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

Half & Half Tea House: Strawberry, Pudding, Honey Boba Milk

TSGV RATINGS:

Eye Candy: 4/5 Stars

Smelloscope: 2/5 Stars

Taste Test: 5/5 Stars

Wallet Breaking: $

Recommend-ability: 4/5 - Mouth Watering Goodness

I live literally two blocks away from Half & Half. Though it wasn't until recently did I go there on a semi-regular basis, mostly because my friend Kenneth is a big fan. I remember having gone there more than a year ago and thought it was totally overrated and overpriced. But I realized that was because I ordered food and the wrong drinks. That is not the reason to go to Half & Half. The one and only reason to go to this tea house is not for their tea at all, but for their milk.

It's a bit ironic for a restaurant to be named a tea house when their best and most popular item isn't even their tea. Perhaps that's why it's also named half & half for their milk products. Sure technically the place is really famous for their boba, but if it's not placed in their milk but in their tea, it's really no more impressive than what one can find at Tea Station.

(Strawberry, Pudding, Honey Boba Milk - $4.35)

Today I ordered my usual, Strawberry, Pudding, Honey Boba Milk. It was still around eighty degrees out at eight-thirty at night. I needed to get out of the house and a cool drink to chill me. The milk is blended with the ice while the strawberry syrup, pudding and honey boba sat on the bottom of the cup. Seeing a white drink always pleases me on a hot summer night, as it almost feels like I'm about to consume some snow. Although the drink really has no smell to it, I gave a smelloscope rating of 2 stars rather than a 1 because feeling the ice old drink on the top half while the bottom was still warm is a fantastically chilling yet comfortably warming experience.

Like all boba drinks, this one came with a boba sized straw to allow for the boba and the pudding to be sucked up with the milk. The first time I had this drink, I made the mistake of mixing everything together before consumption, turning the drink into more of a strawberry flavored iced milk drink. Later I realized that they syrup was meant to be drank in its dense form, and the flavors and the textures of each of the components of the drink are to be experienced separately but still in conjunction with one another. This is NOT a drink to be mixed.

In some sense this is a dessert all on its own accord eaten through a straw rather than with spoons or forks. The alternation between the sugarless iced milk, the ultra sweet syrup, the honey sweetened boba and the mild flavored pudding creates a freakish cluster of taste inside the mouth, all balancing one another. It is never too sweet as a whole to feel heavy, but the tongue was indulged in some super dense sweet sensation in the process. The pudding kept my tongue working to dissolve them, while the boba gave my teeth something to do in the process. There was something for every part of my oral senses in this drink.

Certainly for those who still cannot get over the idea of having things in your drinks will never find this treat enjoyable. But if you are open to such an experience, this is certainly a drink you mustn't pass up and try at least once. I personally prefer the San Gabriel store because I like the tall cups rather than the bowl-like cups in the Monterey Park store. The San Gabriel store also has a dine-in option where you could enjoy your drink and even some food. I however wouldn't give the same review for the food at Half & Half than this drink.

The drink is on the high end in pricing for a boba drink. But if you treat it more as a dessert, it's rather reasonable. Just be certain you work off the enormous amount of energy you would consume with this drink. Also be weary that Half & Half has the notorious reputation to be the new king of slow service in the San Gabriel Valley. That is not an easy "accomplishment" as service at drink places has always been horrifically slow to begin with. My suggestion is to get here earlier in the night before their peak hours of 9pm to 12am every night.

Half & Half Tea House

120 N San Gabriel Blvd, Ste H
San Gabriel, CA 91778

(626) 309-9387
Strawberry, Pudding, Honey Boba Milk - $4.35