Daikokuya- Arcadia, CA

(pictures taken with a HTC Surround)

Replacing what used to be Noodle House, a steam tray Chinese restaurant that offered excellent deals (for example, three entree dishes and rice for 10 USD), Daikokuya was a somewhat surprising addition to the President Square Food Court. Its operation is quite similar to that of other ramen outlets, such as Santouka: one orders at the counter and can get plenty of condiments and water to the side. Daikokuya offers a wide variety of sauces and toppings like pickled ginger (the blurry red box in the picture), more so than any other food court restaurant that I have seen.

To test out Daikokuya's offerings at the premises (my companions and I had tried some at home before and felt it was so-so), my Irvine friend and I tried out some Daikokuya combos- ramen (half or full size) with a choice of (half-portion) rice dish. My friend chose the curry rice set, while I opted for the salmon roe rice bowl set. (the purpose being to compare to my experience at Santouka)

Both sets came with a bowl of salad. I would call it a slaw, as it consisted more of thinly sliced cabbage instead; likewise, when the creamy dressing was tossed, it tasted just like coleslaw--cool and refreshing.

Arcadia Daikokuya's half curry rice was a plentiful serving, larger than that of Miyabi Tei's and served in a bowl instead of a plate. However, the curry was quite bland, as seen by the light color of the curry.

The salmon roe rice was better. It was not as fantastic of a rendition as Santouka's though, with more of the salmon roe not as firm and some punctured; the rice was not as glistening or smooth either on the surface, but was tasty nevertheless along with the salmon roe.

Both of our Daikoku ramen bowls came topped with a handful of raw bean sprouts, green onions, a egg with just-set yolk (excellent), and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. We did not know to ask for the "kotteri style" broth, which "uses soup extract from the back fat," and the broth seemed to be slightly lackluster as a result. It was creamy and savory, but also seemed to be muddied in terms of flavor.

What was quite surprising was the Kurobuta pork chashu, which seemed to have been sitting for such a long time that the meat surface had a metallic sheen. The noodles on the other hand, were toothsome and enjoyable, and with such a large set of food, I could barely finish them.

Our second visit seems to exemplify our experience during the grand opening: it is decent for Arcadia, but certainly better ramen can be found elsewhere, even in other food courts. In this case, I would not mind driving farther to Orange County or to other parts of the San Gabriel Valley/ Los Angeles to enjoy ramen.

(Oh, how contradictory is that last sentence to what I stated about  Orange County three years ago! Times have changed.) 

Daikokuya

President Square Food Court

1220 S. Golden West Ave.

Arcadia, CA 91007

Tel: (626) 254-0127

CASH ONLY

Sky Express- Costa Mesa, CA

The lone Chinese outlet in the Costa Mesa Mitsuwa Marketplace food court, Sky Express holds a special position in the primarily Japanese food court (the only other option that is not Japanese in the food court is The Loft Hawaiian). Selling boba, dim sum, and Cantonese cuisine, Sky Express offers a vast menu. What one will see though coming out of Sky Express are boba and regular entrees; dim sum is not as popular.

(various meal sets)

Do know that Sky Express is a competent outlet in the sea of Japanese foods; it is much better than just decent. The food also comes out at a reasonable pace, with small gaps between orders, unlike that of the vendor next door.

After looking at various Sky Express items during past visits and experiencing a long wait at other vendors, a companion and I "settled" for Sky Express while another companion waited for her order at a nearby vendor for more than thirty minutes. By that time, our meals at Sky Express had already arrived and were almost done.

The items to order are the specials, as Elmomonster of Monster Munching suggests; and I happened to also order the daily special on this previous visit. For around six dollars, Sky Express served up more than five large pieces of panko-crusted, fragrant pork chop, several pieces of bok choy, a mound of  fatty, short-grain rice, and a generous (perhaps excessive) ladle of cornstarch laden black pepper sauce for its black pepper pork chop rice. On top of that, a comforting bowl of corn and egg drop soup was also provided.

Yes, the picture of the item and the item's description may have you salivating (another person sitting nearby my table decided to order it after seeing it); the taste, thankfully, was just as spectacular. The pork chops were crisp on the outside, yet meaty and tender in the inside; they exuded a fragrance that I have not seen in other restaurant's preparations. Even with the peppery sauce doused on top, the pork chop still retained its crunchiness; together with the sauce, rice, and vegetables, the plate was a delicious balance among meat, rice, and veggie, and I enjoyed it much so. 

Those not desiring much cornstarch on their plates can order the hot pot rice dishes, which is what my companion did. This was a different than usual rendition for us, with the seasonings for the chicken and the soy sauce that comes with the rice different (saltier and less complex, perhaps due to the lack of MSG) than what restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley tend to offer; the comforting aspect of hot pot rice was definitely there though, and nevertheless we did enjoy the dish.

Although I will still be prone to try out the other options in the food court, it is pleasant to know that there is a  Chinese food option at the food court which serves up strong renditions of various Cantonese dishes.


Sky Express (inside Costa Mesa Mitsuwa Marketplace)
665 Paularino Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel: (714) 437-7198

Young Dong Garden Korean BBQ & Tofu- Arcadia, CA

Young Dong Garden is back again, after a long renovation. The changes are quite major: a repaint of the interior and the exterior, a freshening of the interior with higher quality furnishings, installation of televisions, system controlled air conditioning units, and barbeque cooking platforms at the tables, and a refreshed menu. Some say the owner has changed as well, but I can not confirm that; it does seem to be family owned however, with some locals recognizing the owner on our last visit.

(items included in these two pictures include: bean sprouts, pickled cucumber, pickled radish,  napa cabbage kimchi, potato salad, and spicy squid slices)

The restaurant is certainly more generous with its banchan though; the waitresses serve these plates when the customer sits at the table now. The banchan also seems to be freshly made; the potato salad, for example, had crisp apple cubes inside it. I also really like the pickled cucumber, bean sprouts, and seaweed. Refills of banchan come at request and come back to the table in copious amounts.

Chewy green onion pancake slices are also provided at the beginning of the meal along with the familiar tangy soy sauce. Unlike the pancakes made before the renovation, these are chewier and lack a crunch; still, they are quite enjoyable.

Another complimentary item is a bowl of salad, which offers plenty of mixed greens and onion slices tossed in a tangy soy sauce dressing. We only got this salad during our first visit, when the restaurant had just opened. On our last visit, however, we did not receive this salad. It seems like the restaurant is only offering this salad to those who order barbequed meat cooked at the table (an all you can eat option is available also).

Our usual order at Young Dong Garden is a combination item; it offers a selection of tofu stew (pick any from their tofu stew section of the menu) and barbequed meat (a smaller version than a full order) or bibimbap (stone or no stone). The tofu stews are high quality, filled with the ingredient requested for the tofu stew (for example, the mushroom tofu stew comes with a variety of mushrooms) as well as soft pieces of tofu.

Other than perhaps being slightly over seasoned to my tastes (especially the chicken), the barbeque items that come alongside are competent options, with a balance between sweet and salty. Full sized plates do cost quite a bit more, but come with a lot of meat: perhaps about two plates worth of these items.

One of our past favorite items was the Kalbi Soup; we ordered it again on our last visit, but somehow it seems like we got the Yookgaejang, a (very) spicy soup that comes with shredded pieces of beef, vegetables, egg, and potato noodles. The spice level was so high that we took most of the soup home so that we could adjust it to our tastes.

The new changes do provide a vast improvement compared to restaurant's past operation. The environment is much more pleasant (other than potential barbeque smells from cooking barbeque at their tables), and the food quality has improved at the same level as the rest of the renovation (for example, we saw the fluffiest steamed egg served on our last visit). For Arcadia, it is welcomed option; in my opinion, the best in Arcadia.


Young Dong Garden Korean BBQ & Tofu
19 W. Huntington Dr.
Arcadia, CA 91006
Tel: (626) 698-6198



Read my past review of the restaurant by clicking HERE.