Hahaha. Here again! You must be thinking...it's only been 10 days since you last visited here. We'll, we were looking for lunch, and so we were picking between here or Garden Cafe. We picked here, as we like the food here better. Plus, there is another reason why I am writing this today. 4 out of 5 items I did not write about before, and so that is why :). We did this on purpose as we were eating too many of the same things, which in return gets BORING. How many times now did you order rice noodle, EatTravelEat? More than 3 times. WOW.
Anyway, we went at around 12, but as it started to reach 1 o' clock, people were WAITING for a table! That is late for our standards. It seems like everything in Temple City is later by an hour, especially eating times. By 1, Arcadia would have been less busy, while at 12 or before it would be full.
We ordered 5 things, but we should have ordered 4. But since it was lunchtime, there was still the Business lunch (how ironic for a Sunday!), and so we got 5 drinks, including the Iced tea, Chinese Tea, and the Prunella Vulgarise and Chrysanthemum Tea. We now recommend the Prunella Vulgarise and Chrysanthemum Tea and the Iced Tea now, and not the Chinese Tea. The tea quality according to the member of our party said that it used to taste really good, but now it is just regular.
The pricing for Lunch is actually 6.99 or 7.50- two different tiers. However, you can also order dinner items. You'll see many people ordering the crab or lobster curry as Green Island advertises it a lot.
First item that arrived after the drinks and our complimentary rice was the house special chicken (basically Bat Chiet Gai), which is a new item for their lunch menu, and cost 7.50. You could taste the chicken flavor, and the ginger and scallion oil according to one of the members in our party, is delicious! It's not too sharp of a flavor but goes well with the chicken. In addition, this dish is served about room temperature, and there are some pickled veggies beneath it as well as some soy sauce.
The next item that arrived was this black pork belly tofu. Again, this sauce is yummy and delicious when you put it on rice. Tofu is very soft and silky, and the pork is fatty and yummy. Brocoli is added to the dish as well; for 6.99 this is one of the better dishes on that tier- you get more bang for the buck.
This was tiger prawn and scallop curry for 7.50, and it is again, very good! The scallop and prawns are fresh and flavorful, and the brocoli stems were tender and not bitter compared to our visit ten days ago. Also, this time, the curry was thicker, and had more coconut milk and sweetness. With rice, this is again another great dish.
Pan Fried Green Beans was next, and this yet again was a winner. The fish cake pieces are a different variation compared to some restaurants, and it actually worked very well. They pan fried the fish cake so that it was browned all over and salty, which worked well with the green beans, which were slightly crisp and cooked just right. With rice (how many times have I said this!!!), it is great as the fish cake will then not be spicy.
And the obligatory rice noodle. Ordered by mistake by a member of the party, as he didn't know there was rice that went along with the other 4 dishes (which would have been enough for us!). I didn't eat this today as I wanted to eat everything else :).
Green Island
9556 Las Tunas Drive
Temple City, CA 91780
Anyway, we went at around 12, but as it started to reach 1 o' clock, people were WAITING for a table! That is late for our standards. It seems like everything in Temple City is later by an hour, especially eating times. By 1, Arcadia would have been less busy, while at 12 or before it would be full.
We ordered 5 things, but we should have ordered 4. But since it was lunchtime, there was still the Business lunch (how ironic for a Sunday!), and so we got 5 drinks, including the Iced tea, Chinese Tea, and the Prunella Vulgarise and Chrysanthemum Tea. We now recommend the Prunella Vulgarise and Chrysanthemum Tea and the Iced Tea now, and not the Chinese Tea. The tea quality according to the member of our party said that it used to taste really good, but now it is just regular.
The pricing for Lunch is actually 6.99 or 7.50- two different tiers. However, you can also order dinner items. You'll see many people ordering the crab or lobster curry as Green Island advertises it a lot.
First item that arrived after the drinks and our complimentary rice was the house special chicken (basically Bat Chiet Gai), which is a new item for their lunch menu, and cost 7.50. You could taste the chicken flavor, and the ginger and scallion oil according to one of the members in our party, is delicious! It's not too sharp of a flavor but goes well with the chicken. In addition, this dish is served about room temperature, and there are some pickled veggies beneath it as well as some soy sauce.
The next item that arrived was this black pork belly tofu. Again, this sauce is yummy and delicious when you put it on rice. Tofu is very soft and silky, and the pork is fatty and yummy. Brocoli is added to the dish as well; for 6.99 this is one of the better dishes on that tier- you get more bang for the buck.
This was tiger prawn and scallop curry for 7.50, and it is again, very good! The scallop and prawns are fresh and flavorful, and the brocoli stems were tender and not bitter compared to our visit ten days ago. Also, this time, the curry was thicker, and had more coconut milk and sweetness. With rice, this is again another great dish.
Pan Fried Green Beans was next, and this yet again was a winner. The fish cake pieces are a different variation compared to some restaurants, and it actually worked very well. They pan fried the fish cake so that it was browned all over and salty, which worked well with the green beans, which were slightly crisp and cooked just right. With rice (how many times have I said this!!!), it is great as the fish cake will then not be spicy.
And the obligatory rice noodle. Ordered by mistake by a member of the party, as he didn't know there was rice that went along with the other 4 dishes (which would have been enough for us!). I didn't eat this today as I wanted to eat everything else :).
Green Island
9556 Las Tunas Drive
Temple City, CA 91780
Comments
This visit was pretty good, but now I am going to say not to order the rice noodles. They are cooked by sometimes just regular servers. But all the other dishes are really good. We obviously doggie bagged back the rice noodles and that evening, they tasted so-so.
For the timing it could be the wedding shop owners, but it also seems like the regular customers also come out late compared to Arcadia. Who knows? It was so for New Years as well (they come later), but sometimes they go at 12 too.