Chinese food in Rowland Heights vs SGV

[hobbess]

I'm going to Rowland Heights this weekend, and I'm looking for any Chowhound Chinese favorites in Rowland Heights. Is there going to be anything that would be just as good as the best in SGV?

I looked up Jonathan Gold's reviews as well as any threads here about Rowland Heights and neighboring cities, and I was struck by the lack of culinary attention for the area. Is the Chinese food simply not as good as the Chinese food in SGV, or does the SGV get all the attention because its closer to media center in LA?

With the demographics of Rowland Heights, ie the large number of Asian-Americans living there, I'm curious about why their Chinese food couldn't be just as good as SGV?

[jenn_grey]

Must try Hong Kong Palace on Colima Road...it is always packed because the food is so good and one of the chefs is a part owner, so he stands by his food.

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Hong Kong Palace
19101 Colima Rd, Rowland Heights, CA 91748

[will47]

If I'm not mistaken, Rowland Heights (and Hacienda Heights) *are* part of the SGV. Either way, I think of that whole area (of more or less contiguous Asian enclaves) as one giant mass. Really, the scale is kind of amazing, especially with a lot of Asians settling in surrounding areas as well (Diamond Bar, La Habra).

I am not sure that there's a lack of culinary attention for the area; maybe a little less attention from the LA-based media sources that cater to non-Chinese, but I think that has more to do with the distance from LA proper, especially given how bad the 60 E can be around that area. I would also venture that many of the food reviewers at those papers etc. are more used to the core cities around Monterey Park.

re: But as far as "why their Chinese food couldn't be just as good as [West] SGV" - I think there are already places there which are as good / better food-wise than their counterparts further west, and some of the places are a little bit more bougie. Different areas of the SGV certainly have their strengths / weaknesses, but I think we will continue to see some great restaurants in the Rowland Heights / Hacienda Heights area.

[Chandavkl]

Yes, that's why you sometimes see references to the "West" SGV in some posts to refer to Monterey Park/Alhambra/San Gabriel etc. The restaurant demographics of Rowland Heights are quite different from the west SGV. As noted before Rowland Heights is relatively light on dim sum/Hong Kong seafood. Same for Hong Kong style cafes, dumplings, Vietnamese and Cantonese noodles etc. etc.

[ipsedixit]

Ditto this.

More and more, west SGV is populated by Hong Kong ex-pats, and the east SGV has taken the majority of the new Taiwanese and mainland China diaspora.

[ipsedixit]

Either way, I think of that whole area (of more or less contiguous Asian enclaves) as one giant mass.
______________________

Certainly not true. El Monte (both north and south) serves as a pretty good dividing line, as does places like Covina and West Covina.

[will47]

That's why I said *more or less* contiguous. I'm not saying that it's literally a continuous block, but that I *think* of it that way logically. The area kind of dips a little south as you go east (though most of the outlying areas have fairly high Asian populations as well, even if not as many restaurants / businesses catering to those communities).

[hobbess]

Thanks everybody for the help, even though it turns out I didn't need to go to Rowland Heights this weekend. But, I'll probably have to go anyways in a few weeks, and hopefully I'll be able to hit one or two of them at that point.

[JThur01]

I think a lot of it has to do with the simple fact you mention - it's closer. Most folks are coming from the west, hence Alhambra, Monterey Park and San Gabriel are the first places they come to. I admit to being somewhat guilty of this, and I'm not even coming from the west.

RH has stronger Taiwanese? Compared to all the Taiwanese places along Valley Blvd. and the rest of the western SGV? And RH can't be beat for other sub-categories? Really?...Hunan? Yunnan? Shanghai? Beijing? XLB? Did I use enough question marks? Tell me more...

[ipsedixit]

There are definitely more Taiwanese places in Rowland Heights (and Hacienda Heights) than in west SGV. Whether they are better or not is hard to say ... simply have not tried them all.

As to the other sub-categories, really hard to say. Give it another year or two, and it won't even be a close call.

[JThur01]

I realize there's a good concentration of Taiwanese in RH, but the stretch of Valley between Garfield and San Gabriel has quite a few as well.

I do think it's interesting to note Ding's and Shu Feng closed their San Gabriel locations while maintaining their RH locations.

[Chandavkl]

Well I think we're talking density and I'm guessing that there might be around 75 Chinese restaurants in Rowland Heights and maybe 300 to 400 in the rest of the San Gabriel Valley, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are more Taiwanese restaurants in Rowland Heights.

[Mr Taster]

Aside from the occasional holiday fair, there is no experience in San Gabriel where, while strolling around, one can be knocked over by the aromatic blast of stinky tofu the way one can in the HK2 plaza. That's about as close to a real Taiwanese night market olfactory experience as one can get in the LA.

Mr Taster

[K K]

Yup and that would be (Stinky) Tofu King

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/741794

Not just olfactory, but the street style ambiance, vibe, and taste of at least several things I sampled, I deem as authentic as it gets, like the sour plum drink, dumplings and Hsin Chu style pork meatballs (except for the pickled cabbage that is a bit on the sweet side, and using freeze dried tofu for stinky tofu is in a way a first).

Yi Mei in that plaza is also excellent, but it's just a breakfast/brunch kind of place. I would avoid Liang's in that plaza though...horrible.

[Mr Taster]

When I think of SGV Taiwanese, I think mostly of boba parlors and tea shops. Of course there are plenty of Taiwanese restaurants like Ay Chung, Sinbala and Won Won Kitchen, but the per capita ratio in Rowland Heights seems higher. The funky smells and dishes of Taiwan seem to show up more frequently and with more intensity there.

Mr Taster

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Won Won Kitchen
9461 Las Tunas Dr, Temple City, CA 91780

Sinbala
651 W Duarte Rd Ste F, Arcadia, CA 91007

[K K]

I think this is the problem with "Taiwanese food" as it is perceived. People expect some sit down Chinese tablecloth type restaurant and get something interesting like Shanghainese, Sichuanese. But in reality the street style food is what makes it unique, similar to Singaporean food. Ay Chung, Sinbala, Stinky Tofu King and the various noodle and dumpling shops while offer specialized items, are still just slices of a big pie. Certainly the proliferation of boba drink shops that sell popcorn fried chicken isn't helping the cause :-).

While we are talking about the heights, here's another under the radar place that I wanted to check out during my last road trip, but did not have time

金葫蘆燻醬滷味
Cindy Liu('s) Deli
16409 Colima Rd.
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
[phone]

It seems like there are maybe 9 to 10 items only on the menu and they look quite stellar, as if this were some neighborhood casual "hole in the wall" kind of folding stool place in Taipei....eating noodles with random side dishes kind of vibe.

http://blog.roodo.com/chenjack/archiv...

Maybe not on par or somewhat similar to that noodle dictator shop at Dai Ho in Temple City, that is assuming one likes Dai Ho to begin with.

[ipsedixit]

Maybe not on par or somewhat similar to that noodle dictator shop at Dai Ho in Temple City, that is assuming one likes Dai Ho to begin with.

_______________________

I used to be a fan, but it's really gone downhill of late.

[hobbess]

I also found out there's a Sinbala in Rowland Heights as well. Is the one in RH as good as the one in SGV?

And, if Sinbala is considered one of the better Taiwanese places in SVG, does that mean that RH's Sinbala is also considered one of the better Taiwanese places in RH as well in the face of the onslaught of additional Taiwanese eateries in RH?

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Sinbala
651 W Duarte Rd Ste F, Arcadia, CA 91007

[K K]

I don't know the answer to that, but Sinbala attempted a branch in Northern California. It was ok at first then quality nosedived over the years, and closed down last year. Seems like if there are more than two locations of the same restaurant, quality will vary like mad. Liang's in Rowland Heights (in the HK2 Food District) is horrible. The Cupertino location in NorCal is a huge disappointment. They say Liang's in SGV is better, but I have not been. I would guess the same for Ten Ren Tea Station Cafe's...tons of them around but not all of them are spot on.

[ipsedixit]

Same owners. Same food. Quality is about the same.

[JThur01]

Funny, I had that same experience once at the Focus Plaza. Apparently Ay Chung was really working overtime on their stinky tofu that day.

[dlew308]

Rowland Heights area is mostly Taiwanese food when you compare to SGV in general. Try Newport Seafood during lunch time, in the plaza next to SF market. Even though the name is Vietnamese, it's mainly Chinese food and a good deal during lunch time. You have some decent choices for ramen in the area as well.

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Newport Seafood Restaurant
18441 Colima Rd, Rowland Heights, CA 91748

[ipsedixit]

Chandavkl is right re: SGV v. Rowland Heights.

There are really too many good to great places in Rowland Heights to name and list unless you provide us some further parameters to help guide you.

That said, right now, if I want just one meal in Rowland Heights, I would go to Earthen. Get an order of the scallion pancakes and house-special Shangdong chicken.

[fdb]

Earthen is my go-to place when I make that rare trek to Rowland Heights, or Hacienda Heights to be specific.

[crystaw]

I second the Earthern rec and the dishes that ipse mentions! I would follow with some snow ice from Class 302.

[fdb]

Way to go!

[A5 KOBE]

Third. Those dishes along with some fried pork dumplings and boiled fish dumplings and you are good to go.

[hobbess]

Its for dinner, so dim sum and Happy Harbor is out of the picture.

And, I live and eat in OC, so Newport Seafood is out because I can eat that here in OC and have already many times.

Other than that, I'm pretty flexible about the Chinese cooking region or decor or price. Right now, it seems Earthen and its northern Chinese cuisine is the chowhound favorite although I'm curious about the Taiwanese options in RH since its been argued in this thread that RH's trumps SGV's.

There's been some other chowhound threads about RH, but they tended to be a few years old and I wanted to verify if they weren't already out-of-date.

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Newport Seafood Restaurant
4411 W 1st St, Santa Ana, CA 92703

Happy Harbor Restaurant
1015 Nogales St # 126, Rowland Heights, CA

[Chandavkl]

Happy Harbor is a regular seafood restaurant at night. If you don't mind downplaying the food and going for a different experience you might consider Jurassic, the Taiwanese beer restaurant in Industry. The Yelp reviews will give you the flavor for what it's like.

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Happy Harbor Restaurant
1015 Nogales St # 126, Rowland Heights, CA

[ipsedixit]

In certain respects Happy Harbour is actually better than both Elite and Sea Harbour for dinner service.

[taiwanesesmalleats]

Could you elaborate on this? I'm very curious.

[ipsedixit]

Some of the fowl dishes are better prepared, and more inventively so. There's a whole fried quail that's superb, and the squab I think is certainly a "go-to" dish, and some of the stir-fried vegetable and braised tofu dishes are excellent. They also do pork dishes very well, which is surprising considering their seafood pedigree.

But if it's fresh seafood and/or good soups (incl. shark's fin or things like fish maw) then Sea Harbour is without peer in SoCal.

[taiwanesesmalleats]

Always a pleasure to hear your input. Thanks.

[hobbess]

While I'm tempted by the waitresses' outfits at Jurassic, I want to stick to someplace with better food.

But, your suggestion did lead me to Yelp to search out their top rated Chinese restaurants:

No 1 Noodle House

Happy Family Restaurant

Do they get chowhound's stamp of approval?

And, how does No 1 Noodle House compare to Noodle House on Colima, which I remembered reading somewhere about Noodle House and it sounded great?

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No 1 Noodle House
18180 Colima Rd, Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Happy Family Restaurant
869 N Wilcox Ave, Montebello, CA 90640

[ipsedixit]

Happy Family is vegetarian if that makes any difference to you (and it's probably not the best of the veg Chinese restaurants in Rowland Heights area)

No. 1 Noodle House used to be really good, changed chefs and it has never been the same.

Re: Noodle House. It's on Gale (not Colima), right? No. 1 Noodle House is on Colima as part of the Yes Plaza Food Court. But whatever. I think Noodle House's dumplings are ok, but its noodles are very subpar.

[catbert]

happy family is the one on the 2nd floor by newport right? they changed and are boasting a grand opening specials sign written in korean.

[Mr Taster]

I got confused once re this... this is a big Google Maps misdirect.

No. 1 Noodle House in Yes Plaza is a Sichuanese place (at least it was when I went there) and not a very good one at that. The one that makes the fresh buns and noodles is the one on Gale that ipse referred to.

Speaking of Sichuanese, Shu Feng Garden in one of the Colima mini malls (across from HK2 supermarket plaza) was very good when we went about a year ago. There was no English language signage that I noticed so it could be a little tricky for non-Chinese readers to spot. It's on the ground level at the far end of a shopping plaza right next to a Japanese tschotshke shop.

http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/6MELh5...

Mr Taster

[will47]

No 1 Noodle House has the best dandan mian around in my book. Liang fen and their other dry spicy noodle dish are also good. I have heard their noodle soups and chaoshou are also good; I don't eat meat, so I haven't had them.

It's very small; not much else on the menu.

[Chandavkl]

Well there's nothing like Elite, or Sea Harbour, in Rowland Heights when it comes to dim sum/seafood. Quality and quantity in this category in the west SGV is far superior. In Rowland Heights, Happy Harbor is the closest in quality, to those two, but after that there aren't a lot of choices in Rowland Heights for dim sum etc. (Hong Kong Palace, New Capital). Rowland Heights can't be beat for Taiwanese food and other subcategories.

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New Capital
8823 Garvey Ave, Rosemead, CA

Happy Harbor Restaurant
1015 Nogales St # 126, Rowland Heights, CA