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lil mikey
Aug 19, 2010 12:26 PM
Mountain Cafe, on 8th just west of Vermont, is small. Like 7 tables small. But they seem to do a brisk takeout business, and they’re open 24 hours.
Jook here was a different style than Chinese (expectedly, since it's a Korean restaurant). It uses longer grain rice, which retains its texture more than congee or Thai jook. The jook with abalone and green onion comes with a raw egg cracked into the middle of the bowl, and you stir it in while the porridge is still hot. The egg gives it a very nice creamy body. The abalone has very little taste, but the texture is nice to break up the bowl. And the green onion adds another little flavor. I liked it, but it’s really a different dish than congee.
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Mountain Cafe
3064 W 8th St, Los Angeles, CA 90005 -
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re: StefTodd
lil mikey
Jul 24, 2010 10:39 AM
I think breakfast service here is an afterthought. I’m guessing they figured that since they’re prepping for lunch anyway, they might as well offer breakfast, which is odd because they have 6-8 breakfast only menu items. Included are various rice soups, as well as rice porridges (or joaks), which I was after.
They open at 7:00, and by 8:00 the place has a pungent smell of cleaning fluid. The guy’s out front hosing down the sidewalk, and wait staff is busy updating the kitchen crew on the previous night’s activities. And they have no customers.
But simply walking over to the kitchen, I was able to let them know they had a customer. They seemed surprised to see me.
The joak was thinner than I’ve had before, and it separated as it cooled. So some spoonfuls had no rice in them at all… just clear broth. The taste was fine, if a little watery. The ground chicken was quite tasty, though. It was seasoned well, had a tender consistency, and a nice flavor.
What wasn’t so great was the ginger. It was a pile of raw ginger cut into 2 inch strips and piled on top of the joak along with a pile of cilantro and green onions. This completely overpowered the dish. It transformed the otherwise subtle flavors of the rice and chicken into mouthfuls of strongly-flavored raw ginger. It would have been fine if they used marinated ginger, or if they grated it to make it meld more with the dish. But in this configuration, it was not a dish I enjoyed, nor would I order it again.
As an aside, for lunch they have a delightful cold soba salad.
Saladang Song
383 S. Fair Oaks Ave (about halfway between 210 and 110)
Pasadena
(626) 793-5200-----
Saladang Song
383 S Fair Oaks Ave, Pasadena, CA 91105
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there are many places in the SGV that have congee for breakfast. depends on where you're looking for it.
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re: ipsedixit
lil mikey
Jul 28, 2010 09:56 AM
RH Garden Café does a very good chicken and black mushroom congee.
The porridge is very flavorful, made more so by the chicken. They leave the under-skin membrane, with some of the chicken fat ON the chicken slices. So as it cooks, it imparts a nice flavor. It’s a little more difficult to eat, as the pieces are sometimes slightly larger than the spoon. But the flavor makes up for it.
The mushrooms are also cut into large slices, and are very moist, tender and also quite flavorful.
It’s served with chopped green onion over the top in a large ceramic bowl, with a large Chinese-style spoon (larger than normal). It’s $4.95.
I think this version is one of my favorites.
RH Garden Café
18406 Colima Road (In the HK Food District strip mall)
Rowland Heights
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re: ipsedixit
Mr Taster
Jul 14, 2010 02:55 PM
Where is the Yi Mei on Valley? The only one I've been able to find info on is the location on Atlantic south of Garvey, and that one has been closed for months now because of a fire.
EDIT: Answering my own question
http://www.yelp.com/biz/yi-mei-restau...Is it true that this location is inferior, as one yelp reviewer complains? I never did get around to trying the original location.
Mr Taster
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re: Mr Taster
The location on Valley changed its name from Yi-Mei to Yee May back in 2006. That indicates to me that either (1) there was previously common ownership which was severed or (2) somebody tried to rip off the name and got caught.
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Yi-Mei Restaurant
608 E Valley Blvd, G San Gabriel, CA-
re: Chandavkl
Here is what I've heard through the grapevine:
The location on Atlantic was bought some time ago (more than a year) by someone else. The original owners of Yi Mei (who also own a few other Yi Meis) decided to sell because business has been in constant decline at this location.
The new owners did not do much and let the workers from the old regime pretty much run the operation. When the fire happened, a lot of the workers had to go look for jobs elsewhere, since they couldn't just wait around for this place to get back on its feet. Now the new owners are unsure if they will re-open since they might not be able to get the old staff back.
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re: ipsedixit
lil mikey
Jul 17, 2010 08:22 AM
Thanks Ipse. I’m going to work through your list. I tried Hong Kong Café first.
They open at 8:00 a.m., and on a Friday, there were people waiting to get in. By 8:15, the place was half full.
The congee is piping hot, requiring a degree of patience I did not possess. So I burned the roof of my mouth as I abandoned my common sense to wait. But it was so good that I kept eating. The porridge was creamy, not necessarily different from others I’d had. But the crunchy flat rice noodles on top, combined with chopped green onions, provided a delicious texture to break up the bowl. I got mine with pork and preserved egg. The pork was not slow-roasted, but rather fried in small strips. At first I didn’t like it, but it kind of grows on you, and by the end I loved it. The egg was very flavorful, and in addition to the flavor, it added creaminess to this good-sized bowl of congee. This is enough food for me for a meal. Price: $3.95, with tax.
But not knowing how large the bowl would be, and seeing the breakfast special included congee, bun and steamed rice noodles, I also ordered the bun with butter. This was a delicious fried bun with a very slight sweetness. I later noticed on the bill that it was called a “pineapple bun.” I didn’t taste any pineapple, but maybe they use pineapple juice to sweeten it. This is a large bun, larger than most large donuts. While I’m typically not a donut or sweets guy, I can see having a bun and coffee for breakfast. Price: $1.95, with tax.
Hong Kong Café
162 West Garvey (near Garfield)
Monterey Park
(626) 286-7783-----
Hong Kong Cafe
162 W Garvey Ave, Monterey Park, CA 91754
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monku
Jul 12, 2010 06:12 AM
Where do live?
Dim sum places will have it.
Yum Cha Cafe the discount dim sum chain has it and they do a decent job.›4 Replies-
re: monku
lil mikey
Jul 25, 2010 01:28 PM
Tried the Yum Cha Café in Chinatown, where there are 5 different kinds of congee for $3.39.
It’s served in a porcelain bowl, but with plastic utensils.
The consistency of the porridge was standard, not too watery, but not so thick that it seemed like it had been standing for a while. However, it was VERY under seasoned and there was no salt on the tables. I got the pork and preserved egg version, and they gave me a hearty portion of the preserved egg. However, it was falling apart, and I assume they cut a large batch first thing in the morning and just put a handful into the bowl before pouring the porridge on top. It was not freshly cut, as the one at Hong Kong Café was.
The pork was quite tough, and gamey tasting. I assume it was braised, as it had no outer texture. It was not a deal-killer, but this was my least favorite. It was served with chopped green peppers on top.
This version would do in a pinch, but I wouldn’t seek it out.
Yun Cha Café
638 North Broadway
Southern Chinatown (downtown)-----
Yum Cha Cafe
638 N Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012-
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re: monku
ipsedixit
Jul 26, 2010 09:01 AM
Should not be plain tasting with both pork and thousand year old eggs (assuming that's what lil mikey meant by "preserved egg"). Either the eggs were not preserved right, or the pork was undercooked. Sounds like the latter, since the eggs were most likely outsourced.
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