Savoy - Probably the Best Place to Go for Your Hainan Chicken Rice Fix

I'm not sure about other areas, but here in Southern California, when people crave for Hainan chicken rice, pretty much 50% of the Asians will recommend this place - Savoy Kitchen.

The other 50% of the Asian population probably never heard about Savoy's existence or have never tried such a dish.

Not so sure about how this place got famous for its chicken rice in the first place. After all, Savoy is in fact older than me and its business has been prospered since 1982.

Hainan chicken rice is not the only thing available in the restaurant. It's more like a Hong Kong cafe, where you can find other varieties such as curry stew, casserole, pasta, or even pizza. However, you'll notice that at least 80% of the customers have their own plate of chicken rice when walking into Savoy.

The restaurant itself is pretty small. After an average 30 to 40 minutes wait, I've always got the outdoor table except my last visit. The indoor seats, especially the counter area with bar stools are actually quite nice. The reason is that the waiters and waitresses are right in front of you. Not only you can sneak peek into the kitchen, but you can also get first hand service instantly. Remember, this place is always packed with people and things like asking for sauce refill or check can be quite a task sometimes.

 Hainan chicken rice $6.95 - 

Usually it comes mixed with both dark and white meat. However, customers can request for particular type if desired. A true Asian will definitely go for all dark meat, which has more flavor and juicier compared to part like chicken breast.

The rice itself was cooked with all the essence from the chicken, that's why people love this stuff. To enhance the taste, grated ginger, sweet soy sauce, and chili sauce can be used as condiments.

Shrimp rolls $5.50 -

Some regulars here also often order baked escargot with herb butter as one of the appetizers ($4.95).

Iced tea with lemon $2 -

This picture was taken after we left the restaurant and apparently I wasn't fast enough to snap a shot while the cup's still full. The waitress in charge of the counter area was very nice and offered to refill the cup before I left the place.

I've got the chance to try the real authentic Hainan chicken rice when visiting Singapore. During the trip, I've tried at least 3 famous Hainan chicken joints. Frankly speaking, Savoy Kitchen is not that far away from these original restaurants besides the one in Maxwell Food Center called Tian Tian. If you ever followed Anthony Bourdain's show, Tian Tian is the one he visited and praised about how juicy chicken is along with rice packed with aromatic flavors.

If you ever crave for Hainan chicken rice and happened to be in southern California, come to Savoy.

Cindy's Rating: 7


Savoy Kitchen
138 East Valley Boulevard
Alhambra, CA 91801
(Between Garfield Avenue and New Avenue)
(626) 308-9535

Open Monday - Saturday 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Closed Sunday

*Cash only
*15% gratuity will be added automatically to parties with 5 or more people
*Parking spaces can be found on the street or around the residential neighborhood behind the restaurant 

It's Good to See You Again - Koi Palace 鯉魚門

Can't believe it's been more than 3 years since my last visit to Koi Palace,
It's a famous dim sum/seafood/tea house restaurant in Northern California,
Here's the link to my old post.

I consider myself high maintenance when it comes to food,
Even 3 years ago, Koi Palace got a very high rating - 8 from me,
I was about to bump up the score to 9, but the wait at the restaurant just gets on my nerves,
Despite that,
This is still hands down my favorite dim sum place.

See all these people waiting? There're more standing inside the restaurant -

We called in earlier to get a number, but that ain't get you anywhere,
Upon arrival, me and my friends still lingered outside the restaurant for at least 40 minutes,
Fortunately, it's all worth it.

"Number 421, 421."
Thank god it's our turn, we entered the hallway with our heads up high,
Finally, it's OUR time to munch on all the goodies,
You guys just keep waiting there staring at the live lobsters crawling in tanks (evil grin*).

Here're some dishes that were not mentioned from my old post,
Whole crab meat filled dumplings 原隻蟹肉小籠包-

What a luscious dish,
Look closer to the picture, you can see all the real crab meat inside that thin layer of dumpling wrap,
A mouthful of seafood jewels.

Rice roll with shrimp stuffing 蝦腸粉-

Shrimp stuffed eggplant 百花鑲茄子-

Shark fin dumpling in broth 鮑翅灌湯餃-

Ok, I usually don't eat shark fin due to animal protection kind of thing,
But this place got the ingredient from a legal farm so I felt a little bit more justified,
*Plus my friend ordered it.

Either way, this dish was da BOMB!
The dumpling skin was paper thin and fully soaked up the flavor from the broth,
To die for.

Shrimp dumplings 蝦餃-

Roasted suckling pig 化皮乳豬-

This was mentioned during my last review,
I don't wanna skip this dish at all, it's my all time favorite dim sum item,
You get the crunchiness of the skin with a layer of silky fat underneath,
All the pork lovers out there, you've got to try this!

Egg yolk lava bun 奶黃流沙包-

Creamy and steamy hot egg yolk mixture inside the bun,
I lava it!

Black sesame glutinous ball 擂沙甜湯丸-

Sugar egg puff 鬆化沙翁-

Tastes like extra fluffy and airy donuts.

Highly recommended Chinese restaurant in Northern California,
Just remember to call in and reserve a space first,
Maybe cheat a little bit, tell the operator an earlier time,
Like schedule for 12:30 but you won't show up till 1,
Not sure if it'll work, but since the wait is definite, won't hurt giving it a try!
(shhhhhhhh it's not my idea**)

Overall rating: 8 (so the high score remains)

Koi Palace (Daly City)
Serramonte Plaza
365 Gellert Ave
Daly City, CA 94015
(650) 992-9000

http://www.koipalace.com/default.htm

Lu Dumpling House (on Garfield) 一口福

My friend and I drove pass by a dumpling house the other day,
The place was crowded, packed with people munching on tiny doughy goodies,
Immediately, I've decided to come here for lunch next time!
While that thought lingered in my head,
I forced my friend to repeat the Chinese name of that eatery several times so I can search online for the exact location later,
一口福 (E - KO - FU), means one bite of happiness/goodness,
I ought to have my own bite of happiness soon.

Weeks later,
We did manage to get to the dumpling place as planned,
However, it looks a wee bit different from my memory....

My friend pointed at the chicken soup picture printed on the table mat and asked the waitress if they serve it,
Sadly no, which put us in an even deeper doubt...did we come to the right place?...
The lady kind of sensed our worries and further explained that the dumpling place on Garfield was the second location,
The original one is on Garvey, which is just 2 or 3 blocks away,
And luckily, I went there on a Wednesday, the original place closed on Wednesdays,
Well, I guess eventually things just worked out fine?

Beef wrap 牛肉捲餅 $4.99 -

The wrap itself was good, crunchy and flavorful,
Especially the dough itself, a wee bit buttery taste, but I'm sure they used something even oilier instead of butter (but so good!).
They also put some kind of melon inside the wrap, which is different compared to other beef wraps I had.

Spicy dumplings 紅油炒手 $3 -

Not spicy at all, nothing outstanding, not recommended.

Fennel and pork dumplings 茴香豬肉水餃 -

I love having fennel (only the thin leaves part) in my dumplings,
Somehow the aroma matches really well with Chinese seasonings.

Juicy pork and crab dumplings 蟹粉小籠湯包 $8.99 -

Not as good as the ones from Din Tai Fung,
And I didn't get that juices "burst in my mouth" sensation after the first bite.
But one reason that I tried to explore other dumpling places so hard other than just going to Din Tai Fung is because I'm "sick of it!"
Please please, if you know any place that can beat Din Tai Fung, let me know!

Overall the service was good but a little bit slow towards lunch rush hours,
There were only two ladies at the front serving customers,
We did wait for quite some time to get their attention and asked for our bill.

I do like their smaller portion dishes,
Usually when you order dumplings, it comes in a set of 10 to a dozen,
But Lu Dumpling House serves it in about 6 little dumplings,
So trying out more flavors won't result in bursting stomaches! ( > _.< )P

The overall rating might be on the lower end,
But if you like beef wraps,
I think Lu Dumpling House's is pretty good, definitely worth a try for that wrap!

Cindy's Rating: 5

Lu Dumpling House
330 North Garfield Avenue
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 307-2700

Mama's Lu Dumpling House
153 East Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91755
(626) 307-5700

福方園 F.F.Y. Noodle House

Finally! New restaurant review is in!

I can't even remember when was the last time I wrote about a restaurant review,
Been eating at the same places over and over again,
That's why no new reviews are in,
And believe me or not,
Sometimes it takes more time composing a review compared to writing about my own recipe.

*Maybe partly due to my simplified recipes these days,
Am I getting lazIER? Hope not.

*Oh oh, I wanted to write a review about this seafood place,
Boiling Crab - heard of it?
But it's so hard to take pictures when battling with crabs and shrimps,
Especially when grabbing a little wooden hammer in one hand, and a giant craw in the other.
Plus all my fingers were dipped in Cajun flavored spicy sauce...
Hmm....I'll figure out a way one day...(that restaurant is good!)

So today I went to this newly opened Chinese dumpling/noodle place called F.F.Y.
That's their English name,
If you pronounce that in Chinese, it'll be something like "Fu Fon Yuen."

Little Chinese lesson here,
Fu means good fortune, Fon means square, Yuen means garden,
So the combined meaning? You figure.

Got there before lunch rush hour so still kind of empty,
But it was packed after I finished my food.

The restaurant got a letter "A" grade, meaning that this place passed series of inspections from the government,
What it means is that this place is super clean!
Well, sorry if I got too excited back there,
But you know how rare is it for a traditional Chinese eatery to get an A?!?
(No offense to anyone by the way)

Inside the menu-

F.F.Y. sells a wide variety of dumplings and noodles,
They also have an open kitchen in the front where you can see chefs making these cute little dumplings.

酸辣湯和熗黃瓜Sour and spicy soup and lightly seasoned cucumber-

The soup was good!
Usually I have to add a lot of vinegar and chili paste in order to make it more of my taste,
But this one was spicy enough with a pretty strong peppery flavor,
I was happy with it!
Still added some more vinegar though, I'm a vinegar hugger!

As for the cucumber, it's kind of on the lighter side, maybe too light,
But it did help balance out the spiciness from other dishes.

麻辣筋肉Simmered beef with beef tendon in chili sauce-

At first you won't feel the spiciness,
However, after a few bites, you'll start getting that tingling sensation from the peppercorns,
Cilantro on the top adds a bit of freshness to the dish. 

牛肉捲 Beef rolls? (I didn't remember the English name from the menu)-

The filling was made with stewed beef slices brushed with some sweet flour sauce (甜麵醬),
A lot of chopped scallions were also used, all wrapped in tortilla-like flour skin.

豬肉韭菜水餃 Pork with leek dumpling (or chives)-

The menu says leek dumplings, but it's more like chives,
Or "Chinese" leek.

The dumplings are larger than the regular kind you get from the grocery store,
In addition to that, it was full of juicy fillings, pretty good.

There's also a small sign on each table saying that they don't use any MSG for both the sauces and the food, how good is that?!

牛肉洋蔥水餃 Beef and onion dumplings-

Kinda sweet because of the onion,
On top of that, this is even juicier than the leek one!

Usually I stock up some frozen dumplings at home,
You know, when nature calls, stomach grumbling, frozen dumplings always come in handy,
Instead of store-bought ones, next time I'll to-go some of F.F.Y's fresh dumplings,
Plus no MSG! I won't get thirsty by eating too much of these goodies!

Cindy's Rating: 6 (might be higher after I explore more dishes later on)

福方園 F.F.Y. Noodle House
18219 East Gale Avenue. #1
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 839-8806

New Capital Seafood Restaurant 半島海鮮酒家

I had an appointment with my tax lady last weekend in Rowland Heights,

After 30 minutes consultation about how to file tax return,

Braindead.

I've never filed any tax returns before,

Not mentioning my current visa status which makes the whole process even harder.

I ought to seek out some food to sooth my stressful mind.

*Fine, it's just my excuse, I was HUNGRY!

I ended up in Diamond Plaza, where the tea place is at,

I developed a habit of having a cup of boba tea after my meal over time.

There was a big time tug-of-war in my head,

I couldn't decide whether I should go to Little Tokyo Shabu Shabu,

Or the dim sum place I've never tried before on the second floor.

Stomach growling,

I rushed upstairs, trying to take a sneak peak of the restaurant first.

At the waiting section,

Me: Hello, we have two people here, how long is the wait?

Lady: No no wait, come with me.

She quickly grabbed the menu and disappeared among the crowds...

Sh*t....

I was just checking this place out....

I was too weak to turn around, sorry shabu shabu, this lady is too powerful,

I surrendered.

Menu-

Pretty cheap for dim sum,

I guess coming here during weekdays is not a bad idea,

*Only if the food is good enough for returning business.

Ladies with Dim Sum Carts-

That's how they serve their food in a dim sum eatery,

Ladies pushing the carts around with different kinds of small dishes,

You can stop them anytime and pick the ones you want.

Most of the ladies we talked to are pretty nice,

But there was a bad one.
I was asking what she has in the cart,

After the lady "put so much efforts" telling me about the dishes, I ordered nothing,

Immediately, I saw a shitty face.

Forget about the shitty face,

Let's talk about food.

Pork and Vegetables Wrapped in Fried Tofu Skin-

I always order this dish in a dim sum place,

I think the combination of crunchy skin and smooth gravy is like heaven!

牛雜-

I really don't know how to translate this one,

To be honest,

I just don't want to scare you guys away if I type out the name,

Basically,

This dish has almost everything that a quite amount of people doesn't dare to eat,

Radish (so far so good)

Ox liver (ew...)

Ox tripe (please stop...!)

And who knows what else was in it.

But it doesn't matter,

I'm standing tall here and unafraid to announce that "I LOVE IT!"

We also ordered Portuguese egg tart, sesame balls, shrimp dumplings, steamed rice rolls with shrimp, and beef balls.

Didn't take good pictures of them,

Please use your imagination first, I'll come back with more quality pictures later.

As we left the restaurant with giant stomach sticking out of our pants,

I saw these-

I have to say that it's disgusting (to me),

So many fish crowding together in this limited space,

At first I couldn't even tell if they're dead or alive,

So glad that I didn't order any fish dishes.

Feeling bad for the semi-dead fish,

I turned to the stair way,

There were more than 5 waiters scattering around, sitting on the floor, smoking, chatting,

Not a pleasant scene.

I think I won't come back to this restaurant in the near future.

Overall Rating: 4

*But a few ladies with the carts were really nice, they contributed at least 2 points here.

New Capital Seafood Restaurant 半島海鮮酒家

1330 South Fullerton Road #207

Rowland Heights, CA 91748

(626) 581-9813

Lu's Garden Restaurant - 小陸子清粥店

I was sick for the past two weeks,
Stuffed nose, endless phlegm, no voice, you name it (still awesome appetite though).
After taking anti-biotic, I can finally announce that I am fully recovered,
But I wonder if it's truly the reason why I can sing again with my scary high pitch voice,
Because my friend is sick now,
I have a feeling that I just passed along my virus to him...
Sorryyyyyyyy >_<.
So upon my sick friend's request,
We've decided to eat porridge.
By all means,
He was using his body language pointing at the restaurant while we drove pass by it,
No voice for him.

Inside the Restaurant-


The smiley figure in the picture is Maitreya Buddha,
It's a pretty common display in a Taiwanese restaurant,
Just like Japanese restaurants, which you can find maneki neko most of the time.
*maneki neko, cats that call for fortune and luck.

Sweet Potato Porridge-


My mom told me this when I was little,
People back then were very poor, only a few can afford eating rice at home,
In order to feel full,
They came up with an ultimate solution.
They put more water while cooking a small amount of rice,
In addition, they added sweet potatoes because it's abundant and cheap.

Now that everyone's able to afford eating rice,
We seemed to forget the story behind this sweet potato porridge..

Our Five Dishes-


From left to right:
Spicy double cooked pork 回鍋肉
Sour Bamboo 酸筍
Stewed pork 滷肉
Baked bran 烤麩 = flour, after steaming and other cooking processes.
Stewed minced pork with melon 瓜仔肉

How much we spent for this meal?
Five dishes for $31?!?!
I don't know about you,
But for porridge, I think it's too much.

End Note~
The service was good though,
The lady kept coming back asking if we need more porridge...
I guess everywhere I go....people know that I eat a lot...
Eh?
My friend still has good appetite despite the fact that he is sick,
No wonder we are friends.

Overall Rating: 5

Lu's Garden Restaurant 小陸子清粥店
17829 Colima Road
City of Industry, CA 91748
(626) 964-5709

Yi-Mei Deli 義美豆漿點心

This is probably my favorite breakfast joint in Southern California.
I always swing by Yi-Mei before my snowboarding trip,
Fill up my stomach with all kinds of delicious Taiwanese style dishes,
Making sure that I'll have lots of energy on the mountains throughout the day!

And I'm not the only person who's in love of Yi-Mei,
Look at the line inside the restaurant,
Sometimes it goes all the way out to the parking lot-


Can you see that person with newspaper?
Some elderly Chinese people like to read newspapers while eating breakfast.
Just like we kids like to watch TV during dinner time.
Fair game.

Egg Pancake 蛋餅-


Must have!
There are many version of egg pancakes in Taiwan,
Egg pancakes with cheese,
Egg pancakes with ham,
Egg pancakes with corn, so on and on.
Yi-Mei has the most traditional kind,
Beat few eggs together with chopped scallion and few pinches of salt first,
Drizzle some oil in a sizzling hot pan, toss in the egg mixture,
Simply top the semi-cooked egg mixture with flour pancake and cook for about another minute,
Roll them up and serve with garlic soy sauce and chili paste.

The pancake we used here is like a hybrid between French crepes and Mexican tortillas.
More chewy than crepes, and softer than tortillas.

I should make egg pancakes with cheese sometime and post the recipe here.

Cindy's Rating: 8

Rice Balls with Pork Flakes 肉鬆飯糰-

Made with glutinous rice,
It's more chewy than regular white rice and fills you up quicker too.
Usually they use pork flakes, fried flour roll, and some vegetables for the filling,
There is also a sweet version of rice ball too,
Which the fillings might be consist of red bean paste, peanuts, and granulated sugar.
How does it tastes?
I never order it, so far not a big fan of eating sweet things with rice.

Cindy's Rating: 7

Steamed Pork Dumplings 小籠包-

Served with white vinegar and fresh ginger slices.
Be careful while eating it,
The juice from the filling might splash out right after you bite into the dumplings.

Cindy's Rating: 7

Wanna try some authentic Taiwanese style breakfast items?
Come to Yi-Mei, you won't be disappointed.

Overall Rating: 8
Yi-Mei Deli 義美豆漿點心
18414 East Colima Road #I
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 854-9246

Crystal Jade Asian Fine Dining - 翡翠樓

I'm pretty happy that besides 弘城 (China Garden Restaurant),
There's finally another place that sells dim sum in Irvine.
I mean,
How can you stand waiting for at least an hour for mediocre food just because you can't find something similar in the same area?
Every time I drive pass by 弘城 (China Garden Restaurant) during lunch hours,
Not only I see people crowding inside the restaurant,
I also see people sitting on the nearby lawn waiting for their seats.
It's just impossible for me.

Glad we have Crystal Jade now-


User friendly menu-


Menu with lots of pictures is always good,
Especially for people who are not familiar with the food.

Inside the restaurant-


Very spacious, very clean,
(Which is hard to come around sometimes for Chinese restaurants).
Besides this dining area,
They also have a small bar on the side,
When the weather is nice, you even have the choice of sitting at the patio.

Baked Egg Custard Tart 酥皮焗蛋塔-


It's the first time that served to our table,
Was hoping to have savory dishes first,
But well,
I was hungry so I'll just eat everything that comes on my table.
The tart was good but nothing too outstanding.
*Nothing beats the ones from KFC in Taiwan.

Braised Bean Curd Roll 蠔皇鮮竹卷-


Have to love this dish,
The flavors from all sorts of vegetables were sealed inside that bean curd skin,
When you first bite into it,
The juice just flow right out of the skin,
So good.

Fried Shrimp Ball Stuffed with Cheese 芝士百花蝦球-


One fancy-looking dish.
Served with mayonnaise.

Rice Noodle Roll with Shrimp 鮮蝦蒸粉腸-


Probably one of my must-haves at a dim sum place.
I'm in love with the sauce,
It's basically a not-so-salty soy sauce with a hint of sweetness in it.

Shrimp and Chives Gow 鮮蝦韮菜餃-


Surprisingly good,
At first I thought that chives will over-powering the flavor of shrimps,
But it was actually a well-balanced dish.
*I like to eat most of the dim sum with chili sauce. Spicy!

Steamed Lotus Seed Bun 蛋皇蓮容飽-


Always end my dim sum meal with lotus seed bun,
First of all,
I'm always craving for something sweet in the end,
Secondly,
This dessert helps to wash away the left-over taste in your mouth,
And substitute it with fresh and sweet lotus charm.

Overall Rating: 6

Crystal Jade Asian Fine Dining

6511 Quail Hill Parkway

Irvine, CA 92603

(949) 725-3368

http://www.cjasiandining.com/