Kelvin "Code Monkey" L.'s Profile

Two words - STRAWBERRY CROISSANTS.  Period.  With well over 100 pictures uploaded for Cream Pan... this morning (7:30am) is my 1st visit.  

I have nothing to say, other than... I am coming back again TOMORROW to buy more for my sister and brother-in-law!!! =D

I've heard of this place for a while, and their raving reviews by fellow yelper definitely make it a "must visit" place for me.  So last night, two of my friends and me went there for a dinner trail run.  We got there 8ish, but the dining hall was completely packed!  That's a good sign I guess =)

FYI, this place is up on Amar right next to Burger King, inside the plaza where StaterBros at.  Don't waste your time to drive into that Chevron/Jack In The Box/Starbucks strip mall... it's not there!  

The decor of this place is AWESOME, very modern and hip.  The bar stools was a bit over the board IMHO, other than that everything else are almost perfect.  It's clean, it's tidy, and you can have a great time here hanging out with friends without getting hustle.  Of course... when it's packed dinner time, you'll get some annoying staring eyes hinting you to give up your seats... =P

They don't have a large variety of selection for menu items, but I think their quality is better than Tea Station and TenRen's.  I can see them boiling up my tea, so I know it's -not- some overnight/premade stuff.  Portion is pretty generous.  As a 200lbs grown man, I was stuffed after having my "mini" hotpot with all the veggies, seafood and 6+ slides of decent quality lamb!!!

If you actually pay attention to their website, you can see a very interesting design and there's a bible quote reference at the bottom.

(John 6:35) Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

Without a doubt, I'll return and try the other menu items.  I'm sure going to Hub Cafe, everyone will be well fed and won't go hungry nor thirsty =D  

Here are a few reference places that is similar to Hub Cafe that I based on review upon:
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...

This restaurant is located in the same plaza where Albertsons is at.  Their operation hour covers the common crowd: 10:30am-9:30pm.  At first from what my friend told me, in my mind I pictured a place similar to ApoApo, Simbala or Good Time Cafe.  So when I arrived I thought I was at the wrong place.  Their decor is a bit more up scale in compare to the typical Taiwanese joint, I can even qualify it as a little bit on the contemporary/hip side even~

I'm basing my review solely on the quality of the pork chop noodle soup.  I know it's unfair to judge by only 1st visit, so I do plan on going back to try out their beef noodle soup.  I mean, with these two most common typical Taiwanese dishes... if a place can't make it "good", I just don't have much hope that anything else is "good".  And I'm sorry to say, the pork chop that tough, over fried, and you can even taste the oil used were old.  Yuck~  I've had better fried pork chop.

Here are a few reference places that serve food similar to Fong Ling Bistro
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...

It was 2/16 President day.  Originally I suggested to dim-sum at Elite, but my friend said they wanna try this place since their re-opening, and now owned by the new owner.  They have a sister chain that's in El Monte (http://www.yelp.com/bi..., and http://www.yelp.com/bi...) which got high marks from my friends.

I have to report though... this vacation day dim-sum lunch with friends was probably one of the -WORST- dim sum experience I had.  I've a tough time to find the English name for all these dim sum entrees to name them individually....

The shrimp-dumpling skin is terrible.  The steamroll (chun fun?) taste like overnight food that my friend actually spit out it out.  The chicken feet... yuck.  The only thing that's eatable is the pork ribs.

For sure I -WILL NOT- go back to this place for dim sum...

To setup some background: I'm Cantonese from Hong Kong, so I would say I can tell what's authentic and what's not.  And this review was based on the experience I had with a master chef: my mom!!!  I don't give 5-stars often, but this place without a doubt deserves this ranking!!!

Since the fall of Wonton Time (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) in Alhambra, I have yet to find a place comparable for Wonton.  Now when I'm out in that neighbourhood, Bamboodles  (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) is my closest substitution for Chinese noodle soup when I have a craving.  Locally around Walnut, for Cantonese style wonton soup (it's different from Taiwanese style ok?!), other than Sam Woo (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) and Taipan Kitchen (http://www.yelp.com/bi...), there aren't any other places I would consider as serving Cantonese style wonton noodle soup... until -N-O-W- I had this taste bud alternating moment with this discovery!!! =D

I live in Walnut, so I am well aware of this place for a long while.  It's located in a plaza that's pretty 'dead'.  I mean, who shop at Smart & Final?  Whenever I drive by HomeDepot or go Starbucks or Baskin-Robbins or printing at Fedex-Kinko's, then would my mind be tinkered for a tryout run.  But, not until I read Keizo's review of this place on his GoRamen blog (he's more of a Japanese style ramen reviewer), then did I put some serious note on my agenda.  I tried once... but I got there after 9pm, so that was a bummer.

So this past Sunday, after worship service at church would be a lunch spot deciding round going on my mind as usual.  I don't want Sam Woo, I don't want cafe food, I want something simple and light, Bada Bing - why not try out Wonton Forest!!!  My parents, my grandma and my aunt were all in town visiting for my sister's wedding.  So it's a perfect circumstance for a tasting run, cause I can try out more dishes with 5 tummies to fill.

Their menu is very-very simple.  the moment I stepped in, the place gave me a fusion feel.  And the next thought come to my mind... was... oooohhh nooooo.  Cause the word 'fusion' on my mind always associated with 'yuck'.  How many true fusion place out there can do it right, like Roy's?  Not many.  But I'm please to report, Wonton Forest did well , actually VERY well to a point I'll call it fantastic!

I completely forgot to take a picture of the spring roll.  It's just perfect to my liking. Less of the herbs/veggie compare to the kind you'll get in a pho-place.  I ordered chiu chow as that's what Keizo commented on and it's a rare find.  My parents tried the wonton.  It's not written on the menu clearly, but you have a choice of the typical thin noodle, a wide noodle, as well as the wide rice noodle.  My chiu chow came with shrimps, fish balls, and some minced as well as shredded meats in it.  I don't think many places serve chiu chow noodle, nor am I any expert in it, so it's hard for me to rank it.  I stole a wonton from my mom's bowl, bit into it, and it was a WONDERFUL experience.  The wrapping was not too floury or too thick, it could certainly use a bit more stuffing in it, but it's definitely way-better in comparison to those tiny-and-lack-of-taste-wonton at Bamboodles, and also definitely better to those over-stuffed-wonton at Samwoo.  I think their wonton is also better than Taipan.  But that's my take, my taste to my liking.  Their ingredient is very good, and I think the shrimp is fresh.  I can tell the difference when bitting into a frozen/processed shrimp, compare to those you can just buy at a seafood market.  I think that's one of the reason why I like their food so much - excellent fresh ingredient!

At first, I thought I'll come home and write a 4-stars review, cause I can't give a 4.5 stars on yelp.  But this place was ranked the best on my mom's tasting experience in USA, and even she said the noodle texture were complemented by the broth.  She said it's comparable to HK, which is -very- tough to meet that bar with any food in USA.  You won't need to plan on buying a drink after the meal, cause it's not MSG-heavy at all.  If it is, I'm sure I won't come back, and my Mom would definitely -not- finish her bowl.  The service is very friendly, the waitress is cute (yeah, that add half -star in my book for sure, and that ABC accent of Cantonese add another half-star =P).  As I asked, this place been in business for about half year, it's opened back in June 08.

I'm 100% for sure I'll be back.  I want to try out the shrimp wonton with wide noodle!  I'm crossing my fingers, because under the shape of our current economy, this sort of young small self-started eatery i hard to come by as well as hard to survive.  I don't think I can make it a weekly-visit, but I'm gonna try.  I think coming here with my fellowship group will basically take over all the seating spaces =P

Take my review with a grain of salt, cause I'm a Cantonese born-and-raised in Hong Kong.  We came to try out this restaurant because my brother-in-law family is with a Indonesian-Chinese heritage background.  And I'm always up for trying out different ethnic food =)

I work in Irvine, so battling through the traffic of 405/605 to get to Bellflower wasn't something I do everyday.  We had a big party, total of 9 people, so we basically talk over half of the seating space of this restaurant.  This place is very much a mom-and-pop size.

My party all arrived ahead of me and ordered food already.  I'm glad, cause I wouldn't have a clue what to order off the menu except the typical satay and other lamp dishes.  First thing after I sat down, I was trying to order a Es Durian.  But they were out... so I took my brother-in-law and sister's recommendation, tried the Es Teller.  It was pretty good, not too sweet and very fruity.

There were many different dishes I got to try out.  The Indonesian salad and other appetizers, a fry noodle dish, a fry rice dish, a nasi bungkus, spicy shrimp, some chicken, both the chicken soup and the lamp soup, and of course satay!  I think that's all the dishes... and sorry, I don't know their name =P  Cause my brother-in-law family ordered everything and they can speak Indonesian... hehehe

I live in Walnut, which mean I have an alternative that's much more accessible: Java Spice in Rowland Heights (http://www.yelp.com/bi...).  Will I come back to this place?  Sure.  But honestly, not by myself.  Because I wouldn't know what's a good and what's a bad dish.

Seeing both Seb T. and Anita L downgraded their review from the follow-up visit (they both wrote 1st in 2007, then follow up in 2008)... maybe this place was once really promising!  Hopefully they'll come back to that level.

I don't know if "junior c." is the owner, or the insider, or what...

I sort the reviews by date, and wa-la... all 1-star or 2-stars at most.  But he's the only one vowing for a 4-stars standing... :-s

sorry, I'm on the bandwagon with the other fellow yelpers.  I'm not the "oh I know it all" dude... but I think I know sushi enough to know this place... I ain't coming back~

I believe the branch in Rowland Heights is related to this one... and I've seen plenty of those 50% off dinner coupon in my junk mail.  so... maybe that's a sign of something...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...

It's a franchise store, and this particular joint is run by Korean.  This place is located within an office complex, the Irvine Oaks Executive Park.  It's right at the corner of Alton/Laguna Canyon Rd.  It's a bit more expensive than Sushi Boy, which is just a few more street down at the corner of Irvine Center Dr and Sand Canyon.  There's also another cheaper place call Edamame on Technology Dr.

They have a large selection of rolls.  I'm not much of a roll-guy... I'm the authentic sushi guy.  So I picked some sort of roll that's "out of the ordinary" (i.e. not california, not rainbow, not dragon, not anything that I can order in any pretend-Japanese place).

The food is pretty fresh, so I'm pretty sure I'll be back to try some other items off their menu.  For sure the fish is better than sushi boy!

referencing other close by places:
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
http://www.yelp.com/bi...

I would have to disagree with Brian K. about this place being -THE WORST-... see my review of Hanashima....

But ranking this place solely based on Ramen would be kind of harsh.  I mean, if you are from OC... it's kind of like, would you go to Honda Ya for Ramen?! :-s

This place do have beer, but they only sell by pitcher, not like you can order it by the mug off as draft.  Kinda disappointed by that.  Their ramen definite have -MSG- in it... cause I was thirsty for a good long while after I got home.

some other Taiwanese-style pub for reference
- next door: Kanpai http://www.yelp.com/bi...
- in Diamond Plaza, Beer Station: http://www.yelp.com/bi...
- in HH, Jurassic: http://www.yelp.com/bi...

I'm shocked to see tammie c.  to equate this place as shinsengumi?! :-s  

I'm utterly jaw dropping... after I tried the place tonight and saw that.

It's a tiny place.  It's right at the corner of Colima and Nogales, in the plaza where the gas station, Big lot! and JJ-Bakery is located at.  There's no sign what-so-ever, I would have never know about this place if not because of Yelp...

This is a Chinese-run pretend-to-be Japanese restaurant.  The have another branch in Alhambra (http://www.yelp.com/bi...).  They have many combination sets, range from Ramen-set, Tempura-set, Katsu-set and Curry-set.  I think those were the choices, to combine with gyoza or different kind of rolls/sushi.  Funny to find  bok choy in ramen, right?!

I'm sorry to say... compare to other real Japanese ramen place (e.g. tamaya or foo-foo-tei), or just compare to the taiwan pub try-to-be Japanese ramen place (e.g. yummy house)... this place is worst than either of them.

I only had ramen, so I'm not sure if their curry or katsu or tempura is worthwhile or will be better...

So I consider myself with the same view as previous reviewer Dann M.

And I got the same experience like Ann T... that I found hair in my rice O_o ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH

How can any yelper rate this anything higher than 2-stars :-s