Guppy Tea House is this cute little hang out off of Azusa Ave. and Colima Road in Hacienda Heights. So what I've noticed about SoCal is that there are well-known places amongst the Asian community all throughout the Los Angeles area. My friend Lisa lives more towards the west side of southern California and she mentioned that both her and her friends from UCLA would drive all the way out to Hacienda Heights just for a bite to eat at Guppy House which can take about 30 minutes to an hour to drive. So when I told her I've never been there before, she immediately said "we have to go here someday." Although Lisa has taken me to Guppy House before, we went again last night after our intense work out.
The food at Guppy House wasn't all that pleasing, but I think people mainly go there because of their famous gargantuous shaved ice and their brick toasts, which I haven't yet tried. The setting of the restaurant itself is also kind of neat which makes it a cool spot to get together. Once you walk in, there's a ton of trees alongside of the walls. There are green-leafed vines hanging above with blue lights emitting from the ceiling. At night the atmosphere is calm because of the cool hues from the blues and there are mini fish tanks mounted on the walls with all different kinds of fishes inside of them.
Lisa got the Super Spicy Dumpling Soup. Let me tell you, this dish was no joke. It really was super spicy. Like super duper SPICY! It was also very tangy and sour which I didn't like very much. The dumplings are served separately from the noodles and soup. Corn is set aside for those who would like the option to add it in their dish. Both Lisa and I concluded that we didn't care for this dish because of the zesty flavor. The ingredients really didn't work well together. The dumplings alone weren't all that bad either.
On the side we also ordered the popcorn chicken. I often yearn for deep-fried foods so it was no surprise to see me getting the popcorn chicken at Guppy House. Even though there are so much to choose from, that was what I wanted in the end. The popcorn chicken here is lightly battered and fried until golden brown. They use pepper and garlic to flavor the chicken but also sprinkle a refined chili powder atop of the chicken while it's crispy hot. Most places don't do that, but I think that may be the a Chinese version, which I've slowly grown accustomed to since my move here.
The food there isn't all that wonderful but I do hope that the dessert's as delicious as people deem them to be, especially the brick toast and their shaved ice... Oh well, next time.
<3 Lina Chen
P.S. I forgot to bring my camera to the restaurant and so these images are directly from www.foodspotting.com.
P.S. I forgot to bring my camera to the restaurant and so these images are directly from www.foodspotting.com.
7188 Colima Road, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
626.965.7288. www.myguppyteahouse.com
