Shanghailander Palace

This place is perhaps one of the fancier Chinese restaurants I've ever been to.

A dragon-like door knob guarding the entrance.

So fancy on the inside!

An ol' fashion telephone.

Decor near the restrooms.

Parts of the ceiling was glowing with these colorful lights.

Through the window, you can see chefs hand-making their dumplings.

Attention to detail.  Love the colors and the velvety, plum chairs.

Decor for one of the dishes.

Sweet Braised Pork

The food here was wonderful and rather tasty.  We ordered the braised pork served in this big old, cool looking pot.  It had a sweet honey taste to it, but I can't say if there was any honey in it or not.  Everyone seemed to like it.  Luckily everyone at the other table wasn't able to finish their braised pork so everyone at my table were able to get seconds of this appetizing entree. 

 

Water Spinach w/Garlic

  The water spinach with garlic was our only vegetable dish.  A table full of carnivorous

Kung Pao Chicken

You can never go wrong with Kung Pao chicken.  It is an upgrade from your regular Panda Express that's for sure.

Black Peppered Beef

Black peppered beef was definitely dark and peppery.  At first I wasn't sure what it was, maybe the darkness of the color meant that the meat was charred, but after a bite or two I realized that the color of it is from the black peppers that they used here at Shanghailander Palace. 

Fish Fillet w/Seaweed

Fish fillet = a fancy word for fish sticks.  Make sure to wait a bit till grabbing a bite of these since they can be extremely hot in the middle.  Very good, but hot.  I just remember holding my hand up to my mouth trying to blow out the hot air and visually seeing my glasses fog up.  

Special Fish Soup

The last and final dish was the special fish soup.  Apparently this dish is pretty authentic because of the big ole fishballs that they used in this dish.  For me, I could go without it.  Like the image above, it just seemed like it was cabbage/lettuce soup.  Not too appealing to me.  I'll stick with my meats. 

 

<3  Lina Chen

1695 South Azusa Ave.,  Hacienda Heights, CA 91745

626.839.7777

Little Sandong Chinese Restaurant

Little Sandong Chinese Restaurant reminded me of my dad's Chinese restaurant.  We used to use the same place mats that is depicted in the picture below, but also our restaurant was called Sandong Restaurant.  This was long before when I was a little elementary/middle school.  Oh the memories.

Ahjangpi - Combination Plate with Vermicelli

This was the first time I've ever heard of ahjangpi.  It was good.  They served it with a side of Chinese mustard which I didn't care for but everyone else in my party ended up adding more of the sauce on their plates.  The picture above depicts the ahjangpi before it's mixed all together.  Iust wanted to show you their attention to detail cause technically they could have brought the dish out already mixed.

I ordered the jajangmyeon since that's what I used to eat at my dad's restaurant all the time.  Jajangmyeon, also know as black bean noodles, is an inexpensive, wheat noodle dish with a black, salty soybean paste mixed in with onions, vegetables, meat, and sometimes seafood.  For the longest time I thought jajangmyeon was a traditional Chinese dish (which it still is); however, after reading the history about it, the popularity of this dish didn't boom until it was first introduced in Incheon, Korea when the Sandong Chinese immigrants settled there during the Japanese rule in Korea.  he jajangmyeon above is the Korean-version which is wet, creamy, and dark black.

Little Sandong's jajangmyeon unfortunately wasn't as good as my dad's jajangmyeon when he owned his restaurant.  My dad's jajangmyeon has much more meat and veggies whereas this dish at Little Sandong has more noodles and black bean sauce which was a little too bland for my taste.  It did seem as though the owners at this restaurant were remodeling, but according to Yelp, they have 64 reviews, four stars, but people have commented that there has been a change in ownership so it might not as be as great as before.  Who knows what it is...

<3  Lina Chen

11740 Artesia Blvd, Artesia, CA 90701

562.809.3887.

Quick Fix: Niu Rou Mian

Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you, niu rou mian (牛肉麵) also known as beef noodle soup.  This quintessential Chinese/Taiwanese dish consists of braised beef soaked in a soy sauce-tomato broth and is complimented with Chinese sauerkraut and various greens such as spinach, green onions, bok choy, and more.  The niu rou mian shown above is actually a dry version where there is no soup base and the noodles are thick.

Ever since I've moved out to California, this has been a part of my every day diet.   Colorado's Chinese/Taiwanese population doesn't compare to that of California, but there is a particular place that does serve niu rou mian which is Lao Wang's Noodle House on Federal Boulevard.  The restaurant is owned by an old couple so the service is slow and parking is extremely hard to find, but if you are curious what niu rou mian is, then go there.  For me, it's the same feeling I had when I discovered pho!

I just recently had dinner with my boyfriend and his mom at a local Chino Hills Chinese restaurant called the Peking Deli, off the 71 near Chino Hills Parkway.  The Peking Deli is catered towards the Chinese palette which I love because the foods much more authentic and it reminds me of the times when I was in Taiwan the summer of 2008.  The beef was tender and juicy, the sauerkraut bitter, but it help compliment the entire dish.  I didn't care for the greens that they used but overall, it's good.  Flavorful.  Inexpensive.  Close to home.  Perfect for when I'm craving for this dish.  Nom nom nom...

<3 Lina Chen

4183 Chino Hills Parkway, Chino Hills, CA, 91709
909.393.0359