Food Makes Me Happy

Showing posts with label CA - Dim Sum Restaurants. Show all posts

Nov 18, 2010

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

Feb 20, 2008

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

Dec 10, 2007

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/