Driving up to my favorite existing Chinese buffet (emphasis on “existing” as all my longtime favorites are long gone), Gold Hibachi in Alhambra, something was wrong. There were no cars parked in the spaces by the entrance to the restaurant. While it wasn’t 11:30am yet, still I was stunned since I was always relegated to parking in the back of the lot. Were they out of business? No, the front door was open. But then I saw the two signs. UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT and Lunch Buffet $20.99, where Gold Hibachi had historically been on the low end price wise for lunch buffet.  Stepping inside only f ..read more

In late 2019 we took a wonderful 10 day tour of Taiwan with Supera Tours, known at that time as Super Value Tours.  Unlike every other China tour we had been on (or for that matter, any tour period) the food was fabulous as the tour company carefully curated all of the meals on the trip to maximize our complete dining experience with a variety of food choices that few people visiting Taiwan on a group tour would ever enjoy.  Everything we ate on that tour is chronicled here (with the exception of one episode which got lost in the cloud and can be found here.)  We quickly decided ..read more

  Since this year is the 15th anniversary of my writing this blog, and because I did not celebrate the 10th anniversary five years ago, I thought I would put up a brief anniversary post.  Back in 2009, I had not yet been discovered by Clarissa Wei and turned into a celebrity diner, so Chinese food and restaurant topics were only a part of the content on this blog.   Furthermore I wasn't particularly knowledgeable about some of the workings of the internet, I treated my blog as a personal diary, just to keep track of some events and thoughts that I might otherwise forget ..read more

So we're less than a month into the Year of the Dragon, and I cannot believe how mainstream Chinese New Year became this year.  Seemingly every national brand, every major retailer, every designer name, had some kind of New Year special.  Indeed when I saw Lunar New Year Hershey bars and M & M Candies, I almost lost it.  Why so suddenly and why this year?  I haven't the faintest clue.   The cynic in me knows it's just a marketing ploy, but I'm certainly not unhappy with this development.  But it's not just the suddenness of being able to celebrate Lunar New Y ..read more

Since we and everyone else began to take cruise ship vacations again after COVID, I have noticed that the percentage of Asians, primarily first generation Chinese Americans and Chinese Canadians, has been significant.  As such, on the two Mexican Riviera cruises we took out of Los Angeles about a year ago, there was quite an offering of Chinese food, some good, much not so good, and conspicuous at most meals. Likewise on last month's Sapphire Princess cruise starting in Buenos Aires, cruising four days in the Antarctic, and ending in Chile, there was like a high quotient of Chinese passen ..read more

I'm always on the lookout for new Chinese restaurant openings, particularly in the San Gabriel Valley.  Obviously a newly opened restaurant is the most likely source to add to my Chinese restaurant count.  Also, since I have been eating in the San Gabriel Valley ever since the first authentic Chinese restaurant opened up in the mid-1970s, by catching new Chinese restaurants right when they open, I have been able to eat at the vast majority of authentic Chinese restaurants that have ever operated in the San Gabriel Valley. One Saturday night we were driving home after dinner in Alhamb ..read more

  Mystery restaurant Nice Me Snacks and More opens in Temple City replacing the oddly named “#SR’s Fried Chicken” aka Zhi Ma Tang Yuan Kitchen and it’s durian pizza. The problem is that the menu was only in Chinese, and the only person there did not speak a word of English. Fortunately she had an app which enabled me to order a bowl of spicy tomato beef noodle soup which was great.       While waiting for my food I went outside and discovered some English language signs on the window. But they ended up being totally confusing. In looking at the pictures in the prin ..read more

After all these years, I finally managed to make it to Kato Restaurant, the only Michelin starred Chinese leaning restaurant in the Los Angeles area.  The tasting menu was excellent, though for $330 (including the Wagyu upcharge) one wouldn't expect otherwise. The meal began with amberjack with preserved vegetables.   Pig ears with celluce.   Freshwater eel with stone fruit. Caviar custard fish maw. Curry corn. Tilefish with basil and clam. Duck, sticky rice and soy preserves. A5 Wagyu. Interesting drink holder. Strawberry milk dessert with condensed milk, whipp ..read more

Of course not really, since John Wooden passed away in 2010.  However this blog has posted predictions several times based on the principles of John Wooden which have in fact come to pass.  John Wooden has articulated a truism of sports which strangely has never been acknowledged by the sporting public, yet keeps proving itself over and over again.  That truism is that a long winning streak can turn into a heavy and potentially insurmountable burden.  Time and time again there have been stunning upsets in sports, with the only common denominator being the fact that the losi ..read more

Since the early 2000s, perhaps the premiere venues for Chinese banquets, particularly wedding banquets have been two Hilton hotels, the Universal City Hilton and the San Gabriel Hilton. The San Gabriel Hilton as a Chinese banquet site is logical given its location in the San Gabriel Valley.  The Universal City Hilton is less intuitive but can be traced to the ownership of the hotel by Taiwanese interests, plus a history of Chinese wedding and other banquets dating back to the 1980s at the fancy Fung Lum Restaurant in Universal City.   Of course, if you are going to host Chinese ..read more