Fluff Ice ★★★ 1/4

Green Tea Snow Ice with Red Beans (Mini) $3

Thai Tea Snow Ice with Taro Pudding (Mini) $3

Fluff Ice is located in Atlantic Times Square.  They now offer the new trend of Snow Shaved Ice, which is similar to class 302 and Salju.  They have the most choices out there.  You get less for your money compared to other shaved ice places and the quality tends to lag here as well.  The ice melted quicker than other places, which is a bit unusual.  What is most disappointing is that Mochi is considered a premium topping and costs 50 cents more.  

Avoid the Taro Pudding; stick with traditional one like red beans or fruit.  This place can get quite dirty at times, especially during peak hour. 

If you happen to be in the plaza then this is a good place to try, especially on a hot day.

Ice Cream Lab ★★★★ 1/2

Nitrogen Gas turn to yummy ice cream !

Blue Velvet Ice Cream

Turn to ice from the cupcake.

This is not your typical ice cream shop; they use extreme, cold nitrogen gas to make the ice cream. Sounds to me like some chemist making products, which it is true in a sense, but in a sweet way.

They have 4 standard flavors. I picked the blue velvet, which is basically a cupcake flavor. It does take a couple of minutes for them to make your ice cream, so on a hot summer day, expect a long wait.  

The ice cream is so goooood, and the waffle cone tastes great as well. A bit of work is needed to get your sweet reward, though. Parking is street only, and there's no outside seating. The price is also higher than most ice cream shops, but since this is Beverly Hills, it's to be expected. Seems like a unique take on a well-known dessert. I'll bet that many new ice cream shops will use this technique in the near future.

Din Tai Fung ★★★ 1/2

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Juice Pork Dumpling ($7.75)

Pork Fried Rice ($6.50)  

Shrimp & Pork Shao Mai ($9.50)

Rice Cake with Shrimp ($9.00)

This is the busiest and most popular Dumpling House in California. There is always a line!

[PARKING] - Parking here can be challenging almost all the time.  Park near the east west bank where you more than likely have a better shot finding a spot than you would in the 1108 location.

[DÉCOR] - Modern looking interior but nothing really stands out; they have wood tables and chairs.

[SERVICE] - Despite the fact that this is considered an upscale Chinese restaurant service was very slow and I had to raise my hand several times to ask for a menu and refill my tea.

[FOOD] - We ordered 4 dishes total which took a long time to come out especially the rice cake.

Juice Pork Dumpling ($7.75) - One of the best pork dumplings I've tasted, but there was a piece there that was clearly dry and out of shape.

Shrimp & Pork Shao Mai ($9.50) - Sounded and looked like the Cantonese version of Shumai, but looks better, however the quality isn't as good especially when compared to high end Dim Sum places like King Hua or Sea Harbour.  The shrimp was basically just at the top of the pork and wasn't mixed together like Shumai. 

Pork Fried Rice ($6.50) - Small portion, but the fried rice was not bad at all and tasted similar to Newport Fried Rice, but their portion is like twice as big for the same price as lunch.

Rice Cake with Shrimp ($9.00) - Tiny portion just like the fried rice but the quality wasn't that good; the rice cake is disappointing due to lack of flavor.

Bottom line is this is a place to go if you want the best pork dumpling in town, you will pay more and expect a long wait, but for any other dish it is simply not worth it and overpriced for the quality and quantity.  Service definitely needs to improve.

Capital Seafood ★★★ 1/2

Lobster with Rice Noodle ($9.99) Delicious but only available in Dim Sum Hour.

Shrimp with Mustroom - Good

Sticky Rice without the wrap.

Nice Decor

This is my 20th Dim Sum Restaurant review for the San Gabriel Valley - not even in China are there as many dim sum places in one region! 

Capital Seafood has been around for some time. It is one of the staple restaurants that serve dim sum and seafood, and is actually more famous for hosting weddings since the decor is quite nice. This review will be based only on the dim sum experience.

Parking can be very difficult especially on the weekends  since it shares the plaza with 99 Ranch supermarket.  

Lobster with Rice Noodle $9.99 - Must-get item! The lobster meat is fresh and there are strong flavors. I suggest getting the Yee Mein noodle instead.

The dim sum, in general, is a disappointment here, with no stand-outs. Despite coming in at 1 pm, many of the items have been sitting in the cart for a long time. The quality and taste are similar to New Capital which is far cheaper. 

Tips: There's a place for take-out dim sum which is located next to Kee Wah Bakery in the same plaza.  Basically leftovers for which you can get discount prices after 4pm. 

Since dim sum is so competitive in the area, unless you really want the lobster noodle and like the decor, there are at least 5 other dim sum restaurants within a 1-mile radius.

Mikawaya ★★★★ 1/2

Green Tea Gelato

Who doesn't like Mochi or Gelato? This place has both! Located in the Little Tokyo Village Plaza. Definitely a spot to stop by after a meal. It was my first time and definitely not my last time. Here are the two items I ordered:

Green Tea Mochilato 
- This is a popular item according to the staff. I can definitely taste the green tea and great texture of the Mochi. 

Pistachio Gelato 
- Good chunk of pistachio but not creamy enough, and a bit icy. 

Mochi is what you should get here, as ice cream is clearly not their specialty. Staff is helpful, good value for what you get. There are plenty of tables inside.

Kang Hodong Baekjeong ★★★★ 1/2

Prime Boneless Short Ribs $25.99

Seared Pork Belly $18.99

Kimchi Fried Rice $6.99

This restaurant was rated as one of the top 3 Korean BBQ restaurants in Los Angeles; if you want the best meat quality and service then look no further.  Expect to pay more due to their use of top quality meats. The Bachan wasn't top notch but, definitely not bad. The grill is using charcoal instead of gas !

[Food] - Only ordered 2 meats since the party wasn't in the mood for a lot of  meat.

Prime Boneless Short Ribs $25.99 - Their short ribs blow away any other ribs I have eaten in all other restaurants.  Every piece was juicy and cut perfectly with nice marbling throughout, now that's what prime meat should look and taste like. Their's wasn't frozen at all.

Seared Pork Belly $18.99 - This pork belly tasted so delicious without the need to add any sauce; it was so flavorful.

Kimchi Fried Rice $6.99 - Skip this one since you'd enjoy a much better version elsewhere.

[Parking] - Just like most KBBQ places you have to stick with their valet parking which is only $2 with validation.  Street parking is very hard to find even on a weekday.

[Décor]- Nothing fancy here, no TV and the restroom can only occupy one person at a time.

[Service] - Top notch  Almost all the cooking was done by the servers which is rare in most KBBQ places. 

[Tips] - This place's entrance is in the valet parking section, you can't get to the restaurant from the street side.

Fugetsu-Do ★★★★ 1/2

Fogetsu-Do is a historical Mochi bakery that is probably older than your grandparents. The business is family run by down to earth people.  They make the Mochi in house so it is as fresh as can be. You can taste the quality with the first bite, especially the red bean filling.   Their method of making Mochi is traditional so you know what they say? "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Parking is on the street and only by meter, but is free on Sundays.  They have so many Mochi selections that it would be hard to walk away with just a few.  For those wondering how the quality is compared to the supermarket one then it is like a day and night comparison.  Price is very reasonable; only a little over a buck each for their regular size one and their smaller ones are sold as a pack.

Tips:   Hot day goes to Mikawaya for their ice cream Mochi and cold day head here and you are good to go all year round for all your Mochi needs.

New Capital Seafood Restaurant ★★★

Lobster promotion item in dinner - dirt cheap is what drive most people here.

Cheapest Dim Sum in L.A. but definite also one of the worst.

o_0 You get what you paid for o_0

This place is very popular among your average Chinese family since it offers the lowest dim sum price in L.A. ($1.39 per dish on the weekdays) and always has some attractive promotion items for dinner.

Parking is manageable during the weekdays except Friday and the weekend is just like most places.  Dim Sum hour is always packed here.  As someone who has tried all of the dim sum restaurants in San Gabriel Valley, I will say that the dim sum quality is worse than before the price drop.  The dinner here is always the same -- very inconsistent quality.  Their most popular promotion deal was the lobster, which is clearly not fresh, and the taste suffers from heavy use of oil and grease. 

Sure, the deal here almost sounds like a steal, but the reality is that the quality here is pretty poor with most items and that also applies to the service, which is among the worst for this type of restaurant.  Everyone will have a different opinion, but if you value quantity and value then this would be place for you -- just don't come here with high hopes for quality food.

The Big Photo Show

55" 4K TV

The Big Photo Show is not big at all if you compare it to the NAB show in Las Vegas. This show operates on a much smaller scale in only one hall of the convention center. This is their very first show, although they may run more shows in the future. Admission is free if you pre-register online, but if you're paying at the door, it will cost you $25!

The only major camera retail brand in the show is Sony. They display almost all of their consumer cameras, a few professional cameras and camcorders, plus an amazing $4K television which will probably blow you away!

The show is not designed so much for professionals as it is for amateurs. People with nice cameras monopolize the photo shoots, which can be annoying for those who might want to take a close-up of the models. The models from the studio trying to sell you packages also offer short 15 to 20 minute lessons about camera skills.

Sammy, a local camera shop, is one of the few vendors at the event who offered "no sales tax" as their biggest selling point. It would have been nice to see even more camera retailers. The show isn't too bad but there's a lot of room for improvement.

Avalanche Shave Ice Rating ★★

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30 flavors

Self Serve can be messy.

This is likely the only Hawaiian style shave ice shop in San Gabriel Valley so far, coming from someone who always craves for something new.  Parking is in the street only, and not hard to find unless you come here at night or the weekend.

Décor here is pretty simple with a few tables and chairs.  They offer 3 different sizes of shaved ice, any toppings cost extra, but they've got 30 flavors of syrups, which is all self-serve.  

Cup isn't big, but they give you a lot of shaved ice, so this could backfire and cause a mess later.  The shaved ice is not snow ice quality by any means -- it tasted too much like those cheap versions of shaved ice which you can do it yourself since its very inexpensive.  

Most of the syrups taste the same to me with just a slight difference and tasted too artificial. Afterwards, my stomach was not feeling well and I got diarrhea. If you've never tried Raspados Mexican version of shaved Ice), it is healthier and uses natural fruit juices instead of syrups.

Caffè Italiano ★★★ 1/2

"One does not live by bread alone."

Located near the Alhambra High School, Caffè Italiano is one of the newest restaurants in Alhambra. Parking here is mostly street or in the four-hour public structure. 

Décor is very simple, all white paint. Hanging on the walls are some nice Italian paintings. There is a treasure box filled with Italian pasta. And there's one TV installed. The food was pretty mediocre at best, but they do give you free bread. We ordered two entrées using a Yelp Deal.

Spaghetti con Polpette $12 - This is a classic. The meatballs are homemade yet taste very plain. The sauce is pretty good, as is the pasta. 

Panino Della Mamma $9 - I enjoyed this one more, although the item name is kinda misleading since the bread used is not panini at all. But, it was toasted perfectly, the chicken cutlet was delicious and hot, and the sauce used is just mayo, which was unexpected. The side salad, unfortunately, tasted like leftovers.

Service is pretty good and friendly, but the food takes awhile to come out. They do, however, sell Italian coffee and dessert, the price is slightly cheaper than what you pay in typical Italian restaurants, and they don't sell pizza here. The lunch deals are great, and I'll probably come back for coffee, too. 3.5 stars, in my opinion - since it's new, there's always room for improvement.

Rose City Pizza ★★★ 2/3

Despite been drive or walk by here many times, finally got a chance to try this highly rated Pizza place.  Parking isn’t an issue; the parking lot is pretty big.  This was like the only local non franchise restaurant in the plaza I think.

Despite is kind of small décor; many patrons here are for takeout.  They got one television showing the game so this would be popular spot to watch Lakers and other sport teams.   They are proud of their work, and showing certification that they staff are train by top pizza school.  Their pizza is fully customizable; in fact you can order as many toppings as it can fit in your personal 8” pizza for $7.50.  There’s also a cheaper option for $5 one topping personal pizza when you check in with the Yelp Apps.

It takes like little over 5 minutes to get my pizza done after I pick the topping.  Their pizza dough is very good and better than most especially at this price range, probably has a lot to do with the training they receive from the school.  Since I order the spinach is not bad didn’t like the tomato sauce that much.  The staff are friendly and cool, however there were a dead cockroach in the restaurant, If you are around wanted pizza better than those franchise and don’t want to paid $$ for it, this definite worth to try.  They also serve burger and pasta.