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Showing posts from May, 2010

Shanghai Bamboo House- Monrovia

I haven't had much success when looking online for a restaurant that we would end up returning to. Same story with restaurants that we have not visited before. What we always end up with are so-so visits. See these: HERE , HERE , HERE , and HERE for examples. So considering that I was the one who recommended this restaurant to my companions to try out one day for a weekend lunch, I was not expecting awesome results. Even if Yelp reviewers gave very positive results. But guess what? We loved it. And we have been going back since. This location used to be many different restaurants. Having grown up visiting this plaza weekly due to the close proximity to our old home, I've certainly seen it change as I have routinely come back to visit. The last owner of the location was a Korean restaurant. Now, it is a Shanghai restaurant. As for some history with Shanghai Bamboo House, it's been in California for quite a few years already. But, most of those years were spent in

Din Tai Fung Dumpling House- Arcadia

It seems like Arcadia only has two famous restaurants: the Derby, and Din Tai Fung. Really, what do tourists come to Arcadia really for? There are six main things: the Santa Anita Racetrack with a trip to the Derby, the Westfield Mall , the Arboretum , Rusnak Mercedes-Benz Arcadia (the large amount of new Benzes mean something!), and Din Tai Fung . Now, what do most food bloggers only have on Arcadia? Din Tai Fung. Or nothing at all. The local teachers and school staff of Arcadia also like Din Tai Fung. So over the past year I've done a lot of writing about the Arcadia dining scene. But I left out the most hotly debated and frequented restaurant in Arcadia: Din Tai Fung- until now. 200th post= something good to write about. Just like how the 100th post was on Green Onion Pancakes , and how the 199th post was Aureole . (Go read that if you haven't already! No comments yet) (Before renovation: clear window. Now, a greenish backsplash of bamboo steamers have been added. And the t

Aureole- Las Vegas (Mandalay Bay)

After spending some time at the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio, we went back to our room and then went out again! Unlike our previous meals however, this was planned out already. We had a 50 dollar dining certificate from Restaurants.com, free due to airline mileage (2000 miles=100 dollars in exchange). This is exactly the reason why I say, if you are flying somewhere, do sign up for a frequent flyer card if you are flying more than a thousand miles roundtrip as you can get something back easily! It was a easy choice for me to make. Although most of Mandalay Bay's restaurants are eligible for Restaurant.com, only two stood out for me: Aureole and Fleur De Lys. Aureole however seemed better in my book due to the fact I heard of it more from places like the Food Network. (Awards- also a Photoshop rescued photo- or else the sides would have been completely dark) After parking at Mandalay Bay, we arrived at the entrance of Aureole and was surprised at how dark it wa