Clearman's Galley-Moved

Clearman's Galley
8976 Huntington Dr.
San Gabriel
626-286-1484

Update: February 8, 2009 The new Clearman's Galley has opened and I have written a review.

Update: March 2, 2008. This location has been torn down. They are going to open at a different location. Not sure where or when.

Clearman's Galley has been a neighborhood restaurant in the San Gabriel area for a long time. But progress means the current location of Clearman's Galley will be torn down for the much needed Kohl's. Please notice that statement was made with lots and lots of sarcasm. So I wanted to go to Clearman's Galley one more time before it was torn down and moved to a different location.

I ordered the Chili size which is a hamburger patty topped with chili. A salad and two pieces of cheese toast comes with it, all for $6.44.

You have a choice of salad and I just ordered the regular salad. The salad is mostly iceberg lettuce and is just drowned in blue cheese dressing. The blue cheese dressing is pretty damn good. The cheese toast is pretty greasy but much better than the cheese toast from Sizzler.

The chili has no beans and has a mild flavor. It's not an overpowering taste as most chili tend to be. The chili is thinner than most chili but I liked the mild flavor. The hamburger patty was overcooked. This paranoia needs to stop. All beef doesn't need to be overcooked to make it safe for people. But overall I thought the chili size is pretty good. Just a quick not, all the burgers are all made with chili.


Service is good, fast and friendly. You go into the kitchen and order your food and then take it to the cashier to pay. Lines can be very long there but I didn't have to deal with any long lines today.

I wouldn't go out of my way for the Galley but if I was in the area I would go back to Clearman's Galley.

The Fishery

The Fishery 924 Lake Pasadena 626-791-3474 While driving to a friend's house I dropped by The Fishery. I noticed a pizza place next door but I was in the mood for some fish so I stopped in at The Fishery. Pictured is a small basket, three pieces, of Whiting for $3.79. The fish is fried to order so expect a wait. The fish was pipping hot and was very crunchy, almost too crunchy. The batter they use has some canjun seasonings. But the fish was bland and lack flavor. The tartar sauce had some mustard in there which made it a little more spicy than regular tartar sauce. Service was decent. The lady first said $4.78 and I said that can't be right. She changed it but I don't think she made the mistake on accident. I would not go back to The Fishery. The fish was below average and the service, trying to overcharge people is bad business. I will try the pizza place next door soon

Elena's

Elena's
1000 Glendale
Glendale
818-241-5730

Elena bills it's as a Greek-Aemenian food. I just wish they did good food. I ordered the #10, 1/2 shish and 1/2 lulu kebob for $10 including tip. A shish kebob is marinated steak while lulu is marinated meat, I'm guessing a mixture of pork and beef.

All dinners include a salad which has lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and lots of onions. They put an oil and vinegar dressing on but I asked for no dressing. The salad was very fresh but I had too much onions for my tastes.

The kebobs came and they included rice, grilled tomatoe and chili pepper. I didn't touch the grill pepper. The lulu kebob threw me off. I was expecting beef but it's clearly a mixture of beef and pork. Decent spices but I'm not a big fan. The shish kebob had more powerful spices than the lulu but I still wasn't a fan. The beef was a bit on the chewy side.

The rice has a nice flavor and texture to it. Maybe the best part about the dinner.

Service was OK. The lady was nice enough when she came by but she didn't come by often enough. I was thirsty as hell and she didn't fill up my water once. She came around to deliver my order and then to deliver my check.

I would not go back to Elena's. There is a much better place for kebobs in Glendale, which I will review soon.

Mario's Italian Deli

Mario's Italian Deli
740 Broadway
Glendale
818-242-4114

Update: November 14, 2012.  Check out the updated review for Mario's Italian Deli & Market.

I dropped by Mario's Italian Deli in Glendale for a sandwich. I have heard some good things about it and wanted to try it.

So I ordered the corned beef sandwich for $6.44. The sandwich comes with mayo, mustard, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes and provolne cheese. I never put mustard or onions on a sandwich, those two condiments belong on a hot dog ONLY. The sandwich is made on a hard Italian roll. They cut the bread into three layers. The bottom layer gets some meat, cheese, and lettuce. The middle layer gets the mayo, more meat and tomatoe. I'm not sure if that SOP for Mario's but that's how my sandwich maker made my sandwich. I thought they put way too much mayo. I like mayo but I don't want the bread to be drowned by mayo. She could have cut the amount of mayo in half and put some on the bottom layer. Because of that, I thought the sandwich was a bit dry.

The corned beef was pretty good but was on the salty side. The lettuce and tomatoe were fresh.

Mario's is OK. Nothing special and I think overpriced. $6.44 for a 8 inch sandwich? There is a good amount of meat but nothing overwhelming. The quality of meat is good, but not great. Why the high price?

Service is slow. There were four to five people ahead of me and it took about 10 minutes before I even placed an order. They sandwich makers take forever to make a sandwich.

I wouldn't go back to Mario's, even to try any other sandwiches.

Polka

Polka
4112 Verdugo Rd.
LA
323-255-7887

Updated Review on The New Diner 2

Besides the Hilshire Farms kielbasa I have never tried had Polish food. Not even a pierogi. But I went to Polka tonight and what a very nice surprise. Great food and good company. Polka is a small restaurant, maybe big enough for 40 people. All meals at the Polka include soup and salad. Dinner includes a dessert. Dinner prices range from $11.99-$15.99 so a very good value.

I ordered the klopsy for $11.99, which is a mixture of ground beef, pork and chicken in a gravy. The first course was a nice soup. Not sure what the soup is called but it had beans and a curry flavor to it. Then the salad has carrots, lettuce, green onions, and some rice vinegar dressing. Somebody in our group said this was like Polish Kim-chee. It was sour but the vegetables were fresh.

The klospy came with corn, peas, carrots, and brown rice. The klopsy was very tender and flavorful. The gravy was thick and rich had was filled with lots of spices. The two klopsy were good size and well worth the price. The brown rice had a sweet coating to it. Strange at first but not too bad. The corn and the string beans were pretty good, cooked just right. The carrots were not cooked through. It was almost raw. I enjoyed my entree and everybody in our group also like their orders.


The dessert was vanilla pudding, whipped cream, cherries, and some cocco sprinkled on top. I hate vanilla pudding so I just had a spoonful.

I was in a party of 14 people and the serve was average. They took forever to between the soup and salad. They gave entrees to the wrong person and they rarely came by to ask if we needed anything.

But I would go back and try other dishes like the pierogi, kielbasa which was at least 10 inches long, the kotlet schabowy, which is a breaded pork lion, the golabki, which is stuffed cabbage, or the royal plate which is a combo with pierogi, golabki, and gulasz which is a pork or beef stew.

Polka is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Parking can be a problem since the parking lot is very small.

Update May 18, 2008





I finally went back to Polka and ordered something different. Of course the prices increased but the food is still very good. But service is still very average. Nice people but they need to work on faster service. The server did not even ask what we wanted to drink. We must have waited ten minutes, after we sat down, before anybody asked what we wanted.

They changed the soup. The soup, which is included with most dinners, is a tomato soup with tons of cream and some pasta. It was fine but they need to lay off the cream. Tomato soup is fine by itself. You don't need to ruin it with cream.

I had the cutlet schabowy, $19.95. This is basically chicken fried pork, breaded pork and topped with mushrooms. This was an good dish but would have been better if they added gravy to the pork. The pork was crispy and tender and moist. But gravy would have added much to this dish.

I wanted to try the all you can eat, $25, but everybody at our table must order the all you can eat and nobody else wanted to order. I will go back and get the all you can eat one of these days. Maybe when the White Sox are in town to play the Dodgers.

China King Buffet-Closed

China King Buffet
625 South Lone Hill Ave.
Glendora, CA 91740
626-963-3996

I like China King Buffet. They do offer a good variety of food but it's not as extensive as other Chinese buffets. But most of the items at China King are outstanding. Instead of doing a decent job on a lot of food, they do a great job on a smaller number of food. My only complaint is that the service is average at best.

The Sunday dinner buffet is $9.65, which is a steal for the great items they have. I got there around 6:30pm and there was a good crowd there. So there would be a high turnover of food.

The first picture has regular fried shrimp, salt and pepper shrimp, and Chinese BBQ pork. The BBQ pork has way too much fat on them. I tried to pick the leanest pieaces but even then, they were at least 50% fat. What lean pieces they had were pretty good. The fried shrimp went really fast. A trayful of shrimp will not last more than five minutes. The shrimp is very crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. As you can see they are good sized shrimp. The shrimp was so good they didn't need any cocktail sauce. The salt and pepper shrimp was much more salty than the fried shrimp. They didn't have the same amount of batter and crunch as the fried shrimp but were tender. I didn't care for them too much because they were salty.

The second food picture has chicken and broccoli, bean sprouts, and what they called lover chicken. The chicken and broccoli was very good. The chicken is tender and the broccoli is crisp and tender. The sauce has a light soy sauce flavor. Good stuff. The beans sprouts were crispy and had a nice garlic taste to them. The lover's chicken is really more of an orange chicken. The chicken was fried and covered with an orange flavor sauce. The lover's chicken has a very high turnover rate. I got the chicken right after it was cooked and it was steaming hot.

The third food picture has fried rice, orange chicken, satueed string beans. The fried rice had onions and carrots and zucchini, something I've never seen in fried rice. But the fried rice is mostly rice and has a good flavor. The orange chicken is more batter than chicken but still pretty good. The chicken is tender and the sauce is sweet but not too sweet. I really liked the satueed strong beans, which were satueed in soy sauce and some oil. The beans were so crispy and tender.

The fourth food picture has black pepper shrimp and beef and broccoli. The black pepper shrimp is awesome. I had a few helping of it. A great pepper flavor and the shrimp is nice and tender. The beef and broccoli is one of the best beef and broccoli I've had. Nice tender pieces of beef and crispy broccoli in a medium gravy. Very good stuff.

The fifth picture had more of the black pepper shrimp, king pork, and mushrooms. The king pork was very dry and tough. They had been on the steam table for way too long. I really liked the mushrooms. They were soft and not chewy, with a nice texture. The sauce was light and added the right touch.

The sixth picture has chow mein, broccoli and chicken, and more black pepper shrimp. The chow mein was basically all noodles. There were some onions, green onions, and carrots but they were not greasy as some chow mein can be. The combination of chow mein and black pepper shrimp was awesome.

The last picture is dessert with watermelon, cantalope, and honey dew melon. The watermelon was very sweet and juicy. I loved it. The cantalope and honey dew was also sweet but the watermelon was the best.

Service tends to be very average. I kept having to ask for more water and at times the plates would stack up at my table. Also where I was sitting, the servers are standing there like vultures waiting for people to finish. They should worry about making sure people are enjoying their meals and have what they need. More water please!!!

But I enjoy eating at China King buffet. It's my standby Chinese buffet.

Buffet China

Buffet China
870 Arrow Hwy.
Covina, CA 91724
626-331-0699

Buffet China is one of many Chinese buffet restaurants that are out there. I find Buffet China to be good but nothing overwhelming or outstanding. They best thing about them is the price, $9.30 for an adult. But with the price the selection of food is limited.

While the picture was taken late at night, I went to Buffet China at 6:30pm and there was a steady but certainly not packed crowd. This can and does have an impact on the food turnover. There were some items that spent too much time on the steam table.

The first picture has BBQ chicken, Chinese BBQ pork, and fried scallops, and fried crab claw. The BBQ chicken was on the dry side and had a hint of sweet BBQ sauce. There were some white meat chicken which is surprising since most places will only have dark meat, but with the chicken being dry, I didn't have more than one serving. The Chinese BBQ pork had been on the steam table for too long. They were dry, hard, and tough to chew on. I ate two pieces and left the rest. I went back for some more later and they were still hard and tough. The lack of turnover really hurts Buffet China. The fried scallops were kinda of chewy but had a nice crunch. The fried crab claw also had a nice crunch but the fish ball was flavorless.

The second picture of food includes, beef and broccoli, pepper check, and what they called a seafood combination. The beef and broccoli spent too much time on the steam table. The broccoli was mushy and the beef was tough. I did go back the second time and the broccoli was crispy and tender but the beef was still on the tough side. The gravy added some nice flavor but it would have been better if the beef and broccoli was better. The seafood combo had lots and lots of shrimp and some imitation crab and some squid. The shrimp was nice and tender and the gravy/sauce added a nice flavor. But for something called seafood combination there wasn't much combining of different seafoods.

The third picture of food has fried rice, orange chicken, and spicy chicken. The fried rice had onions, peas and carrots but it was mostly rice. It was passable but nothing great. The orange chicken and spicy chicken were terrible. They were fried pieces of chicken that were so dry and had been sitting on the steam table for way too long. I wasn't willing to give either one of them a second chance.

The fourth picture has chow mein and BBQ beef rib. The chow mein was very greasy and had some onions, cabbage and garlic. It was pretty flavorless except for the grease. The beef rib was nice and sweet, almost too sweet, and was pretty tender.

The last picture had watermelon, strawberries, and honey dew melon. The watermelon was very good, served chilled with no seeds and very sweet. The strawberries were hit and miss. Some were sweet but others were bitter. The honey dew was pretty flavorless.

Buffet China is OK. Nothing great or outstanding and they lack the selection of many other Chinese buffets. No Mongolian BBQ, very limited seafood items, low turnover rate and some food which was just plain bad. I would not go back to Buffet China, even though the price is good, I would pay a couple bucks more for better selection and better food.

Country Chicken & Ribs-Moved

Country Chicken & Ribs
994 E. Alosta
Azusa
626-334-8220

I found Country Chicken & Ribs while driving to Petrillo's in Glendora, for pizza. I planned to go back soon and today I gave it a try. I should have just had the pizza at Petrillo's.

Country Chicken & Ribs is one of the worst BBQ places I have ever been to. The ribs are terrible, dry, with no flavor and taste. I ordered the 2 BBQ ribs dinner for potato salad for $10.45. When they say 2 ribs, they are really about half a rack of ribs. The ribs are the small ends. But they are so dry that they must be drowned in their terrible BBQ sauce to add any type of flavor. The ribs have a very salty rub. They were fairly meaty but nothing outstanding. The potato salad had a slight mustard taste to it, was fresh but I don't pay $10 for potatoe salad.

Service was also bad. It started off well, I greeted quickly but since this was the first time I been there, I wanted more than two second to study their menu. So I finally decide after she delivers a couple orders. She wasn't very patient answering questions like what pieces of chicken come with their ribs and chicken combo. Then I wanted corn on the cob as my two sides but she said that will be a 60 cents extra charge. But there was no mention of this on their menu. So I said double potato salad. When my order finally came up, she just handed the order to me. No, thank you. She was just a rude punk kid.

I will never go back to Country Chicken & Ribs. One of the worst BBQ places I have ever been to.

Clayton Shurley's-Closed

Clayton Shurley's
4341 MacArthur Blvd
Newport Beach
949-852-8337

Clayton Shurley's used to be the BBQ supplier for the Anaheim Angels but for whatever reason, the Angels took over their own BBQ. I went to an Angel game in 2001 and I happened to be sitting next to the owner of Clayton Shurley's. She was kind enough to give me a coupon for a free sandwich. The pulled pork sandwich was pretty bad and I haven't been back to Clayton Shurley's until today.

I order the half of rack of pork ribs for $11.84. I believe the ribs are babybacks and they are OK, for yuppie, suburban ribs. There was a good enough amount of meat on the ribs. And since they are baby backs, they are tender. There was a decent smoke flavor but nothing very strong. The ribs were served lukewarm, they need to heat the ribs up because lukewarm ribs aren't the way to go.

The regular BBQ sauce was a lot like KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce. They must use a lot of the same ingredients as KC Masterpiece. The spicy BBQ sauce had a decent kick to it but was pretty underwhelming.

The service was pretty good. The guy was nice enough taking my order and my order was up pretty quickly. I see no reason to go back to Clayton Shurley's for anything on their menu. South Orange Curtain is filled with yuppy ribs places and Clayton Shurley's caters to the demographics of the area.

Canyon City BBQ

Canyon City BBQ
347 N San Gabriel Ave
Azusa,
626-815-4227

Hoping to find a hidden treasure at Canyon City BBQ, I was very disappointed. I think the area long the 210 freeway has some hidden treasures that aren't talked about much but are great places to eat. Too bad Canyon City BBQ isn't one of them.

I ordered the Rib Basket, 1/4 slab of ribs with a choice of one side, corn on the cob for $7.57. The ribs were very dry and tough on the outside and had so much fat, I thought I was eating eating crisco. There was no smoke flavor and the little meat on the ribs, was tough and had no flavor at all.

Service was below average. I walked in and was greeted promoptly. But it took the lady about five minutes before she took my order. She was filling drink orders for the dine in customers. The wait was about the same as the other BBQ places. When the lady gave me the change, she slide the change on the counter, instead of handing it to me. Very rude service.

Canyon City BBQ is one of the worst BBQ places I have ever been to. I would not go again and I would tell everybody NOT to even try it. It would just be a huge waste of money.

Ralphs-Closed

Ralphs

Whenever I get tired of a Chicago Southsider from Vons, I'll get a sandwich from Ralphs. Ralphs doesn't use the top quality meats as Vons but the sandwiches are fresh and are double the size of a Vons sandwich, for the same price.

I got the Sub Club on a wheat roll, which has cheaddar cheese, ham, roast beef, and turkey, for $4.99. The sandwiches are made right in front of you. I asked for mayo, lettuce, and tomaotes on the sandwich. The meats are good quality but not the top of the line. The lettuce wasn't the freshest but ok and the tomatoes were pretty fresh.

The sandwiches at Ralphs aren't anything special but they are a good sandwich at a good price.

The Whole Enchilada-Closed

The Whole Enchilada
1114 Diamond Bar Blvd.
Diamond Bar
909-861-5340

A local alternative to the Mexican chains, The Whole Enchilada offers Mexican food at good prices.

I ordered a carnitas chimichanga for $9.19. The chimichanga wasn't even deep fried, it was very lightly toasted burrito. The carnitas was very salty and the colorado sauce they put on it, which is really an enchilada sauce, added nothing to the flavor. But I still couldn't get over the fact that the chimichanga wasn't deep fried. I didn't order a burrito, it's a chimichanga which has to be deep fried.

The rice is nothing to write home about.

Service is good and fast. It can get crowded for dinner but people eat quickly.

I have never cared for The Whole Enchilada. Yes the prices are better but the food is below average and I would gladly pay more for a better meal. Back in June, I met some people at The Whole Enchilada and I didn't eat anything both times