101 Noodle Express

101 Noodle Express
1408 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra
626-300-8654


As readers of The New Diner know, when it comes to dumplings, I love Dumpling House in Arcadia, and in my quest for dumplings in the San Gabriel Valley, I have also think highly of Dumpling House in Temple City.

So when I read about 101 Noodle Express, being among the best dumpling places in the San Gabriel Valley, I had to give it a try. 101 Noodle Express is, just west of Mei Long Village and Jin Jian, on Valley Blvd. but a bit tough to find because the sign is pretty small.




Pork roll;$6.75. I would normally get the beef roll but today I got the pork roll and what a treat. Served warm, this roll was great!! The pancake was slightly toasted, flakey, and a bit chewy. The pork was tender and flavorful, with lots of green onions but not overwhelming. Two huge pieces came with the order. I would get this again, any time.




Pan fried, pork dumpling (10 pieces); $6.49. I wasn't expecting xio long boa, but these dumplings had the juices inside. I was a bit surprised, but I did like this. The skin is thicker than normal; about the thickness of three wonton wrappers. But the pork was well seasoned and tender. I liked the juice, very good flavor, and seasoning.




Steamed shrimp and pork dumpling (10 pieces); $5.99. I normally don't like shrimp and pork dumpling together. But the shrimp and pork dumpling here was great. An entire medium sized shrimp was mixed with the pork. Good seasoning, good flavor. I would order this again.

Service was OK. Part of the problem was English isn't spoken, so it is hard to communicate. I thought the food took a bit longer than normal. But, overall nothing too bad.

I do like 101 Noodle Express but I don't think it's anywhere close to Dumpling House. I do think the pork roll was awesome, and while the dumplings were good, they didn't blow me away. 101 Noodle Express is cash only, no credit cards are accepted.

Charlie's Trio Cafe

Charlie's Trio Cafe
47 W Main St
Alhambra
626-284-4943

Ok, not sure what it is, but I'm on a broasted chicken kick. After going to Chicky yesterday, I heard about Charlie's Trio Cafe and wanted to try it. Charlie's is an Italian restaurant that served broasted chicken. I have heard good things about their pizza and may give them a try, another time. But I came here for the broasted chicken.

Charlie's is located on the corner of Main and 1st Street in Alhambra. I have now been to all three restaurants, at each of the corners at the intersection. The other two restaurants; Tony Roma's and 38 Degrees Ale House & Grill. There is a big name coffee house on the last corner, and since I don't drink coffee, there will not be a review.




I got two breast pieces, $2.50 each, to go. It was a beautiful day, no reason to sit inside when it is so beautiful outside. So I found a bench and sat outside. Like almost every other broasted chicken place I've been to, the chicken is cooked to order, so expect a wait of about 15 minutes. I can't believe some people complain about that wait. I mean, WTF, do you want freshly cooked chicken or chicken that has been sitting under heat lamps for over an hour?

The chicken was very moist and tender. But it was that flavorful, as if it was missing some seasoning. I did like but it just didn't stack up with Broaster Chicken in Montebello.

Service was very good. Like I mentioned before, Charlie's is an Italian restaurant that happens to serve broasted chicken. This is a sit down, table service restaurant. Not the counter service that most broaster chicken places, I've been to. The young lady who took my order was very nice and helpful.

I would go back to Charlie's if I was in the area. I can chalk up the lack of seasoning to a one time mistake. They do use good quality chicken and it was moist and tender. I do plan to come back for their pizza.

Little London Fish & Chips-Closed

Little London Fish & Chips
19 S Garfield Ave Ste A
Alhambra
626-282-4477

In my quest to find good fish and chips, I have searched far and wide. I found my favorite at England Fish and Chips in Long Beach. I passed by Little London Fish & Chips recently and thought I would give it a try. New London isn't too far from, New England Fish & Chips.

It's funny but I must have passed by New London so many times, since I've gone to Cuban Bistro, 38 Degree Ale House, and Tony Roma's, but I've never noticed it until last weekend.




I don't need the fries so I ordered two pieces of fish, $1.01 each, and two pieces of shrimp, .65 cents each. The fish are pollock, not as good as cod but it can be good if done right. Little London isn't good. The fish is just frozen pieces of fish. Nothing is fresh. There is so much batter on the fish, you need a microscope to find the fish. I would bet the ratio was 70% batter to 30% fish, unreal!!! The batter was thick, heavy, crunchy and greasy. They need to turn up the temp on that fryer.

The shrimp was butterflied and had a nice batter. But the shrimp didn't taste fresh, as if had been in the freezer too long. I wasn't impressed at all.

Service was good. Nice and friendly people.

To call Little London, a fish and chips place, would be a mistake. It is more of a general restaurant. They have a ton of sandwiches and even an "Oriental" menu that includes teriyaki. The owners are Koreans and are planning some new changes. They need to change the name because their fish and chips just aren't cutting it.

There is no reason for me to go back to Little London Fish & Chips, again.

38 Degrees Ale House & Grill

38 Degrees Ale House & Grill
100 W. Main St.
Alhambra
626-282-2038

Another restaurant trying to get into the gourmet burger rage that is hitting LA, is 38 Degrees Ale House & Grill. Father's Office started this rage and Umami Burger is a recent addition. But this time instead of opening in downtown or the westside, a gourmet burger place opened in the San Gabriel Valley. 38 Degrees is right the street, just west of the Tony Roma's that I reviewed earlier.

I got the Smokehouse Burger, $10, certified Angus, Smoked bacon, onion ring, cheddar cheese, and I asked for the Smoked Porter BBQ sauce, on the side. I was very impressed with this burger. Full of flavor, cooked to medium rare, as I asked, great toppings with the cheddar cheese and onion rings. This burger was moist and juicy and there wasn't any other condiment on there. Such a good burger at a better price than Father's Office.

Service at the bar was good. The bartender was attentive and friendly.

I'm glad to see that people who live in the San Gabriel Valley don't have to drive to the snotty Westside to get a good gourmet burger. 38 Degrees is the place. And the beer is very cold!!!!

Update October 29, 2010.

I went back to 38 Degrees for their happy hour specials. All starters are $2 off during happy hour; which lasts until 7pm Mon-Fri, I believe happy hour starts at 5pm, but may start at 4pm.



I got the calamari, regular price, $7, happy hour price, $5. The calamari was crispy, pretty fresh, but dry. As in it was sitting under heat lamps for too long, but it wasn't greasy.

The calamari comes with a plum sauce, that is just way too sweet for the calamari, which needs a spicy dipping sauce. They need to have either tartar or marinara sauce, as the dipping sauce.

The portion was pretty large, especially for the price. But I wouldn't order this again.




I got the sliders, $8 regular, $6 happy hour, because I was very happy with the burgers, the first time I came here, but the sliders were a big disappointment. Why? Very dry, overcooked, and just not as good as their burgers.

There was too much char on the each slider, the cooks didn't pay close enough attention while cooking these sliders. Also, these was suppose to 1000 island dressing but all three sliders had maybe a drop, thus making for a very dry slider.

Service left a lot to be desired too. The server was very slow, wasn't friendly, and just bad. She needs to learn customer service skills like; saying Hi, smiling, and greeting people. She took too long to refill drinks, take orders, and clear plates.

But what I didn't like was the way she handled the seating. I got a table for four, when I first arrived, but was expecting about 6-8 people to arrive throughout the two hours I was going to be there. But quickly, the table for four was filled up and there was a table for two, right next to us, that opened up about an hour after we arrived. I asked the server, if I could take that table and she said there are people waiting for the table and she would need to check. When she left to go check, two other people, from my party, showed up, and they just took the table. I turned around and there was nobody waiting for a table.

I wouldn't go back to 38 Degrees, again, with the bad service and bad sliders.

Alondra Hot Wings- Alhambra-Closed

Alondra Hot Wings- Alhambra
515 W. Main St.
Alhambra
626-576-7119

I read that Alondra Hot Wings opened their fourth location in Alhambra. So having good experiences at the Alondra Hot Wings in Montebello and the Alondra Hot Wings in Long Beach, I decided to go try their Alhambra location.

The first thing I noticed about the Alhambra location is that it is much bigger than the Montebello and Long Beach locations. But same menu and prices as the other two location.

I got the Brooklyn burger, $9.50, and the 12 piece hot wings, $7.95.

The Brooklyn burger is piled high with marinated ground beef at its base. Lettuce, tomato, fresh onions, onion chips, bacon, cheddar and provolone's with a savory drizzle of BBQ. Dressed with mayo and 1000 island. Served with fries.

This was a wonderful burger. The beef was cooked about medium well and was nice and juicy. The toppings were all fresh but I took over the red onions, it was overkill considering you already have onion chips on there. The bacon was nice and crispy. The bun light toasted, nice texture and fresh. All the flavors work well together. I would order this again.

The fries, well that was another story. Cold, soggy and not good at all. It was like they were sitting under heat lamps for about two hours. But I didn't eat too many fries, cutting out the carbs you know, but still they could get the fries down right.

The wings are always good. Nice crispy skins with a fair amount of meat inside. The one thing I have noticed about their wings sauce is that there is a lot of vinegar in it. Not that it is bad but it does over power the wings. Also why such a small cup of ranch dressing? I mean come, there are 12 wings and you expect that small of a cup of dressing to be enough?

Service was good until I got the bill. The serve was attentive and always made sure I had everything I needed. He even noticed he forgot to leave me a straw. But when he came back to get my credit card to pay, he didn't even say thank you or anything. When he came back with the receipt for me to sign, again no thank you. I don't know if those two words aren't in his vocab but man, even some of the worst servers I've had, have said thank you when picking up the check. Not sure what his problem was. The place was full but not packed, with tons of people waiting for a table. I never had this problem at any other Alondra Hot Wings so I'm willing to chalk it up to a bad day. Now some people may not think saying Thank you is a big deal. But it is. Think about it, you are tipping for good service. Every server should say Thank you, after receiving payment.

Going to Alondra Hot Wings you are assured of good food at good prices and usually good service. While this location was the worst service I've had, I would still go back to this location, if I was in the area.

New England Fish & Chips & Chinese Food

New England Fish & Chips & Chinese Food
1705 W Main St
Alhambra
626-576-2082

Just east of Fosselman's Ice Cream Co is England Fish and Chips & Chinese Food, a very interesting combination.

Now I compare every fish and chips place to England Fish and Chips in Long Beach, since England Fish and Chips is awesome.

New England Fish & Chips & Chinese Food comes pretty close to England Fish and Chips' quality and price but still falls short.

I got the 2 piece fish and chips, $4.15, and a jumbo shrimp, $1.60. All fried items are cooked to order. The fish is pollock. The fish isn't crunchy, either the oil isn't hot enough or the batter is terrible. The fish was nice and flakey but I think cod is still better. This isn't bad but it's not as great as England Fish and Chips.

The shrimp was big, still didn't have much of a crunch, and was flavorful.

The fries are better than England's but I barely touch the fries.

One thing though, they give you thimble sized tartar sauce containers. They are so small, after eating half of the fish, you're completely empty of tartar sauce.

Service is good. The old man doesn't smile but he is nice and very polite. This isn't the fault of New England, but there was this family who allowed their two kids to yell, scream, and run around the entire restaurant. Hey stupid people, a restaurant isn't your baby sitting service. Take care of your kids and teach them how to behave in publc.

If I was in the area, I would go back to New England Fish & Chips & Chinese Food but I wouldn't make an extra trip out. If I had to choose, I would drive down to Long Beach and get England Fish and Chips. I may try their Chinese food and judging from the prices and portion, it maybe worth a trip soon.

The Boiling Crab- Alhambra-Moved

The Boiling Crab- Alhambra
742 W Valley Blvd.
Alhambra
626-576-9368

Much like The Boat House, The Boiling Crab is another no frills, Asian meets Canjun seafood place. Your table cloth is butcher block paper, your napkins are from paper towels. This isn't the place for those pretentious jerk people of Orang Curtain or the Worst Side. You order from seafood by the pound, with prices depending on the supply of seafood.

Fried shrimp, $8.99. This was great. Cornmeal batter covering sweet tender shrimp. This was awesome. Hot out of the fryer and crunchy, a steal for the amount and quality of shrimp. A great appetizer.

Shrimp, $9.99/lb. These are peel and eat shrimp with the heads on. The shrimp was tender and so fresh it must have been swimming earlier that morning. We got mild Cajun seasoning. Not spicy at all but tons of flavor.

Dungenous crab, $13.99/lb. All the seasonings were added to the dungenous crab. Lemon pepper, cajun, and garlic butter combined to make this a very flavorful, though over powered by the garlic seasoning. The crab was sweet and tender and there were a ton of crab!!

Blue crab, $7.99. Lemmon pepper seasoning added to the flavor of the blue crab. The crab was great. I like the taste and flavor of blue crab over dungeness crab.

Service was very good. But The Boiling Crab gets very crowded, you're so close to the next time, they might as well be part of your group. But the food comes out quickly, drinks are refilled quickly and the food is great. All in all a great time. But be prepared to wait for an hour or more for a table and they don't take reservations.

What is the difference between The Boiling Crab and The Boat House? Prices are going to vary due to supply. But I think the seafood is fresher at The Boiling Crab since they go through so much seafood. The Boat House seafood is fresh but The Boiling Crab tastes as though the seafood was swimming in the ocean just that morning. I wouldn't be disappointed if I had to go to The Boathouse but my first choice would be The Boiling Crab.

Boathouse

Boathouse
25 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra
626-282-2888

Boathouse is a Cajun boiled seafood restaurant, in a Chinese area. They serve shrimp, lobster, crab, king crab, and crawfish boiled in your choice of seasoning.

I got an order of onion rings, $4.99 and their daily special, 1 1/2 pounds of lobster, in lemon pepper seasoning for $14.99. Regular lobster is $13.00 a pound. So the lobster was a good deal. The lobster was served in a bag with a very spicy lemon pepper seasoning, already cut up and ready for me to eat. The lobster was tender and flavorful. Very good. But the seasoning was very spicy, I asked for medium and if that is medium, I can't imagine what spicy is like. The interesting thing was the lack of another claw!!! Lobsters have two claws and I only got one.

The onion rings were fresh out of the fryer. They had a nice batter and a great crunch!!! A very good order of onion rings!!!

Service was very good and helpful.

Boathouse is an example place for boiled seafood. The big name restaurant is Boiled Crab, a few blocks west on Valley. But the wait is terrible at Boiling Crab. I have not been to Boiling Crab but there is no waiting at Boathouse and I can't imagine Boiling Crab being any better than Boathouse.

I will be back to Boathouse for their King Crab, which was priced at $19.99 a pound. Shrimp is $7.99 a pound and Dungness crab is $13.99 a pound.

Fosselman's Ice Cream Co

Fosselman's Ice Cream Co
1824 W Main St
Alhambra
626-282-6533

High expectations and low results. This is how I would describe Fosselman's Ice Cream. I have heard so much about Fosselman's but I've have never gone. So I finally decide to give them a try.

I got a single scoop of rocky road, $2..50. The ice cream itself was very smooth, much smoother than Dreyer's or Ben N Jerry's. But rocky road means marshmellows and almonds. Fosselman's rocky road has walnuts and no marshmellows. Not good and some of the walnuts tasted stale. Not a good example.

Service was pretty good. They were very crowded when I was there. They give free samples too. I tried the blueberry but wasn't impressed.

I would not make an extra trip for Fosselman's. Give me a scoop of Thrifty's ice cream anyday over Fosselman's.

Twohey's-

Twohey's Restaurant
1224 N Atlantic Blvd
Alhambra
626-284-7387

Updated Review Jan 19, 2018

An long time Alhambra resturant, I pass by Twohey's all the time but never stopped in. But when I saw the sign for all you can eat ribs, I made it a point to stop in ASAP. The all you can eat ribs special, with two sides, fries and cole slaw, was $17.99.

The baby back ribs were cooked in the oven. But they were good ribs, meaty and the BBQ sauce added some nice flavor. They kept asking if I wanted more ribs almost every five minutes. Overall they were solid. Nothing great about them but nothing bad either.

Service was good. The server was nice and attentive. She even told me, she was going on a break and a new server was going to help us. The new server was also very good.

I would go back to Twohey's to try their Stinko Burger and onion rings.

Tony Roma's-Alhambra-Closed

Tony Roma's
68 W Main St
Alhambra
626-300-6656

Everybody has heard of Tony's Roma's. It is not the place for ribs. They think good ribs due to the sauce. it's not. It's the way the ribs are cooked, slowly smoked that makes good ribs.

But I was very hungry and wanted to just pig out. So on Thursdays at the Alhambra locatio, they have an Endless slab of ribs special for $23.95. The ribs include two sides, I picked the steamed vegetables and corn. They will bring you plateful of ribs until you say stop.

The ribs are cooked in an oven and have flavorless without the sauce. The sauce is actually pretty good. I think if Tony Roma's bottled their sauce and sold it, the sauce would be a top seller. But the ribs are below average at best.

Service was good. The server was friendly and attentive. She brought the extra plates of ribs almost too fast but that's not really a big deal.

I will not go back to Tony Roma's again. I wanted to go for the endless slab and to review Tony Roma's.

Diner on Main

Diner On Main
201 Main St
Alhambra
626-281-3488

I normally don't go out for breakfast. I would much rather skip breakfast and get a nice lunch on weekends. But sometimes you have no choice in the matter. But it's not like I'm against ordering breakfast food. I just don't go that often.

Diner on Main is a throwback to a different time and place. You almost feel as though Richie Cunningham and the Fronz are going to walk in for a soda.

I ordered the sausage and two eggs, $7.25. The meal comes your choice of bread, I got the English muffin, and hash browns. I order eggs over medium. I prefer the yolk to be almost solid, closer to over hard, than over easy. These eggs were a little runny for my tastes. I think I need to order eggs over hard from now on.

The sausage was tasty with a lot of spice to them. The hash browns were cooked just right for my tastes. Crispy but not too crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside.

Service was good. We sat at the counter and we weren't lacking for anything. But there was a long wait to get a table and some people had been waiting in line for over 30 minutes. Now the food is good but not good enough to wait 30 minutes.

I would go back to Diner on Main. Good food and good service.

Cuban Bistro-Closed

Cuban Bistro
28 Main St.
Alhambra
626-308-3350


Ever had a meal when maybe the appetizers were great and the entree was average or worse? Well that's what I experienced at Cuban Bistro in Alhambra. What great appetizers but the entree left a lot to be desired.

Yes, I normally don't order appetizers. After all if I had appetizers and entree, I would weigh two tons, instead of one ton. But I went with my girlfriend and her colleague and they wanted appetizers. So whatever my girlfriend wants she gets.

We ordered the Camarones Empanizado,$9.50, fried shrimp with a red bell pepper aoli sauce. WOW the shrimp was fried to perfect. A nice light batter and the shrimp was big and tender. What a wonderful way to start our meal.

Then we had the tora de cangrejo, $6.50, which is a large crabcake with lobster cream sauce and topped with a fruit salsa. I didn't care for the salsa but wow what a great crabcake. Since I'm from Baltimore and grew up on crabcakes, it takes a lot for a crabcake to impress me. And this crabcake did it. This was great. Almost no fillers, just crabmeat in every bite. Now they only give you one big crabcake and it's well worth the price.

My entree was the halibut al ajillio, $16. Now halibut is my favorite fish. I love it. But I know it can be dry if it's not cooked properly. So damn this was halibut was bone dry. It was seasoned with garlic seasoning, you get a choice of garlic or tropical salsa. And the garlic didn't add much flavor to the halibut. I wasn't impressed and should have ordered a chicken dish. Oh well.

Service was acceptable. We waited a little for refills of drinks. It seemed to take a little longer than normal for our entrees to arrive.

I would go back to Cuban Bistro again. I would love to try their other entrees and their Cuban Sandwich. But this is much better than that Cuban restaurant in the Orange Curtain.