#626 eats

[formeryelpers]

L2 Tea Club, 1635 S San Gabriel Blvd, Unit D, San Gabriel, CA 91776

Fro-yo girl here. I started noticing new froyo cube shops opening in Asia and Australia in early 2022. The first one in the US that I knew about was in Seattle. Froyo cubes and slices are made on freezing pans in one piece and cut into shapes after the freezing process.

I found a local milk tea shop that started offering froyo cubes in 2022. L2 Tea Club opened in November 2021 in San Gabriel, CA and it has an outer space theme. L2 has six flavors of fried yogurt. I was told that they were out of Sun Galaxy and Moon Galaxy yogurt cubes. The available flavors were: Jasmine Lady Meteor, Rose Lychee O’hara Garden Meteor, Mango Diamond Meteor, and Osmanthus Peach Wonderland. One order is $11.95 and comes with 6 big yogurt cubes. One yogurt cube was about 3” length x 2” height x 3” width. I was told that the yogurt cubes were made earlier that day.

Rose Lychee O’hara Golden Meteor Fried Yogurt Cubes: I was pleasantly surprised! The yogurt was very flavorful and very tangy. It’s dense and icy but refreshing. Also, the cubes did not melt quickly. The top of the cubes had dried rose petals. The cubes had bits of lychee and also chewy mochi. Rose and lychee are such complementary flavors.

Bring a friend to share an order because you get a lot of froyo in one cup. I wish they had a smaller size and also allowed you to build your own cup by selecting multiple flavors. The cubes were huge too. I’d prefer a cube that was bite sized.

As for the rest of the menu, they have many tea drinks, including milk tea, fresh tea, fresh fruit tea, cheese foam tea, and herbal tea. They also serve snacks and desserts like shaved ice, flavored French fries, Takoyaki, and shrimp crackers. Their most popular drink is called Pink Peach Planet. The café is large and has an interesting outer space theme. Free wi-fi is offered. Parking was easy to find in the strip mall. They stay open late (till midnight). It feels like a late night hang out spot for Chinese young adults.

The hours on Yelp are wrong. They’re closed on Mondays.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

4 out of 5 stars

By Lolia S.

[formeryelpers]

Yin Ji Chang Fen, 227 W Valley Blvd., Ste 118-A, San Gabriel, CA 91776

YJCF is pretty hardcore Chinese. It’s not that the menu is crazy adventurous or anything, but it feels like you’re in China when you’re there (not a bad thing). Everyone there was Chinese. The servers were nice but the service was different. There was a blank slip of paper and a pencil on the table. You’re supposed to put the numbers of what you want on the slip of paper. No one instructs you to do so. Everything on the menu is numbered though. It’s a good way to minimize interaction, reduce language barriers, and reduce wrong orders.

The YJCF is a chain with 30 or so locations in the Guangzhou area. They specialize in rice noodle rolls and congee (yum). There are 16 kinds of rice noodle rolls (plain, $3.25 – most are $5-$6.95/dish) that you can customize with extra meat, extra egg and extra shrimp.

* Shrimp with chives rice noodle roll ($5.95): An order included 3 small rice noodle rolls with medium size shrimp. The rice noodle rolls were the thinnest and silkiest I’ve had. There was nothing gummy about them. I was impressed with the texture of the rolls. The shrimp was tender. I didn’t see chives but they did include some Chinese lettuce. The sweetened soy sauce that they pour on every rice noodle roll order was a bit too salty. The portion was small. It’s a snack. The prices are on the high side for the portion size.

I wanted Hong Kong milk tea but they said they were sold out and recommended honey lemon tea instead.

* Lemon with honey (cold, $2.95): I asked for less sugar, so they only used honey. It was still too sweet for me.

There was a sign saying “Soft opening” and another big Cash Only sign. There was plenty of parking at Hilton Plaza. You can catch up on Chinese news while you eat. Utensils and condiments are kept at each table.

3 out of 5 stars

By Lolia S.

[formeryelpers]

5 Stars Hue, 31 E Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91801

5 Stars Hue opened recently, during the pandemic. They have five locations in SoCal and specialize in Hue cuisine (central Vietnam), like bun bo hue, banh beo, banh it ram, and com hen (clams with rice). The menu includes appetizers, broken rice dishes, pho, other noodles, desserts, and drinks. I called to place an order (dine in isn’t allowed, due to COVID-19). The woman who answered the phone spoke limited English. Ordering by menu item number helps.

Banh beo ($8.50): 12 steamed rice discs covered with dried shrimp and scallions, with a few pieces of fried pork skin and a side of nuoc cham sauce. The discs were smooth and not too thick or thin, not oversteamed. The dried shrimp was in bigger pieces and not as salty or dry as some other places’. The nuoc cham was a bit salty though. Also, some fresh chilies would have been nice.

Bun bo hue ($9.95): My largest bowl for noodle soup was too small. They included a lot of rice noodles (round, medium thickness, long) and a fair amount of everything else: 2 big housemade pork meatballs, slices of beef shank and pork, one thick slice of bone-in pork knuckle, 2 cubes of pig’s blood, fresh herbs (banana blossoms, mint, basil, cilantro, green onions), bean sprouts & a wedge of lime. The broth was light and sweet – it didn’t have a strong beef flavor and I also didn’t detect lemongrass or tomato. While it was good, it wasn’t as rich and flavorful as I expected. Nha Trang’s BBH has better broth but 5 Stars gives you more meat, including the delicious pork meatballs that I didn’t get when ordering BBH from other restaurants. I was quite thirsty afterwards, so I’m guessing that they use MSG.

I’d like to return to try some of the harder to find hue dishes and the housemade Vietnamese yogurt for dessert. The restaurant is small and looks newly remodeled. They have an outdoor patio area for dining as well. There’s a $20 credit card minimum.

4 out of 5 stars

By Lolia S.

[formeryelpers]

Tianjin Feng Wei, 525 W Valley Blvd, Ste B, Alhambra, CA 91803

Tianjin Feng Wei opened recently on busy Valley Blvd. Specializing in Tianjin-style (Northern China) cuisine, they offer soups, noodles, dumplings, steamed bao, braised meats, savory pancakes, fresh soy milk, and side dishes.

The area is known for baozi (steamed stuffed meat buns) and Tianjin Feng Wei has five kinds of bao. The bao are made fresh every day.

Original pork bao (9 for $7.50): These look like XLBs but the dough is thicker (they’re true steamed baos). They’re not as juicy but the ground pork and ginger filling did remind me of XLB. The meat was on the saltier side.

Beef pancake (1 for $2.99): Similar to what you’d get at Beijing Pie House, a round pancake/pocket with dough that reminds me of dumpling dough, thinner on the sides, thicker on the top and bottom, pan-fried till crispy. The interior was stuffed with ground beef and onions – deliciously savory with some sweetness from the onions, not too sweet. Filling. One pancake plus soy milk could be a meal.

Soy milk ($1.90): Huge quart of piping hot unsweetened soy milk, so good, not watery or burnt

Braised pork knuckle (1/2 lb for $7.50): Seven slices of tender, fatty pork knuckle with a hint of Chinese five spice. Thickly sliced, really good dipped in their hot sauce. Would love over rice with bok choy on the side.

I placed my order online and it was neatly wrapped for pickup (delivery is available). The restaurant is small and currently does not offer any seating (due to the coronavirus). The building is older but the inside looked newly remodeled and clean, with plexiglass shields around the register and hand sanitizer. Prices are very reasonable.

4 out of 5 stars

By Lolia S.

[formeryelpers]

Chang’s Garden, 627 W Duarte Rd., Arcadia, CA 91007

Chang’s Garden has been around for decades and it’s still pretty busy. They have quite a few Shanghainese dishes. Most diners were Chinese. It’s a fairly large restaurant with TVs tuned to Chinese TV and a separate banquet room. There’s a weird pole in the middle of the dining room. Random. But overall, it looked clean and it had large tables and a renovated bathroom.

Fried seaweed fish: Light batter, very crispy, mild white fish, a bit of seaweed in the batter. Bland but my uncle loves the crunch and it’s a popular dish that they’re known for. There wasn’t much seaweed in the batter, so I couldn’t taste it.

Wuxi spareribs: Big pork ribs, quite tender though not fall off the bone tender – covered in a goopy thick sweet sauce over spinach. I thought the sauce was too sweet but I’m used to my grandmother’s version

Mapo tofu ($8.95): I wouldn’t get this again. It looked fine – soft cubes of tofu in a spicy sauce with ground pork and scallions but it was too salty, had a tiny amount of meat, and didn’t have depth and complexity

Soybean, bean curd sheets & green veggies: Salty and not enough bean curd sheets

Complimentary hot and sour soup (decent) and hot tea were served. They were very attentive about keeping the tea pot filled with hot tea. Lunch specials are available for $9.95. Parking can be challenging. Prices are about average for the area. Portions were generous.

3 out of 5 stars

By Lolia S.

[formeryelpers]

Noodle Harmony, 735 W Garvey Ave., Monterey Park, CA 91754

Noodle Harmony is a new noodle shop specializing in Hunan and Sichuan noodles (e.g., dan dan, spicy chicken gizzard, Chengdu style dry noodles). The noodles in question are either rice or regular/wheat (not hand-pulled). They’re known for their beef noodle soup. Most of the beef noodle soups come with a bit of tendon (yay). Though noodles are the main focus of the menu, they also have appetizers, dumplings, cold dishes, desserts and drinks.

* Beef brisket stew noodle soup ($12.99): A big bowl arrived at the table with piping hot broth, regular wheat noodles (the width of spaghetti), beef, fresh scallions and Chinese spinach. The light broth was very nice – clear and beefy, not too salty though soy sauce was present, a hint of sweetness and a subtle amount of five spice. The noodles were slightly chewy and abundant enough to make it a filling meal. The beef chunks were a mixed bag. Some pieces were too chewy, some more tender.

The interior looks new and modern. There was a large mural with images of a Chinese village with noodle shops. They had a TV tuned to Chinese basketball. Service was friendly. The water wasn’t cold but that’s the way a Chinese native prefers it.

Parking could be a challenge on weekends. All the patrons were Chinese. Ask for hot sauce. $20 credit card minimum.

4 out of 5 stars

By Lolia S.

[formeryelpers]

You Kitchen, 1402 E Valley Blvd., Alhambra, CA 91801

You Kitchen opened recently on Valley Blvd., in the same shopping center as 101 Noodle Express. It’s Northern Chinese, with an emphasis on doughy things made from scratch: buns, dumplings, noodles. The interior looks new with condiments and utensils at each table. It wasn’t the cleanest, but that doesn’t bother me. One of the soup spoons wasn’t clean and the table hadn’t been wiped down.

When you walk inside, there’s a big kiosk. Someone greeted me and helped me place my order using the kiosk. You can choose a table and place your order. When I ordered the noodles, there were a few follow up questions about level of spice and type of noodle (thick or thin). Dumplings can be steamed or fried.

* Spicy beef noodle soup with handmade noodles, bok choy, cilantro ($8.99): These were Taiwanese style and a solid rendition. The portion was very generous, including the abundance of big chunks of beef (brisket?). The noodles were extra wide but not uniform – they were more like knife cut noodles than hand pulled. The beef cubes were quite tender. The broth was oily, spicy, and on the salty side – with mala flavoring. I liked it but it was too salty, so I would probably get the other beef noodle soup and add hot sauce to it next time. No tendons were provided.

* Pumpkin, ground pork & shrimp steamed dumplings ($9.99 for 12). Whoa, these dumplings had so much filling that they were almost buns. The thick wrappers were obviously housemade. The wrappers were chewy, the dumplings could have used a little more soy sauce but the filling seemed fresh. The pumpkin wasn’t mushy but it was tender and added sweetness.  

The food took awhile – about 20 minutes even though there was just one other party there. Complimentary hot tea was served.

Service was friendlier than average for a Chinese restaurant. Pay with cash for a discount. Open daily. You can also buy frozen dumplings (50 dumplings for $20 and up) and cook them yourself.

4 out of 5 stars

By Lolia S.

[formeryelpers]

Bopomofo Café, 841 W Las Tunas Dr., San Gabriel, CA 91776

Opened by one of the Wongfu Bros (of Wongfu Productions YouTube fame, they have over 3 million subscribers), Bopomofo has a short menu of boba drinks and Homemade, elevated food designed to appeal to Asian Americans – mapo tots, popcorn chicken, MOFO club sandwich, Taiwanese fried chicken sandwich and you-tiao (donuts). The focus is on quality over quantity. Oh, and they want the place to be laptop camping friendly (yes, there’s free wi-fi, outlets, a restroom).

Drinks are made with real fruit, real milk and loose leaf teas. They do not use powdered creamer, artificial flavors or syrups. For milk, they use lactose-free milk. The drinks come in two sizes. The base teas are brewed but each drink is made to order and customizable. You can specify the level of sweetness and ice. For coffee, they serve Pasadena’s Copa Vida. They have some unique signature drinks like the carrot matcha milk latte.

Assam milk tea ($4.50): This was the smaller size with no boba, 25% sweetness, 50% ice. The drink wasn’t creamy – it seemed to have very little milk. The black tea flavor was strong and a little bitter. It didn’t seem like milk tea to me, because there was so little milk.

Taiwanese fried chicken sandwich ($11): Salt-pepper chicken filet with napa cabbage slaw, Thai basil aioli, thinly sliced cucumbers and a toasted bolo (pineapple) bun. This looked and tasted impressive. The filet was thick cut, marinated with Chinese five spice, with a light, thin, crispy batter. The chicken was super juicy. The napa cabbage slaw was somewhat overdressed but the Thai basil aioli was fresh and herbaceous. The slaw added a little crunch. The bolo bun was toasted and crispy on the bottom. While it was sweet, it was balanced out by the other flavors in the sandwich.

The décor is pretty minimal but meant to be stylish. However, they don’t even have a real sign up yet. The walls are all white and the chairs and tables are new. It doesn’t look like they made much of an effort at décor. They play pop music and there’s a concrete floor, so the place is very loud.

They provide more attentive service than most boba shops. The food is delivered to your table and they bus your table too. The prices are a little higher but I think the sandwich was worth it…not sure about the drink though.

3.5 out of 5 stars

By Lolia S.