going strong.

Though I wondered how much She'd still enjoy it here all these years later?

There's always something interesting to see around here.

At the stage in Japanese Village Plaza brave souls were trying their hand at karaoke.

We hung around a bit to cheer them on!

Wandering around a bit more; I noticed a shop, Karayama a fried chicken chain from Japan had opened in the area. I suddenly had a bit more capacity. At least enough for five pieces of Karaage. So while I waited for my five pieces to go…..

The Missus waited outside checking messages and such.

Sorry to say there's not a whole lot of photos on this one…..

We destroyed the hot, crisp, moist, tasty-but-not-salty pieces of chicken before the end of the block….we'll definitely have to return here!

Karayama
136 S Central Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Open Daily – 11am – 930pm

We got back to the hotel and got ready or bed. Our shuttle to the airport would be picking us up at 5am the next morning, so we needed to get to sleep early.

Still; I couldn't help but take a peek out the window to see if there was still a line outside Daikokuya……

Amtrak Pacific Surfliner to Los Angeles and a walk around Little Tokyo

February 3, 2019 mmm-yoso Airport/Airline/Cruise/Rail Food, Los Angeles County

*** Not much food in this post – so maybe you'll just like to come back tomorrow.

During the fall of 2018, the Missus and I looked back on how busy we'd been the last couple of years. We did have a good number of amazing trips and checked off a few bucket list items during that time. Still, it had been over four years since I was last "home". The Missus hadn't seen Her parents in ages it seemed. So it was time. I decided to use miles and points for some of the trip; so we decided to fly out of LAX…..not something I looked forward to; but heck first class is first class, right? We then decided to catch the train down to LA, something I hadn't done in over a decade. We also hadn't been to Little Tokyo in nine years! Once I planned things out; we quickly pulled the trigger.

And we caught the bus and trolley down to Santa Fe Depot to catch the Surfliner up to Union Station in LA.

The trolley was a lot busier than we anticipated on this day because of the Women's March……

But things went fairly smoothly. Our train left at noon. We'd had a small breakfast, but should have not worried since we were riding Business Class….which gets you this rather large "snack box".

One box was more than enough for the Missus and I; so we saved the other for later on. Some fairly healthy stuff……

There was a 20 minute delay in the OC; but I'd planned our arrival to be close to 3pm to coordinate our check-in at the Miyako Hotel. We were quite excited to check out Little Tokyo. When we lived in the SGV in the late 90's, we'd drop by Little Tokyo almost weekly and were wondering how things were in the area these days. We need not have worried; it was even more busy than we recalled. Our room in the Miyako Hotel overlooked 1st Street and at 3 in the afternoon, the lines for Little Tokyo favorite Daikokuya and Marugame Monzu, which wasn't even there when we last visited the area were pretty long.

We quickly freshened up and then headed out; with mixture of excitement of revisiting a pace that we loved when we lived in LA and dread, of possibly finding out some of old favorites were gone.

And while we were surprised at the crowds and all the Daiso like shops, it was nice to see that many old favorites were still there.

I'm not sure if you folks know; it was Frances Hashimoto, President of Mikawaya who invented mochi ice cream.

We took a right on 2nd and headed to Weller Court to see a monument I always try to visit when I'm in Little Tokyo.

Located on the street named after him is the Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial Monument. Way back on January 28th, 1986 it was quite early on a Tuesday morning in Honolulu. I was off from work; my eyes glued to the television for the launching of the Space Shuttle Challenger. It was to be an important launch for several reasons; Christa McAuliffe was to be the first Teacher, a civilian launched into space. Even more important to many of us in Hawaii, Ellison Onizuka, a Sansei from Kona, who had become the first Asian American in space the year before was part of the crew. Sadly, 73 seconds into the flight, the shuttle broke apart, killing all seven crew members aboard. It was a sad day and one I'll never forget.

From an address he made to the graduating class of Konawaena High School (his alma mater) in 1980"

"Your vision is not limited by what your eye can see, but by what your mind can imagine. Many things that you take for granted were considered unrealistic dreams by previous generations. If you accept these past accomplishments as commonplace then think of the new horizons that you can explore.

From your vantage point, your education and imagination will carry you to places which we won’t believe possible.

Make your life count – and the world will be a better place because you tried."

We took the corner back down on 1st street and was happy to see Anzen Hardware (est 1946), Fugetsu-do (1903) and Suehiro Café (1972) were still in business.

Which brought a smile to our faces. We need to drop by Suehiro again one of these days….

For now; it was time to take a short break and then head out to dinner……

Thanks for stopping by!

Clearing Out the Memory Card – Prime Grill Revisited

February 1, 2019 mmm-yoso Korean Restaurants

Just a short post with minimal verbiage tonight.

Weather like we're having is made for Korean……

So we headed back to Prime Grill.

The Missus enjoys the steamed egg – gyeran jjim here. It's silky and creamy and reminds Her of the Steamed Chinese Egg Custard She had as a child. She was in the mood for some "comfort" food.

The women working here always give the Missus a quizzical look when She asks for Sesame Oil for the egg. This one is all for the Missus.

We also had the Seolleongtang, which we really didn't enjoy. It was thin, didn't have much beef flavor and we had to add more (than the usual) amount of sea salt to this to ramp up the flavor.

While we had the Seolleongtang and egg; we let the Dolsot Bi Bim Bap sit and let the rice crust develop.

It did hit the spot.

What are you good folks having during this wet weather

Prime Grill
4620 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

Midweek Meanderings – Tram Chim Opens, Junz Closes, and Royal Garden Has Limited Hours

January 30, 2019 mmm-yoso Beer, Vietnamese Restaurants, yoso-silly

It's been a while since I've done one of these……

Tram Chim Opens in City Heights:

Two years ago, I mentioned that Ly's Garden was the last "man standing" of the former 54th St trifecta of Ly's, Lee's, and Lucky Star. Well that's no more as Tram Chim; yes, Tram Chim, the seafood specialist with restaurants in Garden Grove and Westminster has taken over the spot.

This is going to be an interesting addition, as folks who I know mentioned they are not particularly fond of the OC locations for either food, nor hygiene.

Tram Chim
4350 54th St
San Diego, CA 92115

Junz Teriyaki & BBQ Closes:

I noticed this last month when the Missus had Her hair appointment in the area.

Though I wasn't particularly fond of the food here; I know folks who liked the place. Looks like the Hanaoka "empire" has taken a hit.

As an aside….notice the little sticker on the left hand side? Hmmm……is that what's moving in?

3010 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Royal Garden Has Limited Hours:

The reason I ended up at Hoai Hue this past weekend, was that I drove by Royal Garden nd noticed they were closed! So I parked the car and took a look.

Not sure what's going on here…according to the sign it says they are only open on Thursday and Friday evenings. I'm hoping this is only for the short term.

Royal Garden
4201 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92105

LouZiana Food

January 29, 2019 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Cajun, Southern, and Soul Food, Sandwiches

**** LouZiana Food has closed

Here's a post that took it's sweet old time; photos ripening in one of my folders. I'd meant to post ages ago, but for some reason just kept on going back to try something else.

I'd actually seen the LouZiana Food Truck a couple of times, before seeing this brick-and-mortar shop which opened just a bit after our office moved to the UTC area.

The folks here are always quite welcoming and the menu; while priced on the high side for stuff served in Styrofoam, has all the standards from po-boys to gumbo. In terms of Creole versus Cajun; the restaurant clearly calls itself Cajun.

On my first visit; I decided to just go for something simple to take back to the office and ordered the Andouille Po-Boy (7" – $9.25) with a side of Cajun Fries ($2.75).

The fries were dusted with Cajun seasoning; paprika based, a good amount of black pepper. The fries hadn't held up real well during the 15 minute drive back to the office as they were on the dry side.

The Andouille had some heft, a decent chew, and was perfectly serviceable….as for taste…well, as you can see, they went super crazy with the remoulade, which kind of made this somewhat greasy in texture and really killed the flavor. The bread was saturated.

I needed a bit of time to recover from that mayo overload, so I waited awhile before my next visit. In the meantime, both Mary and Soo did posts (please check them out) on LouZiana. Both were positive; though were fried food based….I just can't put too much of that stuff away these days. Especially during a work day.

So; I went with the Cajun Combo; basically two 8 ounce cups of the "Cajun Classics" on the menu. I ordered the Gumbo and the Jambalaya, which came out to $14.

The baguette on this visit had seen better days and was dry and crumbly. The roux used for that Gumbo must have been really dark, totally a mahogany roux. It did strike me as being a bit on the bitter-greasy side, and other than the couple of pieces of sausage, the chicken had been reduced to stringy bits.

The Jambalaya fared better; the sausages were intact, and the dish was nicely flavored, quite balanced, not overly salty.

Another of couple of months pass and I decided to drop by again. This time I went with the Crawfish Étouffée and Red Beans & Rice, which came out to be $12.75.

The Étouffée was a bit on the thin side and had a rather strong "floral", herbaceous taste to it. There was a decent amount of crawfish in the Étouffée, along with a savory-oceany flavor that did not over-power the dish.

This wasn't too bad at all.

The Red Beans & Rice was my favorite of the two.

While I have my own version of this classic dish that I enjoy; this wasn't bad at all. A bit short on sausage and I prefer my RB&R a bit more smokey; but this had a nice creamy tongue feel, decent beaniness, and was rather pleasant to eat.

Which leaves us with my most recent visit. I decided to try another sandwich this time "Creole" style….basically with a different sauce. The upcharge from a regular shrimp po-boy is a bit over a buck fifty, making this $11.50.

The sandwich starred a dozen fried shrimp, fried up nicely, but kind of lacking in flavor. It still had a bit too much sauce on it; but at least this wasn't drowning in globs of a heavy mayo remoulade. I'm still not big fan of the baguette here; it's too chewy and not crusty enough.

While I wouldn't consider the food here to be of a particularly good value; nor really great in the ingredients category….frankly, I prefer Bud's, which isn't much more expensive. It's still not a bad choice at all.

LouZiana Food
7128 Miramar Rd.
San Diego, CA 92121
Hours:
Daily 11am – 8pm

Hoai Hue Vietnamese Restaurant Revisited

January 28, 2019 mmm-yoso Bun Bo Hue, Vietnamese Restaurants

I'd been passing Hoai Hue on most of my drives up to City Heights. This past weekend; a bit jet lagged, I decided to check them out again, since it had nearly three years since I last visited.

I ordered the usual; the "house special" version of Bun Bo Hue (they already have a Bun Bo Hue Dac Biet on the menu), the Bun Tam Hoai Hue.

I noticed that they now have different protein combinations for the BBH….even a "beginners" version. Heck, in the past the broth here had been quite mild, which I figured would have made a decent "beginners BBH".

As the bowl arrived I was somewhat surprised at the fragrance……the broth had a fairly good amount of fermented shrimp paste in it! A good change for a place that I considered to make a pretty weak BBH.

The broth still lacked a noticeable lemongrass flavor, but was decently spicy, and decently hot. It was also not as "sweet" as what I'd had on previous visits.

Another interesting change; the pork hock meat had been taken off the bone….it was very tough though. The meatballs were weirdly muddy tasting; though the thick slices of cha lua and shrimp balls were quite good. The tendon was too hard to enjoy.

The noodles were nicely prepped; firm and slippery.

And, in case you're concerned about me not eating enough vegetables.

Though the Bun Bo Hue is still not in the same league as Mien Trung, I was pleasantly surprised. The BBH here is now closer to my taste preference and definitely better than "Pho shop Bun Bo Hue". Service was efficient and the guy actuallu came by to see how I enjoyed my noodle soup. I'll try to drop by again soon.

Remember when this place was a couple of blocks down the street next to AA and a Tattoo Parlor? Man, time sure does fly, huh?

Hoai Hue Vietnamese Restaurant
4660 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA 92115

Niban (more visits)

January 27, 2019 Cathy Japanese Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! welcomes you back to peruse more meals consumed. Kirk is still busy and Cathy is writing again.

In 2006, again in 2010, once more in 2011, part of a mixed post in 2016, I've written about this fast/casual, inexpensive, good Japanese restaurant which has been part of our 'regular rotation' for more than a decade. This post is about our December and January visits.

The key to some of the more interesting items here is to check the walls and windows, although the menu itself is simple and good. One of the December window posters was this-Cheese Curry (with chicken) ($8.95). This included salad and a beverage. Well, this was different. Kirk said it is Yoshoku Food, - Westernized Japanese. The curry was, as always, great (there are shredded pieces of beef along with large pieces of carrots, onion and potatoes in the slightly sweet mixed flavor sauce). The cheese topping was different and a nice texture along with saltiness made this bowl of comfort a bit different. The window next to the entrance not only has a large menu, but the shelving underneath has a display of four specials for that day. On this day, the ginger chicken with fried gyoza Bento box ($8.25) was one of the specials. The dumplings can be steamed or fried; the top right corner has two small 'salad' sides- one of soy marinated bean sprouts and the other a salmon based chilled salad. The regular salad has a fresh ginger dressing and the ginger chicken was juicy (dark meat) along with mushrooms and zucchini. A hearty lunch.
When you walk in, just above and behind the cash register (where you order and pay before finding a table) is a small chalkboard with two 'Daily Lunch' Specials (now $7.25; each was $6.75 in December). This one is the 'Gyoza Lunch'. These are the steamed gyoza, which I like just a little more than the fried ones. The filling is the same (more pork than vegetable) the skin is nice and thin. The miso soup is standard and good, as is the salad and (large serving of) rice.
The Bento lunch ($7.25) has three pieces of fried seafood (shrimp, fish and squid in this case), one inari (sweet tofu skin filled with rice, topped with crab), six California rolls and some of that salmon salad. Again, a good lunch.

There is a six seat sushi bar, where many people enjoy their meals (walk up and have a seat and pay after).

Niban 7081 Clairmont Mesa Blvd San Diego 92111 (858)268-0465 Open Mon-Th 11-2:30, 5-9:30 Fri-Sat 11-2:30, 5-10 Sun 4:30-9:30

P.F. Changs (a first visit)

January 26, 2019 Cathy Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Chains, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food. Kirk is out and about and taking a short vacation. Cathy is writing about a meal.

Yep, this is another Gift Card post. I don't regift and have friends who sincerely want The Mister and I to try some of their favorite places; we have never been to P.F. Changs and were in Mission Valley on a beautiful, clear day and I had the Gift Card in my pocket. The surreal Las Vegas casino-like giant horses out front of each location of this Asian themed, casual chain restaurant greet you.

Along with a tastefully decorated interior.
A pot of (caffeinated) ginger-peach tea was ordered ($3.75). It's by Republic of Tea and very similar to the Plantation Peach tea I usually buy from the Charleston Tea Plantation (the only tea grown in America). I must have hot tea with Asian meals.
As we were being seated, we noticed that every table had this: the first choice at the top left of the menu (under "Street Fare"). So, we had to. Lettuce Wraps (chicken or tofu; we chose chicken) $11.50. A 'secret family recipe', 'signature dish', the do-it-yourself slightly sweet, slightly spicy chopped melange of chicken, water chestnuts, green onion, crisp noodles and chilled iceberg lettuce with a bit more of the sauce was delicious.
Also from the 'Street Fare' section: Tempura Shrimp and Vegetables ($11.95). Lightly battered plump, sweet shrimp, bell peppers spinach and carrots served with a Sriracha/sweet aioli. This was also quite good.
From the 'Lunch' section of the menu, we decided to share the Chiang Mai Noodle Bowl ($11.95). Egg noodles and marinated chicken in a coconut curry broth, some crispy wonton strips with fresh grape tomatoes and flat leaf parsley. Once all mixed, this was also a great mix of flavor and texture. Quite satisfying.
We still have more than $50 left on the gift card. It's good food and there is much more to try.

P.F. Changs 7077 Friars Road San Diego 92108 website Open daily 11-11

Eating inside HMart

January 24, 2019 Cathy Korean Restaurants, Markets & Grocers, What Cathy Eats!

Here you are, reading mmm-yoso!!!, a blog about food, again. Welcome. Kirk is enjoying some time off and Cathy is writing.

We've had HMart in San Diego since 2012. There are only a few 'food court' selections inside the store, unlike at the Super H Mart in Diamond Bar (mentioned in the middle of that post). There is one "Enter" and one "Exit" door. To the right of the 'Enter" is a small kitchen, cooking and wrapping food for those who want to 'Grab and Go'. There is a small seating area (including two corner chairs which are useless). The kitchen prepared meals are pictured above the 'By the Pound' items. ($8.50/lb)(Hot or Cold)
The hot items are plentiful, protein based (other than rice) and kept fresh, since the cooking area is three steps behind the trays.
The cold area has a great selection, especially if you are thinking about buying something you've seen pre-packed in the refrigerated area of the store. There's also sliced sushi roll pieces, pork and tofu if you want cold protein.
We grabbed a few items on this visit before beginning to shop. Cold items were kimchi, seaweed salad and marinated mushrooms. All were good (nice flavor/mild heat of kimchi) and complimentary to the hot items- fried squid, fried head-on shrimp and breaded, fried pork in a sweet sauce. Total for these two boxes was $6. The item on the bottom right was just packed (still warm) and placed in the open refrigerated area.
Pan fried crab cake ($3.50). Fresh vegetables, plenty of crab, crispy fry. A good meal on its own.