Happy Harbor
1015 Nogales St.
Rowland Heights
626-965-2020
I went to Happy Harbor for a ten course meal. I didn't touch the two desserts.
Bamboo Pitch and Shark Fin Soup with shredded chicken- I'm not a fan of Shark Fin Soup. This shark fin soup had bamboo shoots and shredded chicken. This was OK, kind of bland and lots of corn starch.
Assorted Cold Cut Platter. They had two sliced beef, pork and some jelly, which I didn't touch. One of the sliced beef was more salty and cured. Almost like a roast beef. The other had a more Asian flavor to it. The pork was ok.
The Noodles had sliced mushrooms, scallions, and some soy sauce stirred fried. A good dish, well seasoned and tasty.
Baked Lobster with ginger and scallion. I was looking forward to the lobster when the server set it down. But after a few bites, the lobster was tough. Not good. I took pieces from the tail and the claw and both were tough, as if they overcooked the lobster. This would have been a good dish because the seasonings were great. Very flavorful. Too bad they overcooked the lobster.
Steamed red cod. A nice flavorful fish but I didn't like it because there were just too many bones.
Honey walnut shrimp. Maybe my favorite dish, with tender pieces of shrimp, top with a nice sweet gravy. The shrimp had a crunchy outer coating, but it wasn't deep fried, which just made it more enjoyable.
Asparagus tofu. The asparagus was a bit undercooked for me, I prefer my asparagus to be a little more cooked, not as crunchy as this. But the heavy gravy was a good touch. The tofu was actually like an egg roll, stuffed with carrots, cabbage, and mushrooms, then pan fried. I liked the outside texture of the pan fried tofu and the stuffing. I didn't like that inside texture of the tofu, which was mushy.
Abalone with Chinese brocolli and mushroom. I didn't touch the abalone but the Chinese brocolli and mushroom was great. Well seasoned, cooked perfectly, tender not crunchy and topped with a light gravy that enhanced the flavor, not overpowered it. A very good dish.
Service was very good.
I didn't have to pay for this meal, but it was about $500 for ten people. Happy Harbor is known as a seafood restaurant but I wasn't impressed with the lobster. So I would not come back for the lobster and would think twice about coming back for any seafood, like King Crab, because of the costs, $28 per pound, and because of the bad experience with the lobster.
