Gwai Lo/Laowai Approved!

See through kitchen. Pretty snazzy for a Chinese place!

Happy Harbor Cuisine in Alhambra kinda screwed themselves over when they first opened a little while ago. They poorly targeted their demographic-cheap, Chinese people! Originally, they tried to tout itself as a high class restaurant for noodles, congee, breakfast and snacks. They would have $5.88 deals for breakfast that would end up being about $10 when the customers actually paid their bill. NO BUENO.  You see $5.88, may sound like a steal but they would charge customers an extra $1 for a side, an extra few bucks here and there for their drink. Typically Chinese places do not charge for basic tea. So them Chinese were PISSED and Happy Harbor wasn't so happy anymore. (FYI, their competition have deals that will give you soup, rice, the meal, and free drink for about $6 or less.) They finally ran a slew of ads on Chinese radio to lure people back by saying they added more food and lowered prices. Viola- in comes me! 

 Spicy pork kidneys. Sounds gross but it's rather delicious!

 They are known for their wantons so I had to have some. They also brag that their Hong Kong style milk tea is really good. It's not bad. 

 Not bad... I don't know if I would come soley for that. 

 Here was something different. Not your typical noodle roll. The inside was stuffed with salted tofu. 

 Here's the inside. 

 Of course we had to buy some to go. It's so far to get to San Gabriel for me that we usually buy a few day's worth of food each time we visit. String beans for the win. Pretty good!

Chicken with Chinese style spaghetti. 

All in all, this place was pretty nice. I know their yelp reviews were so so. The place was decorated really nice and clean. There are multiple flatscreen TVs playing inside while you eat so you don't have to talk with your family while you eat. (I swear traditional Chinese people don't have much conversation with their kids.) Tiger mom status! The TVs were tuned to Phoenix TV and American TV. Plus point for the foreigners or the people who just don't read, speak, or care about Chinese programing.

Last point, this place was Gwai lo/Non-Chinese approved. Their menus were colorful and neat and easy to navigate through. They had really traditional dishes and everything was properly labeled in English not Chinglish. In fact, I was learning some English names of things while I was there. This was a great place for non-Chinese people to visit for good authentic Hong Kong food. Usually the San Gabriel Valley isn't too welcoming to non-Chinese but this place seems like a place that could fill that void.

Approved by me!

736 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801

Happy Eatings!

Take Me Back to Hong Kong-STAT!

Just my luck-the one time I'm not in Hong Kong and the World Trade Center in Causeway Bay decides to make a whole tribute to my favorite cartoon character Pucca. My aunt was nice enough to snap this picture for me on her iphone she recently learned how to use. I really hope this display lasts for another 4 weeks or so. Doubt it considering things in Hong Kong stay in fashion for a grand total of 5 minutes before it's taken down. Since there's a little bit of HK nostalgia going on right now the food is gonna match the occasion as well. Here's 王家沙 in Causeway Bay during afternoon tea time.

 Here's some thinly slicked raw abalone with a wasabiesque dipping sauce. One word-BOMB. I love wasabi and I love abalone. Together it makes me think as though I'm eating sashimi during a Chinese meal. Quite the awesome combination.

Pork sliced paper thin with xo spicy sauce... Which by the way have you guys heard that some residents in China recently found pork that they bought to glow in the dark? I kid you not. There's is glow in the dark pork being found in China. I did a short blog on it for on a school site. You can read about the lovely pork here if you're intrigued.

And here's some salt and peppered flavored crunchy tofu. Yum!

Looking at this food & Pucca displays kinda makes me miss Hong Kong, but then again I'll be back soon so I should probably be enjoying food here instead of worrying about stuff over there. After all I probably don't wanna be eating any glow in the dark pork anytime soon.

Happy Eatings!

Persian Food

Okay, so I'm not gonna lie. I'm usually not a big fan of Persian food. I only like certain Persian dishes. I think their version of crunchy rice doesn't sit well with my stomach. It's way harder than the Chinese version, but hey, it's an acquired taste so whatever floats your boat. I do have to say that we had some awesome kabobs, pita bread, and humus at Darband's in Tarzana that may be worth checking out if you like Persian food. I have some other favorite places that also carry Persian food that I can talk about in another post.

 This was actually made of eggplant. I love eggplant, but this was definitely an acquired taste. The aftertaste was pretty good, it's just the initial taste that throws you off. 

 Kabobs!! The beef and the lamb just didn't do it for me. I really liked the chicken though. The meat was moist. 

Sorry for the blurry pictures. I was here for a rehearsal dinner so I was busy using my camera for pictures other than food. If you are gonna check out Darband's I'd definitely try out their humus. It's pretty good!

Located at 19337 Ventura Blvd Tarzana, CA 91356.

Happy Eatings!