Review: Shanghai No 1 Seafood Village ★★★★

Shui Mai was done it right

House Signature bun (Pan Fried Pork Bun) - Must get this nuff said !

Hot Stone Fried Rice - Not that great.

Upscale Decor

The best egg tart that I eat in L.A.

Some of the finest Chinese Restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley were those franchise  coming from a China (Sea Habour and King Hua).  Their price is a bit higher, but you are getting a higher quality.  The latest popular franchise addition here is Shanghai No.1 Seafood Village.

This review based on my two Dim Sum visits here during the week.

[Location] -  Located in a plaza with nothing but Chinese Restaurants where none of them have Cantonese Cuisine. 

[Parking] - Parking can be challenging on the weekend, but is manageable.

[Déco] -  The best décor for a Chinese Restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley hands down. Some of my friends that have described this place said it reminded them of when they were in China

[Service] -  Service is pretty good since this is considered an upscale restaurant.  The waiter's English is limited, so I suggest bringing someone who can speak Mandarin.

[Food]  - The price of dim sum ranges from $1.98 to $6.98

Shrimp Dumpling (M) - Not bad, good size, but wasn't fresh.

Pork & Shrimp Dumpling (M) - So good and was very tender.

Beef Ball with Orange Peel Sauce (S) - Great value and the Beef Balls are cooked a perfect medium well.

Steamed Rice Noodle with Spare Ribs (L) - The rice noodles were handmade which resulted in an excellent texture, but the ribs were mediocre at best.

Steamed Preserved Salty Egg Yolk Burn (M) - This tasted on par with King Hua and Sea Habour. The buns were hot and the Yolk will just melt in your mouth.

Baked BBQ Pork Bun (S) - Delicious and cheap.

Pan Fried Shanghai Style Bun (M) - Get this... nuff said! This is why people come here.

Pork with Thousand Egg Congee (SP) - The Congee was actually good but not worth for that price.

Stone Hot Pan Fried Rice with Pork ($8.99) - Some claim this is the best Fried Rice that they have ever had and I feel while it is very good that it is certainly not the best. It smells excellent and the rice had great texture but lacked meat,
The Dim sum quality isn't as good as King Hua or Sea Habour's but can gave the elites a run for the money. Most of their dishes are cheaper too.

The main reason why you should come is to try their Pan Fried Shanghai Style Bun which also served at dinner time; it is their signature and and one of a kind in the World.

After having a good experience twice with Dim Sum at lunch I came here Friday Night to try dinner to find out it wasn't the same quality and the service was noticeably slower than lunch. 

The food was a mixed result; some came out well, but others were just no good like the Fried Lamb Shop with Fries as it was too fatty and had hardly any meat.  The house special Braised Pork was very good but not worth the premium price.  I like the fact that you can still order the Pan Fried Buns at night; they were not as good quality as their Dim Sum, but still tasted good. 

I would come back here for Dim Sum, but not for dinner.  We were surprised to find that there was no waiting on a Friday night for dinner.

Review: Benten Ramen ★★★★

Free Roobos or Green Tea when order any Ramen

Reasonable priced ramen.

Ger your money worth here.

First of all, this place isnot part of the Benten Ramen chain in Japan. This Ramen Shop used to be Ton Chan Ramen.

[Location] - Located right next to the popular Golden Deli on the street between Mission and San Gabriel Blvd.

[Parking] – Parking is mostly management, but if it is getting full then just park on the Side Street.

[Décor]  -  Nothing to write home about. It has a very simple interior that lacks a TV and Restroom.

[Service] – Excellent service where the waiter gave us useful information about Ramen and their Tea.

[Food]  -  All orders of Ramen come with choice of green or organic Rooibos Tea.  Also their Ramen comes with the free small sushi rice bowl upon request. The portion of Ramen they give you is pretty generous. The Ramen I chose was Tsukemen.  You dip the Ramen into the broth bowl. The broth has a much heavier flavor but a smaller portion than other broth. The noodles were pretty big, but it seemed like the Udon was very chewy. 

Overall I was impressed with this place. I would definitely come back again to try the other Ramen. Each Ramen uses different noodles and broths.

Tip: Get $1 off a topping when you check in with your Yelp App.

Review: Miss Coffee ★★★★ 1/3

$16 Green Tea Shaved Ice - Not Worth it !

This one is located right next to Don Day Restaurant.  One thing that will shock you is their menu price; they charge $6 for just about any coffee.  You get one free refill, so it isn’t too bad.  The Shaved Ice costs $14 but is equal to 8 bowls. The ice isn’t Snowed Shaved Ice, but tasted more like Hawaiian Shaved Ice with some fruit options as well as Mocha. Few Yelpers in the reviews mention that this one is better than Class 302, but probably because this is one of the only few places that serves Shaved Ice in K-Town. 

Only in K-Town do you get a coffee shop named Mr. and Miss Coffee.  We settle for Miss Coffee since it is located in the same plaza as Don Day.  Despite the fact that this is a coffee shop their most popular item here is their Shaved Ice.  The Shaved Ice here is huge, but so is the price tag.  Costing over $14 to $16 per Shaved Ice it kind of reminds me of Guppy House.  This is not Snowed Shaved Ice but Hawaiian Style with fruits and Mocha for toppings.  Their ice melts too quickly and is too sweet.  Some of the group orders coffee which costs a whopping $6 each although it does come with one free refill, even that some said isn’t worth it. 

If you want some coffee or Shaved Ice and are around the area for KBBQ then this place is worth a try.

Review: Don Day ★★★★ 1/3

Brisket was delicious !

Tiger Prawn in option B

Curry Pork Belly was too fat of cuts and lack of flavor.

This was the only KBBQ in L.A. that rated 4.5 stars at the time we dined here.  After a long day in the Convention Center we were very hungry afterward, picked this place after we saw a good review, and were looking for a good KBBQ Feast.

[Location] -  Located on a smaller business street nearby with nothing attractive. 

[Parking] - This is probably why most people come here; free parking; for real. No valet Bull Shit.

[Déco] - Pretty standard décor for a typical Korean Restaurant. It features 2 huge flat screen TVs; great for games.  The place is not big so expect long waits during peak hours.

[Service] - Service is very good. The server was friendly and gave us good suggestions.

[Food]  - They have several price options for their KBBQ: $17, $20 and the mid $20 range. We chose the $20 one, since it seemed to offer the best value. It was amazing for that price range and included Tiger Prawns, which I think is the special offer at this price range. The unlimited Rib Eye steak was tender and tasted like prime quality. Their Brisket was alright.  Another thing that surprised me was that it included Naengmyeon which is a Korean cold noodle soup.

Review: Sam Woo BBQ ★★★★ 1/3

Beef Stew Wonton Noodle - Excellent !

Roasted Duck Wonton Noodle

Their famous wonton noodle is import from HK.

If you want the best Wonton Noodle Soup in Los Angeles then look no further. Sam Woo Barbeque stands out from rest. Their Wonton Noodle is what makes this one stand out, unlike other location. Their noodles are imported from Hong Kong, There's a shrimp smell from the noodles, but is very soft.  The price is actually very reasonable, around $5 to almost $7 with added meat.  A lot people like their barbecue, but not me.  The nice thing is they don't jack up MSG like many typical Chinese Restaurants.  Service is not bad, but will be a problem if you don't speak English.  Parking is not an issue most of the time.

I prefer the San Gabriel location a bit more since it is bigger and can seat more peoples, also they were give free soup and even herbal or lemon ice tea at lunch time, while this one only gave you  Duck Wing and feet.  If you want true Cantonese Food that is affordable and tastes good then Sam Woo is good choice, but avoid the Las Vegas location which is terrible.

By the way this restaurant was feature in Bizarre Food America recently.

Review: Fortune Gourmet Kitchen ★★★ 3/4

Mapoo Tofu was pretty good !

House Steamed Chicken was tasty !

Honey BBQ Pork wasn't good at all.

Just before a long day of shopping in Chinatown and Santee Alley we stopped by this restaurant to have lunch. It got good reviews on Yelp so we gave it a try.

[Location] -  Located in the same plaza as Wing Hop Fung on the second floor.  This used to be Sum Wu Seafood Restaurant.

[Parking] - Cost was around $4 for all day parking.

[Déco] - Noting fancy for the interior, but it does have a V.I.P. Room and some live seafood.

[Service] - Since the interior isn't very big then it won't be hard for a server to respond to your request; just don't expect them to come over.

[Food]  -We ordered dishes from the Lunch Special. It comes with big bowl of soup.

Honey B.B.Q. Pork ($4.95) - Dirt cheap and a large portion, but the quality wasn't any good.  Tasted like it was left over from yesterday.

Schewan Mapo Bean Curd ($4.95) - The tofu was cooked correctly with a mild spicy sauce to make it great with the streamed white rice.

House Steam Chicken ($6.95) - Half Steamed Brown Chicken so basically that's one heck of price. What mattered most was that it tasted so good. 

They gave us some Fortune Cookies afterward. I wasn't a fan of those; I would prefer a slice of Orange like Newport.  If you are in Chinatown and want some affordable Cantonese Food then this is worth a try.

Review: Snow Princess ★★★ 3/4

Black Sesame Flavor !

Shaved Ice Menu

Princess Sesame 

Snow Princess is currently the only shop serving Shaved Snow Ice in the Westfield Santa Anita Mall.  Despite its popularity there's still not too many shops that serve this type of Shaved Ice.  The irony is with each new Shaved Ice Shop that opens the price is higher than its rival or cuts corners by offering less portions or toppings.  This is just what this one did.  Basically the price range is from $4 to $6 based on portion size, and only gives you one topping.  Condensed Milk is not included by the way.  Even though this is located in the mall to spend that much on dessert still felt overpriced. 

The thing that makes this one stand out over other Shaved Ice Shops is that they have this exotic ice flavor; Black Sesame. So darn good and highly recommend!  Their topping selection is limited and doesn't offer any fresh fruit, only jelly, popping boba, almond slices, and Oreo Cookies.

They are located right next to Macy's on the first floor.  Other than Shaved Ice, they also serve Crepes and Sodas. If you have a craving for Shaved Ice and also happen to be in that mall then give them a try; just don't try to compare them to Class 302 or other locations which would give you more bang for your buck.  For sesame lover, this is one of very few placed offer that as shaved ice.

Tips:
Get the Sesame flavor if you want something stand out than your typical flavor, you won't regret !

Review: Bud Namu Korean BBQ ★★★

Beef Polly - Super Fatty but not the good way.

Bulgogi was very good can match those Tofu House.

Saw this one in my bookmarked for a while due to their cheap AYCE option and even a salad bar.  Finally when here and wasn't everything as I expected.

[Parking] - $2 Valet parking here just likes more KBBQ places. 

[Déco]  - Pretty basic interior, the seat was comfortable, the flat screen TV is a bit outdated and the channel wasn't in HD. There's no salad bar as other yelper mention.

[Service] - Hit and miss, sometime they response but other time need to tell them twice.  Despite is similar size compare to Don Day, service at the location is far better.

[Food]  - We got the $10.99 AYCE option, which is only $1 more than lunch.  Bachan was pretty mediocre, the popular meat like brisket was pretty plain, and the beef belly was way too fatty.  Pork belly was good and the bulgogi was the beat meat.  The grill cooking area is small due to too many space cap in the side.  

Probably not coming back since there's so many other option nearby.  Overall is a mediocre KBBQ for the price is hard to beat but would rather paid slight more to enjoy better food and service.

Review: Pho Banh Mi Che Cali ★★ 2/3

Thai Tea with Jelly

Chicken Pho

This is basically the McDonald's version of Banh Mi Che Cali, but still miles better than eating most fast food near Pasadena City College, there's no premade packaged food here.  All the items are higher priced here probably due to its location.  Parking here can be a real pain during school hours.  This is formerly a Thai Restaurant.

The Chicken Pho was half off as part of their Opening Special. The broth on this soup was boiling hot and the chicken was all White Meat with no skin or bones.  I didn't care for the rice noodles finding them to be of  low quality.  Despite all this, this is like the 5th Pho Restaurant in Pasadena. If you happen to work nearby then this is not a bad choice; just expect to pay because of the location and not for the quality of the food.