U2 Cafe: Hong Kong Style Pancake

TSGV RATINGS:
Eye Candy: 3/5 Stars
Smelloscope: 4/5 Stars
Taste Test: 4/5 Stars
Wallet Breaking: $
Recommend-ability: 3/5 - Give it a Go

It's been a little while since I've been back to U2 Cafe. This used to be one of my favorites. But since I was so disgusted by my last experience I stopped going there on a regular basis. The quality of their food just went way down. A huge part of it is simply an inconsistency, and my experience with their Hong Kong Style Pancake today was the case and point.

(Bad Batch of Hong Kong Style Pancake - $3.75)

I had dinner with my parents, my brother and my sister-in-law today. My brother got there early so he went ahead and ordered the Hong Kong Style Pancake. I arrived around five minutes after my brother ordered the dish and we discussed what else we should order. The process took another ten minutes or so. After we finished ordering, it took another five minutes or so for the pancake to arrive. It didn't look appetizing. It was a bit darker than usual and I've had U2's version before to know this is not normal for them.

I took a piece to try and it was a bit on the crunchy side and cold. My brother and my sister-in-law both took a piece to try and had the same reaction and were not pleased. So I asked the waiter to take it back and make us another batch. We've tried a few other places like Cafe Spot and we know U2 has the version we prefer the most and this was not it.

The waiter was kind enough to take it back and make us a new version. This new version didn't take long to reach our table, approximately five minutes. Which made me wonder why it took so long for the first batch to get to our table. It made perfect sense. They over-cooked it which meant it took longer than usual. Then they left it on the counter for it to chill before taking it to our table, which was why it took nearly twenty minutes after ordering for it to get to us.

(U2 Cafe Menu)

This second batch was totally worth the $3.75. This is my favorite snack as a boy, and I'm partly eating my childhood nostalgia. It's similar in texture as a waffle except it's slightly crunchier on the outside and softer and less thick on the inside when done right. The individual eggs should break off easily and the inside should be slightly warm.

As soon as the waiter placed the basket on our table, I knew instantly this was warmer and better. I could smell the fresh cooked dough drifting upwards into my nose. The color was much lighter than the first batch and looked softer as it should be. My brother and my sister-in-law wanted to just rip a piece right off, but I had to grab a picture of it before they could consume it.

(Hong Kong Style Pancake - $3.75)

This was the way it was supposed to be. It's slightly crunchy on the outside while the inside is moist, warm, soft and a bit hollow. The dough is slightly sweetened, but the whole thing is light enough to have as appetizer without having my appetite ruined.

There are no sauce to dip the pancakes in. They were originally served on the streets of Hong Kong by street vendors in small paper bags. Since the dough is slightly sweet, it can be treated as a dessert. But to me it has always been an appetizer. The Chinese name for it literally translate to "little eggs." The little sphere-like pieces are attached to each other by a very thin and crunchy paper made with the same dough. There's a little bit of flakiness like in a Chinese egg roll dessert from the thin crust. The combination between crunchiness and softness rounds out the dessert to appeal to my entire texture palette of my taste buds.

$3.75 is a lot more than what they used to go for on the streets of Hong Kong, and certainly way more than the cost of the ingredients. Even as a snack, it actually isn't a cheap snack compared to some of the other things I can get in the area. But a good version of it isn't easy to find even in the San Gabriel Valley. In fact not every cafe even serves this. Even at U2, it wasn't until we asked them to remake it when we actually got a good version of the relatively unknown snack that satisfied my cravings. If it wasn't for this, I honestly don't know if I would ever go back to U2 Cafe again after the horrible curry fish ball with pork skin I had two months back. Consistency please!

U2 Cafe
1200 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 282-1800


Hong Kong Style Pancake - $3.75

Sinbala: Pork Chop Rice

TSGV RATINGS:
Eye Candy: 3/5 Stars
Smelloscope: 2/5 Stars
Taste Test: 3/5 Stars
Wallet Breaking: $$
Recommend-ability: 3/5 - Give it a Go

I originally wanted to actually write about Sinbala's sausage rice since they are supposed to be famous for their sausage. This was the second time I've been to Sinbala and I'm still not impressed or interested at all in their original sausage. I just didn't want to write about it, so I decided to write about their pork chop rice.

Honestly I am not the biggest fan of Sinbala, it really doesn't do much for me. But a few of my friends today from the west side wanted to have Chinese food, more specifically Taiwanese food, so I happily obliged. I'm a team player when it comes to dinning. I will join anyone anywhere if they say they want it with very few exceptions.

(Sinbala: Pork Chop Rice - $6.25)

I do like pork chop rice and I've had a lot of pork chop rices around the valley. Sinbala's pork chop rice is authentically Taiwanese. It's deep fried and a little on the sweet side. Taiwanese food tends to be slightly more sugary than Cantonese foods.

The pork chop itself is half sliced up to both keep the piece of pork chop intact, as well as to make it easy on the customer to rip out individual pieces to eat. No knife is present so my friends and I had to resort to our fingers to tear apart the pork chop. The pork chop was thin and so was easily torn apart. There really isn't a more civilized way of eating this dish unless if we ask for a knife. I suppose, when in rome...

The batter on the pork chop was crispy and hard, similar to the crunch on most popcorn chicken and pork chops in the area. The only notable difference is that Sinbala's version is definitely sweeter than most pork chops I've had around town. I personally am not a big fan of this blatant use of sugar, but I'm certain many others feel otherwise making Sinbala a rather popular joint.

(Sinbala: Pork Chop Rice - $6.25)

The dish also came with rice, broccoli, scrambled eggs and mixed peas, carrots and corn. The scrambled eggs felt homemade. It felt like something I would scramble at home but yet done perfectly. It was crude but yet tasty. It felt like something out of a mother's kitchen. Though it certainly wouldn't be my mother's kitchen since she doesn't cook. Come to think of it, it felt more like it's from my grandmother's kitchen instead. It just had a homemade aura.

The eggs and the broccoli were lightly flavored, which was great in countering the sweetness of the pork chop. It helped lightened up the dish, especially for a hot summer day. The rice was mushy as expected for a Taiwanese restaurant. The sweetness and the usage of Japanese rice is a reminder of the influence of Japanese culture in Taiwan.

The look of the dish is simple. There's nothing fancy, but the giant pork chop is beautifully laid over what would otherwise be a boring dish. There's not much of a strong smell coming from this dish. With the combined smell of all the other dishes served in the restaurant, it's hardly noticeable.

It certainly is not the best pork chop rice I have had in the San Gabriel Valley. I am certain I will be writing soon about what I believe to be the best pork chop rice in the valley. It does however cater to the niche market of those who like a slightly sweeter version of deep fried pork chops. It is inexpensive and will fill you up. The only catch to the whole experience is the long wait on a weekend lunch hour.

Sinbala

651 W Duarte Rd, Ste F
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 446-0886


Pork Chop Rice - $6.25

Banh Mi Che Cali: Chicken Rice With Steamed Eggs

TSGV RATINGS:
Eye Candy: 3/5 Stars
Smelloscope: 2/5 Stars
Taste Test: 2/5 Stars
Wallet Breaking: $
Recommend-ability: 2/5 - You Got Anything Better?

This summer, I've been teaching everyday at a Glee Summer Camp. I don't really work that often on an everyday basis where I have to bring my own lunch. This has been a crazy couple of weeks for me so I have been going to Banh mi Che Cali to get my lunch in the morning before I headed to camp.

I've been alternating getting different dishes each morning and I'm sure I'll be blogging about the other ones soon enough. Today I had the Chicken Rice with Steamed Eggs. Everyday when I bring my food to the camp, the director of the camp Cass would comment on the fact that the food looks very delicious, the proportion looks huge. When I tell her the price of the dish, her jaw drops at how cheap it is.

(Chicken Rice With Steamed Eggs - $3.25)

Today I ended up getting the Chicken Rice with Steamed Eggs. The chicken drumstick was glazed over with a semi-sweet BBQ marinate before it was grilled. The skin retained most of the flavor while the meat also absorbed a portion of it. It was a bit on the dry side, but that also had to do with the fact that it sat in my room for four hours before I ate it. Nonetheless the meat almost came off feeling like jerky at times.

The vegetables were freshly prepared and lightly seasoned, a welcomed compliment to a giant piece of meat. I did have to remove the peppers from the top of the dish since I'm not a fan of spicy food. Sorry, I won't be posting too many spicy dishes on this blog.

So you may be wondering why I would even bother writing about a dish that doesn't seem to be all that interesting and good. Aside from the fact that this lunch was only $3.25 and filled my stomach, the steamed egg was actually very well made. For the value, the egg was a great bonus. In fact it was the sole reason why I picked this plate over the other plates on the counter this morning.

(Chicken Rice With Steamed Eggs - $3.25)

The steamed egg had vermicelli noodles, meat and mushrooms mixed inside. It almost tasted like a quiche, Chinese, Vietnamese, Asian style. Though the restaurant is Vietnamese, this dish wasn't quite a Vietnamese dish. It almost is a generic Asian dish that I may even make sometimes minus the egg. Certainly I could make an even better drum stick if I had more time. But I'm uncertain if I could make the same dish for the same price mainly because I wouldn't be able to get ingredients in that small of a portion.

I wouldn't stop by Banh Mi Che Cali just to eat this dish, or most of what they serve if I didn't live a few blocks from it. But if you happened to be in San Gabriel and needed a quick bite to eat and didn't want to spend a fortune, this is certainly way better, way faster and way cheaper than even McDonald's or most other fast food joints out there. You got anything else better to eat for this price? By all means go for it.

Banh Mi Che Cali
135 San Gabriel Blvd, Ste A
San Gabriel, CA 91776
Chicken Rice With Steamed Eggs - $3.25

Spring Wave: Braised Pork with Deep Fried Stewed Eggs

TSGV RATINGS:

Eye Candy: 3/5 Stars

Smelloscope: 3/5 Stars

Taste Test: 4/5 Stars

Wallet Breaking: $$

Recommend-ability: 3/5 - Give it a Go

I didn't have anything to do for lunch on Independence Day. When my friend Christine texted me that morning to see what I was doing before the BBQ I had at my friend's place later in the evening, I decided to hang out with her. Of course our definition of hanging out in San Gabriel is basically eat.

Spring Wave had a new owner, who was a friend of her boss. Christine had to pick up a to-go order for her boss, so we decided we may as well eat there out of convenience.

The owner happened to be in today because she forgot it was a holiday and was understaffed. She was kind to give us suggestions to eat. She eventually recommended me to try the Braised Pork with Deep Fried Stewed Eggs. This was a very Shanghainese dish, which I don't eat on a regular basis unlike my friend. So I said why not, let's give it a go.

(Braised Pork with Deep Fried Stewed Eggs - $9.95)

The pork was fatty pork, beautifully marinated and braised. Each piece was diced into small square chunks and the five layers of color of the pork were very clearly defined. The sauce as sweet. The little bits of chive garnishing gave what would be an all brown dish some brightness and color. The stewed eggs were deep fried and covered with the same sauce.

I'm not a big fan of sweet entrees, but fortunately the braised pork was well marinated and not overtly sweet. When eaten with white rice, the pork had just the right amount of flavors and a good balance between the fat and the meat. Certainly this is not the healthiest dish around, but it was the forth of July, and my system deserved a bit of indulgence.

I was good to only eat a few pieces of the pork since I knew I had a BBQ coming at night. I also only ate one egg since egg yolks are so high in cholesterol. The eggs had a slightly chewy skin from having been deep fried then braised with sauce. The marinate did penetrate the egg lightly and reached into the whites and even the yolk. I personally like my eggs just a tad bit more flavored on the inside, but the heavy sauce on the outside more than compensated in flavor for the inside.

It's really a dish I wouldn't mind having again, but only on special occasions if I happened to be around here. In the end there's no avoiding the fact that this is a heart attack on a plate. So once in a full moon a year, it's ok to indulge into so much fat and cholesterol.

Spring Wave
140 W Valley Blvd, Suite 209
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 571-1178
Braised Pork with Deep Fried Stewed Eggs - $9.95