D'ange Bakery in San Gabriel

D’ange Bakery on Las Tunas Drive may just be my new favorite bakery. It is a sandwich shop, drink station, and bakery all wrapped up in one. 

On the bakery side you’ll see typical traditional Chinese baked goods but with a modern twist. You won’t see the yellow bo lo bun here. For example, there’s a chocolate bo lo pineapple bun and also a taro variation of it as well. The center also oozes chocolate or taro depending on which one you pick. Much snazzier than the normal pineapple bun!

 Pineapple buns are out! Here are the new and improved flavors!

 Mixed Fruit Tea

There are other Asian inspired pastries as well as more Western style brioches and cookies.  The sandwich menu consists of mostly western sandwiches.They have pulled pork and Italian sandwiches as well as more interesting eye brow-raising ones like curry seafood sandwich which has shrimp, imitation crab and egg.

The pastries prices at D’ange are comparable to that from JJ’s Bakery in Arcadia. I like D’ange much more though. They also have a $4 after noon tea special, which includes coffee/tea and a slice of cake. It’s a good way for new patrons to sample their cakes. Personally, I’ve had my eyes on the pistachio coffee mousse cake.

D’ange also has a decent smoothie and tea variety. I had a mixed fruit tea that was pretty good. If you are looking for delicious and different varieties of bread, drinks, or desserts, D’ange may be worth checking out.

800 W. Las Tunas Dr. in San Gabriel.

Happy Eatings!

Chinese food in Hong Kong

Nom, nom, nom! The food just never ends! I'm back in the US of A already and I still haven't finished posting my Hong Kong food pictures.

 Egg whites, crab, and egg yolk make for deliciousness all around! Don't worry when you mix it all in, it cooks the yolk. 

 Dan dan noodles are my comfort food! Well, they're a good alternative to standing in an 1 hr 30 min line for Japanese ramen.

 shaorou! Goes great with vinegar! 

 shanjeanbao! 

 dumplings 

grapefruit dessert

Enjoy the food porn?

Shaved Snow!

Bàobīng or shaved ice is a staple in Chinese culture.  At Class 302, shaved snow is the norm. Shaved show looks like thin ribbon shavings of condense milk infused ice, with various Asian toppings like moochi, grass jelly, red bean, tapioca, and more.The snow is then topped off with your favorite fruits or syrups and drizzled with more condense milk to finish off. The consistency is silky and smooth with a creamy, but not too sweet, finish …unlike that of shaved ice. 

So whether you’re a Mango, strawberry, green tea, or chocolate lover, there’s a shaved snow combination for you. The theme of an Old fashion classroom runs throughout the restaurant. The inside has school desks and chalk board menus. And for about $7 a bowl, one order of shaved snow can feed more than 3 to 4 people. Unless you’re like the foodettes, that is, then you have to sacrifice for your work. Here’s the damage after ordering all 7 shaved snow combinations.

 (Images courtesy of 626foodettes.com)

1015 Nogales St # 125  Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Food Showdown

The San Gabriel Valley can be quite the daunting and intimidating place to visit. Sometimes clad with only all Chinese signs and sometimes far worse, all Chinglish signs, outsiders to the area can find this microcosm of Asia a scary place to venture to alone.

I’ve always thought that if my journalism career didn’t work out that I’d create my own type of tour guide. I love history and shopping like any other person, but I go anywhere for the food. I don’t want to see any landmarks, show me the food, then more food, then more food! Trust me, ask my friends that I’ve taken on “tours” of Hong Kong or LA. They ate from morning to night and were not given any of those boring experiences. Oh no, this was the Kristie experience.

So what did I do when my non-Asian besties came for a full day of visiting me in the SGV? Food show down. We ate for hours straight. I squeezed in some Asian shopping for them in between, but other than that we ate from lunch to dinner, layered with lots of snacks and more snacks, and shopping and snack shopping. That’s how I do.

 We started the day off with some Taiwanese style Shabu Shabu aka hot pot. Everyone get their own mini pot where you can choose whatever soup base you want. I chose the Japanese Spicy Miso. You also get to choose what type of meat you want. I chose beef. Your order also comes with some sides like veggies, noodles, etc. Try it yourself at Jazz Cat.

At this point, I knew it was time for dessert. We drove all the way to Rowland Heights for some shaved snow from the famous Class 302. Their sign is only in Chinese. They have a minimum of $3 per each person if you want to sit so we got it to go and ate in the car. This was our mango and strawberry with condenses milk snow. It was like the ice I have in Hong Kong, which is hard to find in the U.S.. I’m not wowed like all the yelp reviewers though. I’ve had better. If you do not live near the San Gabriel area, I’d recommend trying Hawaiian shaved ice from Get Shaved. They have a food truck that drives all through the Los Angeles area.

Next we went to the Atlantic Times Square for some Ten Ren. Their boba is really good, but pricy. It’s about $4 for a small. There’s also some fun shops in the area. They  enjoyed the Japanese makeup shopping available there. Make sure not to get their slushies though. Only get the teas here. You have been warned.

By this time we were stuffed like no other. But that only means we had to move on to the next stop. Bakery time! I love bakeries. I’m extremely picky when it comes to pastries and bread. This is the pineapple bread from Kee Wah bakery. There’s actually no pineapple in it. It tastes like a Hawaiian sweet bread, but better. It’s just that the crust looks like a pineapple. Anyways I Kee Wah is only good for their pineapple bread at 80 cents a piece. I would not recommend any thing else from them, no matter what their yelp pages says. You want better bakeries? Just ask! I have a list of my top 10.

Then for the true Asian experience, I took my friends to the 99 Ranch Market to check out some Asian fruits. Of course, I had to show off the horrendous smelling Durian. My sister says durian smells like rotting trash that has been stashed somewhere for a week. It’s definitely an acquired taste. Great photo opp though.

They ended up buying some lychee, dragon fruit, mangosteen, and star fruit.

And then came dinner time. My biggest secret is Boathouse. As many of you may know, Boiling Crab is a cajun place that has waits of upwards of 2 hours for their food. Boathouse is a great alternative in Alhambra that has no lines and is much cheaper.

Our raw oysters.

Our mussels, corn, potatoes, shrimp, and clams.

The battlefield…

We went to four cities: Pasadena, San Marino, San Gabriel, Alhambra. We meant business. So did you agree with my food choices?

Desserts

I love eating desserts! Here were some of the ones I was able to get into my tight week in Hong Kong!

 Baked egg pudding

 Young coconut with bird's nest

 Hot Pear dessert and red dates

 Boiled Chestnut and red dates dessert 

 Hawthorne and sago tapioca 

 These last two I had no clue what they were! So enjoy!

Happy Eatings!
Sorry for the short unexciting posts. I need to get back on track for my US posts!

Fabulous Multitasking: I Get My Purses & My Food From the Same Place

My random picture taking in Hong Kong. Taken while riding the tram, or as the locals call it the 'Ding, Ding'. Does it even make a Ding Ding sound? I don't really notice.

I'm one of those people that hate when companies venture out and try their hand at random things that don't match their brand image. Take Costco and Kirkland. Kirkland meats, furniture, and tires? What the heck is the butcher man doing brake alignments then going off to and cutting up my chicken on his free time? Seriously... Imagine my shock then when one of my aunts proclaimed that Agnes B. had the best flowers in town. 

Pictures of Agnes B. bouquets from last year's Xmas in Hong Kong from friends and family. They even are delivered with cute mini Agnes B. keychains. 

Okay, okay so I guess they are okay flowers. They are in typical HK style EXTRAvagant and over the top, just like HK is! But wait! That's when I was informed that Agnes B. has ice cream or yogurt. I don't remember what it was. Weird. So do I go in buy a bag while eating their yogurt? Ugh, it gives me the Costco creeps. It's like me getting my tires changed, eating a hot dog, and buying groceries and furniture from the same person who hands you samples at Costco. But wait! This winter when I arrived in HK, my aunt told me they have a cake shop where they serve coffee and drinks too! So, we got a cake and took it home. 

AND IT WAS DELICIOUS! Yummy! So soft and creamy. This chocolate cake tasted like chocolate frosting on crack. I approve. Give me a bag while you're at it!

By the way, did I mention they also apparently make Gingerbread man and woman cookies for the holidays? What is up with this company?

Next thing you know they're gonna make tires too like Costco. Wait...3, 2, 1....


Happy Eatings!

I've been a tad behind on blogging all my food adventures. To see my honorable Hong Kong mentions check out my pictures here.  FYI, those are only pictures. Captions will only be posted here for my faithful foodies.