Chinese Street Food Comes To The San Gabriel Valley

When traveling abroad, many destinations are well known for their street food, including China, Taiwan and other parts of Asia.  Many types of Chinese street food are found in the San Gabriel Valley but typically are found in sit down Chinese restaurants.  Unlike the Chinatowns of New York, food carts just aren't seen on the street corners of the San Gabriel Valley, though occasionally one might find a small snack cart operating in front of a Chinese supermarket.

So it was surprising for me to find a Chinese food cart operating on a side street in Rowland Heights, within view of busy Colima Road, Yu Ji Stone Mill Chinese Crepes.

 

But Yu Ji Stone Mill Chinese Crepes is not a haphazard or fly by night operation.  In some ways it has the trappings of a formal restaurant.  It is listed in Yelp, showing a fixed location and fixed business hours, with bags with their name and location.

  

Yu Ji Stone Mill Chinese Crepes is a one trick pony in that they serve only one dish, their jian bing.  Yes, they do have a menu, but all it really does is list the ingredients of their crepe.  You can adjust the spice level or delete a listed ingredient.

 

There's just one person with one grill, taking about 5 minutes to cook, so you'll have to wait if there's a line.

 

On the other hand, watching the gal (or her husband) make each crepe one at a time from scratch is an interesting show.

 

And in the end it's worth the wait.

 

The cart is parked at 1648 Jellick Ave. in Rowland Heights. 

Who Reported Me To Wikipedia?

Having gotten over the shock of finding I was listed in Wikipedia, I set out to try to find our how my page got there.  Since anyone can add a page on Wikipedia, the entire world would be suspect.  Someone who interviewed me in the past?  A social media fopllower?  A friend or relative?  Who knows?   

I figured the place to start was to see what qualified as a valid Wikipedia listing that would be acceptable.  In fact, there's an objective criteria to warrant a Wikipedia listing.  Three, actually.  Being notable, being enduring, and sufficient third party documentation of the subject's accomplishments.  I also found there was a trail showing the history of a Wikipedia listing.  From this, it seemed that the article was generated by someone who had been involved in thousands of Wikipedia articles.  So it wasn't an interviewer, follower, friend or relative, but a total stranger, perhaps someone who worked for Wikipedia, or a volunteer who spent a lot of time adding to Wikipedia.

I then ran across the term WikiProjects.  WikiProjects are subject matter headings apparently populated by volunteers who are charged with keeping things complete and accurate within their subject expertise, such as food.   Then digging further, I found that there was an entire set of running notes which indicates who was involved in the creation of the article and when various comments were made.   I found that the original author was a user named mikeblas who had authored hundreds of articles, indicating that he was at least semi-officially associated with Wikipedia.  There were also a handful of comments made by other users over a two week period making comments on the article.  And it was obvious from the comments that the Wikipedia listing was based on the numerous and various articles about me from major sources over an extended period of time, like the Los Angeles Times, BBC, South China Morning Post, Eater, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and NPR.  

I've subsequently found two cross references within Wikipedia to my listing.  One is in the Wikipedia article on American Chinese food, which strikes me as being rather random.  And the other is in their listing of American food writers, which makes me feel funny for being listed while so many people who do that professionally are not.

 

Hong Kong Cafe Food Finally Comes to LA’s Westside

Ever so gradually the Westside of Los Angeles has turned from a wasteland for Chinese food into one with a decent number of Chinese food options. Where San Gabriel Valley quality food on the Westside was a pipe dream over 30 years ago, actual San Gabriel Valley operations like Din Tai Fung, Haidilao, Northern Cafe and Sichuan Impression among others are now in the neighborhood.

Of course there are lots of gaps. I don’t ever recall a Hong Kong style cafe serving western dishes. I do remember Little Hong Kong Cafe on Sawtelle but I believe it was straight up Cantonese. But this void has just been filled by JM 9 Kitchen in the Colony Kitchen Food Court on Santa Monica Bl. near by Sawtelle Japantown.

 

This tomato pork chop on fried rice is as good as you would find in the San Gabriel Valley.

 

 

Likewise the chicken cutlet with pepper sauce.

 

 

And the fried sole with tartar sauce.

And there are many other similar choices on the menu.

 

Meanwhile there are more traditional Hong Kong cafe dishes for the locals which are excellent too.

 

Salt and pepper chicken wings.

 

Wonton noodles as good as anything in the SGV.

Frankly given the community kitchen venue I’m shocked by how good the quality is here.

Array 36 In San Gabriel; Will Michelin Stars Return to the San Gabriel Valley?

The only Chinese restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley to garner a Michelin star was Bistro Na's in Temple City, which had one star starting in 2019 but lost it in 2022.  Not that Bistro Na's food went downhill, but rather purists had questioned whether their star was really warranted, and perhaps may been a stretch for sake of diversity.  However, just a couple blocks away on the San Gabriel/Temple City border, a new Michelin star contender has emerged with the opening last year of Array 36.  Clearly Array 36 is the only San Gabriel Valley restaurant in the same league as Bistro Na's, in terms of price and quality, so the question is whether Array 36 surpasses Bistro Na's.  

Interestingly, the signature dish at Bistro Na's is their slightly sweet crispy shrimp dish, which is probably ordered at every meal ever served over there, is also on the menu at Array 36.  On that count, the version at Bistro Na's is clearly better.

 

However, there are a lot of great dishes at Array 36.  Their own signature dish is the roast duck.  Regular price is $108, but occasionally involved in some kind of special.  Certainly no better version of this anywhere in the San Gabriel Valley.

 

The beef ribs were a favorite of all of us.

 

As was the porky belly with quail eggs.

 

 

My personal favorite was the crab meat, crab roe tofu dish, one of many inventive dishes on the menu.

 

Truffle fried rice was so flavorful.

 

Live seafood, like this steamed fish, is one way to run up a large bill.

 

Jellyfish head with yuzu was a surprising treat.

 

Not your ordinary vegetable dish of mountain yams, pumpkin, wood ear and snow peas.

 

And how about blueberries infused with yam paste?

 

I don't know particularly what qualifies a restaurant for a Michelin star, but I do think that the inventiveness of the menu is something that might give Array 36 a leg up.

It's Good To Be A Guinea Pig

On a couple of occasions I've been invited to restaurants to sample dishes that are proposed to be added to a Chinese restaurant's menu.  To the extent that the dish does not make it past the test phase, there's no sense of a public post.  But then it's also a waste to not be able to share these items, either.  So here are a few dishes which you probably won't ever see.

 

Sweet and sour eggs from Paradise Dynasty

 

Dry rub garlic spare ribs from Paradise Dynasty

 

 

Hand torn lobster meat with tofu in tomato sauce from Henry's Cuisine.  Sure wish I could have this one again.

  (Accompanied by a fried rice noodle pancake)

 

Braised ox tail from Henry's Cuisine.

 

 

Throwback Chinese fried chicken (too labor intensive for a menu item) from Henry's Cuisine.

 

Crab meat fish maw soup with winter melon.

 

 

Chinese broccoli and mixed greens with roast pork from Henry's Cuisine.

 

Salt and pepper crab from Henry's Cuisine.

 

Link to My Articles Discussing Chinese Food in the Context of Chinese-American History, Demographics and Culture

My Menuism Chinese Restaurant Articles Discussing Chinese Food in the Context of Chinese-American History, Demographics and Culture are at Chandavkl's Menuism Blog

Dining Room Meals on the Oceania Riviera

 Given how good the buffet food was on the Oceania Riviera, it is no surprise that the dining room food was even better.  There was a main dining room, which I only ate at once, and four specialty restaurants available by reservation, with one night's seating guaranteed at each of the restaurants.

 

Red Ginger (Asian) - Salmon and scallop ceviche

 

Red Ginger - Watermelon and duck salad

Red Ginger - Claypot salmon

 

Polo Grill - Rib eye steak

 

Toscana (Italian) - Tagliatelle with salami

 

Toscana - Sea bass

 

 

Jacques (French) - Sea bass salad

 

Jacques - Lobster and scallop gnocchi

 

Jacques - Pumpkin soup

 

Jacques - Fabulous Dover sole

 

On every other cruise I had ever been on, virtually every dinner was in one of the large dining rooms.  However, on this cruise I only ate dinner one time in the Grand Dining Room.  The reason was due to a very unsatisfactory structure for dining on the Oceania boat.  First of all, dinner was only served from 6:30 pm to 9pm, so it was virtually impossible to eat in the main dining room first, then check out the buffet later.   Secondly to eat in the main dining room you had to physically go down to the reservations desk on the 5th level to make your reservation.  Third, to see what was on the menu in the dining room, you'd have to go to the dining room to look at the menu, with no app or video screen access to the current menu.  (Yes, you could see the specialty restaurant menu from your video screen, but that menu was static.)  And fourth, you did not have your own assigned table in the dining room, so you wouldn't see the same people in your dining neighborhood.  Lastly, the food was not terribly memorable.  Indeed, I don't remember what I ate in the dining room, nor did I even make a note of it.  However, I did take these two pictures.