Archive for the 'Chinese' Category

Chang's Garden

Published February 9, 2007 Chinese , Los Angeles , Review Leave a Comment

627 W Duarte Rd (Map)
Arcadia, CA 91107
626-445-0707

Price: $$$

Cuisine: Chinese

Chang’s Garden is a Shanghai-style restaurant with a nice array of standard items done well, but is most interesting because it offers some dishes not often found elsewhere. For example, long jin (“dragon well”) shrimp, subtly flavored with tea leaves, excellent in modest quantities, and the five spiced beef rolled with cilantro in pan-fried flat bread, which is all-around superb. With not quite enough waitstaff to handle the crowds.

Wan Chun Taiwanese Food

Published January 26, 2007 Chinese , Los Angeles , Review Leave a Comment

819 W Las Tunas Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776 (Map)
626-284-6031

Price: $

Cuisine: Chinese

This little hole in the wall is one of Ravenous Rob’s favorite places. Not only is it very cheap, but it has some of the better Chinese food in L.A. at any price. It’s not fancy stuff, but genuine homestyle Chinese cooking done well. The menu is large, with both Chinese standards and Taiwanese specialty dishes available, although ironically it’s the Taiwanese food that is the weak point of this restaurant. With excellent pork fried noodles, kung pao chicken and shrimp, and dried string beans, among others. Lunch and dinner special items come with soup, rice or bread, and dessert. Don’t expect any serious English conversation with the staff here, but otherwise the service is fine.

Sweet-n-Tart

Published January 21, 2007 Chinese , New York , Review Leave a Comment

20 Mott St
New York, NY 10013 (Map)
212-964-0380
(Web Site)

Price: $

Cuisine: Chinese

You can get all kinds of stuff at this Cantonese snack joint: flavored tea drinks, fried noodles, and Cantonese-style desserts are just the beginning. But what Ravenous Rob comes here for is the congee. There are number of congee options on the menu, but the offering Ravenous Rob likes best comes with shredded pork, preserved duck egg, green onion, finely chopped lettuce, and thin slices of you tiao (Chinese deep-fried bread). It’s an excellent taste and texture combination.

Yank Sing

Published December 31, 2006 Chinese , Review , San Francisco Leave a Comment

101 Spear St (One Rincon Ctr)
San Francisco, CA 94105 (Map)
415-957-9300
(Web Site)

Price: $$$$$$$$

Cuisine: Chinese (Dim Sum)

Basically, if you’ve got a hunger for dim sum, the only thing that should keep you from going to this place is the price. The offerings are served old-style, with cart-wielding ladies trundling about hawking superbly done versions of all the usual favorites: steamed barbeque pork buns with just the right amount of sweetness, xiao long bao bursting with subtle juices, xiao mai with sinus-clearing Chinese mustard. More unusual stand-outs are the steamed seafood dumplings with basil, which should be a mandatory order on any visit. The only disappointment is dessert; egg custard tarts were meant to be eaten straight out of the oven, and any amount of waiting on a cart does them an injustice. Note: you pay for the tea here, but at least it’s good tea.

J & J Restaurant

Published December 23, 2006 Chinese , Los Angeles , Review Leave a Comment

301 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91776 (Map)
626-308-0803

Cuisine Type: Chinese (Shanghai)

Price: $-$$

J & J has great xiao long bao, the little steamed Shanghai style dumplings filled with pork-fatty juice, and Ravenous Rob suggests that no matter what else you order here, you get some of these. The other dumplings here are reasonably good as well, and nice for a change of pace. Although it might seem terribly prosaic, Ravenous Rob highly recommends the fried rice here; it’s real comfort food, and many significant steps above the crap served at many supposedly Chinese restaurants. Chinese-style breakfast is available here as well, with sweet or spicy soy soup, Chinese fried bread, and other specialties available, although the breakfast menu is in Chinese only. By the way, it is entirely okay to have dumplings for breakfast in China, and that makes Ravenous Rob a happy man.