Connoisseur 美食
CEC Connoisseur Club 健華美食社
楊渡：牛肉麵．細說台灣文化經濟史~~ ＃輕鬆一點，台美關係從一碗牛肉麵談起。 《三種戰火，熬出一碗牛肉麵》 現在來台灣旅遊的人，不吃一碗牛肉麵，彷彿沒來過台灣。你甚至可以來一趟牛肉麵之旅，從台北的永康街、林東芳、桃源街，再到桃園中壢、台南、高雄……。
台北市舉辦過牛肉麵節，各種風味的牛肉麵都上了比賽場，爭奇鬥艷，連義大利、西班牙、紐約牛排、泰國酸味等口味都有，更不必說傳統的川味牛肉麵了。 台灣儼然成為牛肉麵的代表，此種美食的原創產地。 但且慢，怎麼會這樣呢？要知道，
第一，台灣人不吃牛肉，因為牛為人耕田一生，老了還吃它，太沒人性。
第二，台灣不產麥子，少量的自產麥子是日本人統治台灣時引進的，是為了做麵包來著。
第三，台灣人吃的傳統麵條也不是北方那種拉麵、陽春麵，而是加了鹼的油麵。古早的台灣人都叫它「擔仔麵」。
清朝時期早就有擔仔麵，那時，人們用一種竹子編的擔子挑著，裡頭燒著小火，在路邊一放，再擺幾張小竹椅子，就做起生意來。那油麵原本就熟了，只要麵、豆芽菜、韭菜用熱水一燙，澆上高湯和肉燥，就成了一碗熱乎乎的擔仔麵。它只是一鍋用熱水沏一沏，人們習慣叫它「沏仔麵」。
相傳那是廈門漳州一帶傳來的。 然而，不吃牛，不吃白麵的台灣，卻出了個舉世聞名的牛肉麵。那是什麼道理呢？ ………………… （Click here for the entire article.）
目錄 Table Of Contents
CEC Connoisseur Club
健華美食社
活得要任性，吃得要讲究
Click the link to listen to a most delicious and captivating audio introduction (in Chinese) of this cook book. which is a perfect union of culinary art and literature. (Information supplied by Yeumei Shon 蘇月梅)
818-885-0209
20507 Devonshire St
Valley’s Best breadhouse.
Everything is freshly made in the house every morning.
All excellent in quality, texture and taste.
CEC Connoisseur Club
健華美食社
818-486-1221
20527 Devonshire St, Chatsworth
Excellent fusion restaurant of Chinese-Thai-Vietnamese cuisine. Click the link for menu
Inaugurates Angela’s Kitchen
- a free cooking class
Of healthy, easy, quick, and gourmet home cooking
First lesson: 老左炸酱麵 - a unique kind of 炸醬麵 using only local easily-available ingredients. Free sampling.
Instructor: Angela Lew 左四臧, who will reveal her secret sauce in class
Time： !!!!!!!!! On Hold !!!!!!!!!
Place: Angela’s Kitchen, Chatsworth
Small class,
Coming up: 简单可口麫食 - 太好吃了，退休男人也会喜欢做
HongKong BanJum by Paik’s Noodle
10650 Zelzah Ave, Granada Hills (818) 488-1373
源起 Origin:
Joe - Anyone ever tried this Korean 炸醬麵 restaurant on Zelzah & Chatsworth in Granada Hills https://charliegogogogo.blogspot.com/2019/09/paiks-noodle-los-angeles-ca.html?fbclid=IwAR00s9Og2L9VSDpM1j7BfDeQ52rMjDSCb7NnHKmfYRfiNEXoL4sGSbMnSiA
KN - It looks exciting. Have you tried it? Did you like it?
Jwu - When we read Joe‘s email, we were heading that direction and was hungry. So, we visited the restaurant. Here is our review. The Jumpong noodle 炒馬麵was Ok but the Jajangman 炸醬麵 was too sugary sweet for us. Both are not as good as the old Great Wall restaurant but again the Great Wall restaurant has since changed owner
KN - No matter what, Paik's Noodle worth a try for everybody. Why not go there for lunch after Tuesday's Porter Ranch hike, and have something different from what Jerry had?
Joe - Great minds run in the same gutters. (好腦同在水溝游) 英雄所見略同。 (Hmm, gutters? Doesn’t sound too great! 嗯，水溝？ 腦子好像不太好吧? - 編者按)
KN - So, what did you have for lunch? How do you like it? Would everyone tell me something? I am eager to learn. Thanks.
YY - 六人，大家都吃跑馬麵， 最辣，中辣，不辣，大家一至認為值得再去，每人都把剩下湯頭帶回家 再吃一頓！
Jwu - 我們吃了皆大歡喜的炒馬麵(跑馬麵)。可以試試。We ate the fried horse noodles J(running horse Noodles) which we all liked. Try it.
Joe - 我點最辣炒馬麵，味道很好，麵條很Q, 真的很辣。通常我會把一碗麵吃完，但是今天這個麵太美味了，我捨不得一掃而光。把麵湯帶回家，改天自己再下個麵，又是好餐一頓。下次再去會嘗試不同的項目。會叫一個side dish 煎餃，也會點炸醬麵。我上次送的 由Charlie Tu寫的食評，他說麵條煮得太爛。我們今天吃的麵條很Q. 我們今天點的三種麵 （黑色菜名是我加的）：
KN - Fried Horse noodle sure tasted much better with good company. Right, Jerry?
Jwu - Of course, with good company, the food is double delicious. Even waitresses serve us with a big smiling, ear to ear. But my order is really too spicy hot. I have to bring home and water down a little bit. Helen had enjoyed a good second run of the Jumpong soup noodle.
KN - Thanks to all for your feedbacks on Paik's Noodle. You will all be on history book for eternity for your excellent reviews are to be published on CEC's Bulletin and website.
CEC Connoisseur Club 健华美食社 Restaurant Review
“上海1号 Shanghai No. 1 Seafood Village”
250 West Valley Boulevard Suite #M, San Gabriel (626) 282-1777
This restaurant may be the closest thing Angelenos can get to Shanghai, China for its authentic Shanghainese cuisine - simply delicious with extensive menu and affordable pricing. The exact location has seen several different Chinese restaurants. So far, the current one is the best. The parking lot is always crowded. However, rest assured by plenty underground parking and elevator.
Buenos Aires Grill
8856 Corbin Ave, Northridge, (818) 600-0785
Located in the strip mall next to the Target Store, the restaurant may look unimpressive. However, everything we were served was excellent, certainly much better than expected - considering that the entire dinner was ordered online and delivered to our home. Steaks were expertly done; salmon was moist and tender. Linguini of right amount of cooking with plenty of seafood was simply delicious.
Moreover, the delivery was punctual and food arriving steaming hot. Both food order and delivery were paid online - simple and straightforward. Below were what we had.
Appetizer: Crab Mini Empanadas
Entries: Steak Buenos Aires - Sliced skirt steak served with a bordelaise mushroom sauce.
Rib Eye Steak - 14 oz. certified Angus choice grilled
Pan Roasted Fresh Atlantic salmon - pan seared and served with a light Dijon honey glaze.
Linguini de Mar sauteed with shrimps, scallops and mussels - in pesto sauce.
Shanghai Wangjia Restaurant上海王家
800 W. Las Tunas Dr, San Gabriel
616-872-0618
Elegant and inviting interior with homey hospitality, the excellent cuisine is authentic Shangnese. Surprisingly, the price is moderate. Its long menu may look ordinary. The four dishes we ordered: a Lions’ Heads (狮子头), a Fishhead & Tofu Soup (鱼头豆腐), a Pickled Vegetables & Greenbeans with Soysheets (雪菜百叶毛豆), a Double Mushroom & Wheat Gluten Noodle(双菇面筋面) were of typical Shanghai cuisine. However, the finished quality, the presentation, and above all, the tastes were all superb - better than many other restaurants with similar offerings. Definitely, I’ll go back and try out other dishes.
SAWTELLE Menu
2029 SAWTELLE BLVD.,
LOS ANGELES, CA 90025
424-317-2222
SUN-WED 11AM-10PM
THU-SAT 11AM-11PM
For more information on the restaurant go to marugameudon.com
丸龜製麵 MARUGAME UDON & TEMPURA
First time discover for us is Sawtelle Japantown located in West LA. Sawtelle Boulevard is “Restaurant Row”, the street is lined with different styles of ramen restaurants. So many to choose! What to do! Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, choose by its name or by recommendation?
We decided on recommendation, Marugame Udon. It’s a cafeteria type restaurant and directly across the street from the Killer Noodle.
At the beginning line you select from the large pictured menu depicting the various bowls of flavored Udon available. All the noodles are made fresh and processed right in front of you. After you received your based noodle bowl you slide your tray to the tempura sections. Here you select whatever catches your fancy. Slide your tray to the drink selections. If you do not want any drinks just keep moving on to the cashier. Pay for your meals and then head directly to the condiments island. Here you can top your Udon bowl with chopped scallions, cilantro, crispy strips laver, etc. And free water.
I selected the Nitutama Udon, either hot or cold temperature, regular or large bowl. Mine was regular size and hot. Flavored with beef, soft boiled egg and Kake sauce (sweet). Topped with piles of scallions and cilantro. My tempura consist of (one of), fried ball of onions, shrimp and sweet potato. Now the taste. The Udon was chewy and soft, the beef was thinly sliced and after 3 chew it disappeared in my mouth, the soft boiled egg vanished into the soup after a few stirring with my chopsticks. Didn’t taste any egg flavors. I ate the whole bowl of Udon and that means I enjoyed it. For the tempuras, the shrimp was not crispy since it’s been cooked ahead of time and laying in a tray for awhile. The onion ball was a little difficult to eat because the strips of onion was all tangled up and made it difficult to pull apart. Impressive to look at but little taste of onion and more taste of batter and oil. The sliced sweet potato was dried and kind of tough due to it’s too thick of a slice.
The cost for my meal was 10 bucks for the Udon Bowl, 3 tempuras range from 1:40 to 1:60. Over all the taste was good, the service is fast and the atmosphere was pleasant.
The restaurant doesn’t have a parking lot and metered street parking is limited. We went on a Sunday night and street parking was free.
And after the meal we went to the Hollywood Bowl for an evening of John Williams concerts of Star Wars and other of his movies songs creations. -Bob
Joe’s Corner Vietnamese Restaurant Review Oc & Lau
10130 Garden Grove Blvd
Garden Grove, CA
(714) 636-2000
My siblings and I went to “Oc & Lau” in Garden Grove for dinner. The restaurant specializes in Vietnamese seafood.
The dishes we ordered were so appetizing and appealing that my sister-in-law forgot to perform her before-eating prayer until being reminded. Chinese cuisine has a famous dish named “Buddha Jumping over the Wall 佛跳牆”. It’s so named because the dish is so fragrant that its smell has lured the Buddha next door to jump over the wall for the dish. Tonight we witnessed that a Christian could forgo the Savior too if the food was too good. ……………. （Click here for the complete review）
Ten-Raku 天樂 Korean BBQ
4177 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90020, Koreatown
https://www.yelp.com/biz/ten-raku-los-angeles-4
……...My daughter wanted to take me out for Father’s Day. I asked to go to this Korean BBQ restaurant based on what I’ve read online. It is a nice Korean BBQ place if you want decent meat and don’t want to pay the high price at Park’s BBQ (my 1st favorite). It is also less crowded than Kang Ho-dong Baekjeong 姜虎東白丁 (my 2nd favorite). I give Ten-Raku a thump up without any hesitation…………... (Click here to read Joe’s entire review and the extremely delicious details.)
Fast Pastrami Review Daglas Drive-in
20036 Vanowen St, Canoga Park
A hole in the wall in Canoga Park is the Daglas Drive-In. If you want a deliciously satisfying pastrami sandwich without paying a pricey check than this no frills casual eatery is your place. The pastrami sandwich comes in two ways, sandwich only or Number 6 combo. I recommend #6 combo, you get a sandwich cut into two while each half can feed one grown-up with normal appetite, choice of the tons of French Fries or Onion Rings and an 32 oz soft drink. If you do not like soft drinks you can substitute it with a bottle water. The pastrami is not too lean nor too fat, just the right amount of fat and lean meat which almost melts in your mouth yet gives you just the right texture to chew on. Your taste buds will be satisfied and your belly will be full. BTW, Angie thinks that Daglas serves the best fried onion rings in the San Fernando Valley. I prefer the french fries because you get tons of it (taste good also). The restaurant has a couple of tables outside in the lanai and an enclosed room with fixed tables and benches. Be warned that there is no public restroom for customers! Do your thing before heading off. I used to go there often when the price was under 8 bucks. Now is $14.95 for the combo but the size of the meal has not reduced in size like some of the big name fast food joints. - Bob
we had a chance to try the Daglas pastrami sandwich a couple of times, and we truly enjoyed it each time. We also tried the pastrami sandwich at the farmer’s market in Downtown LA. It also has a pretty good review. But I think the Daglas is even better. - Helen
We went to Daglas and bought their famous pastrami sandwich for lunch. They did taste good, not fatty, but, they also were not as big as I pictured, not as flavorish as some other ones I had before. Bottom line, they are overpriced for their taste (combo is $15, for one sandwich, one onion ring, one coke) - Sophia
Daikokuya Restaurant in Little Tokyo
327 E 1st St, Los Angeles, (213) 626-1680
Daikokuya is the mother of LA ramen. With five locations across the city, Daikokuya is definitely a bit of a chain these days, but a visit to the original Little Tokyo location for one of their traditional bowls is a pilgrimage every ramen disciple must take. The lines can get long, but the old-school, no-frills space is the exact setting you want to be housing a bowl of noodles in. Getting a table takes between 30 minutes up to 2 hours.
We went to The Broad Museum in the morning at the LA City Hall area. And later for lunch we walked to the Daikokuya Restaurant which is one mile away in Little Tokyo. But first we went online to obtained a waiting ticket. After arriving at the restaurant there were a bunch of people waiting outside. Our wait time was 20 minutes to be seated. We ordered the number 1 original ramen, it comes with bean sprouts, chopped green onions, egg, slice of pork belly in a pork bone both soup. As you can see the bowl of ramen looks and taste very delicious. You can smell the pork aroma. The noodles are soft and have a firm chew. It was so mainland Japanese delicious! I give it a rating of 4 in scale of 1 to 5. Why not 5? because the slice of pork belly as depicted in the menu picture (top picture $12.00) was not there. It was in bits of pieces at the bottom of the bowl and very little of it.
Conclusion: Very satisfying and yummy! -- Bob Lew
Restaurant Review Chi’s Chinese Cuisine
9635 Reseda Blvd, Northridge, 818-886-6928
This restaurant is getting better these days. An excellent place for Fusion cuisine, with enticing ambience. Patrons feel welcomed and at home with its service. It’s not a traditional Chinese restaurant, and it’s not a place for a noisey large round-table banquet. In fact, the restaurant does not have any round tables - large or small. Nor does it have any of the large and elaborate traditional Chinese dishes. However, for a small group of 2 to 6 people, it’s an intimate place for a most enjoyable meal with quite authentic Chinese flavors and more, in elegant presentations.
Traditional Persian Cuisine
If you like Persian food, you may want to try this small family-run Iranian restaurant, Dizin. Located at the south-east corner of Reseda Blvd. and Vanowen St. and tucked in the back corner of the street mall, Dizin is not easy to see from the busy street. But LA times food critic has noticed this place. A pertinent old LA times newspaper featuring Dizin restaurant is still hanging on the wall.
The owner told me , Dizin is a small town but is also the largest Iranian ski resort. It is located in the Alborz mountain range, about 70km North from Tehran in Iran, and is well known for its home-cooked meals. Therefore he call his restaurant Dizin.
Boneless Chicken Kabob will always catch your attention. Meat is freshly put on fire while you are ordering. It is so tender and juicy. From there, you can venture into different entrees. There is not a long list of choices but I am sure you will eat the dish fully clean if you order Lam Shank stew.
The restaurant has no spacious sitting area. Menu is simple but enough delicious food to choose from. It is a good place to enjoy a simple touch of delicious Persian Cuisine. - Jerry
Sky Mediterranean Cusine
Bon Bon Tea House
Near the northeast corner of Winnetka Ave and Roscoe Blvd, Winnetka, CA
Located in an obscured corner with few other businesses, these two establishments are surprisingly good - with their food and drinks, respectively.
For the Sky, the menu is mainly Egyptian, according to waiter. For Bon Bon, it’s typical Asian. They are independent of each other, only happen to be neighbors.
Sky is spacious with dining tables along the windows/walls, while the center is a lounge with cushy sofas and coffee tables for further relaxation beside meals. It also has a hookah lounge in a separate room - in case you are interested.
Although with a long menu, Bon Bon is limited in seating. Most customers do takeouts.
Ice Cream Parlor Review 冰淇淋店评论
La Michoacana Mexican Ice Cream
18523 Sherman Way, Reseda, CA
A truly amazing place, with so many exotic flavors and ingredients. Beyond delicious, they challenge your imagination. Ice creams, sherbets, popsicles, fruit drinks, and even hot food. The “corn” ice cream is delicious with a texture of crushed corn. Similar is the “pinon (pine nuts) ice cream. The “Mangonada” is for the daredevils. It is a Mexican fruit drink (photo), typically made with chamoy sauce, mangos, lime juice, and chili powder and is decorated with a tamarind straw. Several patrons I talked to sweared they were hooked for life.
一个真正令人惊叹的地方，有许多异国风味和成分。 除了美味，它们挑战你的想象力。 冰淇淋，果子冰淇淋，冰棒，果汁饮料，甚至是热食。 “玉米”冰淇淋味道鲜美，带有碎玉米的质地。 类似的是“pinon（松子）冰淇淋”。 “Mangonada”是为了冒失鬼。 这是一种墨西哥水果饮料（照片），通常用洋葱酱，芒果，酸橙汁和辣椒粉制成，并用罗望子秸秆装饰。 我谈过的几位顾客发誓他们终身迷上了。
CEC Connoisseur Club 健華美食社
Connoisseur Joe’s Reviews 食评
Bistro Na's 那家小館
Bistro Na’s
9055 Las Tunas Dr, Ste 105
Temple City, CA 91780
https://www.yelp.com/biz/bistro-nas-temple-city-10?osq=bistro+na%27s
My wife and I arrived at the restaurant at 1:30 pm without any reservation. The restaurant was half-empty and we were seated immediately. The dining hall is beautiful and my wife thought we were in the movie set of the Chinese Kung-fu movie Dragon Inn (龍門客棧).
(this dining hall picture is from the web).
Once got seated, we were presented with a thick book of the menu. Each dish has its own picture in the menu book. The price for each dish doesn’t look scary if you stay away from the seafood items. I think the price is comparable to what we see in some of the Chinese restaurants in San Francisco.
A while ago, a friend was at the restaurant attending a $1200-per-table banquet. We had a much tighter purse string and could only try a considerably lower-priced option - the lunch special.
The wait staff didn’t bring us the lunch menu at first; we had to ask for it. Although it was only my wife and me, we decided to order the set lunch for 4 persons to taste more varieties. What we ended up ordering was “For 4P, A Combo”.
The set lunch includes the following six items:
1. Spinach with sesame sauce 芝麻醬菠菜. A layer of sesame and peanut sauce was sandwiched between the spinach and the sesame seeds. I like this dish because it is new to me, but my wife dislikes anything with peanuts.
2. Crispy shrimp 酥皮大明蝦. This is the signature dish of this restaurant. The shrimp is lightly battered and fried to perfection. It is super tasty and crunchy. Leemay told me that the shrimp could be eaten whole including the shell. I did devour the whole shrimp with no problem. While my wife hesitated at first but she finished the shell too. Highly recommended.
3. Dry-braised sea bass with chili sauce 那府乾燒魚. The braised fish is prepared in a traditional fashion, nothing fancy nor extraordinary. But the ingredients to make the chili sauce and the fish itself are all very fresh. Any traditional dish with high quality ingredients and skillful preparation is more than good enough for me. Recommended.
4. Braised brisket with quail egg 鵪鶉蛋燒牛腩. This is a surprise dish. Its taste is light and simple. There is no saltiness from the soy sauce, nor any herb flavor commonly found in such dishes. You tasted the brisket flavor when biting into one. You also tasted the egg when you had one in your mouth. Simple taste, simple pleasure. We were impressed with the lightness of this dish we asked the waitress how this dish was prepared. Highly recommended.
5. Stir-fried mushroom with mustard cabbage 口蘑小青菜. A simple dish with fresh vegetables.
6. Small dessert combo 京四件. Four kinds of traditional Chinese dessert, many made with mung beans. They were all very good.
The portion of the dish for the four-person set lunch is just about enough for two persons, who opted to not order steamed rice. We only got a little bit of food left to take home. For a party of four, the set lunch for 6 may be more appropriate.
CEC Connoisseur Club 健華美食社
Connoisseur Joe’s Reviews 食评三则
Click the links below to view detailed reviews
1767 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024
No tipping, inexpensive, average to good
120 Broadway, Ste 104, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Good to excellent.
Shin-Sen-Gumi Hakata Ramen - West L.A
1601 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
No good, too expensive.