Regent Cafe

Sorry - this place stinks. I came here with my cousin (who normally has a good choices) for Christmas evening dinner. I was a little surprised by the relaxed, open brick look cafe/diner style decor, but happy to wade through the 3 menus on offer.

I settled on the Western-style 4-course meal (soup, salad, lobster tail, and choice of entree and Tiramasu) for $29. But woah, what a mistake. I should've stuck with the Chinese dishes (Lamb, tofu, lettuce etc.)

The soup was lukewarm (but not bad), the shrimp salad came straight from the fridge (you don't serve lettuce that way), and the entree of seabass was bland, bland and blander. Not even the sauce could save it. In fact, I don't think it *was* seabass. I could almost work out how it got on my plate - defrosted, boiled, slapped on my plate and creamy sauce poured on it and served with some (frozen) mixed vegetables. Regent Cafe should be embarrassed. Seriously. Ok - the lobster tail wasn't too bad ;-)

May be I was asking for trouble ordering American-style (foreign) food in a Chinese (foreign) restaurant. Foreign x Foreign = crap!

I like the food here. The cod with chicken is tasty (see the pic! :D), but usually I order Beef Chow Fun (dry, or wet), or Wonton Mein (noodles in soup with wontons) when I go. You can't beat the Wonton Mein portions here for the price.

It's no surprise that this restaurant is similar to Garden Cafe (Rowland Heights) since they are linked, but service is generally decent when we go. It is way more authentic than any Panda Express-type places, but I would, however stick to Lollicups/TeaZones, or Thai restaurants for better Thai tea.

Oh yes, and occasionally wipe your forks off BEFORE you eat. :P

The service is.....non-existent.

The food is..... salty when it's not suppose to be....

The desserts are .... GOOD.

So, TA-DAH! 3 stars (I love desserts! Sorry.)! Nothing special but average place for cheap eats.

I have been to this cafe ever since it was DiDi's Cafe and I have to say, it is fairly standard stuff, as far as HK style cafe goes.

It is now part of the Garden Restaurant Group, which included other Garden Cafes and such. It has better decor and the ambiance is better than its sisters. However, the quality of food and menu select is still just like other Garden Cafes -- huge selections and fairly consistent and expected tastes. i.e. nothing really special.

It is a reasonably good meeting place for small groups, however, because of a 'patio' section and another separated section from the main dining hall.

In all, reasonable.

You know something is wrong when you walk into the place and you smell bleach or some sort of cleaning agent.

I had to meet my parents there with my two girls so I was forced to walk in and meet them.

The wait staff was rude. She acted like everything I asked her to do was too difficult. "May I have a plate for my food?" O... she walked away and took sometime to bring it back. The food was mediocre at best. The table next to us were friends of one of the waitress and they were treated well. The waitress asked her if she wanted take away boxes, if she wanted refills, etc... We were left there like second class citizens.

My experience was not pleasant at all.

I used to love this place. So much I asked my parents to drive all the way to take me there.

What a disappointment. Interestingly enough, I had my last meal here on the LAST DAY THEY WERE OPEN (May 31). Hmm, which means, everything was awful---i.e., oversalted, overfatty, and majorly subpar in quality. My dad actually got food poisoning from his 'surf and turf' combo dish.

While my salted fish and chicken fried rice and rice porridge were tasty (and heavily salted, which is pretty standard for the San Gabriel Valley, I think), I have to wonder why they were closing, and why the sign announcing the eminent close was only written in chinese, and only posted while we were leaving the establishment.

Shame on you, Regent, for going out with not so much as a disappointing thud.

Standard HK Cafe.

Everthing is pretty decent here. Um.... service is average, drinks are average. Nothing special, nothing really to look out for. I think the variation in quality usually reflects on the shifts of Waiters and Cooks. some ups and some down but all around this place is pretty average.

Let's start with a reality check. Those who really know Chinese food know to head East for the good stuff in L.A. Especially for dinner, don't go looking in Chinatown or the burbs, and if it's after dusk or past your bed time, and you want really quick, tasty, authentic Chinese food, then definitely head to Regent Cafe.

Formely the fabulous DiDi's Cafe, Regent Cafe is right on the money when it comes to authenticity. When I say it keeps it real, it's beyond the tasty Chinese fare -- there's the massive menu with tons of variety in both food and Asian hot and cold drinks, plus the oft-noisy, chatty HK cafe after-hours vibe, the large booths, and of course, the subpar service that one comes to expect at (and typically defines) the best Chinese restaurants in town. You'll notice right away that it's filled with locals from Asian cultures that predominantly make up Alhambra and Monterey Park, and that's a good sign. Just don't go here expecting to judge the place by Western standards, or you'll miss the point of the experience completely.

For a good meal, start with the salt-and-pepper squid -- just like the classic fried tentacle appetizer once found at DiDi's. It's got a little kick, so if you don't typically eat spicy or salty, then be sure to first ask the waiter for a glass of water before trying.

The daily dinner specials are great, and you can't go wrong by letters A, B, or D. For $12, you'll get two Chinese-style entrees (prime rib and hen, or fish and kalbi, or shrimp and chicken), plus side dishes like steamed veggies and even fries or mashed potatoes. Random, but all good. Every meal also includes a bowl of their daily soup, usually beef with vegetables or cream of corn. Again, not the hot & sour or egg drop soup most folks might expect, then again, this is not Panda, but what real Chinese restaurants serve. You also get your choice of steamed rice or spaghetti. Yes, spaghetti, as in noodles lightly tossed in red sauce -- you'll see Chinese folks typically order spaghetti over rice, and they'll eat it with everything. Don't worry, both the soup and spaghetti are good. Yes, it's a lot of food, so be hungry.

If not dining alone (and you really shouldn't at Regent), then go ahead and order one of the chow mein dishes too -- that's specifically the chow mein noodles, not the chow fun, lo mein, udon, or others. You'll want the ones that are slightly cripsy but soft in the center soaked by the pile of sauce, veggies and your choice of meat in the middle. I like the house special chow mein but you can't go wrong with the seafood chow mein, if fish, shrimp and scallops are your thing.

If you want a warm drink, try the hot coffee-tea drink -- It's just that, a mix of the two but it's served with your own personal container of sweet condensed milk (cream and sugar in one), which makes it taste fabulous. For a cold drink, try the watermelon juice. Really, any of the other drinks are great, e.g., thai tea, milk tea, boba drinks, etc.

If you still have room for dessert, first check out the glass display by the entry, and see what the other folks are ordering. You also can't go wrong by ordering any of their fruit drinks or a shake, too.

Bottom line, lots of quick options, large portions, authentic Chinese cafe meals, priced fairly, and great for that "quick fix" of Chinese food. You'll definitely leave feeling satisfied, and with leftovers good enough to eat the next day, too.

[REGENT CAFE'S LAST DAY IS MAY 31.]

4 stars. Casual Hong Kong-style diner/caf where you can get some Western dishes a la Chinese (like baked seafood spaghetti, braised ox tongue in red wine sauce, German pig feet, prime rib...) as well as some typical HK fare (like seafood chow mein 2-side fried, wonton noodle soup...) My favorite was the German pig feet, deep fried and crispy. Drinks are pretty standard: HK-style coffee/tea blend with condensed milk, boba tea, thai iced tea, sodas, beer...

Prices are cheap, but with a drink, tax and tip, it will go over $10. Service is barely acceptable, but pretty standard for this type of joint. The parking lot can be tight and street parking is that easy to find.

Verdict: nice place for kids, casual atmosphere, decent food and overall comfort. Regent Caf, we shall miss you!

the very time i went here was for my mother's birthday and i didn't want to eat chinese again for her birthday, i was being selfish! But to my surprise this wasn't a chinese restaurant but more of a anglo-inspired cafe with an all chinese staff
i ordered the lamb chop and was very pleased the first time i was there then i found out there was an all-asia section on the menu on the very back page and got some tasty pad-ka pow(ground chicken, beef, or pork stirred fried in a spicy mix lay ontop white rice with a fried egg) this plate was out of this world and pretty damn spicy