Longten Café, 220 W Garvey Ave, Monterey Park, CA 91754
There aren’t that many Hong Kong cafes in the area, so it’s exciting to find a new place to get a HK breakfast. Breakfast is served till 11 AM. They have congee, steamed rice noodles, toast, HK sandwiches, instant noodle soup, etc. There was a lunch menu with dishes like baked pork chop, Hainan chicken, wonton noodle soup, dumplings, etc.
Breakfast special ($10.75, includes two items and milk tea, coffee or iced tea): I chose hot HK milk tea, beef rice noodle, and pork with preserved egg porridge. The rice noodle rolls were twisted with tiny bits of beef and scallions. The rolls were mushy and oversteamed but they tasted fine and the sweetened soy sauce wasn’t too salty. The porridge was nice and broken down with a hint of pork flavor and larger pieces of preserved egg. The pork was stringy and dry but the porridge had good flavor.
HK milk tea: strong, sweet and milky, the way it should be
Pineapple bun with butter ($2.95): The bun was smaller and extra fluffy with an extra crispy top. It was served warm with a small pat of butter. The topping kept falling off. Nice contrasts – crispy and sweet topping with the soft, fluffy plain bun.
Longten looks upscale and nicer than the other HK cafes. Service was very efficient. I was impressed by how well they packed my order, taping the milk tea opening, cutting holes in the pineapple bun container so it would stay crispy, providing utensils, etc.
4 out of 5 stars
By Lolia S.