Recently, the Missus and I was wondering how some of our old favorites were doing in LA and OC. We decided to drive on up and stay the night at the Courtyard by Marriott on Atlantic.
So, we headed on up and arrived at area on Garfield near Garvey just after 11am. And easily found street parking! On a Saturday? What the heck?
Qing Dao Bread Food:
Even though we hadn't been back here in over five years it looks basically the same.
QDBF had long been a favorite of ours for Jiaozi and there's an endearing quality to the place for the Missus. After all, She's from QingDao. She gets a kick from hearing the "Qingdao Hua" (青岛话) – the unique accent of Her home town. And every time we come here we recall the story of my MIL calling the place when the Missus told her that I thought the Jiaozi here rivaled hers! In case you missed it:
"the Missus called Her Mother….and guess what, Her Mother actually called QDBF! Among the things my MIL did find out was that the Owners are from the same neighborhood as the Missus's family. What She didn't find out was the recipe to their Jiaozi dough! Even using small talk and the "La Guan Xi" (doing the buddy-buddy thing) method didn't work. The response to the recipe request? "You come here eat, and we'll tell you the recipe!""
She never did get that recipe…….
Anyway, we ordered the Pork Tongue, the Shrimp, Pork, and Leek Jiaozi, and the Lamb Jiaozi (of course).
We were served glasses of water. Not really paying attention I took a sip….it was boiled water! We cracked up; it's how they serve water in China!
The pig tongue was as expected, fairly chewy and very porky. Quite typical.
The one thing that has changed over the years at QDBF is the garlic. Garlic is the traditional condiment served with Jiaozi and other dishes in QingDao. Mixed with black vinegar, I always call it the Missus's "little dish of memories". When we first visited, it was done the traditional way, pounded in a mortar and pestle, the bruising releases the oils and flavors, and the garlic is surprisingly rich and mellow. Sadly, on our last visit, it had been minced in a food processor. You may think it's strange, but the flavor and texture is totally different, it's much more bitter in our opinion.
The jiaozi arrived in tandem.
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.
The wrappers on the Lamb Jiaozi was the same.
But man, that filling was so gamy, moist, juice just poured out of it when I took a bite.
While the wrappers were not "perfect" on this visit, we still have to find jiaozi we like better. It was also quite fun to take this little trip down memory lane. Hopefully we won't wait another five years to return.
Qing Dao Bread Food
301 North Garfield Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91754
After lunch we decided to take a stroll and were surprised to see how quiet things were; especially in the shopping plaza on the corner of Garfield and Garvey. Also, most folks we passed were of the older demographic. We hadn't been around here since before Covid and the place seemed to be missing the vitality that we remember. It seems that younger folks have moved on and away from the area, or did the shooting in January of this year have even more of affect of things? We stopped by Ten Ren Tea Time and the Missus got some Oolong for Her collection.
We got to the huge Courtyard by Marriott and was able to check in early. We went and took another stroll across the street to Atlantic Times Square and found that other than AMC, Daiso, and a couple of restaurants, many of the businesses were empty as well. What the heck? This had the Missus wondering how Focus Plaza, i.e. San Gabriel Square was doing. One of the Missus's first jobs waaaay back when was located here. We were shocked to easily find parking and then while walking around…..
Of course, the 99 Ranch Market was going strong. It seemed that all the businesses surrounding this mall was doing good business, so I went online to check and found that the mall will being undergoing renovation starting in August and will be rebranded as TAWA (the owners of 99 Ranch Market) Gateway. Whew…..
We then headed off to dinner. We last visited Bistro Na's on our way back from Monument Valley and Sedona. One Michelin Star Bistro Na's has become a favorite of ours since we first visited back in 2019 and we've revisited half a dozen times since. Though we hadn't been back in over a year.
Unlike where we had visited earlier, Camellia Square and the surrounding area was quite busy.
Bistro Na's:
As always, the service at Bistro Na's was top notch. Sadly, several of our favorite dishes were no longer on the menu. Though our "key" dishes were.
Like the refreshing Chili Tofu Skin.
And the smoky and tender Beijing Style Smoked Duck Breast.
The Crisp Shrimp is a must order here.
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.
As for new dishes; well, we ordered the Bittermelon with Pickled Garlic.
This was delici-yoso! Totally suan-tian-ku-la-xian! Sour and mildly sweet tones, tamed the bitterness initially. There's some Sichuan Peppercorn in this to numb you. The bittermelon comes on strong at the end for an interesting finish.
The Intestine with Laba Garlic was not quite at the same level.
The intestine was cooked perfectly, great texture and offal-ly flavors. But the sourness overpowered the dish and that garlic was potent and very bitter. Still, not a bad dish.
We did miss the okra and crispy lamb brisket. Hopefully, those dishes will be back on the menu soon.
Bistro Na's
9055 Las Tunas Drive
Temple City, CA 91780
We took an after-dinner stroll before heading back to our hotel to relax.
As the sun went down, we looked out at Atlantic Times Square and noticed that many of the residential units seemed empty as well.
The next morning, we were up in the air about where to eat before heading home. I noticed that there was a Dim Sum place in the hotel named Chef Tony.
I did some research and found that Chef Tony is owned by Tony He of Sea Harbour. Hmmm…..while a bit fascinated, our last visit to Sea Harbour was not very good. We decided to pass. Instead, we decided to drop by another old favorite that we hadn't been to in a while, Song Long. In fact, like QDBF, we hadn't been back to Song Long in over five years!
Song Long:
We arrived around 930 on a Sunday and the place was empty when we walked in. The staff looked like they've put on some years as well.
We had to chuckle when the bread was brought to the table.
We ordered our usual; the Cha Ca Thang Long.
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.
But, if we had any reservations about the Cha Ca, those were soon quelled when our sizzling plate arrived.
From the caramelized shallot to the tender fish, which almost had a mild sweetness to it, this was quite good.
The place filled up as we were finishing up our meal.
And though I have another location for Cha Ca in the area on my "list"; this really hit the spot.
Song Long Restaurant
9361 Bolsa Ave Suite 108
Westminster, CA 92683
We enjoyed this little road trip. It was good to know that our "old favorites" were still serving up food that we enjoy.
Thanks for stopping by!
Arriving home, I quickly unpacked things and immediately went for the item I 
As you can see, the Missus was all about the tamago on this day. This bowl had a lot of "stuffs"; scallion, spinach, bean sprouts, cabbage. The best item in the entire bowl was the menma which had a wonderful texture and the earthy-soy sauce tones were on point. The two slices of "chashu", I use the quotation marks because the two thin slices were not pork belly, it was lean and tough. 
Ramen was the first to arrive. The broth is indeed lighter, though there were some nice globules of fat in it. I thought it was on the overly salty side and pretty one-dimensional in flavor, though that might be written off to the sodium overload. The chashu; which had a nice "fat cap", was thinly sliced, with a wonderful soy-porkiness to it and very tender. The tamago was also nicely cooked and marinated but was ice cold, a pet peeve of mine.
This version came with a small "pile" of veggies – mostly bean sprouts, some carrots and spinach, etc…..for what seems to be a two dollar upcharge that's not really worth the price. The shio broth seemed even lighter than the shoyu version, less rich, but not as salty. For some reason, there was a pungency like that of white pepper that resonated with me. I preferred this broth to the shoyu version.
Apparently some noodles were stuck together during the cooking process and melded into a hard, inedible ball of gluten madness. Oh man, what a bummer. I showed this to the young man working who was speechless and told me "sorry" and then walked away. Soon someone else brought me my check! So, perhaps I was in an alternate universe at that moment having lunch at Kita-"
I enjoyed that the bread was airy, crusty, and slightly yeasty. The bright and acidic pickled veggies pared well with the good amount of cilantro which was mostly leaves…having a banh mi full of cilantro stems is a pet peeve of mine. There were two slices of sinus clearing jalapenos in the sandwich. I enjoyed the savory, slightly sour, nem nuong, which also had a nice slightly chewy-meaty texture.
