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.

 

 

Fabulous Buffet Choices on The Oceania Riviera - Hong Kong to Kobe

I just finished a two week cruise on the Oceania Riviera, boarding in Hong Kong and exiting in Kobe, Japan.  The terminus of the cruise was actually in Tokyo, but having been there less than a year ago to see the cherry blossoms bloom, and also since for me any vacation in excess of two weeks quickly becomes drudgery, I got off the boat four days early.  Having heard about luxury cruises, we had decided over a year ago to give one a try.  However, as I found, while the food on the cruise excelled, the remaining overall experience trailed otherwise trailed every other cruise I had ever taken.  But this posting only looks at the wonderful buffet items on the trip, although it nowhere near covered the price differential over other cruises.  Here are the more interesting things that showed up in the buffet over a two week period.

Salmon loaf

 

 

 Five hour slow cooked lamb shoulder

 Gnoochi in pesto sauce

 

Veal cold cuts

Swedish meatballs

Chocolate mole short ribs

Roast beef cold cuts.

Sea bass

 

 

 

Taiwanese beef noodle soup

 

 

Wrapped gras

 

 

Sushi grade tuna tartare

 

Spanish seafood stew with giant shrimp

 

Spanish tortilla
 

 

 

Rare roast beef salad

 

 

Taiwanese shrimp

 

 

Runny fried cheese
 

 

 

Oxtail salad

 

 

Oysters Rockefeller

 

 

New York strip loin

 

Thai chicken

 

 

Veal scallopini

 

  Pork and duck loaf

 

Baby squid toast

 

Black cod

 

Veal stuffed with chard and pistachios

 

 

Curry giant shrimp

 

 

Noodles in duck broth

 

 

Lobster pad thai

 

 

Rack of veal

 

 

Mixed mushroom h'ors d'oeuvres

 

 

What a humongous pot of cumin fried rice!

 

Butternut, spinach and feta cheese pie

 

 

 

Single spoons of fried tofu

 

 

Tamarind salmon

 

 

Russian salad

 

 

Fancy egg rolls

 

Chinese pork belly in the carvery

 

 

Chinese desserts including tapioca and sticky rice

 

 

Giant Asian skewer bbq

 

 

Chicken dumplings

 

Mushroom tarts.

 

 

Zucchini cheese crisps

 

 

 

Always hamburgers and pizza at lunch, which were very good.  Plus rib eye, sirloin and other grilled meats available in the nightly buffet dinner.

 

 

Sardinian seafood stew with pasta balls

 

 

Probably my favorite buffet dish of all, pineapple chili red snapper

 Venison medallions