Elite Restaurant

Elite Restaurant
700 S Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park
626-282-9998

When it comes to dim sum, I am a very picky eater. I don't eat chicken feet or many other items served during dim sum. But, to my way of thinking, any dim sum restaurant has to have good pork shui-mai and steamed BBQ pork buns. If they don't, I'm not going back.

If you ask foodies who has the best dim sum, Elite Restaurant will be mentioned frequently. So, I finally decided to give them a try. I got to Elite around lunch time, which was perfect because the wait was about ten minutes long. It may have had to due with the overcast day and a forecast calling for rain. But, either way I was happy for the short wait, because I was warned the wait times can run close to an hour at Elite.

Elite is different than other dim sum restaurants, they do not have the carts!! You know the drill, the carts are wheeled around and you pick what you want. Instead Elite makes you select how many orders of each item you want. Most of the servers, those taking your order, not the people bringing you the food, speak English well, so it's easy to place your order or if you have questions.

Pork shui-mai-$3.38. These pork shui-mai were huge, maybe the biggest shui-mai I've seen. Well worth the price tag. The pork was very well seasoned and tasty. The shrimp was a medium sized shrimp, that actually worked well with the pork. Though, I don't think I like the trend of pork shui-mai having shrimp in it! This came out hot, with plenty of steam coming out. The wonton is a bit thicker than other shui-mai I've had, but this is a very good example of shui-mai.

Crystal shrimp har gow-$3.38. The first piece of this shrimp har gow was a sticky gooey mess. The outside just attached itself to my chopstick and never let go. The first piece I had, torn apart and I had to eat the shrimp and wrapper separately. The second piece I had was fairly good, the shrimp fresh, well steamed, good sized, and the wrapper was light and with a good texture.

Fried shrimp dumpling-$3.38. Frankly this dish was terrible. The outside did have a nice flakey texture, was fried very well. But, the inside was a doughy mess. There shrimp was ok, but all the veggies-cabbage and green onions just didn't work for me.

Steamed BBQ pork bun-$2.38. This had to be among the worst steamed BBQ pork buns I've ever had. The small amounts of BBQ pork was fatty, too sweat and just not good at all. The bun was too chewy and tough for me.

Service is good. The orders come out quickly and the servers are nice. At least when I was there, they didn't rush you. But, that maybe different when the wait times are over 30 minutes.

For a place that comes so highly recommended, I was very underwhelmed!! The pork shui-mai was good, but I wouldn't order anything else, that I ordered today, again!!

JJ Noodle House-Closed

JJ Noodle House
18303 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights
626-839-9269

I make it a point on every June 5th, to go to a Chinese restaurant, to honor Tank Man. For weeks in late May-early June, pro democracy students protested in Tiananmen Square against the communist Chinese government. Then on June 4, 1989, the Chinese government sent in troops who murdered thousands of those students. On June 5, 1989, Tank Man stopped a column of tanks, that were going to Tiananmen Square. And become a hero to many. The pictures and video have become iconic in the 22 years since Tank Man, stopped those tanks.



The northeast corner of Colima Rd and Fullerton Rd., in Rowland Heights, has a ton of restaurants. The New Diner has already reviewed two restaurants, Feedable BBQ Buffet and Pizza & Chicken Love Letter.




I wanted to try their xio long bao, XLB, $5.95, and got an order. The first thing I noticed about the XLB, was the thicker skin. I like the thicker skin, because it holds the inside contents, much better. The inside contents were, great. The soup was full of flavor, well seasoned, hearty. And the pork was great, well seasoned, cooked perfectly and great. The XLB here rank as one of my favorite XLB.

Service is good. The ladies are friendly and the food arrives quickly and hot. But, they only speak Chinese, and when I tried to call to get directions, they weren't very helpful. This is a cash only restaurant.

I would come back to JJ Noodle House for the XLB, anytime. The next time I come, I'm going to order the scallion pancakes, which looked great.

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.

Malan Han Noodle

Malan Han Noodle
2020 S Hacienda Blvd
Hacienda Heights
626-369-5602

When I heard that Malan Han Noodle, made their noodles fresh, I knew I wanted to give them a try. The beef noodle soup is the main thing, but I'm not really a soup person. So I tried the chow mein. They ask you what type of noodles do you want; flat or round and what size, small to large.

They make the noodles right behind the counter and then cook it up, then either add soup or make the chow mein.



I got the shrimp chow mein, $7.95. It was filled celery, cabbage, green onions, ginger, and shrimp. The shrimp is well cooked, tender and flavorful. I noodles are cooked perfectly and you can tell it is fresh. But, the dish itself, is bland, they need to add more salt and seasoning.

Service is very good. The lady is nice and friendly. It's a cash only operation.

I liked Malan Han Noodle, but I didn't love it. I loved the fresh noodles, but the chow mein was too bland. I may go back and try the soup, but the chow mein needs more seasoning.

Hop Li Seafood Restaurant

Hop Li Seafood Restaurant
526 Alpine St
Los Angeles
213-680-3939

There are some good Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, you may have to go off the beaten path, to find them. Hop Li, isn't on one of the major streets of Chinatown; Broadway and Hill, but it has very good food.

I went to Hop Li during lunch and they have a lunch special menu, with prices starting at $6.75 and $7.75. Since Hop Li is a seafood restaurant, I wanted to try some seafood items. All dishes include rice, soup, and a cookie.

But, one of my warning signs that a Chinese restaurant, in the LA area, isn't good, is when I see mostly white people like at Panda Express or Pick Up Stix. When I first walked into Hop Li, it was filled with white people, not a good start. But, I figured I'm already there and I would try it. Good thing I stuck around.



The soup with all lunch special dishes is an egg flower soup with some small pieces of pork. Thickened with cornstarch, and filled with lots of egg whites, it was served hot and was pretty good.



Squid with spicy salt, $6.75. This was perfectly fried, with a light crispy outside and a new tender inside. But, this was too salty. Yes, I know it is a dish called spicy salt, but it wasn't spicy, it was just salty. If they cut down on the salt, it could be a very good dish.



Scallops with snow peas, $7.75. I loved this dish. Fresh scallops in a light sauce with fresh sweet snow peas, awesome. The snow peas were cooked perfectly, had a nice snap and was so sweet. The scallops were also fresh and in that sauce was perfect. I would order this again.



Chicken lo mein, $7.25. I loved this dish. The noodles were cut short, they weren't long noodles and they were cooked perfectly. The chicken was tender, moist, and perfectly seasoned. There was some bok choy, that was also cooked perfectly. For the price and the large portion, this is a great deal.

Service was great. You are greeted the moment you walk into the door. The server is very nice and friendly. He makes sure you have anything you need, to make you dining experience a good one.

I would come to Hop Li anytime!!

Sanya Korean BBQ Restaurant

Sanya Korean BBQ Restaurant
2897 W Olympic Blvd.
Ste. 105
Los Angeles
213-383-1144

An all you can eat Korean BBQ for $9.99? Sounds like a good deal. But, as with anything you get what you pay for. Sanya Korean BBQ is filled with college aged kids, looking for a cheap meal. That should have told me, that the quality of the meats isn't going to be that high.

There are a few options for all you can eat, at Sanya. The $9.99 options includes brisket, marinated beef, pork belly, chicken.




Brisket- I'm not a fan of brisket at Korean BBQ since it is not seasoned or smoked. I'm not big on dipping meat into sauces. Hell I would bring a bottle of A-1 steak sauce than dip it into some of the sauces I've seen at Korean BBQ restaurants. This brisket was sliced very thin, so it cooked very quickly and was pretty good. I put it on top of rice or wrapped it in lettuce and dipped it into soy sauce.




Marinated beef- This had a sweet marinate to it. Not the best quality meat, lots of fat and gristle. But I trimmed off some of the fat and this was a pretty good item.



Potato salad-This was the highlight of the dinner. A smooth and creamy potato salad, with very little to no mayo. This had some raisins and carrots mixed into the smooth, very well cooked potato. I really enjoyed this dish.



Pork Belly-Another non marinated meat. The only time I've ever seen pork belly with some of the bone attached. Very fatty, yeah I know it's pork belly and suppose to be fatty. But the actual meat wasn't good. I only ate one piece of this.




Chicken-The chicken has a light hint of marinate, some soy sauce and some sugar. Most of the meat was dark meat, I believe thigh meat, and this cooked up pretty good. It was a tender but lacked flavor. You can tell this was a poor quality chicken.

Another thing that was poor, was the service. First it was raining that night and where we were sitting, the ceiling was leaking. The server, who maybe the manager or owner, tried to downplay the issue. Well I don't like sitting at dinner and having water drip on me. So after some discussion, we wanted to move to another table.

The banchan, side dishes are meant for the entire table, not for each person. That's fine, but the banchan is served in very small portions for the entire table. I mean a scoop of potato salad for three people? Yeah, that's going to work. They were very slow in refilling the side dishes and they had attitudes when you asked for refills!! At our table, we just had the potato salad and left most of the other side dishes alone.

The general attitude of the server is really bad. They are rude, not helpful, and lazy. They have a rule that any leftover meat is charged at $6lb. Since they were very slow to take away empty dishes, we stacked the dishes and when the server finally came by, she actually checked each dish-most of them were side dishes, to make sure we didn't leave any meat. Yeah nice.

I wouldn't go back to Sanya again. Poor quality meats, terrible service, and bad attitudes.

Tangier Korean BBQ of Tokyo-Closed

Tangier Korean BBQ of Tokyo
2138 Hillhurst Ave
Los Angeles
323-663-2000

What do you say to all you can eat, US Kobe beef, for $24.99? Well, Tangier Korean BBQ of Toyko offers this great deal, everyday of the week. Interesting name, huh? Like the LA Angels of Anaheim?

Anyways, I've heard good things about this and wanted to give Tangier a try. Kobe beef is specially raised beef, that has more marbling and very tender and flavorful.

Tangier offers five all you can eat items, with three US Kobe beef items; Harami, short plate, and kalbi, along with chicken and pork belly.



Short plate. I think this is a brisket. These are unseasoned and sliced very thin. They grill up quickly and need to be dipped into their sauces to add any flavor. I didn't really like this short plate.




Harami with short plate. Harami, isn't marinated, but is well marbled as you can see. This was pretty good, very tender and flavorful.




Chicken, kalbi, and harami. The chicken, which was white meat, was marinated in a sauce that was kinda of salty and actually pretty tasty. These grilled up pretty well, was flavorful and pretty good.

The kalbi, is the star of this show!! It's marinated in a light, slightly sweet marinate and grills up pretty quickly. Just a lot of flavor, so tender, and juicy.




Pork Belly- as usual with Korean BBQ, I'm not a fan of the pork belly. So, I'm suppose to dip this into a sauce, maybe wrap it in some lettuce. But, I can't get over the fact the pork belly is not seasoned at all, and dipping it into any sauce doesn't add any flavor.

I had a few of the side dishes, the potato salad was very good. It was creamy, almost liked a mashed potato salad, wasn't drowned in mayo. Just light, smooth goodness. The veggies, I got lettuce, carrots, and onions were very fresh. I didn't care for the black beans, which was pickled, and wasn't completely cooked, very hard.

Service was great. Ok, the restaurant wasn't busy, but we had two or three servers waiting near our table, ready to help. The best part of this, they didn't make this a bitch session about their job or other customers. They were standing their quietly, waiting to help us. At many restaurants, when two servers are together, it becomes a bitch session. Very unprofessional. But, not a Tangier, they only talked about work or they were quiet.

What isn't quiet, is that they scream, I mean SCREAM, whenever somebody walks in or leaves. It can be very unnerving and then annoying.

I would go back to Tangier anytime. A great deal, with great cuts of meats, better than any other all you can eat Korean BBQ, I've been to.