Spring Wave: Braised Pork with Deep Fried Stewed Eggs

I didn't have anything to do for lunch on Independence Day. When my friend Christine texted me that morning to see what I was doing before the BBQ I had at my friend's place later in the evening, I decided to hang out with her. Of course our definition of hanging out in San Gabriel is basically eat. Spring Wave had a new owner, who was a friend of her boss. Christine had to pick up a to-go order for her boss, so we decided we may as well eat there out of convenience. The owner happened to be in today because she forgot it was a holiday and was understaffed. She was kind to give us suggestions to eat. She eventually recommended me to try the...

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An Institution Known As Sam Woo

For as long as I have been living in San Gabriel, Sam Woo was here. It was never one of my favorite, but I never disliked anything they made. Perhaps it was the long lines from the hordes of people that hovers around the restaurant almost all the time, or perhaps it's the tight space the tables and chairs occupy. A few years back, maybe even more then ten years ago or so, Sam Woo opened a second store near my home. This one was far less crowded then the original. Somehow it also feels just a bit less desirable than the original. (Wonton and Duck Egg Noodle Soup) Sam Woo to me is synonymous to wontons. If anything, I must give them...

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An Alternative Hong Kong Kitchen

I have eaten my fair share of Hong Kong style cuisine. If there was such a thing as being a professional consumer of Hong Kong style cuisine, I would be it. But Hong Kong Kitchen in San Gabriel showed me there can still be some things up their sleeves that I have yet to try. (Vegetarian Jai Lo Mei Sampler) Their signature dish Jai Lo Mei. I know it's nothing new, and that many Buddhist restaurants have served this dish for many years. But I rarely actually frequent those restaurants since my family's not Buddhist. Nevertheless, eating these marinated tofu skin was of a different, but appealing experience. They came in four different flavors...

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Papa Walk Has More Than Shaved Ice

I have been to Papa Walk a few times before. I've always loved their shaved ice as dessert. But this time I ended up going for the actual meal. I did crave for their shaved ice, but since there were only two of us, we didn't order it. I had been eating a lot recently and I wanted to cut down a little. (Beef With Spinach Noodle Soup) (Spinach Noodle) I had tried a few of the Taiwanese dishes Papa Walk offered on their menu before. This time my dad went for the Taiwanese beef stew noodles, which contained spinach noodle instead of egg noodles. The soup was not overly heavy, which is to my liking. I don't like my food to be way too heavy...

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Crazy Toppings With Crazy Pricing At Mulberry Street Pizzeria

New York or Chicago? I had seen all those Travel Channel shows debating the merits of each style. Up until now, I hadn't given much of any thought since I never had real authentic New York or Chicago pizza. So when my friends suggested that we check out Mulberry Street Pizzeria, I jumped on this chance to try some supposedly very good New York style thin crust pizzas. (Lemon Iced Tea) Like most of my meals, I had a cup of lemon iced tea to go with my food. Mulberry Street's tea was just your standard teabag type brew. There really wasn't anything special about it. It was at least flavorful and not watery and that's pretty much all I can...

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I'm Not Blind at Green Island

One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to restaurants is how they could serve the same thing at the same table at the same time but the two are not the same. I usually get pretty annoyed when I see another table get the same thing but their portion is bigger or better looking etc. But when it's for the same table, that's when it's beyond apprehension. I was out with a new friend a couple weeks ago to the new Green Island at the new Atlantic Plaza in Monterey Park. I had enjoyed Green Island in Temple City before and was expecting to enjoy this new one. I did hear some mixed reviews on the quality of this place. One of the complaint before...

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I Can't Smell the Tofu at Young Dong Tofu

Somewhere along my life, I started to fall in love with tofu. All those childhood myths where we grow up to find things previously disgusting to us enjoyable are true. I love my tofu, whether firm or silky. Needless to say Korean tofu houses are on my frequently visited list of places to eat. Young Dong Tofu happened to be very close to my house, and it also happened to be pretty good. On this day, I was originally going to just stay home and eat. But my vegetarian friend Ko was in the mood for some Korean tofu. Apparently everyone else she normally goes to eat tofu with is sick of eating tofu except me. So I happily obliged. Like most Korean...

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Guppy House with Guppy Showmanship

It isn't everyday where I venture down to Irvine to have a meal. It is even rarely that I would have Asian food so far south. But this last Wednesday afternoon, I happened to have a little bit of free time, so I hoped onto my car with a friend and went down to the OC to meet up with a third friend and had a little mini OC adventure. We started off the afternoon actually exploring the various parts of the OC. We ventured off to the Korean Friendship Bell down in San Pedro. Following we stopped by Long Beach and spent a little time on the boardwalk. We then stopped by Signal Hill to see the lights of greater Los Angeles. Finally we ended up in...

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Baccali Cafe & Rotisserie: An Appetizing Appetizer-Entree.

I know I go to a lot of Cantonese cafes. I eat, sleep and breath in the aura of this part of my own culture. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that I have yet another post on another cafe. Though Baccali is for the most part a Cantonese cafe, it does emphasize itself on its rotisserie as well as bring in some non-standard Cantonese Cafe dishes to its tables. My friend and I got a little hungry and decided to grab a bite to eat. We have already went to a bunch of the other cafes around town and Baccali was one of the few remaining that we have yet dined together at. So we decided it may be time to just drop by. The interior of the restaurant...

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Relax, Kick Back, It's China Bistro

I was snowboarding with my friend George up at Mountain High this Monday morning. Since we both had rather flexible schedules, we would always go early morning on a weekday to avoid the crowd but still get back in time in the afternoon to get some work done the rest of the day. Usually we would grab some food at a fastfood joint and be done with lunch. But that day we decided to grab a bite at a cafe instead; we ended up at China Bistro. This place over ten years ago used to be a MacDonald's that moved down the street. Since then it had changed hands a couple of times and now it had become China Bistro, a Cantonese cafe that served only the Chinese...

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What's up with all the island restaurants? Revisiting Gourmet Island

A friend of mine did a project a year ago that consisted of taking pictures of food from a bunch of restaurants down Valley Blvd. in the San Gabriel Valley. While she was doing her research, she discovered the enormous amount of restaurants being named with the word Garden and Happy. Lately I discovered a few places being named with the word island. I initially thought it was a Taiwanese thing to do since Taiwan is an island. But then when I discovered Gourmet Island, I couldn't figure out what island had to do with their Chiu Chow style cuisine. I personally have a Chiu Chow heritage. I am seven-eighth Chiu Chow and one-eighth Hakka. I'm no...

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