Food!

So I know that in my little description it says that I will discuss good food, and I've never even discussed food. If it were not for good food, I think my husband and I would not have lasted the first couple months of dating; aside from our last name, we do not have a lot in common. Fried chicken saved the day many times when we got into arguments, because no matter what, anything deep fried will appease most of my bad moods. Food was so important to us that my older sister wrote our wedding toast to Holly Jolly Christmas (our wedding was right before Christmas) but all the lyrics had to do with food. It ended with something about having a Rolly Polly marriage and be careful of what we eat because we want to recognize you next Christmas. It was really cute and well fitting. One of these days I've meant to dig out the wedding video and write down what she wrote.

I was trying to think last night of what restaurants would be worthy of my first mention on the blog and I could think of three that are all at the intersection of Baldwin Ave. and Duarte Rd in Arcadia. The three are all Asian, but very different in styles.

The first is May Mei, which is a Hong Kong style restaurant. It is not a dirty place, but not pretty or pristine either. The decor is stuck in the 80s and service is not always great if you don't speak Chinese. They don't like to call numbers in English so you have to keep checking, and they will give the good tables away to people who are pushy, not people who necessarily came first. If 2 or 3 parties get called at the same time, it pretty much is the first person to the booth gets it. My husband and I are generally very courteous people, but at that restaurant where we've been burned a number of times, if we were called first we'll insist on the table we want. They've gotten used to us since we eat there often enough. What does bring us back though is the food. My favorite dish there is the pan fried noodles, which they call chow mein. Thin egg noodles that have been probably first boiled then pan fried so they are crunchy. Then a light (no soy) seafood sauce with vegetables and seafood is poured over the top. We usually get the house chow mein which comes with chinese broccoli, bok choy, chicken, shrimp, white fish, scallops, and squid. I'm probably forgetting a couple ingredients. We also like the pork and salted fish hot pot. This is rice in a stoneware container that has large pieces of minced pork, really salty fish (sardines or mackerel) and chinese broccoli that has been placed on top to steam with the rice. Then when it comes to the table, they take the pork and broccoli out on a dish and add soy sauce to the rice with some of the fish and mix it up. The fish in this dish is very strong, so it is definitely an acquired taste. We also like the mongolian beef and kung pao chicken, which is similar but not quite like what you would get at other chinese restaurants. I think the restaurant is known for its salted fried chicken wings, which are also pretty yummy.

The second restaurant is Din Tai Fung, which is in the plaza next to May Mei. May Mei is more off of Duarte, while the plaza for Din Tain Fung has entrances on both Baldwin and Duarte. Whereas we go to May Mei for a good tasty dinner, we normally go to Din Tai Fung for lunch. This place is a Taiwanese dumpling house and gets very crowded quickly. Actually both restaurants can have long lines. Din Tai Fung uses a special process to make juicy dumplings. My favorites are the juicy pork dumplings and the juicy pork and shrimp. The Shio mai are pretty to look at, but the shrimp sitting on top is usually overcooked and dry, they are also too big to eat in one bite. A co-worker has told me her daughter swears by the special soup dumplings only served on weekends, but we have not tried them yet. We also always get the string beans which are stir fried and have the perfect amount of garlic and salt. I like the shanghai rice cakes, but that's only for people that like starchy foods, it reminds me of a Chinese version of Korean dukbohki. Same oval rice cakes as koreans with a chinese flavor and vegetables. My husband has been to the original Din Tai Fung in Taipei and had to brag about it, however he did say that the one out here does come pretty close. They will be expanding soon into a new location around the corner. The one thing I don't like about this place is that they do not put prices on their menu, and if you come later the dumplings can be less juicy and even dry.

The last place I will mention, because this is making me hungry is across Baldwin from Din Tai Fung. It is a sushi place called Maru. Of the 3 Japanese restaurants we tend to go to, this is more expensive but nothing in comparison to prices on the west side and San Fernando valley. I like this place because they stick to traditional and authentic sushi but sometimes with a little bit of a twist, and of course very fresh. It's been a while since we've eaten there, but my favorite dish I think is called albacore pickiri. It's albacore sashimi with some sort of very light japanese lemon sauce, a light soy based ponzu sauce, a thinly sliced jalapeno topped with a garlic chip. We also like the miso marinated black cod that has been broiled. It has a great flaky texture that has a perfect balance of sweet and salty. For a real treat we sometimes split an omakase dinner which is a chef's choice multi-course meal with items not on the normal menu. It can be something like a salad, sashimi, yakitori, grilled fish, a special sushi roll and the savory portion always ends with a fish broth and rice with beans. Then you have your choice of ice cream for dessert. The service is always great and the staff is super friendly. They are animal lovers that feed a small cat family in back and have pictures framed along the front desk that are not to be missed if you love cats.

I recommend all three of these places all the time, and we feel fortunate to live so close to so many good restaurants. I'll be upgrading the phone to a picture phone soon, so hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures and more accurate menu names. For those of you that are local, please feel free to let me know if you'd like more information, I've tried to be brief, but it's so hard with such good food!