Walnut Tree

Walnut Tree
382-A Lemon Ave.
Walnut
909-595-6026

I already reviewed Walnut Tree's chicken salad but I wanted to try their other food. So I went for their shrimp lo mein and shrimp with lobster sauce. Now the one thing I noticed about the shrimp and lobster sauce ($8.95) was the smell, as if the shrimp wasn't the freshest. The sauce is suppose to be a lobster based sauce but I know it's just egg flower soup with peas, mushrooms, and water chestsnuts. The shrimp were pretty big but they were a little overcooked.

The shrimp lo mein ($6.95) was decent. It was a little deceiving at first because all I saw was the noodles. The wasn't many shrimp to be seen but as you mixed everything up, they had a lot of shrimp. The noodles were soft and tender and had plenty of soy sauce. The shrimp was tender and it all blended well.

Service was good again. No complaints.

But overall I wasn't impressed with Walnut Tree's cooked food. The shrimp wasn't the freshest around and while the prices are great, it just isn't worth it. I guess it's really true, you get what you pay for.

Green Field- Long Beach

The Fire Pit

Brazilian Sausage

Garlic Steak

Skirt Steak

Cutting the Tri Tip

Tri Tip

Top Sirloin

Bacon Wrapped Turkey

Carne Asada

Pork Loin

Sirloin


Rib Eye

All the meats on one plate.

Green Field
5305 E. Pacific Coast Hwy
Long Beach, CA 90804
562-597-0906

Check out my review of Green Field in West Covina, that I went to a few months later.

If you're a meat lover, Green Field is for you. For $23.95 you have an all you can eat Brazilian churrascaria which is meat cooked on larger skewers and sliced at your table. If you don't eat red meat they offer chicken, turkey, pork, quail, lamb and chicken hearts. Also included in a huge buffet with Brazilian dishes and salads. I got the shrimp cocktail.

I have posted better pictures of the meats, the label for each meat is above the picture. All the meats are tender and juicy but after awhile they all taste the same. The tri tip was very salty. They use a lot of salt as seasoning. The best cut of meat was the top sirloin, tender, juicy and flavorful. I didn't like the carne asada or the sirloin. The carne asada didn't taste like any carne asada I've ever had. There was no flavor and it just seemed as though I was eating skirt steak, which is what carne asada is made out of. The sirloin was pretty tough and not tender.

The second picture is rib eye which is too well done for my tastes. It was tender but I prefer medium rare and this meat was medium well to well done.

Service is decent. They have a stopper, or what I call a stopped, which is a red, yellow and green top. As with a stop light, green means give me the meat. Red meat stop for now, we are eating. And laying it flat on the table means, we are done!!! At times the guys with the skewers took awhile to come by and they would go to the table next to us but skip us and go across the room.

I would go back to Green Field but it's a place to go on special occasions. Also I think if I'm going to spend $30 on meat, I would much rather have a good cut of beef at a steakhouse, than a variety of average quality meats. Afterall they start tasting the same after awhile

Alondra Hot Wings

Alonda Hot Wings
626 Whittier Blvd
Montebello
323-722-2731

Chicken wings, buffalo wings, hot wings.

I guess I wanted more chicken wings after being dissappointed at Hoagies and Wings. Pictured is the all drums, 12 pice order with lemon pepper and hot wings for $9.15. Which includes a 25 cent all drums charge and a 25 cent splitting of the sauce. I like that idea. I hate having all these choices of sauces and being limited to one sauce.

The drums are a good size and worth the price. The skin is crispy and covered with sauce. I liked the lemon pepper most. A perfect blend of spices. The hot wings were one of the most spicy chicken wings I've had, which I like.

Service is very good. You are greeted quickly and they take your order and answer any questions you may have.

I would go back to Alonda Hot Wings anytime. They also serve pizza and I will give the pizza a try.

Two Sal's Pizza-Closed

Two Sal's
2325 Beverly Blvd
Montebello
323-721-9185

As many readers know, I hate going to corporate restaurants. So while I could call up one of the many corporate pizza places, I wanted to give a locally owned pizza place a try. Two Sal's has a huge sign for a large one topping pizza for $5.99. I order half pineapple and half cheese. The pizza is not made in a pizza oven. It's made with one of those pizza heaters. They prepare the pizza and they it rollings under the heating lamps until it's done.

Now when I saw that, I lowered my expectations and judged the pizza for what it is, fast food pizza. The crust was thin and chewy. The cheese was well melted and they did put a good amount of cheese on there. The pizza sauce was nice and tangy with organo being the strongest taste.

Service is good. They greet your promptly and taking your order. The pizza takes about ten minutes to make so it's fast.

Two Sal's is as good as the other corporate pizza places. But I hate feeding the machine so I would go to Two Sal's again. Not the best pizza around but a good pizza at a good price.

Kiku Sushi

Kiku Sushi
670 Huntington Dr.
Monrovia
626-357-9971

Every now and then I enjoy having sushi. But I'm not an expert on sushi but as long as the sushi is fresh, I'm pretty happy. The best way to tell if fish is fresh? If there isn't any smell. Fish should not smell.

Kiku Sushi offers a great dinner special. You can choose two items from the menu for $8.95 or three items for $12.95. I choosed the two items, with chicken teriyaki and three pieces of sushi. The chicken teriyaki is the standard grilled chicken topped with teriyaki sauce. It's good but nothing special. The three pieces of sushi I got included tuna, salmon, and halibut. All the sushi was fresh and very tasty. I would was impressed they could serve these items at these prices.

My girlfriend had the tempura and avocado rolls. The tempura included shrimp and vegetables dipped in tempura batter and deep fried to perfection. I really enjoyed the nice crunch of the tempura. The avocado rolls were fresh and tasty.

Service was good and fast. But they didn't mention the special until my girlfriend asked about the special.

I would go back to Kiku Sushi anytime. A nice place for fresh sushi at a great price

Hoagie and Wings-Closed

Hoagie and Wings
5301 Venice Blvd
LA
323-934-1500

I've heard good things about Hoagie and Wings, so I finally made the trip to give it a try. Maybe I had higher expectations but I thought it was very average and certainly not worth the drive to the Mid Wilshire area.

I ordered the steak hoagie ($5.99) with four chicken wings ($2.99). The hoagies are billed as California hoagies, so if you're expecting the Philly style hoagies, go somewhere else. The steak hoagie has lettuce, tomatoes, mayo and cheese. I thought the amount of steak was really lacking. The cheesesteaks at Philly's Best gives you much more for the same price. The steak wasn't that tender either, very tough and chewy. The french roll was slightly toasted and soft and chewy. The other ingredients were nice and fresh.

The chicken wings was OK. I ordered the hot and they were fairly hot but nothing too hot. The wings were pretty good sized minus the midget wing they gave me. The skin was crispy and the inside was pretty good.

Service is decent. They did screw up my wings order. I asked for hot and they gave me honey BBQ. But that was quickly fixed but one of the hot wings was so small, I couldn't believe they served it. I also called on Sunday to see if they were opened and nobody answered the phone. When I went there on Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, I asked about that and they said they were opened on Sunday. Not sure why they didn't answer the phone. Oh well. I won't go back to Hoagies and Wings. I feel the prices are too high and the quality of food isn't the best. They recently opened another location on La Ceinega but I won't go to that location either.

Krazy Kabobs

Krazy Kabobs
1418 Beverly Blvd
Montebello
323-725-2929

I've been in the mood for some kabobs and figured I would give Krazy Kabobs a try. Krazy Kabobs is more like a fast food kabob place. It's in the same strip mall as Broaster Chicken.

I wasn't impressed with their chicken kabob. The chicken barg plate $9.99, included rice, salad, and your choice of salad, I picked the shirazi salad, cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions topped with a lemon and oil dressing.

The chicken barg is billed as the most tender part of the chicken and while it was tender it was way too salty for my tastes. Not sure what other things, they use to marinate the chicken but they need to lay off the salt. I also thought the portion size was small, especially for the price. The chicken is grilled to order and it was white meat and tender. But it was also dry in addition to being salty.

I didn't touch much of the shirazi salad or the garden salad. But both items were fresh and tasty.

Service is good. They are nice people and know what customer service is about. I wish they would improve their food because I like supporting businesses with good customer service. But I won't go back to Krazy Kabobs.

Ocha Classic

Ocha Classic
837 Vermont
LA
213-427-9823

What a find!!! What a find!!! My girlfriend mentioned we should go for Thai food and said she wanted to go to Ocha. Now this is the first Thai restaurant I have reviewed for The New Diner. Thai food other than satay isn't my favorite. I'm not a fan of real spicy food. But Ocha really surprised me.

We ordered the spicy shrimp soup ($7.95) and the chicken satay($6.95). The chicken satay was tender and had nice bits of charred that made it one of the best satays I've had. And it's a great deal. They bring you four huge skewers of chicken. The chicken is a mixture of dark and white meat and not some grounded chicken as some other places can be.

Not the best part, the spicy shrimp soup. First it's not that spicy. About a the spiciness of the mild sauce at Del Taco. But the soup is a fish based with tons of deveined plump shrimp. The soup works well as a soup but over white rice it's a great meal. I didn't like the celantro but otherwise this was a great dish.

I saw the spicy seafood soup, filled with mussels and crab claws, at other tables and that looked great too. Matter of fact everything looked great from the fried rice to the seafood items.

Service is good but expect a wait. There is a long line out the door along Vermont. It does move pretty fast but it's still a wait. They do not take reservations.

I would love to go back to Ocha and try their other items. But I will always order the spicy shrimp soup and chicken satay. A great find.

King Taco

King Taco
4504 3rd St
LA
323-264-4067

I first became aware of King Taco at Dodger Stadium. They used to make the tacos and I thought they were ok but nothing special. Of coure being sold at the stadium, it was also double the price. So I decided to give King Taco a try. They have tons of locations throughout LA. The Long Beach location was torn down and replaced by El Gallo Giro.

I went to the King Taco on 3rd St and ordered a carnitas and carne asada taco, $1.25 each. The carne asada tasted as though they had been in the warmer too long. Very tough and chewy. It wasn't well marinated either. The salsa added nothing to the taco.

The carnitas wasn't as tough as the carne asada but still not as tender as other places. Again seemed as though they had been in the warmer too long. I'm surprised because there is always a good crowd and it would seem as though they would have a good turnover on food.

Service is decent. It would help if they spoke English or I spoke Spanish. You place your order and a LOUD speaker will call you when your order is ready. But it can take some time for your order to be ready. I much prefer going to El Gallo Giro.

El Pollo Fino-Closed

El Pollo Fino
801 Whittier Blvd
Montebello
323-887-9908

El Pollo Fino is an interesting combination of chicken place and taco stand. The chicken is a copy of El Pollo Loco but at better prices. The half chicken, $4.78, is marinated in plenty of lime and Mexican spices. The chicken is flamed broiled earlier, kept warm and when you order it is put back on the grill. The skin has a very nice flavor from the marinate. But the chicken is on the dry side and not exactly the biggest chicken around either. Is it better than El Pollo Loco? Yes but that's not saying too much.

The carne asada burritto has beans, rice and onions for $3.91. There isn't as much carne asada as other Mexican places that I have reviewed. The carne asada was also very tough and not tender, very chewy. The beans and rice are nothing special or outstanding. Overall the burrito is nothing special.

Service is OK. It's not great and it's not bad. But I ordered a bottle of Coke and asked if the Coke was made in Mexico. Here's a tip, Coke made in Mexico is much better than the Coke made in the US. In Mexico they use real sugar, not that crap sweetener they use in the US. He said he wasn't sure. I asked him to go check the bottle to make sure. He just stood there. I asked him again. Again he just stood there. I asked him a third time and he finally went to the cooler to see if the Coke was made in Mexican. Now it's only a $1.55 item but that's $1.55 they wouldn't have had. I normally do not drink soda but if I do I'll drink Coke and not that second rate cola. And I prefer Coke made with real sugar!!! Though I still do hold a grudge against Coke for making that New Coke crap back in 1985.

I would go back to El Pollo Fino if I'm in the area but I wouldn't make any special trips.

Mandarin Taste

Mandarin Taste
23391 Golden Springs
Diamond Bar
909-861-1819

Mandarin Taste has been in Diamond Bar since 1984. In 1984 Diamond Bar was had a low Asian population. But as the Diamond Bar Asian population grew and more Chinese restaurants opened in surrounding areas like Rowland Heights, Mandarin Taste has stayed in business. They cater to a mostly white crowd. Go into Mandarin Taste and the only Chinese people there are the owners, cooks and wait staff. They serve Americanized Chinese food but they do it right.

Pictured is the shrimp in lobster sauce, ($12.55) and shrimp lo-mein ($8.55) The shrimp in lobster sauce is basically shrimp in egg flower soup. They may use some kind of lobster base but there are no pieces of lobster in this dish. They do have some peas, tofu, and of course shrimp. The shrimp are tender and are good sized. The soup base isn't too bad and works well over white rice, though a bit on the bland side. Adding pepper is a good idea.

The shrimp lo-mein is soft noodles and some beans sprouts, lettuce, green onions, and cabbage. The noodles are soft but are on greasy side. They could use less oil when cooking this dish. But shrimp are tender but there aren't enough of them, you get much more noodles than shrimp.

Service is good. They speak English well and the noise level is very low. They also aren't too pushy and allow you to enjoy your dinner without feeling rushed.

Overall Mandarin Taste is a nice neighborhood restaurant. It's not for food snob idiots, like those on Chowhounds, but it's serves good quality food, though I think prices are on the high side.