The Fish House-Closed

The Fish House
3440 W Slauson Ave
Los Angeles
323-293-1300

In the same parking lot as Woody's BBQ, is The Fish House; your typical you buy, they fry, fish place.



Combination Dinner A; 4 pieces of sole fillet and 4 jumbo shrimp, $8.99, with mac salad and hush puppies. You can pick what kind of fish you want fried. They have buffalo, whiting, sole, and red snapper. I got the sole. They use cottonseed oil used to fry the fish. The fish is coated in a cornmeal batter that is a bit saltier than other fried fish places. But, the fish is fried to a golden brown, the corn meal is light and crunchy. The tartar sauce is also saltier, but I liked this. The saltiness just worked very well together.

The jumbo shrimp was always coated in that cornmeal batter. The shrimp was fresh, tender, and flavorful. I wish they would have cocktail sauce instead of just straight hot sauce.

The owner is a very nice lady. She greets you and is helpful. She isn't like a lot of Korean store owners, who are rude and have no idea about customer service.

I would go back to The Fish House, anytime. The prices are great. The fish and shrimp are fresh and they are fried to perfection!!

Tip Top Meats & European Delicatessen

Tip Top Meats & European Delicatessen
6118 Paseo Del Norte
Carlsbad
760-438-2620

Knowing I was going to The Flower Fields in Carlsbad, I searched online for something to eat afterwards. I found Tip Top Meats & European Delicatessen, which is a German restaurant and market. I figured I would give it a try since most restaurants around The Flower Fields are chains.

When you walk in, you're in the market part of the building, lots of German products. Then you will see a long line along the deli counter. It's counter service with one cash register and for the entire time I was in line, only one person taking orders. While I was eating, a second person came up and started taking orders, why that second person didn't take order earlier, I have no idea.



Anyways, I made the mistake of ordering a french dip, $7.99, with well done fries. I should have ordered a German sausage or schnitzel or a hot sandwich like corned beef. Anyways the french dip was served lukewarm, not hot. The roast beef was dry, a bit chewy and bland; this needed salt in the worst way. The side of au jus, which was hot, also needed some salt, very bland.

The french bread was toasted, but I think it was put in a holding area and then slightly heated when somebody ordered it.

The fries, which I asked for well done, was served lukewarm. They weren't even well done.

Why their hot menu items aren't hot, is beyond me.

Service is OK. The cashier who took your order wasn't friendly at all. She never smiled or gave a welcoming feeling. She was like a robot; asking what you want, giving you a total and then taking your money.

The line moved slowly, but that's a function of the restaurant and not the workers. They need to add another cash register. One register just can't handle the crowds.

The other dishes I saw like the steak, schnitzel, and sausage plate looked very good. So I would go back to Tip Top and try some other dishes, but I wouldn't touch any of the sandwiches.

Oh, The Flowers Fields are really nice. Well worth the $10 admission price and take the wagon ride.

Juan Pollo

Juan Pollo
300 S. Garey Ave
Pomona, CA 91766
(909) 469-4779

If readers of The New Diner read my review of the First McDonalds, they know that the owner of Juan Pollo brought the site of the first McDonalds and are using the site as their corporate offices. I have passed by a lot of Juan Pollo restaurants but never went in.

So I finally decided to go try Juan Pollo and see how their rotisserie chicken is. At the Pomona location, they have a huge sign out front, where you buy one whole chicken, you get one free. Then you walk inside and you see the fine print, with the purchase of a large side.

I noticed the regular prices for whole chicken, $8 and $16 for two chickens, which includes tortillas and salsa.

For the Tuesday special a whole chicken is $10.99 and the cost of a large side is $2.99. My total, two chickens and a large side-potato salad, was $15.34. So the Tuesday special is basically, the regular price for two chicken, your bonus is a side is included.





I noticed the chickens on rotisserie and thought they were pretty small. They are small. But they are well seasoned and has a lot of flavor. I think they use a rub of salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and other spices. The breast meat was a bit dry but the other pieces were nice and moist.

I didn't take a picture of the potato salad, but it was pretty good. The potatoes were cut so smooth, it was almost like mashed potatoes and I like that. I hate lumpy potato salad. But, the potato salad was a bit salty and had a heavy onion flavor.

Service was OK. There wasn't anything outstanding or anything bad about the service. But, as I was taking a picture of the outside, some delivery man, asked why I was taking pictures? Why the hell is it any of his damn business? If a business is proud of the quality of their product they would be proud that somebody was taking pictures.

I do think Juan Pollo serves good rotisserie chicken, but the chickens are small and a bit pricey. I can go to Costco and get a bigger, better chicken for less.

Cassie's Soul Food Kitchen-Closed

Cassie's Soul Food Kitchen
200 E 1st St
Pomona
909-620-5601

David Allen mentioned Cassie's Soul Food Kitchen in one of his stories, and I was looking forward to Cassie's opening. It took about a month or so, from the time his story came out, until Cassie's opened. Located in the Antique Row of Pomona and right near the train tracks, Cassie's has been open for about two weeks. There is no inside seating, but they have a few tables outside. It's mainly a take out restaurant.



They had other tempting choices; smothered pork chops and shrimp and fries lunch. But, I decided on the short ribs lunch, $12 with fries and red beans and rice. Short ribs are beef ribs that are cut and then slowed cooked. The meat was falling off the bone, tender. But there was too much fat and gristle on the ribs. The BBQ sauce was slightly sweet. I thought the short ribs were just ok, nothing overwhelming.

The fries are steak fries and cooked to order, they were crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside.

I wanted mac and cheese but they said it wouldn't be ready for another 15 minutes. So, I got the red beans and rice, which is fine.

Service is very good. The people are nice and friendly. But, what I didn't like about Cassie's is that they didn't seem ready for service at 1pm on a Saturday. They open at 11am and had Gumbo on the menu, which is served every third Saturday of the month. But, that meant some other items that are on the menu, were not being served. OK that's fine. But, why wasn't the mac and cheese ready? I would doubt you ran out after being opened for two hours.

I'm torn about whether or not I want to go back to Cassie's. Maybe if their entire menu is ready and served, I will go back. But, the short ribs were just average.

China Gate Restaurant-Closed

China Gate Restaurant
365 S Mountain Ave
Upland
909-982-244

I know, I must be on a Chinese food kick, since this will be the fourth Chinese restaurant, that I have reviewed in a row. But, I was in the area, and while I love San Biagios, I wasn't in the mood for pizza. But, I saw China Gate and a long line, that went out the front door, I figured, why not try it.

Like most Chinese restaurants, China Gate has a lunch special that includes soup, egg rolls, a cabbage salad, and your choice of entrees.



I got the wonton soup, the other choice was hot and sour soup. The soup was well seasoned, and the wontons were pretty good.



Chicken chow mein, $8.95. I got a full order of chicken chow mein, instead of the lunch special. The noodles were cooked perfectly and well seasoned. There were small amounts of green onions and cabbage. The chicken was cut very thin and there wasn't a large amount of chicken. But the chicken was nice and tender. A pretty good dish, but they could increase the amount of chicken.



Lunch special shrimp with snow peas, $7.95. I loved the sauce of this dish. It was so light, flavorful and just perfect with the snow peas and shrimp. There was a good amount of tender, flavorful shrimp. The snow peas were crispy, which I like, I hate mushy veggies.

Service was very good. I didn't lack for refills and the food came out hot, and quickly.

I enjoyed lunch at China Gate and would go back for lunch. I saw the prices for dinner and the shrimp with snow peas was $, at that price the portion size should increase by at least 25% of the lunch special portion.

Chopsticks House

Chopsticks House
3938 Grand Avenue Ste C
Chino
909-590-3688

Chino isn't exactly filled with lots of Chinese food options. Most of Chino is "Panda Express" fast Chinese food or buffets. But, Chopsticks House is a good Chinese restaurant in Chino, though it's a bit Americanized.

When you walk in a sign greets you, telling you to wait to be seated. But, the minute you walk in, you are greeted by the owners/servers. The night I went, there weren't many people so they said pick where I want to sit.

The menu is pretty basic, beef, chicken, chow mein, rice, seafood dishes. We got the orange flavored chicken, pork and vegetables, and shrimp chow mein.

Check out a review of their location in San Dimas!



Shrimp chow mein,$6.95 with shrimp, celery, carrots, and onions. The only thing I didn't like about this dish was the small portion size. Otherwise a great dish, that was well seasoned, the noodles well cooked and a good amount of shrimp-about 6-8 medium sized shrimp, even if they are hidden under the noodles. The shrimp were cooked and seasoned perfectly, but the weird thing was, some were deveined and others were not. I would order this again, but I do wish the portion size was bigger.



Orange flavored chicken, $7.95. This was a good dish, but this tasted more like a honey walnut sauce, than an orange flavor sauce. The chicken was covered in a thick batter, most of the chicken was white meat chicken. But the entire time eating this dish, I kept thinking I was eating honey walnut shrimp.



Pork with vegetables, $7.65, with broccoli, carrots, baby corn, cabbage and zucchini. I loved the sauce and fresh veggies in this dish. I didn't like how the pork was cut into such small pieces, you could barely see the pork. But, a good dish that was well seasoned.

Service is good. The owner/servers were nice and friendly. The thing I liked about Chopsticks House is they have signs!! Many people ordered take out, and they have a sign that says Take Out Orders, unlike other restaurants where you don't know whether to sit down or go up to the counter.

I would go back to Chopsticks House, again. Good food and service at good prices.

Mission 261 Restaurant

Mission 261 Restaurant
261 S Mission Dr
San Gabriel
626-588-1666

I came to Mission 261 Restaurant for a wedding reception. A typical Chinese wedding reception includes an 8-10 course meal that will have a whole fish, fried rice, and usually a whole chicken.

The reception I went to had a nine course menu but I didn't eat the roasted duck or albacore.




Young roasted pig was our appetizer. The pork itself was very good, very tender and well seasoned. But the skin was too hard and too thick. It would take the strength of a gator to bite into that tough skin.



Shrimp with snap peas. A great dish, with a light sauce over very fresh shrimp. The snap peas were also very fresh and tasty.



Jumbo scallops and brocolli. I have never seen scallops this big before. They were great!! Well cooked and seasoned with a sauce that enhanced, but didn't overwhelm the scallops.



House special lobster. The lobster was covered in a sauce that I tasted black pepper and tamerine. A very good dish, the lobster was tender and flavorful.



Crab meat and scallops soup. A simple corn starch enhanced broth that was filled with crab meat and scallops. A very good dish.



Steamed red snapper. The red snapper was very fresh, I bet it was swimming in the Pacific that morning. But, if you didn't get any of the sauce- that was made with soy sauce and ginger, it was bland. I took some of the red snapper that was on top and it was very bland. But, when I got some of the sauce that was under the fish, it added a lot of seasoning and flavor.



Seafood fried rice had some shrimp, bbq pork, carrots and green onions. A well seasoned and flavorful dish. The rice was cooked perfectly and not oily at all.

Service was very good, there were about 200 people at the reception and we didn't lack for anything at our table. When we wanted water or Coke, we got refills quickly. The food came out quickly and was hot. I've been to a couple Chinese wedding receptions and the food is cold, when it is suppose to be hot.

I would go back to Mission 261 anytime. I really want to try their dim sum, their dim sum menu looks very good.