Showing posts with label monterey park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monterey park. Show all posts

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Spicy Lamb Stew at Cui Hua Lou (Monterey Park, CA)

If you like lamb, Cui Hua Lou is a place for you. This corner place in a strip mall (really, everything's in a strip mall in this town). It's a large menu, but luckily Chinese restaurants tend to number the dishes by what they think is their specialty. So, of course, we got the no. 1, "Stewed Lamb in Casserole" ($21.99).

IMG_6937
The lamb stew is large, enough to feed 3-4 people. We tried finishing it with two people but couldn't quite do it, and my friend and I ate a lot! The stew is served in a this electric pot which they plug in after bringing it to your table.
IMG_6936

They'll tell you to wait white the stew boils. Such spicy and flavorful broth, tender lamb meat on the bone, tofu, and cabbage. A very satisfying meal for lamb lovers! It may be kind of hot for the summer nights, but at least the restaurant has air conditioning!
IMG_6940
If that's not enough lamb for you, they do have spiced lamb skewers and many more dishes. In case you need vegetables to feel less guilty or something. The lamb skewers aren't as good as Feng Mao's but they're cheaper.
IMG_6939


食上烤吧 Cui Hua Lou

920 E Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91755
(626) 288-2218
http://cuihualouca.com/
Cui Hua Lou on Urbanspoon

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Boiling Point: Gettin' Hot and Stinky

A not-so-well-timed post as summer is just settling in the air, but trust me that it was cold and rainy when I went to Boiling Point, and that it is oh-so-good during times like that.

And that there will be a line during those times.

I've done communal hot pots such as Mon Land, but Boiling Point was my first individual hot pot experience. Boiling Point serves Taiwanese hot pot and each hot pot is $9.99 for dinner or $8.99 including a drink for lunch - not bad at all since you get quite full by the end! You can choose between beef, lamb, seafood, etc, but what they are most famous for is their House Special Hot Pot.

What's in the House Special, you ask? Why, stinky tofu of course!
And pork, intestines, meat balls, quail eggs, enoki mushroom, cabbage, fish cake, hot dogs. You can choose between vermicelli or rice but I always go for the vermicelli. I ask for my broth to be 'mild' which is still a bit spicy but totally do-able for me.
The broth is spicy enough and you get the flavors from all the meats and vegetables soaking in it, but the flavor is not quite complete yet. No, not without Boiling Point's dipping sauces!

For me personally, nothing goes from the pot to my mouth before passing through this garlic soy sauce:
Others prefer the spicy bean sauce, or mix the two of them together. Since I can't handle spicy that well, I didn't go for the bean sauce.

Now. The stinky tofu. In my opinion, this one isn't all that stinky, really, but it does linger. Triangles of stinky tofu sit at the bottom, "seasoning" the broth. I'm not that crazy about eating the stinky tofu blocks themselves, actually, I found them rather bland (although yes, definitely still has the aroma, even if it isn't that strong). Why I like getting the House Special w the stinky tofu is actually the aroma it adds to the broth. The 'odor' is pretty mild but it stays, and probably not for everyone.

The fire for the individual pot is likely to stay on throughout the meal (you can ask them to turn it off) and is bound to keep you warm all night.

Can't wait until it gets cold again.

Boiling Point
153 W Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA
(626) 288-9876

Boiling Point on Urbanspoon
Boiling Point in Los Angeles

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Go To Noodle House for Bao

After reading exilekiss' rave review on the generically named "Noodle House" aka Mian Hsiang Yuan in Monterey Park (not to be confused with the Noodle House in Arcadia), I suggested it to a bunch of friends for dinner.

We wanted to try everything and ended up ordering a little too much, but it was cheap enough that it didn't really matter that much.
We started with some green onion pancakes (we wanted leeks but then were getting the leek dumplings so ....):As exilekiss noted, it is much less greasy than what you would normally get at other places. These are nicely crisp. Delicious. Great start to our meal.

As far as the noodles, we ordered the beef stew noodle.
The one at Arcadia's Noodle House is better for actual noodle dishes. This one is less flavorful, the noodles too soft, the meat less tender, and also has less character. It's not a bad dish - it just doesn't quite compare.

exilekiss raved about the jiao zi (dumplings) and the handmade dumpling skins, so of course we ordered some of those. We got the pork and leek one (we love leek, what can i say):
Nice juicy filling, and the freshly made dumpling skin is great. But personally I like my dumpling skin thinner, and thus I like Din Tai Fung's dumplings better. Don't get me wrong though, these are still very yummy. These are jiao zi, and very good ones at that, but I like my jiao zi pan fried and I like my steamed dumplings to be xiao long baos :P

We also got the shrimp and pumpkin dumplings, because it sounded so interesting.
Definitely unique, and the flavors work pretty well, but it's too sweet a dumpling for me, and I probably won't get them a second time. I would recommend that people try it though, just for a taste. It's pretty good just not to my taste.

The one that takes the cake for me though, is actually the Bao Zi (buns). The dough for the baos are also rolled fresh to order, and is filled with juicy juicy pork.
I expect juiciness from a dumpling/xiao long bao, but this is the first time I bit into a bao and delicious juices started spurting out! Possibly the best bao zi I've ever had - and definitely the best one I can remember having recently! The dough is thin - enough to hold it together. It was fresh and so moist and absolutely delicious!
Again, the filling is tasty and so juicy.

The main contributor to the deliciousness of this meal was the freshness of everything. The skins of dumplings and buns dries up and hardens quite quickly - by the end of the meal, and so it is imperative to eat everything IMMEDIATELY. Otherwise you won't know what you're missing.

Noodle House (Mian Hsiang Yuan)
958 E. Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91755
Tel: (626) 280-0831

Noodle House on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Reviews: San Gabriel Valley

**** SAN GABRIEL VALLEY/ARCADIA/MONTEREY PARK ETC ****

Bamboodles (San Gabriel) - CLOSED
Boiling Point (Monterey Park)
Borneo Kalimantan Cuisine (Alhambra) | old review
Cui Hua Lou (Monterey Park)
Donut Man (Glendora)
Falafel Me (Azusa)
Golden Deli (San Gabriel)
Grill 'em All (Alhambra)
Happy Sheep Shabu Shabu (Rowland Heights)
Indo Kitchen (Alhambra)
JTYH (Rosemead)
La Casita Mexicana (Bell)
Lunasia (Alhambra)
Lu's Garden (San Gabriel)
Mon Land Hotpot City (San Gabriel)
Noodle House (Arcadia) -- CLOSED
Noodle House (Monterey Park)
Pal Cabron (Huntington Park) - CLOSED
Pho Filet (El Monte)
Pondok Kaki Lima (Duarte)
Raso Minang (West Covina) - CLOSED
Salju Dessert (Alhambra)
Sam Woo BBQ (Alhambra)
Savoy Kitchen (Alhambra)
Szechuan Impression (Alhambra)
Taza: A Social Coffee House (Arcadia)
Vietnam House (San Gabriel)
YunChuan Garden (Monterey Park)
Zelo's Pizzeria (Arcadia)

Gourmet Pigs   © 2008. Template Recipes by Emporium Digital

TOP