Yule Show

Let's talk about Marugame, the noodle restaurant my daughter frequently visited when we were in Shanghai. She and I recently visited the branch in The Shops at Santa Anita. She usually ordered the big bowl when she had enough money, otherwise she would opt for the small one.

Firstly, I'd like to say that the vegan meat in the Tan Tan noodle was the most meaty non-meat I have ever had. The ground vegan meat is so good that you wouldn't be able to tell that it's not real meat if you did a blind taste test.

Secondly, I have to say that the restaurant fell below my expectations and was below average. My daughter didn't even finish her bowl, despite being a Japanese curry and udon lover.

The restaurant has a very Japanese style, but I didn't see the iconic wording "讚歧釜揚げうどん" as you would in Japan. The renovation and layout is still very ethnic. The restaurant is located beside The Cheese Factory and faces Benihana, making it a great location.

The Tan Tan noodle I ordered only had the vegan option. The dish was extremely salty and tasteless, which is a combination that is normally not logical. The fake ground pork was good, but the overall flavor of the dish was disappointing. Tan Tan ramen or Tan Tan udon is a Japanese version of Chinese Sichuan flavor, but the Tan Tan I got was not at all spicy. Compared to the Tan Tan I had at Kura Revolving Sushi, it's one-star out of five. Additionally, there were no spicy condiments at the self-service counter such as spicy oil, chili powder, or Shichimi togarashi.

In addition to the Tan Tan, the curry dish that my daughter ordered was not as good as the ones she had in other Marugame restaurants in different countries. The flavor was floating and not mixed well with the noodles. According to her, you could just buy a box of curry and add water to make it better than this bowl.

The only good thing about my dish was the tanenuki (たねぬき), which are crispy bits of batter that drop off the tempura while frying. The tanenuki was served as a condiment made with green onion, and it remained crispy even when soaked in the soup and was not oily at all.

Tokyo Central at West Covina is the market I must go to every month, at least once per two months after I moved from Glendora to Pasadena. I love it.

It's 7 years ago, and I permanently moved from Shanghai to LA, I visited almost all the Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thailand, and Philippines markets but I was not satisfied. I am a professional amateur chef, I need good materials. Yes, I found most seasoning, raw food, cookware, dishware, and tools in the markets, but I was not satisfied until I found Tokyo Central randomly. It filled in the blank part of my requirement.

Why am I saying that? Tokyo Central always has the best quality foods. For example, the rice, I could find good rice in other Asian markets but Tokyo Central in 2016. The Nishiki rice from Japan was so soft and so good. The pity is that the Nishiki rice became a Product of UAA since COVID, became much worse than before. Nowadays, I still don't have good rice to eat.

Tokyo Central has a big canteen just beside the entrance, you can buy the food, sit and eat them in the canteen. The canteen provides seasoning sauces like ketchup and soy sauce, tempura sauce, etc. It also provides a microwave oven, cold and hot water, forks, knives, and chopsticks. You can warm your food there and enjoy them, very convenient.

Tokyo Central also provides buffet-to-weight foods, not too many options, around 20 kinds but very balanced. There were tempuras, fried chicken, fish, vegetables, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, yakisoba(fried noodles), and rice. The buffet station was closed for several months by the pandemic as well as the canteen. Now some of the buffets changed to prepacked and some are still pick-as-you-want.

There is also plenty of sushi, rice ball, bento, Japanese style desserts, Japanese style cakes, all you can eat in the canteen after paying them through the counter. I love those onigiris (triangle rice balls) even though the price is getting higher and higher recently.

It looks like they shorten the opening time of the canteen after the pandemic, I didn't get the chance to have lunch there several times.

I think I know Japanese food well, and I cook them well. I think I am qualified to say that since I translated one Japanese food dictionary and one Japanese cookbook. I can get most raw food from Tokyo Central when I'd like to cook Japanese food. I can get okonomiyaki powder and sauce there, as well as takoyaki powder and sauce. I can get various Japanese seasoning sauces there as well as thin and thick noodles.

The raw fishes for sashimi, are good. The premium beef is good. Also, the bags of Japanese pickles, are authentic and delicious.

(to be continued)

I love this restaurant and strongly recommend it. It was just at the same plaza at my accountant's office which reports my tax every year. Once I go to that office, I will have lunch at this restaurant. That is once a year.
This is a Vietnamese Chinese restaurant, mostly Chinese.
I like the noodle soup there, so many things inside. Fresh pork kidney, roasted duck pieces, shrimp, fish ball, thin pork slices, grounded pork, and golden deep-fried garlic. The broth is umami and obviously isn't from MSG.
The free sweet seaweed and green bean soup is also a very good expierence, I had never image the sweet seaweed before.
Most clerks are senior and they don't speak English nor Mandarin, you have to point the menu to order. But doesn't matter, you still get good food and good service.

First of all, let me report this: the price for a plate of Stinky Tofu and a bowl of Sliced Pork Rice is already $18.50 from $15.33 from July, 2018.
My daughter and I went to Tofu King, Irvine but we can't dine in because of the COVID. Then three days later, we decided to have one at the Rowland Heights branch. We still can't dine in, but fortunately, there are outdoor seats.
I visited Rowland Heights one and Arcadia one several times before, both are good. The Stinky Tofu I got this time is the best. 4 deep-fried Stinky Tofu have been cut into 16 pics, they are so crunchy and crispy, the tofu has so many little holes can absorb enough sauce. The pickled cabbage is so sour gives me a striking feeling which I love.
The Rowland Heights one is located inside a plaza, which is so Chinese. Full of Chinese restaurants and every speak so loudly and even a woman uses handsfree WeChat to tell her friend on another side: I am going to eat my Stinky Tofu now!
The Sliced Pork Rice is also good, which is not made from ground pork but sliced tiny pork pieces. It's a very authentic Taiwanese way.

I just wrote a review for Tofu King at Rowland Heights and gave it a 4-star, but I have to give 3-star for Arcadia one. Two restaurant are selling the same foods, almost the same quality. But compare the style and service, the Arcadia one is not as hospitable as the another. The owner and clerks were always Poker face, I always think is that possible because the food I ordered were too cheap?

It's a pity I got such a treat and I love Taiwan so much. In my memory, Taiwanese are so kind and good mannered.