Eat. Travel. Eat!

If you have been closely monitoring my comments, you probably know about this place as I have written about it on one of the Green Island posts. This restaurant has been a longtime favorite of ours, and we have many great memories from it. They used to be all the way near the 10 Freeway (probably Alhambra? Pretty close to Ocean Star, Tai Shing Kong, 99 Ranch Market area), but then they also opened a location here about 4-5 years ago (it's been so long!). Long time memories are at this restaurant, like going to the place during its last day before moving, as well as eating there after a long haul flight. We've been fans of this place since a long time, and it seems due to its presence in California now has even more people. It seems like more press has been talking about this place too; more non-Asians have been coming to here since last year, which is unusual as before we have never encountered any non-Asian people at this place! But it also seems like due to these people the ...

(Updated with new pictures and edited text on 27 September 2009) No, this is not the fried rice at Sinbala which is next to places like May Mei, Changs Garden, Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt, and Din Tai Fung. Instead, this was made by yours truly at home. As we usually buy some Sinbala sausage ($6.50USD for a prepackaged uncooked pack at the counter) and bring them home, this was a dish we could make with things in our pantry. Nothing special was needed other than the Sinbala sausage. As long as you have eggs, veggies, meat, and rice, any fried rice is easy to make! You see, the corn, peas, and sausage were all from the freezer, and everything else was in the pantry, except for the eggs and carrots which were in the fridge. Easy peasy for any family to do, but it takes some prep time. It's a good dish to make if you have lots of frozen veggies; just put it in there! As for preparation, cutting everything into small pieces allows for easy eating. This dish also became my experiment if ...

Last year (EARLY last year...), this place was an empty restaurant. There were only about 4 people inside. It was pretty quiet, and the servers served us happily with lots of attention. But look at it now. A nomination for top 100 restaurants in the US, as well as a TON of people. We were lucky this time, but after we left, there were people waiting! We only discovered this place by accident, and we almost forgot how to find Yunnan Garden again this time. It's not in the "main" plaza, but all the way far in the back away from the street. Enter the wrong entry (there are many gates to this plaza), and you enter a loading zone. But for starters, it's the farthest gate. And you drive ALL the way back to the corner. The food, in a short summary, is delicious. Last year, we LOVED the food and it stayed in our minds as it was great. The "Cross Bridge" noodle was the best we have ever tasted. But was it true? Was it really that good? After all, we were really real...

Here are all the posts for Green Island (Temple City). Listed by day of writeup: Green Island Restaurant Update Green Island Visit #4 2009- CNY (Regular Menu)- Temple City Green Island Visit #3 2009 (Lunch)- Temple City Green Island Visit #2 2009 (Lunch)- Temple City Green Island- Temple City Copyright ©2008-2009 Eat. Travel. Eat! All Rights Reserved. You may not copy my photos, videos, and/or text without my permission. If wish to do so, please contact me via email first at eattraveleat (at) gmail (dot) com and read my Attribution and Copyright Rules so you know how I would like you to credit my work before taking any action. Thank you!

Here are all the posts I have written about Sampan Thai Cuisine: 2009 Sampan Thai Cuisine Visit #2 Sampan Thai Cuisine- San Gabriel Hilton Plaza

Here you go again. Again??? You already wrote about it one time about two weeks ago, you say. But this time was way different than last time. It was...its usual self. Good food, good service. What more could you ask? Plus...everything was different than last time in its own way. For dinner, we were planning to eat at Red Ant cafe, which serves up a great Macaroni in fish broth as well as a great soy sauce chicken. But...after parking, we found out it was closed. PERMANENTLY closed. And going to become a "Tofu House". Poor place...but they changed chefs a few months ago, and that is probably why its demise came; the new chef just didn't cook the dishes as well as the old chef. And so...not wanting to try a different restaurant on the huge stretch of Valley Blvd, we went to Sampan for a nice meal. We were lucky enough to get a booster table. It helps much with the dining experience as well as the eating experience. We are not fans of their dark atmosphere, but we've ...

We have seen and drove through this place probably more than a hundred times, but have never gone to it. We have always had an intention to try it, but didn't really feel like it. After reading one review from a blog, I got a little bit more interested in this place, but still wasn't sure. And finally, during one night where we were debating to eat at Garden Cafe or here, we picked here. And the result? Medicore. Entering the place, we saw several take out customers, as well as some non-Asian people, which is interesting as we usually do not see any non-Asians at Chinese restaurants in the SGV (or very little). Here, there were about 3 parties that were non-Asian. There were also some families coming from work as well as some families with kids. The environment of the place was very bland; there wasn't any fancy things other than some items near the top. A freezer (chest), Styrofoam containers, and a fridge were out in the main restaurant area. The most surprising thing? O...