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.

Luscious Dumplings-Closed

Luscious Dumplings 704 W Las Tunas Dr Ste 4 San Gabriel 626-282-8695 I love dumplings and have been to many dumpling restaurants, in my search for good dumplings. I went to Luscious Dumplings, based on some reviews, but sadly it was a waste of time and money. Chive, pork, egg, and shrimp $6.50, ten dumplings that are boiled. This dumpling barely had any pork, egg, or shrimp. It was mostly chives and the little meat, in this dumpling, was bland and just plain bad. Some dumpling places do overload the dumplings with chives, maybe as a coverup for the lack of meat, and Luscious Dumplings is no exception. Cabbage, pork and shrimp, $6.50-ten dumplings, that are boiled. Another bad, bland, flavorless dumpling. Though they were more pork and shrimp, it just wasn't good. No taste, no flavor, just bad dumplings. Pork with soup, xio long bao, $6.50. The xio long bao is maybe the only saving thing about Luscious Dumplings. The xlb were pretty good, not great, certain not the best I've had. The soup had a good flavor and the pork took some of the flavor from the meat. Though, the skin was a bit thicker than I'm used to. Service was OK but the servers were below average. This is a small place and my table was right next to where the servers are standing. Well, I could hear their entire conversation; from the point spread, to a basketball game, going up, to the nice legs of a female customer. Memo to all servers, what you say in private is fine, but never say anything within earshot of customers. Very unprofessional. I didn't lack for anything, and the food came quickly; that's what I meant by service being ok. I would not go back to Luscious Dumplings again. The prices are high, especially for the bad quality of dumplings and service a complete waste of time and money.

New Taste Dumpling House-Closed

New Taste Dumpling House 301 W. Valley Blvd., #110 San Gabriel 626-282-5953 New Taste was my second stop on the XLB tour, after going to Happy Kitchen. The beef rolls; $6.75, had a thicker pancake, but was cooked perfectly; light, flakey, and not oily. The beef was cooked well, tender and flavorful and they didn't overload the rolls with green onions. The XLB's; $5.95, really lacked flavor and seasoning. I'm guessing this was frozen and then steamed, not fresh at all. I didn't care for this at all. Service, is OK. They do not speak English but they try hard. Now, how would I rank the four XLB in this shopping center? My favorite is Jin Jian, followed by Happy Kitchen, then Mei Long Village; with New Taste ranking last. If New Taste sound familiar, it's the restaurant, where the former mayor of San Gabriel made a fool of himself, that lead to his resignation.

Happy Kitchen-Closed

Happy Kitchen 301 W Valley Blvd#111 San Gabriel 626-284-2619 When I went to Mei Long Village and Jin Jian, I noticed two other places in the same shopping center, that also serves xio long bao. So I made another two stop trip to try Happy Kitchen and New Taste Dumpling House. The xio long bao, $5.99, were tasty, with good seasoning and flavor. The pork was tender, fresh and flavorful. The soup was just bursting with flavor. Something I noticed was that the owner, came out covered with flour, so you know these XLB's are made fresh!! The beef cake rolls, $6.99, were ok, but the pancake was a bit on the oily side. They had too much green onion for my tastes, but the beef was pretty good. Service is OK. But they do not speak English and the husband and wife, who are the owners, will argue and yell at each other in Chinese, right in front of the costumers. Between Happy Kitchen and New Taste Dumpling House, I liked the XLB's at Happy Kitchen, but the beef rolls were better, here at New Taste.

Cowboy's Steakhouse-Closed

Cowboy's Steakhouse
227 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel
626-282-1348

The first Taiwanese steakhouse, I reviewed was Four Seasons Steak House, in Rowland Heights. I really like Four Seasons and will compare all Taiwanese steakhouses, to Four Seasons.

After going to Mei Long Village, I walked around for awhile and noticed Cowboy's Steakhouse. I wanted to give them a try and see how they compared.

So I decided to give Cowboy's a try, on June, 5, 2010. People need to remember June 5, 1989. That was the day an ordinary man, made an extraordinary show of courage. Tank Man.



I ordered the New York steakhouse, $12.45, medium rare, that comes with soup, salad, garlic bread, rice, and mushroom sauce.



Soup is a standard soup, made with corn starch, some corn, and a very bland broth. It was served warm, not hot.



Salad with a 1000 island dressing and iceberg lettuce. Fresh, crisp and served chilled.



Garlic bread/toast. Actually, not too bad. I did like this, nice garlic flavor. But it would have been better if served hot.





I ordered my steak medium rare. The server said our medium rare is bloody. I said that would be fine. When the steak came to my table it looked great on the outside, with a nice crust. But when I cut into the steak, I saw red, red, and more red. This is not medium rare, this is rare. But, since I agreed to their version of medium rare, I can't really complain.

This steak was very bland, they must not have put any salt on this steak. It lacked flavor, with lots of gristle and fat. This is a very low quality steak. It was so bland and flavorless, I had to add A-1 steaksauce and I never add steaksauce to a good steak.

Service is good. Nice, friendly servers who get the food out quickly.

I would not go back to Cowboy's again. The quality of the steaks are not that high and the steak just lacks seasoning and flavor.

Jin Jian

Jin Jian
301 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel
626-308-9238

Just a few doors down from Mei Long Village, is Jin Jian; another contender in battle Xiao Long Bao (XLB). I reviewed Din Tai Fung and their Xiao Long Bao, didn't live up to the hype.




Xiao Long Bao (XLB) $5.50, a thicker skin but I thought this was very bland. The pork was OK but nothing great.





Xiao Long Bao with crab meat, $6.50. The first time I've ever had xiao long bao with crab meat. I would say the ratio was about 70% pork to 30% crab meat. Same bland soup and thick skin. What I didn't expect was biting down on pieces of crab shells. Of the eight pieces, there were crab shells in six of them.

Service is pretty good but they rush you.

Jin Jian had a B rating and I can see why. I asked for ice water and there was somethign in it. The xiao long bao with crab meat had crab shells in it. Not a good place.

I will not go back. Mei Long Village still has the best xio long bao.

Mei Long Village-Closed

Mei Long Village 301 W Valley Blvd San Gabriel 626-284-4769 Having recently been on a dumpling kick, really a Xiao Long Bao (XLB) kick, I first went to Din Tai Fung, known for it's XLB's. But I found them small, lacking in flavor and not worth the high price tag. Then I found Dumpling House in Arcadia; and I loved it. Huge sized XLB's with so much flavor!! So I heard about Mei Long Village and I decided to see how their XLB's stacked up. I got the XLB, $5.95 for ten pieces and potstickers, $6.95. Xiao Long Bao, wow, huge sized, a thicker skin than the other XLB's, but still great. The pork had so much flavor and the soup was great. All in all a great XLB. How does it stack up to Dumpling House? Dumpling House is 1A and Mei Long Village is 1B. The potstickers were pretty good. Same great pork as the XLB. The skin was thicker too. What was different is that inside the potsticker was the same soup as the XLB. Interesting but very good. Service was good. The server was nice and friendly. But the potstickers too forever to arrive. Why? Not sure. They may not have been worth the wait but they were good. I would go back to Mei Long Village anytime for their Xiao Long Bao dumplings. I have now found another good place to get XLB. Who is better? I think Dumpling House in Arcadia by a small margin. Interesting fact, this is the first Chinese restaurant in San Gabriel I have reviewed.

Clearman's Galley

Clearman's Galley
7215 N Rosemead Blvd
San Gabriel
626-286-1484

Back in 2006, I reviewed the Original Clearman's Galley and told readers of The New Diner, that The Boat, as Clearman's Galley is called, was being torn down to make room for a Kohl's and eventually The Boat would reopen.

Well here we are in 2009 and The Boat has finally opened. The Boat just moved a little bit south of their original location, The Boat is facing Rosemead Blvd. The new Boat is so much bigger than the old boat.

I ordered the fish and fries, $8.25. The fish is cod and you get three decent sized pieces. The batter is light and pretty crispy. The cod is flakey and moist. It's pretty good but nothing outstanding. The fries are cut thicker and was pretty bad. But I don't normally eat fries. So it's not that big of a deal.

Service was OOOOOK. When I got there the line was so long, it wasn't even funny. People were there to watch the Lackers play Cleveland, so that was part of the reason for the long time. Also the reopening of The Boat, has brought back a lot of people. But one hour to place my order? Then another ten minutes for my order to arrive? Not good. The food certainly wasn't worth the long wait. But then again I wasn't going to make another trip back here to try the food. So I waited and waited in line. But the cooks who take your order, the cashiers, and the young ladies who bring you out your orders are nice and friendly. They are working as hard and as fast as they can. But man it wasn't fun waiting in that line.

I sat outside because they have a covered patio and I didn't want to be around fans who root for a rapist on the Lackers. The only problem is that a bunch of damn smokers are near you and since those scumbags can't go for more than ten minutes without lighting up, they go outside and smoke.

Like I said, I wouldn't go out of my way to come back to The Boat. I wanted to go to the reopening and really, nothing has changed. The food is decent and a good price. I would come back but I wouldn't wait in a long line again.

Update Feb 10, 2009



After going to Charley Brown's for appetizers I went to meet a buddy back at The Galley. While the Lackers were on, it wasn't as crowded as the last time I went. This time I had the chili size, $6.95. A chili size is a cheeseburger patty covered with chili. It comes with a garlic cheese bread and salad. The chili is a very mild chili, no beans, and I think a bit bland. But the thing I didn't like was the chili wasn't hot. Maybe luke warm. I don't think it's asking too much for hot food to be hot. The burger was a bit overcooked and nothing special.

The bread is great. It's more cheese than garlic but it's good. The salad is very fresh and just drown in blue cheese dressing. It's really just lettuce but it's good.

The one difference I noticed between the Original Clearman's Galley and this new Galley is that the chili size comes on a plate, not some paper plate.

Petrillo's-San Gabriel

Petrillo's Pizza
833 E Valley Blvd
San Gabriel
626-280-7332

I love Petrillo's pizza. It's the best pizza in the San Gabriel Valley and one of the best pizza in LA. I already reviewed Petrillo's in Glendora, but I wanted to try the original in San Gabriel.

So I got a medium half pepperoni and half pineapple and Canadian Bacon, $19.50. I didn't have the pineapple and canadian bacon, but I loved the pepperoni!!! The crust is so different. The bottom part is a harder crust, I believe they use some corn meal. But the "upper crust" is soft, watered down by the cheese and pepperoni. They put a ton of cheese and pepperoni!!! The pepperoni is much more spicy than any other pepperoni than I've ever had. But it is so good.

Service is pretty good. We got our pizza in good time. But at times, drinks were slow to be refilled.

I would go back to Petrillo's anytime. There is no difference between the Glendora and San Gabriel locations. Parking can be difficult at the San Gabriel location. I did find parking right in front but Valley is a very busy street.

Claro's-San Gabriel

Claro's
1003 East Valley Blvd
San Gabriel
626-288-2026

I know I did a review of the Claro's in West Covina, but I wanted to try the original Claro's in San Gabriel. So I decided to have lunch there.

At the deli custom made sandwiches includes your choice of three meats and one cheese. I had the large, corned beef, roast beef, and turkey with mild cheddar cheese sandwich for $5.49. The sandwich came with mayo, lettuce and tomato. The sandwich is just too dry. They need to put more mayo or something. The meat is cut so thin, it would make Victoria Secret blush. The lettuce and tomato were fresh and the bread was soft and had a wonderful crust. But the meat and cheese make a sandwich and at Claro's the meet and cheese are below average. I will not order another sandwich from Claro's again.

As I was going to the pay, I saw them selling pizza by the slice, $1.25. So I decide to give their pizza a try. The pizza was filled with sausage and cheese but it was dry too. Not nearly enough pizza sauce. The crust was a bit on the chewy, dry, side.

As for service, I've seen turles go faster. First let me say the workers behind the deli counter are very nice people. But they are sooo slow. I must have waited 30-40 minutes, from the time I got in line and I finally got my sandwich. There were TWO, TWO people ahead of me in line. They didn't order that much, a couple meats and cheeses. But still it took forever.

I would not go back to Claro's. The sandwiches are just too dry and I know I can get better meat and cheeses at other places for a much better price.