Ji Rong Peking Duck--Not Just A One Trick Pony

While there might not be a consensus, the most highly regarded Peking duck specialist in the Los Angeles area is most likely Ji Rong Peking Duck in San Gabriel.  For sure nobody can quarrel with the premise that they serve a high quality product.

Now once upon a time some 30 years ago, the legendary Quanjude Beijing Duck restaurant opened up a branch in the San Gabriel Valley.  The problem is that they served duck and not a lot of other types of dishes.  So yes, you could have a banquet there, but it would include eight different duck dishes.  No such problem at Ji Rong Peking Duck.  Look at some of their other fabulous dishes, like their sweet and sour whole garoupa.

No complaining about the lobster.

Pork belly anyone?

 

Snow pea leaves in broth.

Cumin lamb.

No joke.  Sometimes I like to use orange chicken as a litmus test as to how broad the culinary skills are at a Chinese restaurant.  Ji Rong passes with flying colors.

And a news flash!  The operators of Ji Rong have opened another restaurant next door called Good Alley Artisinal Dumplings, serving, well, high quality dumplings, noodles and other things, like this large premium beef roll.

 

 

Authentic Chinese Food In San Clemente

 

The last time I ate Chinese food in San Clemente was in the last century, and I don’t think at that time I would have believed that San Clemente would ever have edible Chinese food. However the world has changed, particularly in the past ten years and the improbable has now become commonplace.  And San Clemente is one of these places.   Long's Noodle in San Clemente serves a host of previously unthinkable dishes.  How about pigs ears?  

 

Beef bing? (Can't get either of these dishes anywhere near my house in Los Angeles.)

 

Beef rolls? 

 

Spicy shrimp wonton?   

 

Of course anytime you find authentic Chinese food you have to ask about the demographics, for few authentic Chinese restaurants can survive without geographically close Chinese diners, and San Clemente doesn't seem to fill the bill.  However this question was eventually answered by looking at the restaurant ownership itself.   As I have mentioned before, a significant (and wealthy) Chinese community has developed in Irvine, which has developed as a magnet for more new Chinese residents.  In the past year, Irvine has had the greatest housing price appreciation of any city in the United States.  As a result, many potential residents have been priced out of Irvine, and have spilled into neighboring communities.  In view of this, the owners of Long's Noodles in San Clemente have started their own little regional empire.  For about 10 years they have operated Long's Kitchen, a nondescript Hunan leaning restaurant located in the heart of Irvine.  Then a couple of years ago they opened up Long's Noodles in the nearby city of Foothill Ranch, and now just a few months ago in San Clemente.  Noteworthy is that this San Clemente location is in the northern part of San Clemente, proximate to some of the Irvine overflow areas, as opposed to the coastal downtown area of San Clemente (who remembers President Nixon's Western White House?  Not around there.)

A Visit To Shanghailander Palace in Arcadia

When the top Shanghai restaurants in the Los Angeles area are mentioned, the name of Shanghailander Palace seldom comes up.  But really Shanghailander Palace is at or near the top of the category.  Just ask Mr. Chow (yes, that Mr. Chow), who likes the food at the Arcadia branch of Shanghailander Palace so much that he has his own private dining room on premises.  With locations in Arcadia and Hacienda Heights, perhaps it's just enough out of the way to not get the same publicity as restaurants such as Jiang Nan Spring and Luyixian.  Also the price point trends a little bit higher, with quite a few premium items that we passed on for this meal.  (I do highly recommend the crispy whole sweet and sour fish.)    Our excellent meal there included the following dishes.

 

Opening with cold vegetables in sesame sauce.

  

Shanghai Spare Ribs.

Stir fried shrimp.

Pork, tofu and vegetable soup.

 

 

 Signature seaweed fish.

Xiaolongbao

Shanghai chow mein

Fried buns.

Pork belly.

Sesame ball dessert.

This Gem of a Chinese Restaurant is Hidden in Plain Sight - L.A. Weekly--June 21, 2017

With L.A. Weekly apparently having cleared out their online archives, here's a repost from an article I wrote for them in 2017.

 

This Gem of a Chinese Restaurant Is Hidden in Plain Sight

David R. Chan | June 21, 2017 | 9:00am

 

When people talk about the best Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles, the same names come up time and again: Sea Harbour in Rosemead, Chengdu Taste, Lunasia, King Hua and Szechuan Impression in Alhambra, Newport Seafood and Mian in San Gabriel, and Din Tai Fung in various mall locations. (Or if you’re Yelp, then it’s Americanized restaurants such as Sea Dragon, Yang Chow and Wah’s Golden Hen.)

But what if we throw another contender into the mix: Embassy Kitchen in San Gabriel, located directly in front of the Embassy Billiards pool hall, whence it derives its name.

Given its location, this is equivalent to bowling alley dining, in a sense. And it's been around for 20 years, making it senior to all the other top non-Yelp contenders except Newport Seafood, which opened in San Gabriel a year earlier in 1996. Embassy Kitchen started as a small adjunct restaurant to the billiard parlor around 1997, even using the Embassy Billiards moniker. It then moved to the large restaurant space in front of the pool hall around 1999.

Like other top Chinese restaurants Sea Harbour, Lunasia and King Hua, as well as most all of the other banquet-sized Chinese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley, Embassy Kitchen serves Hong Kong–style cuisine. But Embassy Kitchen diverges from these other restaurants in many ways. There are no tanks full of live seafood, nor is the dining room huge, loud or boisterous. There is not a gaudy menu with so many choices that it could be made into a movie, and the restaurant gladly takes reservations.

But what really distinguishes Embassy Kitchen from the pack is the food selection. Yes, you will find Cantonese favorites such as rock cod in corn sauce, walnut shrimp, fish maw crab meat soup, e-fu noodles and steamed chicken with ginger and scallions. But what you also find at Embassy Kitchen are two extremes not typically seen at most Hong Kong–style restaurants in Los Angeles — complex dishes that require ordering in advance, and wonderful home-style dishes. Most of these dishes are obscured on the Embassy Kitchen menu, as they are only found on Chinese-language paper inserts on the inside cover of the permanent menu. On the other hand, that might not make much of a difference, since non-Chinese faces are rare at this restaurant. There is no nefarious intent in relegating these dishes to a Chinese-language supplement — the owners indicate that they just weren’t sure how to accurately describe these dishes in English.

Perhaps the best exemplar of the complex advance-order dishes is the boneless chicken stuffed with shrimp paste. The chicken skin is light and crispy and the shrimp paste provides a savory contrast.

Then there are the tilapia rolls with whole carcass, one of the most visually interesting dishes you will find at a Los Angeles–area Chinese restaurant, though from a taste point of view the re-stuffed fish (where the bones are removed and the fish is filled back up with fish and ground pork) might be a better choice. 

One of the special items that does not necessarily require an advance order is the "eight treasures" stuffed duck.

Other signature dishes include the chicken stuffed with sticky rice (a traditional Cantonese dish still popular in the San Francisco area but difficult to find in Los Angeles) and the fried rice with whole Dungeness crab or lobster. Note that all of these dishes are large and cost around $50, and hence are more suited to large parties. Indeed, Embassy Kitchen has a larger quotient of large-size tables compared with most other Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles.

At the other end of the spectrum are the many uncommon home-style dishes on Embassy Kitchen’s menu. However, be aware that these dishes are not inexpensive, as there are few items on the Embassy Kitchen menu that are less than $15, and many are $20 or more. But these dishes contain expensive ingredients. For example, our party was stumped by the steamed egg with tofu and seafood topping, so we had to ask what was in it. The answer: “shrimp roe.” Such ingredients also explain the higher price point.

Try the steamed eggplant with dried scallop and ground pork; the clear rice noodles with cabbage, egg and dried scallops; stir-fried beef; and French-style beef stew (which comes with noodles at lunchtime but not at dinner).

When the kitchen is in top form, this is the closest thing to artisan Chinese cooking that you will find in Los Angeles.

218 S. San Gabriel Blvd., San Gabriel; (626) 286-8148.

 

 

 

The Most Surprising Buffet in Los Angeles County - L.A. Weekly--April 13, 2017

With L.A. Weekly apparently having cleared out their online archives, here's a repost from an article I wrote for them in 2017.

Throughout Middle America, Chinese food is often synonymous with buffets. In many smaller and medium-sized cities, in particular, the Chinese buffet is an especially attractive option for restaurant owners due to lower labor costs and a perceived lack of sophistication about Chinese food, which permits serving simpler, low-cost dishes. This model is particularly effective east of the Mississippi River, where a plentiful supply of restaurant workers and owners originally from Fujian province in China has radiated out from Manhattan's Chinatown. In contrast, in the Los Angeles area, Chinese buffets appear to be a comparative rarity, perhaps due to a higher degree of sophistication about Chinese food relative to other parts of the United States.

In areas like the Westside and the San Fernando Valley, no more than a handful of Chinese buffets are to be found. There is something of a concentration of Chinese buffets in the San Gabriel Valley — and not just for the obvious reason. But probably there are not even a dozen there. 

Having said that, the number of Chinese buffet restaurants around Los Angeles is actually quite a bit higher than one might guess, because most Chinese buffets in Los Angeles have Japanese names, and are often described as Japanese buffets. (Indeed, I am aware of only one buffet restaurant in the Los Angeles area with a Japanese name that actually serves predominantly Japanese food.)  

One may wonder why most Chinese buffets use Japanese names such as Hokkaido, Sumo, Hibachi, Minato, Kyoto, Kami and Ichiban, instead of something that is obviously Chinese. The most likely explanation is that the primary draw for most of these buffets is the sushi, despite the fact that, aside from an occasional teriyaki or tempura dish, the Japanese food selection stops with the sushi. So the Japanese name really just serves as a reminder that there's sushi inside.

All of which brings us to the recently opened FuJi Buffet and Grill, located in Glendale near the intersection of the Ventura and Glendale freeways. FuJi Buffet took the place late last year of another Chinese buffet, Osaka Seafood Buffet. 

Most local "Chinese" buffets serve a combination of sushi, Americanized Chinese food, rudimentary factory-made dim sum, chicken wings, fruit and desserts. It's what one would expected from FuJi, but a surprise awaits. The dim sum section contains standard dim sum selections such as BBQ pork buns and taro buns, but there are many other items one might not expect to see. Chicken feet? Cantonese dim sum–style spare ribs in black bean sauce? Xiao long bao? Zhong zi (glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves)? Chinese beef balls? Siu mai with fish roe? Who knew?

Over in the soup section, you'll finds Fujian fish balls (filled with ground pork) in broth and fish maw soup. There is a wood ear fungus salad, grilled whole mackerel, salt-and-pepper shrimp and chopped whole yellow croaker, a San Gabriel Valley favorite. Entrees include sweet-and-sour fish fillets, steamed sole fillets, salt-and-pepper squid and clams in black bean sauce and marinated dry bean curd slices, which were all San Gabriel Valley–quality.

Obviously we're talking buffet food here, not gourmet food, but for diners who appreciate an occasional Chinese buffet, FuJi Buffet and Grill might rocket to the top of your list.

300 Harvey Drive, Glendale. (818) 553-1688.

 

 

1987 Beedle House - L.A. Weekly -- May 12, 2017

With L.A. Weekly apparently having cleared out their online archives, here's a repost from an article I wrote for them in 2017.

1987 Beedle House — The Name Is Funny But The Food Is No Joke

David R. Chan | May 12, 2017 | 8:34am

 

For a century, Chinese restaurants in America were marked by simple, slightly "exotic" names. Iconic Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles were called Golden Pagoda, Grandview Gardens, General Lee’s, New Moon, Man Fook Low. It was thought that non-threatening restaurant names were a way to make peace with the outside community. This strategy proved to be quite successful, as Chinese restaurants became quite popular in the U.S. beginning early in the 20th century, even though the Chinese-Americans running these restaurants were treated as second-class citizens in all facets of life. More recently, however, some Chinese restaurant names in the U.S. have turned 180 degrees, from simple and perhaps even a little boring, to some real head scratchers.

This is because many Chinese restaurants have started targeting primarily, if not exclusively Chinese-speaking clientele, in which case the English language names of some of these restaurants have become an afterthought. Consequently we see the San Gabriel Valley peppered with Chinese restaurants with off-the-wall monikers such as Why Thirsty?, Smelly Pot, Garage Restaurant, Suit Ur Buds, Whatever and Chongqing Dezhuan Morals Village.

 

The latest addition to the list of oddly named Chinese restaurants is the newly opened 1987 Beedle House in Walnut. And in some respects, the quirkiness continues once you get into the restaurant. 1987 Beedle House adopts the fast casual approach where you order and pay for your food at the counter, then have the food delivered to your table. Except that you can’t see the counter when you walk into the restaurant, since it’s in the back and to the side. And then there’s the menu from which you order, which runs just two items deep — stewed beef noodle soup, made with their “secrect” beef broth, and the "mo," a flatbread pork belly sandwich. Indeed, if you know the system, you don’t even have to say anything to place your order, since there are baskets full of markers the size of a large, thick credit card. Put the noodle and/or bread marker on your tray, and they’ll know what you want. 

 

 

There are actually more than two items available to eat, as there is also a small adjacent self-serve area full of Tianjin-leaning cold items (or as the menu says, “clod dish”), like pickled vegetables, which you pile on a small plate for $3.95. Also there is fried chicken for 95 cents per piece.

Of course, quirkiness aside, the only thing that matters is the food, and in this regard, 1987 Beedle House delivers. The stewed beef noodle soup is a superior product, which the owners attribute to extreme care in crafting both the broth and the beef. The recipe for the broth is said to have been handed down from generation to generation, with hundreds of ingredients tested and winnowed down to 30 seasonings. While many Asian noodle soup broths are flavorful thanks to an unhealthy combination of salt and fat, this beef bone broth is light. The beef itself is stewed for more than 20 hours to be flavorful, but not greasy, and is very tender. The handmade egg noodles have just the right amount of "Q." 

 

 

The pork belly mo was also excellent, not being the typical slab of pork belly meat and fat that you may be used to, but rather a hash including other ingredients, highlighted by a flavorful Chinese flatbread bun. And the fried chicken turned out to be boneless cutlets, crispy and tasty.

And what exactly does “Beedle” mean? An internet search of “beedle” and “noodle” does pull up a large number of hits, but they all go back both in English and Chinese to 1987 Beedle House. It's a portmanteau of “beef” and “noodle.” Mystery solved.

358 N. Lemon Ave., Walnut.(909) 468-1666, facebook.com/1987beedlehouse. 

Enter The New Dim Sum Contender - L.A. Weekly -- August 15, 2017

 

With L.A. Weekly apparently having cleared out their online archives, here's a repost from an article I wrote for them in 2017.

 

Enter the New Dim Sum Contender

David R. Chan | August 15, 2017 | 7:18am

 

The past decade or so has produced a sea change in Chinese dining in Los Angeles, as well as the rest of the United States. Decades of Cantonese dining dominance have nearly evaporated as regional cuisines representing the entire breadth of Chinese cooking have come to the United States in great numbers, reflecting the migration of mainland Chinese residents and money to our shores. Indeed, in recent years, new Cantonese restaurant openings in the San Gabriel Valley have dwindled to roughly 10 percent of total new Chinese restaurants opening in the SGV.

However, while Cantonese food may be down, it is not out in our local Chinese community. The toughest Chinese restaurant ticket continues to be the most popular dim sum palaces on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, and the greatest wish among Chinese diners is that, despite the high quality of our local dim sum purveyors, some new dim sum player, equal to or better than the existing dim sum leaders, will open its doors. In this regard, it's disappointing that we have had the same leaders of the dim sum pack for several years. As it has for the past 15 years, Sea Harbour in Rosemead is on the top of most people’s dim sum list, followed variously by Lunasia and King Hua in Alhambra, Happy Harbor in Rowland Heights and Elite in Monterey Park, all of which date back to 2008 or earlier. The only newcomer in the top tier of local dim sum is Arcadia’s China Red, which opened in 2013, and it sits at the bottom of this top tier.

Not that new operators haven’t tried to crack the top group. In 2014, Shi Hai opened in Alhambra with the express purpose of becoming the top dog, dim sum–wise, in the San Gabriel Valley. However that endeavor ended unsuccessfully last year when Shi Hai rebranded as World Seafood, with a new, lower-priced menu. Other dim sum palaces have opened in the same period, such as Shanghai #1 Seafood Village in San Gabriel, Grand Harbor in Temple City and Pleasure Ocean in Hacienda Heights, but while they certainly purvey good dim sum, they do not match up to our historic leaders.

However, a newly opened restaurant in Temple City, though a bit on the small side, may prove to be the new contender that everyone has been hoping for. Xiang Yuan Gourmet opened last month and is already showing great promise. 

First of all, it serves its dim sum from a menu, as does every other restaurant listed in this report. While romantics may gush about dim sum carts representing the true dim sum experience (although there was no such thing as a dim sum cart in Los Angeles until introduced by Miriwa Restaurant in Chinatown in 1976), the best dim sum comes from a menu since it arrives fresh and cooked to order. Secondly, Xiang Yuan Gourmet shows a creativity and imagination in some of its dim sum creations that is consistent with that found at the top tier dim sum restaurants. While it is important that a dim sum restaurant gets its har gow, BBQ pork buns, beef cheung fun rice noodle rolls, siu mai and other favorites right, it is the unusual dish that sets the top-tier dim sum restaurants apart — think bamboo shoot dumplings shaped like carrots, mushroom buns and egg and seaweed rolls.

Other interesting dim sum items include sauteed chicken feet with chili and ginger, crispy seafood cheung fun, spare rib cheung fun, pork blood jelly with chives, and baked almond cream bun.

One unique thing about Xiang Yuan Gourmet is the dinner menu. Every other dim sum restaurant mentioned here serves Hong Kong–style seafood at dinnertime, with the except of Shanghai #1 Seafood Village. However, Xiang Yuan Gourmet’s dinner fare is a mixture of Hong Kong–style seafood and “traditional Hunan cuisine"; this mix represents the direction of Chinese food in the San Gabriel Valley these days.

9556 Las Tunas, Temple City; (626) 286-6788.